Page 112

“Just a graze.”

“Oh, my God.” I grimaced, leading him into the bathroom to help clean him up.

All my worries rose to the surface. Seeing him hurt like this, I had to assume the worst. That he was suffering and in need of medical attention. That I could lose him and⁠—

“It’s not that bad,” he said tiredly as he entered the bathroom with me.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked up, catching his reflection in the mirror.

He smiled softly, fully aware of how I was hung up on the assumption that this was very bad.

“Don’t be scared.”

“I’m not,” I lied. “But you’re…” I gasped as I got his suit all the way off. A red stain spread out from his upper arm where something had sliced through his skin. “Nikolai!”

He turned, propping his butt against the edge of the vanity counter. As he took my hand, he sighed heavily. “It’s not that bad. Please don’t freak out.”

I nodded, the motion stiff. “No freaking out.” Tugging at his shirt, I removed it so I could at least start compressing the wound.

“We found him,” he said, reminding me of what he’d announced when he walked into the room.

“Which one?” I asked as I wetted a towel and cringed at the long gash on his bicep. It didn’t look too deep, but it was wide. So long as he kept talking and I latched on to the comfort of his steady baritone, I could try my best not to freak out.

He needed my help. He wanted my support.

And I would give him that. I owed him a non-freaking-out partner after all he’d done for me and my son.

I resolved to keep calm and assist him with the limited first-aid skills I possessed.

“Rico. Vladimir was chasing him, and he captured him outside the casino.”

My brows shot high.

“It seems like Vladimir was aware of Rico wanting to kill himself, so he captured him. Probably to take him to Gregori or… fuck, I don’t know.”

“Then what happened?”

“He captured him and threw him into the trunk of his car. We chased him out of the city, but we were surrounded. Once we got away from the Strip, more cars came up and we were trying to shoot them. We crashed, and Vladimir escaped.”

I blinked once, shaking my head slightly. A high-speed chase. A shoot out. A car crash. And he stated it like it was just another ordinary day.

“We went to get Rico out to question him, but he grabbed a gun from one of the guards and shot himself.”

I dabbed at the blood, glad that it looked worse than it actually was.

“So no answers from him now.” He sighed. “And now we’ve got to keep looking for that fucking Konstantin.”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I wrapped a gauze pad and bandage around his cut to keep it clean. I would never question the abundance of first-aid kits in all the bathrooms in this house ever again.

“I’m not.” He turned, cupping my face. “I’m here. With you.” He leaned in to kiss me.

I smiled against his lips, amused that he could flip between the dark and the light like this.

“And I’m here with you.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.

No fanfare.