Chapter 24 - Dani
By the end of the night, I’m emotionally exhausted in a completely different way than I’m used to, just not from fear or grief. Instead, it’s from…people.
There are so many people here, and after being stowed away in Nikolai’s place for so long, I’m not used to it.
The Lukovs somehow manage to dominate every room they’re in without even trying, each of them intense in completely different ways.
Roman has that quiet authority that makes everyone instinctively listen when he speaks, and Mikhail watches everything like he’s already three steps ahead of the conversation.
Sergey is upfront about his shameless charm, while Ivan is quieter and more laidback.
Even Elena, as elegant and composed as she is, has a will to her that makes it clear she belongs right alongside her brothers.
And despite all of that, I never feel unwelcome.
It’s strange. I expected to feel scrutinized and judged all night since I don’t exist in their world as they do. Instead, I mostly feel almost absorbed into all of it.
Not completely, of course. I’m still aware that I’m the outsider in the room, and the unfamiliar variable attached to Nikolai in ways even I don’t fully understand yet. But nobody treats me like an inconvenience, and nobody makes me feel like I don’t belong there.
If anything, they seem oddly determined to include me, and it’s disorienting in the nicest possible way.
Being an only child, I’m not used to this kind of chaos. My home growing up was quiet, and for a long time, it was just my dad and me. We had small dinners, quiet movie nights, and comfortable routines that didn’t involve taking too many risks.
The Lukovs are the opposite of calm and quiet.
Someone is always talking over someone else, and the occasional argument breaks out when another person tells a story wrong, only to be resolved within minutes. There’s teasing, shouting from across rooms, overlapping conversations, and laughter erupting at random moments.
It should feel only overwhelming, but instead, it feels warm. Warmer than what I’m used to.
I catch myself watching them several times throughout the evening, especially his siblings together.
Beneath all their rough edges and intimidating reputations, there’s something fiercely loyal tying them together.
It’s obvious in the way Roman automatically checks on everyone without making it obvious, and how he de-escalates when conversations get heated.
The way Sergey keeps trying to make people laugh whenever the mood shifts to something too serious.
And Nikolai…God.
Seeing him around them changes something in my fundamental understanding of him.
At home, he always feels tightly wound, like every emotion gets filtered through layers of restraint before it reaches the surface, and he only allows himself breaks from it when he decides to.
Here, more cracks in his armor show, and while he tries to maintain it still, it’s enough.
Enough for me to notice the dry humor he only lets loose around family, and how he tolerates teasing from his siblings with far more patience than I thought he possessed. The subtle protective instinct he has toward every person in that house is unlike anything I’ve seen before.
It humanizes him in ways I’m probably not prepared for.
By the time we finally leave Roman’s estate, the desert air feels cool against my overheated skin, and I exhale softly the second we step outside.
Nikolai notices immediately while opening the passenger door for me. “Overstimulated?”
“Definitely,” I admit, not finding any point in saying otherwise.
A subtle smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth, and he nods once. “I’m one of them, and I get the same way. You survived better than most people do.”
“Is that a compliment?”
He hums. “Of course.”
Sliding into the SUV, I shake my head while he circles toward the driver’s side, and before long, we head out.
Vegas glows in the distance as we pull away from the estate, the city sprawling endlessly below the hills. The Strip shines bright enough to make the desert itself disappear, and for a while, neither of us speaks.
The quiet feels comfortable now in a way it didn’t before, and to my relief, it isn’t as tense as it used to be. For once, it doesn’t feel like we’re both bracing for the worst.
Eventually, Nikolai glances toward me briefly while one hand rests loosely against the steering wheel, and his voice reaches me softer than usual. “You did well tonight.”
I snort to myself. “I wasn’t aware I was being graded.”
“You were, in a sense.”
“That’s harsh.”
A low laugh escapes him, and I find myself liking that sound more than I should.
“You handled them better than most people would,” he says. “That means some praise is due.”
“Then I guess I won’t complain,” I murmur, trying not to read into it too deeply, despite definitely doing exactly that.
His mouth twitches again, and after a beat, he adds, “They liked you.”
The statement catches me off guard more than it should, and I feel a subtle warmth reach my ears. “How could you tell?”
“Ivan didn’t stare at you like he was picking you apart, and Sergey was trying his best to be a comedian, so I’d say that went pretty well.”
“Are you saying they were actually being nice?” I ask, both curious and amused. “Should I anticipate worse next time?”
“Yes, that was the better side you saw, but I wouldn’t be too worried about seeing the other,” he answers, smiling slightly. “You should be grateful Roman behaved himself, too.”
“He’s terrifying even when he’s happy.”
He laughs quietly again, and warmth spreads annoyingly through my chest at the sound.
