Chapter 48
Aurora
The gash below my left shoulder throbs with a hot, insistent pain. The emerald dress clings to my skin, torn and sticky with blood that’s already drying to rust.
I don’t remember much about the car ride home. Or taking the elevator to the loft. Only Alexei’s arm locked around my waist and his steady voice in my ear anchoring me to the world as it threatened to spin away.
“Hold still.” Alexei kneels before me at the kitchen table, gentle despite the cold fury that’s radiated from him since the shooting. Earlier, he’d used two strips of my dress to slow the bleeding, but some blood has seeped through the thin material.
I hiss through clenched teeth but don’t pull away.
“You’re lucky.” Rage vibrates beneath the surface of his flat tone. “Glass. Not a bullet. Could have been worse.”
Worse. Like the bodies on the gallery floor.
Blood splattered across my ruined artwork.
Gio’s whispered threats before the world exploded into chaos.
Alexei rises and crosses over to a cabinet, his movements measured and precise.
Like everything he does. Even killing. I watched him tonight, waltzing through the gunfire like it was a dance he’d memorized.
Saw him put a bullet through a man’s chest without breaking stride.
And now he’s retrieving a first aid kit and laying out gauze and antiseptic with the same methodical care.
He returns to me and kneels again. “This will hurt.”
“I know.” It already does. But I’m alive, and that’s what matters.
I can face anything as long as we’re together.
Holy shit.
When did I start thinking that way?
His steady hands peel away the blood-soaked fabric. My skin comes with it, and I bite my lip to trap a pained cry. His lips thin, but he continues to work with single-minded concentration, cleaning the wound with antiseptic that stings like a bitch.
I grip his thigh roughly, but he never flinches.
“Breathe, lyubimaya.”
I exhale a shaky breath, watching his face as he gently tends to my cut.
Love swells inside me, and my eyes start to burn.
My gut lurches. Hold up a minute. Love? When exactly did that happen? When he took my cat to the vet and brought her back to me all patched up? Or when he gifted me an art studio furnished with every imaginable supply? Or maybe, oh, I don’t know, each time he saved my life?
The real question is, does Alexei love me in return? Or am I just his responsibility now? I have no doubt he enjoys my body, but lust and love don’t always align.
For the moment, I try to shove the thought aside and focus on Alexei.
Blood—thankfully not his—smears his white shirt. The tear near the shoulder reveals a glimpse of tanned skin. His jaw is set in a hard line, a muscle jumping beneath the stubble.
I’ve never seen him this angry. This contained. Like a grenade with the pin pulled just waiting for the right second to explode.
The antiseptic continues to sting, and I can’t help the small sound that escapes me. His eyes flick to mine. Blue, clear, and smoldering with an emotion too intense for words.
He pauses to press a soft kiss on my lips, and I melt a little at the tender gesture. “Almost done.”
I nod, not trusting my own voice. The gallery keeps flashing behind my eyes. Glass shattering. People screaming and running. Bodies falling. Gio’s face, inches from mine, threatening me. Threatening my sister.
Alexei rips open a package of butterfly bandages with his teeth. Pressing the edges of my wound together, he applies the strips as if he patches people up every day.
“Might scar.” A fact, not an apology. As if my pain matters to him, but not how I look.
“Scars are just another sign I’m a survivor.” The words come out a hoarse whisper.
His eyes meet mine again, darkening to a deep blue. “That’s true.”
His hands linger on my skin as he secures the last bandage, the heat of them seeping into my chilled flesh. For several seconds, we stay connected by touch and the shared horror of the night.
Then he drags his gaze away and wraps gauze around my arm, taping it securely in place.
“Thank you.” I swallow against the tightness in my throat. “For tonight. For…”
For killing those men and keeping me safe.
For not leaving me behind in that horror show.
He skims his knuckles across my cheek. “You’re mine to protect. Always.”
I melt a little bit more. “Alexei. I—”
My phone buzzes, shattering the moment. I dig the device from the small clutch I somehow managed to keep with me through everything. Samantha’s name flashes across the screen, and my heart leaps into my throat. I need to know she’s safe.
With trembling fingers, I unlock the screen and read her message.
I’m dying to know more about your hot boyfriend aka “client.” Don’t keep me in the dark!
I blow out a big breath and try to sound like my world isn’t collapsing as I type a reply.
Umm, it’s complicated. I’ll tell you about him soon. But how are you? Getting ready for classes to start?
The three dots appear, and I don’t have to wait long before a string of messages pops up.
See, I knew he wasn’t just your client! SPILL IT!
OMG no…not ready for fall semester! My brain is actual mush from summer classes. Met this sexy AF guy though. You have to meet him!!
Seriously, sis. Next coffee date, ur telling me EVERYTHING!!!
A wave of relief crashes through me, so powerful I nearly drop the phone. My sister’s safe. She’s worried about college guys, not mafia men with guns coming for her. Alexei was right. His men are protecting her without her even realizing she needs protection.
I tap out a quick response, promising we’ll catch up soon and reminding her to use protection if she hooks up with said “sexy AF” guy. Then I set the phone aside and take a long, shuddering breath that seems to come from the very center of me.
Alexei has moved away to dispose of the bloody gauze and antiseptic wipes. His back is to me, his shoulders rigid with tension as he puts away the first aid supplies. The muscles in his forearm flex when he closes the kit with a decisive snap.
“She’s safe.” I need to hear the words out loud. “Sam is safe.”
