18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Nico
I get in a few good punches before Mikhail hits me right back. Nurses and doctors come running over to stop us.
“Security!” a nurse calls out.
That’s when Natalya appears. She runs over to Mikhail and pulls him away. Him and I are glare at each other, neither of us ready to end the fight.
“What are you two doing?” she asks. “My sister is lying in that room, unconscious, about to go into surgery and you’re fighting? Stop.”
A security guard approaches us. “You two need to leave.”
“That’s fine,” Mikhail snaps, grabbing Natalya’s hand and tugging her away.
“No,” she says. “I’m going to remain here for my sister. You two can leave. Just don’t kill each other in the process.”
“I’m her wife,” I growl, pointing at Sasha’s room. “I’m not leaving.”
“Then you two need to stop fighting,” the guard warns. “Or I will be forced to remove you.”
“I’d like to see you try,” I mutter.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” Natalya cuts in. “It was nothing. Nico, stop.”
“You’re not my wife. You don’t get to speak to me like you are.”
Mikhail places himself in front of her. “And you don’t get to speak to Natalya like this.”
“Is there a problem?” the guard asks, looking between all of us.
“No,” Natalya reiterates. “They’re done fighting. For Sasha’s sake.” She gives me a pointed look and I can’t help but sigh. She has a point. If I want to be here for Sasha, I can’t be getting into a fight with Mikhail.
“We’re good,” I mutter, walking away.
Natalya and Mikhail move to the opposite side of the room. I can’t hear what they’re saying but I can see Natalya comforting Mikhail and him doing the same.
My eyes flick over to Sasha’s room. Will she survive so I can comfort her? Knowing I could lose her changes everything. She’s no longer just a challenge for me to have fun. She’s my wife.
The woman I know I love.
I can’t lose her for anything in this world.
Sasha is soon wheeled out to be taken into surgery. Natalya runs over to place a kiss to her sister’s cheek before Sasha is taken into the elevators. Neither Natalya or I am allowed to go with.
She turns to me. “Don’t attack my husband ever again.”
“Or what? It’s his fault that Sasha is in this predicament.”
“You’re not wrong,” she admits. “But I am the only one keeping Mikhail from killing you right now. Did you know that Sasha and I went to Denis for help and he wouldn’t give it?”
“I know that I went to him for help and he said we’re done. No more alliance with your uncle.”
“What does that mean for Sasha? I know you married her to get your alliance with Denis.”
“It was never Denis I wanted. Sasha is safe with me.”
Natalya sighs, dropping her eyes to the ground. “Sasha did tell me that. She feels safe with you. She trusts you. If she trusts you then…”
“That means you trust me?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
“Don’t put a gun to my head ever again and we shouldn’t have any problems.”
I nod at Mikhail, who’s still glaring at me across the room. “Tell that to your husband.”
“I will. I always wanted to keep Sasha safe and I couldn’t.
She married you. I thought I had lost her forever but…
I see now that I was wrong. You were fighting hard to get her back.
She said you saved her many times. I know she’s safe with you, Nico.
Why can’t you put aside your hatred for Mikhail and make a deal with him?
It would keep both me and Sasha safe. Mikhail wouldn’t go after you like he did before and you would have to promise to do the same. ”
I scoff. “A deal with Mikhail?”
“Why is that so absurd? You made a deal with Denis and he screwed you over.”
“Mikhail shot me in the fucking back a year ago.”
“I know. But it seems to me that you’re running out of allies.
Maybe making a deal with him would benefit you.
It would keep Sasha safe. Mikhail doesn’t want to hurt her because of me.
You know that. If you can trust anyone to try and keep her safe, it’s him.
You can trust me to do the same. You’re not going to get a better deal than this, Nico, and you know it. ”
Make a deal with Mikhail? It’s not the worst idea in the world…
“I hate his fucking face,” I mutter.
“You’re going to let your pride and ego win? When you have the chance to keep Sasha safe?”
“If she makes it out of surgery alive. If she dies, then all bets are off.”
She raises her hands in surrender. “Fine. If Sasha survives, consider making peace with Mikhail. And just so you know, I’m just as worried as you are about my sister, maybe even more so.”
“Impossible.”
“Is that so? I’ve known my sister my entire life. I’m her big sister. It was my job to protect her and I couldn’t. It was also your job to protect her and you couldn’t. We’re in the same boat. If anyone understands, I do.”
I lean against the wall, crossing my arms, shielding myself from Natalya’s truth. “Why don’t you return to your husband? He still looks like he wants to come over here and kill me.”
“I will. Just think on what I said. I’ll talk to Mikhail about it too. Get him to see reason.”
“You would really choose to work with me?” I ask.
“If it means keeping Sasha safe, then yes. She believes that you’re good for her.
So I’m inclined to believe it too. I have no reason to not believe her.
She’s always been stubborn and hotheaded.
