Page 101 of Vows of Blood

Mikhail freezes.

“Sit the fuck down,” Luca growls as the large television mounted on the wall flickers to life.

Our attention moves to the screen, Mikhail and I, while Luca doesn’t look away from the Russian, who still seems intent on fulfilling his mission. Suddenly, I'm looking at what appears to be a hotel room, an expensive, elegant one, with heavy drapes and a king-size bed.

But… I tilt my head, trying to make sense of the stand beside the bed, with wires and a… IV?

Movement catches my eye, and I realize that there, sitting on the edge of that bed, her red hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and a book open in her lap, is Kate O'Sullivan.

Alive.

My heart leaps and I gasp, hand flying to my mouth.

It can’t be. I blink, certain I'm hallucinating, but she's still there. Pale, thin, and certainly less glamorous than I remember, with dark circles under her eyes, and a bandage visible on her hand, but alive, nonetheless.

“No,” Mikhail whispers, head spinning to look at Luca before whirling back to the screen, afraid to look away for a second, in case she disappears.

Maeve sits in an armchair beside her, reading on her phone. As I watch, she looks up and says something to Kate, who smiles weakly in response, then rubs her hand, reaching for the IV line to move it along before she shuffles up higher in the bed.

A sound escapes Mikhail, a noise somewhere between a groan and a sob. He lurches forward and drops to his knees in front of the screen, pulling the chair over, his bloodstained fingers reaching up to touch the glass, like he scarcely believes it’s real.

"Tell me it's true." Desperation rolls off the lethal killer, barely recognizable now, with his eyes squeezed shut.

"She's alive." Luca spits out, his words still carrying a pissed off edge. "She’s still recovering, but she’s stable."

Mikhail is whispering what sounds like a prayer in Russian when he drops his head.

I look at Luca, my mind struggling to process what I'm seeing.

He's been hiding her this whole time, letting everyone believe she was dead. But why?

“What do you want?” Mikhail struggles to his feet and then turns, panic written all over his sharp features. “Do anything you want to me. Just do not harm her. She’s innocent.”

Luca groans, his shoulders rising to his ears then lowering on a long exhale.

“I don’t want anything, Mikhail. She’s not leverage.” He waves toward the screen where there’s no denying she’s being well looked after. “I suspected the hit was meant for her, not me." Luca moves to stand beside me, his hand finding my shoulder. "They had the chance to end me but didn’t take it. Kate was the target the whole time. So, I let them think they succeeded so they wouldn’t come back to finish the job."

He’s making it sound like it's an inconvenience, but still what anyone else would have done. But I know that’s not true, especially if it cost them a position of power like it still could do to Luca.

"You let everyone think she was dead,” I whisper.

"I let her enemies and mine think she was dead. There's a difference." We stand there and watch Maeve help her daughter reposition her pillows. “I had to tell Maeve, or she’d have come for me.”

Mikhail stares at Kate with a longing that makes my heart ache before turning to look at Luca. The emptiness is gone, replaced by a dangerous and determined look. "Take me to her."

Luca bristles, not taking kindly to being ordered around.

"After you see a doctor, and after I make sure Tony is still alive, and Sienna is okay. Then maybe, I will take you to her." Luca’s not in the mood for debate. "Doc will be here…"

"I don't care about the doctor." The tendons in Mikhail’s jaw stand out, his temper rising alongside his volume.

"She will." Luca moves toward him threateningly. "You just tried to kill the woman I love. The only reason your heart is still beating is because I like Kate. So you're going to do exactly what I tell you, get treated by a fucking professional, and maybe, maybe, if you're very lucky, I won't change my mind and put a bullet between your fucking eyes instead."

Mikhail holds his gaze for a long moment, then he nods, accepting the terms. “Fine.”

After a long beat, Luca, finally satisfied, eases back, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

“I will call someone here to tend to you while I care for my wife, who you are very fucking lucky is unhurt.”