He faces me with an unreadable expression. “I told you she would be.”
That cold rage is still there, simmering beneath the surface. Not directed at me, but palpable nonetheless. It fills the space between us, heavy and dangerous. In a way, knowing his rage is aimed at the assholes responsible for upending my life is reassuring.
He begins to pace, his lengthy strides carrying him back and forth across the loft.
“It’s too clean. The Reznik weapons. The Reznik men.
The fucking Reznik casino chip left in the dead man’s pocket.
” He jams a hand into his dark hair, the strands longer and curlier than they were a few weeks ago.
“Everything points to the Rezniks…” His fierce, burning eyes lock with mine.
“But Gio was there. He tried to take you. He fucking lied to my face about Benny.”
He continues to pace, his fury a living entity between us. He’s right. Tonight was too perfect, too obvious. Intentional.
“You’re looking at this like a soldier.” The pattern forms in my mind. “All these broken pieces…Gio, the Rezniks, the lighter, the mention of diamonds… But the first crack was Gio. He lied about Benny. That’s where we should start.”
When Alexei stops pacing, his attention is razor-sharp on my face. “Of course.”
“MJ had knowledge that got him killed.” My certainty grows with each word. “Benny said he learned about it in prison. Do you have any of MJ’s things from that time period?”
Dark emotions cross Alexei’s face. Pain. Determination. His eyes flutter shut, his muscular chest rising and falling.
When he opens them again, they’re focused. “At Roman’s compound.”
I lift myself up, wincing as the movement pulls at my freshly bandaged wound. “Then that’s where we need to go.”
“You should rest.” Alexei reaches me in two long strides, his hand coming up to cup my face. His palm warms my cheek, the calloused fingers gentle against my skin. “It’s been a long day.”
“I love you.” The words tumble out before I can stop them. And they’re one-hundred-percent true.
He freezes, his hand dropping from my cheek.
My heart hammers.
Shit.
How will he react? What if he doesn’t love me back? Can I settle for the fact that he cares for me? Protects me? Desires me?
The silence stretches on as Alexei regards me with his lips parted, utterly dumbfounded. If I hadn’t just shocked the hell out of him by dropping the L word, I might find this speechless version of Alexei adorable.
I gather my courage. “I don’t know when I fell for you.
Maybe it was a little at a time. You kidnapped me, sure, but you took care of me.
Ensured I was safe and happy. You protected my sister and rescued my cat.
” My breath hitches, emotion clogging my throat.
“My life may not be at all what I envisioned, but it’s a thousand times better with you in it.
You may not love me back, but just knowing you care? It’s enough.”
I’m not sure pulling an elephant out of my purse could have shocked him any more.
A beat passes. Then another.
Before my love-confessing brain can register what’s happening, he drops to one knee, gathering my hands into his.
“Aurora Kozlov,” he runs his thumbs over my hands, “I love you with every heartbeat, every breath, body and soul, and I’m an idiot for not telling you sooner.
I never thought I deserved to be happy. But you’ve become my happiness and my purpose.
I love everything about you. The way you sing to Pixie when you think I’m not around, how you can’t cook a fucking meal to save your life, and especially the way you look at me when I make you come.
” He shudders. “When I couldn’t find you at the gallery, my entire life flashed before my eyes.
I can’t live in a world without you in it, so please, never scare me like that again. ”
My chest swells with too many emotions to untangle.
He loves me. Alexei Kozlov, the calculating, brutal killer, loves me.
I choke out a laugh as tears slide down my cheeks. “Wait. When did you catch me singing to Pixie?”
He cocks an eyebrow as he brushes my tears away. “I profess my love to you, and that’s what caught your attention?”
“Umm, no. Of course not. My brain was just reeling, and it’s the first thing that popped out of my mouth.”
With a smile, he picks me up and sits with me in his lap.
My heart melts in a whole new way at this softer, sweeter side of Alexei. It’s not just the mind-blowing sex that I love, but the connection, the quiet moments, the teasing, the easy conversation.
Knowing that as long as I’m with him, I’m safe.
A contented sigh escapes me, and in a matter of seconds, his mouth is on mine. The kiss is gentle and slow and absolutely perfect. My lips part, and his tongue slips in to taste and explore. I slide a hand up his neck and into his hair to tug him closer.
He groans into my mouth. The kiss shifts, desire warming me from the inside out. He curls one arm around my waist and rests the other on my leg.
I flinch when he squeezes my bruised knee.
Alexei stills, pulling back and lifting the dress to examine me. “Chyort vozmi. You didn’t mention any other injuries.”
Glancing down at my knees, I grimace. Because of the painful cut on my arm, I hadn’t even thought about my battered knees. Crawling around on hardwood floors littered with glass and broken pieces of sculptures did a real number on them.
“I didn’t even think about my knees. Not with my arm and everything else going on. They’re okay. Just a few scrapes and bruises.”
Alexei’s hand hovers above my tender flesh. “I’m going to kill Gio.”
I cover his hand with mine, feeling the strength in it, the barely leashed power.
“Good plan. But first, I want answers. I want to understand why my art show became a war zone. Why Gio threatened my sister. Why your brother died. Once we get all of this behind us, we can be a happily married couple with nothing to focus on except our love for each other.”
He retrieves his gun from where he set it on the counter. The metal gleams in the low light of the loft like a deadly and precise extension of him. “Let’s go.”