Chapter 38
Chapter thirty-eight
Dmitri
When I turned the car’s heater on, a soft sigh slipped out of Alisa’s mouth. I clenched the steering wheel to keep myself from giving her something to actually moan about.
But I didn’t touch women who had drugs in their system, and she looked five minutes away from passing out.
“What’s your address?” I said.
Alisa slumped against the window as I pulled out of the spot.
“You could’ve just got me a cab,” she muttered, staring out at the snow lazing down from the sky.
“Address,” I said, my tone harshening when she scratched at the painful-looking rash.
Reluctantly, she told me her address, and I plugged it into my GPS like I didn’t already have it memorized. Like I hadn’t followed her to the door of her crappy apartment building so many times while she remained none the wiser.
Something pressed against my chest as I realized that in her current state, tonight would’ve been the perfect opportunity for an enemy mobster to tail her home. What could’ve happened if I hadn’t been with her?
Alisa was weak. Barely able to stand, let alone fight someone off. Like a baby fucking deer.
I clenched my jaw and sped down the West Side Highway.
“Well… thanks for taking me,” she said when I parked in front of her dilapidated apartment.
I’d never seen the inside of her apartment since she kept the shades down at all times, but I presumed it held an incredible interior.
Frankly, it was a brilliant idea. Hole up in a bad part of town where no one looked too closely at what you were doing, and then secretly bring the interior up to your standards.
“See you next time,” she said, pushing the car door open.
A frown graced her face when I also got out of the car. I couldn’t help having the inverse reaction. Getting under her skin never failed to make me smile.
It drained away when she nearly smacked into the sidewalk.
“What would you do without me?” I muttered, grabbing her moments before her bare knees slammed into the ground.
A flush crossed her face, and I doubted I’d ever tire of her reactions. My chest tightened at that thought.
I gritted my teeth. I just needed to get Alisa safely in her apartment, and then I could speed into the night and get rid of this feeling corroding my system. Cradling her in my arms, I nudged open the ajar building door.
Not for the first time, I frowned at that lack of security. But she was too busy staring at my chest to notice.
“Which is yours?” I asked when we stepped into the dirt encrusted hallway.
Alisa’s head snapped up, her thoughts completely visible on her face.
“Don’t lie to me,” I said.
Her legs crossed tightly, and I wondered if she was reminded of what I’d threatened the last time she’d lied to me.
Alisa’s lips parted. She inhaled shakily before pointing to her door. I held out my hand, and she reluctantly handed the keys over to me.
When we stepped through the threshold, I paused, sure that we’d walked into the wrong apartment. Standing in front of me was a scratched up couch that looked like it’d just been taken off the side of the road. The entire apartment was smaller than my master bathroom.
She tried to wiggle out of my arms, and I carefully set her on the warped parquet flooring. Alisa leaned heavily against a tiny island, and I blinked out of my thoughts.
“Where’s the antidote?” I asked quietly.
“I’ll get it,” she said, gritting her teeth. “Just give me a moment.” Her breath came out in shuddering puffs.
One look from me, and her posture and defiance deflated. She reluctantly pointed at a bag near a rusted over heater. I carefully picked up the case, unable to believe that I was willingly picking up poisons.
Alisa slid down to the floor, shivers racking her entire body. I threw that thought out of my mind, and quickly handed it to her.
She unscrewed the cap with shaky fingers and threw it back, relief flooding her face. But the shivers didn’t stop even after she swallowed it down.
Without thinking, I picked up a threadbare blanket and settled it over her thin shoulders.
“T-thank you,” she said, her teeth clattering against each other.
When the pain didn’t dissipate from her eyes, a muscle twitched on my neck.
“Why isn’t the antidote working?” I nearly growled.
She flinched at my tone.
I brushed a hand across my jaw, trying to calm myself. Why the hell was I upset?
“It takes a moment,” she said. Her teeth clattered so hard that I’d hear the echo of it in my dreams tonight.
I frowned, finally realizing how cold the room was.
I’d spent a couple years in Russia, and the cold rarely bothered me anymore. But Alisa was so tiny and fragile, she looked like one gust of wind would knock her into unconsciousness.
“Your radiator isn’t on,” I said after finding the source of the issue.
“It’s broken,” she said while I fiddled with the knob.
I certainly wasn’t an expert on heaters, but I didn’t think it was even connected to anything. This close to the window, I could feel the draft of wind coming to greet me.
Alisa looked so small, lying down on the floor. It shook something loose inside me. A feeling so alarming that my self preservation urged me to leave this house, and not look back.
Instead, I sighed and decided to heat up some water on the stove and make tea. Anything to stop the shivers racking her body. Except when I turned on a burner… It didn’t ignite.
Not a single burner worked.
“Does anything work in this fucking place?”
A smile cracked across her face, and then a small laugh.
“No,” she said, and her laugh melted into hysterical hiccuping laughter.
I watched her laugh on the rotting floor, in this freezing apartment. Her body shuddered as she laughed, and I had my doubts she’d survive the night here. With a sigh, I leaned down and picked her up.
The laughter stopped, and she frowned up at me.
“You’re not staying here,” I said, already hauling her towards my car.