“You’re not wrong.”
After a beat, Nikolai glances at me, then murmurs, “I’ve been thinking lately, with everything going on, it might be good to start a foundation of some kind.”
My brows furrow lightly at that. “A foundation?”
He nods. “To help other victims of medical malpractice. It could be yours to manage, if you’re interested.”
That throws me even more as I look at him, finding only sincerity in his features. The idea strikes me as a valuable one, but at the same time, doubt creeps in around the edges.
“I wouldn’t know how to lead something like that.”
“You could learn, and you wouldn’t have to do it alone,” Nikolai suggests with an understanding tone. “I have the feeling you’d be more capable of it than you realize. Think about it, at least.”
Something warm settles in my chest at that, and I nod while I sit with the idea.
I’ve never overseen anything remotely similar, but he might have a point. I know firsthand what it’s like to lose someone to fraud, and ever since it happened, I’ve been instilled with this urge to reassure others.
Still...I don’t know if I’m the right person for the job.
The city lights blur past outside the windows while we continue down the highway, heading back toward home.
The realization hits me suddenly enough to make my stomach twist, because somehow, despite every logical part of me resisting the idea, Nikolai’s house has started feeling more familiar than temporary. Safer than imprisoning.
That thought should probably concern me, but instead, I glance toward him and let the idea linger.
His sleeves are rolled slightly from earlier, exposing strong forearms and the occasional tattoo as they climb up higher towards his shoulders. His profile is sharp but far too attractive beneath the passing city lights, with a calmer expression than I’ve seen from him in days.
And for one terrifying second, I let myself imagine what this might feel like under different circumstances. Normal ones…like an average man driving me home after meeting his family. With no violence, no Bratva, and no grief hanging over everything.
Just us.
The fantasy hurts almost immediately because it can never really be that simple, and Nikolai is far from an average man with an average life.
Still, I can’t quite stop myself from wanting pieces of it anyway, regardless of what that could mean for me.
I stare at him longer than I mean to, getting lost in the sight of him and the thoughts of how far we’ve come.
The opposite side of his face lights up from approaching headlights, and when I expect them to eventually dim, they don’t.
Instead, it intensifies as someone approaches too fast. Then everything suddenly feels too fast.
A deafening crash breaks the moment as another vehicle slams violently into us from the side, and the image of him turns dark as my eyes snap shut instinctively.
The impact jerks my entire body sideways hard enough that pain explodes through my shoulder and skull simultaneously. Metal screeches loud enough to deafen, glass shatters everywhere, and the world spins violently as the SUV skids across pavement.
I don’t register my scream until my lungs start to burn as I try to inhale again.
The vehicle finally slams to a stop somewhere, but nothing feels right.
For a second, there’s only ringing silence, followed by the smell of smoke and something acrid. Then, pain throbs through my head, and my pulse is all I can hear in my ears.
My vision blurs badly as I try to orient myself, panic flooding through me all at once while I try to reach for something. Anything. But I can barely feel my fingers.
“Nikolai—”
My voice barely comes out properly as I suck in another breath, and as my eyes barely open, I’m looking at the roof instead of the floor.
Beside me, he’s moving already despite blood running down one side of his face. His expression shifts instantly from dazed to lethal awareness.
“Dani.”
The way he says my name snaps through the haze, and I feel his hand grabbing for me across the center console just as voices erupt outside the vehicle.
My stomach drops instantly despite the haziness surrounding my senses.
Nikolai seems to realize it at the exact same moment I do, and his entire body goes rigid before he starts reaching for his seatbelt.
“Lock the door,” he snaps harshly, voice hoarse.
But before I can even react properly or begin reaching for the lock, my door is ripped open, and the cold night air rushes in violently.
Nikolai growls as he moves more urgently, trying to unclip himself despite whatever damage he took from the impact. “Fuck…hold on. Dani—”
Hands grab me, but they feel icy and foreign compared to the warmth I’m used to with him.
My scream gets caught in my throat as more dizziness sets in, fighting despite the disorientation clawing through my skull. Everything feels sluggish and wrong.
Someone drags me hard against the seatbelt before cutting it away entirely.
“Nikolai!”
His name tears from my throat in panic, but it’s enough to wind me all over again.
I hear shouting from either side of me, followed by an impact that sounds like Nikolai has finally freed himself.
There’s a gunshot, but it sounds more muffled through my daze.
“Dani!”
Nikolai reaches for me again from across the ruined interior, bloodied and shaking, but someone yanks me violently out of the SUV before he can reach me.
The last thing I see is him lunging toward me with murder in his eyes, trying to get through the wreck.
But before he can, the weight of everything presses down on me, forcing pain through my skull until it fades to nothing, and everything goes completely black.