Chapter 18 #2
“Your boyfriend killed a man,” she says in a shaky voice. “He saved me from that guy, but then he just left me there.”
“He knew the others would come and free you,” I tell her. “He was worried about me and trying to get to me as quickly as possible. No one was going to just leave you here.”
“You’re going to be fine,” Lev says from beside us.
Brittney’s body tenses at the deep Russian accent and then at the sight of the tattooed, pierced man who’s looking down at her.
“They won’t hurt you,” I tell her again.
She grips my hand and says, “I just want to go home.”
“We’ll make sure you get there,” Lev tells her. “All we ask is that you keep us out of whatever story you tell the police. You don’t know us, you didn’t see us, and you have no idea who came in here and killed everyone. Understood?”
“Yes,” she quickly says, and when Roman comes over to lead her away, she gives my hand one last squeeze before telling Lev, “Thank you.”
I wait as she joins the other girls and then follows Roman down the stairs.
“Think we can trust her?” Lev asks me.
“Yeah, she’s my old roommate. You can trust her.” Unable to resist, I ask, “What would happen if I’d said no?”
His lip ring moves as he grins down at me. “I’d ask Niki to be on the lookout for any police reports that need to be erased. We wouldn’t hurt her,” he says. “She’s just a scared college kid. She was kidnapped and held by these bastards for days. She must be scared to death.”
It makes me feel better to hear the obvious sincerity in his words, but then what he said hits me and I ask, “Wait, she was kidnapped days ago? Did Sasha know? Why wouldn’t he tell me about that?”
Lev’s eyes glance back at the room that I’m still not looking into before he asks, “Are you close friends with her?”
“No,” I say, feeling bad for all the times I complained about her. “We actually don’t get along all that great,” I admit.
Lev nods like it makes perfect sense now.
“It would never occur to Sasha that you might want to know. You’re not friends with her, and she’s not family.
In his mind, that means she’s nothing to you.
Plus, he would’ve considered it work business, not something that needed to touch your private life.
” He’s quiet for a second before he says, “In his mind, he did what was right. He’s never going to think like you and me, but he’s not heartless.
What love he is capable of is fierce and loyal and innocent in many ways.
I know it’s odd to use that word when talking about him, but I know what my son is capable of and what he’s not.
Things are very black and white to him. He loves you, and that will never change.
There’s an innocence in that, a purity that’s not going to be muddled with uncertainty or disinterest or a need to cheat and see what else is out there. ”
Lev shrugs and says, “He just doesn’t think like that. He loves you and wants you and anyone who ever lays a finger on you is going to end up like that guy in there.” He grins at me and reaches out to squeeze my shoulder. “The simplicity of it is beautiful, I think.”
I can’t help but return his smile and say, “I do, too.”
“I know this is a weird time to say it,” he says with a grin as he looks around at the house that I hope to one day forget, “but Jolene and I are really happy he found you. We both worried he’d never find anyone.
He’s always been surrounded by family, but that’s not the same thing as having someone you’re in love with. ”
“It’s not,” I agree, “and I’m really glad I found him, too.”
I feel another trickle of blood, so I reach up to swipe it away right as Sasha appears in the doorway. My eyes run over him, terrified that he’s been hurt, but after a few seconds I realize that he doesn’t have a scratch on him. The blood he’s soaked in isn’t his.
When I hear a low whistle, I turn to see his Uncle Vitaly walk over to stand by Lev.
“Damn, Sasha,” he says, but I’m so happy to see him that I don’t even care what he looks like.
I rush over and wrap my arms around him in a big hug while his uncle says, “I’ve never seen anyone run towards him when he’s like this.
” I hear his laugh before he says even louder, “Most people run away from the crazy guy covered in blood, Cindy!”
I let out a soft laugh and say just loud enough for Sasha to hear, “The only time I’ll ever run from you is when I know you’re going to chase me.”
He sighs and holds me tighter as he kisses the top of my head. “I want you out of this filthy house, krovinka. I don’t want you here for one second longer.”
When I nod my agreement, he keeps his body blocking the doorway so I can’t see whatever is left of Ben.