When she says something, she means it. Consider what I said.
” She walks back over to Mikhail and he wraps a possessive hand around her shoulder like I’m going to steal her away.
I’ll give Natalya this: she has impressed me. That’s a hard thing to accomplish and she has done it.
If Sasha survives then…
Then maybe I need to rethink everything.
Sasha
I wake up to Nico’s face.
“Hey,” he murmurs, gazing down at me with love in his eyes. It’s the most affection he’s ever shown me.
“Hey,” I rasp out.
“Take it easy. You just got out of surgery.”
It’s then that I notice I’m in a hospital room and then I remember the gunshot wound to my leg. Looking down, I see my leg is covered in a thick bandage.
“Am I ok?” I whisper.
“The doctor told me your surgery went well and you should have a full recovery within a few months.”
I relax onto the bed. That’s good news at least. But… “Where’s my sister? Did you hurt her?”
Nico flinches slightly and I realize that was the wrong thing to say. “I didn’t hurt her. She’s waiting outside. I’ll go get her.” He leaves the room and comes back a moment later with Nat beside him.
“Sasha,” she gasps, gripping my hand. “You’re ok.”
“I’m ok,” I reassure her.
“You saved my life,” she says. “You got us out of there.”
“I was fighting for you.” My eyes flick to Nico. “Can I speak with him alone?”
“Of course. I’ll just be outside.” She gives my hand a kiss before leaving.
Nico rejoins me at my side. “You want to talk?”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have accused you of hurting my sister but you can understand why I would.”
“I know. I deserved it. I did point a gun to her head. But I promise you, Sasha, that I won’t hurt her again. I realized something seeing you unconscious and hurt, knowing I could lose you at any moment.”
“What?” I ask softly.
“I realized that I want you to be happy with me. And hurting your sister will only hurt you. So she’s safe from me. I promise.”
I’ve been conflicted with my feelings for Nico for so long, Between hating him and wanting to be with him, I didn’t understand how to feel. But now I know that I can trust him. The vulnerability in his eyes is new. He’s speaking from the heart.
He’s my future, whether I want him to be or not. And I know, deep down, that I do want him to be.
“Thank you,” I say.
“And… there’s something else. Natalya wants me to make peace with Mikhail. I told her I would consider it if you survived.”
“I did survive.”
“You did.” He sighs, rolling his neck back. “I think it means I need to make peace with Mikhail Novikoff himself. That fucker.”
“You don’t have to.”
“No. I do. I can’t risk him trying to get to me again and you ending up in the way. I can’t risk your safety. I just won’t. So…I’ll make peace with him. Denis is done. He wants nothing to do with me. Part of that is your fault, you know. When you told him about my deal with Giovanni.”
“A deal which promptly fell through,” I remind him. “Don’t blame me for your double crossing actions.”
He chuckles as he leans down to kiss my lips. “There’s the feisty woman I know and lo-,” he stops himself short.
I go still. Was he going to say… love?
If Nico and I fell in love, then what? I’d have to come to terms with being in love with a man like him. That’s not good but it’s not exactly bad either.
He clears his throat. “I should go talk to Mikhail.”
“Ok. I’ll be right here.”
With a wink, he leaves the room and Natalya comes back. I feel safe when she takes my hand in hers but not as safe as I felt when Nico was holding onto it.
Nico
I find Mikhail leaning against the wall, glaring at me as I approach. “Did your wife talk to you about making a deal with me?”
“She did. I went to you once before to make a deal and you said no.”
“And then you shot me in the back,” I remind him.
“Because you’re an asshole.”
“And so are you.”
He drops his head back, muttering to himself. This should be fucking fun.
I sigh, stuffing my hands in my pockets. “Listen. Your wife made some good points. Denis is no longer my ally. And… if we made a deal, then Sasha would be kept safe. And you would have my word that I would never hurt Natalya.”
“The problem is: I don’t trust your word.”
“And I don’t trust yours either,” I snap. “But we have one thing in common: neither of us want our wives to be hurt.”
“We can agree on that,” he admits.
“So let’s do this, Mikhail. Even if I’d rather jam a hot poker in my eye than be allies with you, I’m willing to do it. For Sasha.”
“You know, you have changed, Nico. I mean, you’re still the asshole I know but you have changed.”
“So have you. What do you say? Are we doing this?” I hold out my hand to him.
And slowly, he takes it.
Mikhail and I are finally partners. This should be interesting.
Sasha
Natalya leaves to grab me some food since I’m starving after not having eaten for a day. I’m all alone when someone enters my room.
Looking up, I’m shocked to see that it’s Giovanni himself.
Before I can scream, he runs across the room and clamps his hand over my mouth. “Be quiet. If you don’t want me to hurt you.” He removes his hand and smiles down at me. “How I’ve missed you, Sasha. I’ve come to claim what should have been mine.”