He tells his family we’re leaving, and when we get outside, I breathe in the fresh air and take a few seconds to appreciate it before I start bombarding him with questions about how he found me.
While we walk to his motorcycle, he tells me about Sav calling him, the terror he’d felt at hearing I’d been taken, and then he assures me she’s safe and sound and back at the Kappa house, and the last thing he says is that there’s a tracker in my engagement ring.
I look down at the gorgeous ring, not at all surprised that Sasha found a way to keep tabs on me.
“Are you mad?” he asks, handing me his helmet.
I look back at the house I’d been trapped in and think about the fear I’d felt at being drugged and dragged from the club.
“No,” I say, turning back to look at him.
“I’m just glad you found me so quickly. I love my ring, Sasha, and I love it even more now that I know you’ll always be able to find me when I’m wearing it. ”
The corner of his mouth lifts up the tiniest bit, but something feels off. Sasha is sometimes hard to read, but something doesn’t feel right, so I reach out to him, refusing to let this sit and fester.
When I step closer, he doesn’t lean down to me like he normally would, so I fist his bloody shirt and pull.
He knows what I want, so he lowers down, and when he’s close enough, I let go of his shirt so I can cup his face and force him to look at me.
His eyes are different. There’s an emptiness to them now that I don’t like.
“Talk to me,” I tell him, refusing to let him go when I feel him try to straighten back up. “Sasha, talk to me. What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” he asks. Disbelief hangs heavy on his words.
“Me?” He closes his eyes and forces out a breath before looking at me again.
“You are the one I’m worried about, krovinka.
He hit you. He was minutes away from raping you.
” His tone is as sharp as his knife and just as deadly, but underneath that rage is fear and an unrelenting anger that’s directed at himself, and I hate seeing it.
“You got there in time,” I remind him. “You saved me, Sasha.”
“If I had been ten minutes late,” he starts to say, but I put my finger to his lips stopping him.
“But you weren’t.”
“But I could’ve been,” he says, refusing to let himself off the hook.
When he can tell I’m about to argue with him, he slowly shakes his head to stop me.
“When my sister was stabbed in Italy, I lost it, completely fucking lost it. All I could think about was killing, and so that’s what I did.
I hunted down every single person in those woods, and I killed them one by one.
” His fingers trail along my cheek when he says, “I wanted to do that tonight, but I couldn’t.
All I kept thinking is that if I let myself go, I won’t be able to save you.
I had to stay sane so that I could get to you.
In Italy, I knew Mia was with Dario, that he would make sure she got to the hospital, so I was free to deal with things in the only way I know how.
I couldn’t do that with you, because I’m the one who’s supposed to take care of you. ”
I feel the sticky dried blood that still clings to his hands as he sighs and caresses my face once more before kissing my forehead and stepping back. “Come on, krovinka, I don’t want you anywhere near this place. Do you feel well enough to ride on the bike?”
His eyes run over me, checking for signs that I’m still drugged, but what little got into my system seems to be long gone, so I say, “I’m fine. I only had a little bit of the drink. I got really lucky.”
“Lucky?” His eyes land on my bloody upper lip, and I can tell he’s thinking my definition of lucky might not be the same as his, but I know I’m right. I got very, very lucky tonight.
He puts the helmet on my head before I can argue with him about it, and when he gets on his bike, I do the same, wrapping him in a tight hug from behind. He gives my hand a squeeze before he starts the engine and drives us away from the house that I never want to see again.
As we hit a few side streets and then merge onto a busier road, my mind races through everything that happened, reliving every scary second of it, and the more I think about it, the tighter I hold him.
I’d come so close to never seeing him again.
I have no idea what Ben’s plans were beyond the obvious raping, but if those other girls had been held for days, what on earth were they planning on doing with them after they’d had their sick fun?
The uninvited images that question brings to mind have me needing the comfort of Sasha more than I ever have.
I slip my hands under his shirt, desperate for the feel of his skin against mine.
He’s where I feel the safest and so that’s what I reach out for, but even though my hands are pressed flush against his chest, and even though I feel the steady, strong beat of his heart beneath my palm, it’s not enough. I need more of him.