Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Dante
Tatiana lies vulnerable and still in my bed, her eyes closed and her soft lips slightly parted. When the doctor returned, he treated her wounds and put her on an IV drip with electrolytes.
As long as she remains stable, she can recover at home instead of in a hospital. I want her to be here when she wakes up, with people she loves at her side—Jasper and Noah. Plus, she’s safer in my house, which is nothing less than a fortress.
I stand at her side where I’ve taken up a position since I’ve dressed her in a soft nightdress, unable to tear my gaze away from her or make my feet move.
I can’t stop looking at her pale features and the bluish shadows under her eyes that are reflected in the hollows of her cheeks as questions keep on running through my mind.
What’s the meaning of those scars on her back? They look like the work of a cane or whip. Who would do something like that to her?
Where was she during the past five days while I turned the city upside-down looking for her? What the fuck happened to her?
Whatever it was, it must’ve caused her great shock if she asked for a woman who’s dead. The thought drives me to madness. The fury I barely contain threatens to break through the thin surface of my calm, demanding retribution.
Soon.
I’m not going anywhere until I’m certain Tatiana is fine. Not knowing what she went through is eating me alive. Yet I don’t have a choice but to be patient. I won’t know more until she’s awake.
Taking my wife’s small hand in mine, I study the broken skin on her knuckles. The doctor disinfected the cuts but didn’t bandage them. They’ll heal faster, left open. I lift her hand to my mouth and kiss each one of her fingertips. The ring I put on her slender finger weighs in my hold.
Turning her hand over, I press a tender kiss on her palm.
If I’m hoping for a flutter of her eyelashes or a twitch of her fingers, for any small reaction, it’s futile.
She remains still, only her chest rising and falling with her even breaths.
My anguish won’t subside until she opens her eyes and tells me in her own sweet voice that she’s all right.
Emily enters the room, carrying a neat pile of folded clothes sealed in a plastic bag.
I asked her to stay at the house while Tatiana is recovering, partly to help with the housekeeping and partly to take care of Noah when I’m with Tatiana.
I trust Emily with my family. She’s always been fond of Tatiana.
Jasper has been great, but she needs a break.
I consider asking Emily about the scars on Tatiana’s back, but if she knew anything about them, she would’ve mentioned the cruel torture to me. If Tatiana didn’t want to show me that map of agony, it’s because she considers the matter private. Respecting that, I keep my mouth shut.
Emily glances at Tatiana’s motionless figure that’s so tiny she looks lost in my big bed. “How’s she doing?”
If my reply is harsh, it’s because I’m blaming myself for the events that led to this macabre state of affairs. “The doctor said she’ll be fine.”
Emily sighs and rounds the bed. “Here are the clothes and pearls she was wearing.” She puts the bag on the dresser. “I handled them with gloves as you instructed.”
Barely glancing at the bag, I acknowledge her effort with a curt nod. “Thanks.”
“The labels are designer.” Emily comes to stand next to me and stares somberly at Tatiana’s pale face. “I made a list of the stores that stock the brand.”
“Good.”
A frown pinches her brow. “Why do you think she asked for her mother?”
I’ve tortured my fair share of enemies. Even the toughest of men get to a point where they ask for their mothers, but I don’t want to think like that.
I scrub a hand over my face. “We won’t know until she’s awake.”
Emily scrutinizes me. “When was the last time you slept?”
My answer is unfriendly, letting her know her concern is unwanted. “I’m fine.”
Tatiana deserves the worry, not me.
“You should rest before she wakes up.” Emily pats my arm. “She’s going to need you when she does.”
I’m not moving an inch from this bed until Tatiana opens her eyes, be that hours or days. Nothing will drag me away from her side.
Emily knows when not to push me. She hovers for another second before taking a silver chain with a cross from her pocket. “This was with the things you gave me.” She hesitates. “It was—”
“Milena’s. Yes, I know.”
Emily dangles the chain from her fingers. “I thought you wouldn’t want this to be sent away with the clothes.”
“You thought right.”
“Where shall I put it?”
I motion with my head toward the walk-in closet. “Leave it in the drawer with her other jewelry.”
When I ordered a new wardrobe for Tatiana, I bought her a few pieces from a renowned jeweler I thought she’d like. She hasn’t even opened the drawer.
A knock on the door pulls my attention.
Jasper sticks her head around the jamb. “Sorry to bother you.” She eyes Emily with a tad of hostility. “Can Noah see his mom?”
“I can go get him,” Emily says, already moving toward the door.
I don’t miss how Jasper’s shoulders snap into a rigid line, but I let it go. I understand why Jasper sees Emily as a traitor. Tatiana felt the same way when she discovered that Emily became my employee after I killed Tatiana’s parents.
Either way, I need someone I can trust. Jasper will just have to learn to trust Emily too.
Tatiana is a different story. The fact that Emily changed loyalty to the other side is a bitter pill for her to swallow.
I have no idea how she’ll react when she wakes up to find Emily here, but I’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
“Bring him,” I tell Emily.
He’s only seen his mother briefly after the doctor put her on a drip.
When Emily leaves, Jasper comes closer. “Can I?”
I’m careful when I put Tatiana’s hand back under the covers. Her bones are so delicate they may crack under the slightest pressure. “Come in.”
I leave Tatiana’s other hand on top of the covers. I don’t want to disturb the needle feeding vital fluids into a vein.
Jasper swallows audibly. “Anything?”
I told her Tatiana asked for her mother and how she reacted when she woke up in my room.
A single shake of my head suffices as a reply. I can’t speak through the knot that’s lodged in my throat.
Jasper pats my back. “She’ll be fine. Tiana is stronger than you think.”
I’ve never doubted that she has strength in spades.
Emily returns, carrying Noah on her hip. He immediately holds out his arms when he sees me. Warmth spreads through my chest as I take him from Emily and hold his small body against me.
He sticks his thumb in his mouth, something he’s been doing a lot since Tatiana disappeared.
“Hey there, buddy.” I smile. “What have you and Jasper been up to?”
“Painting,” he mumbles around his thumb.
“Paintings, huh? Did you make one for me?”
He nods, pulls his thumb from his mouth, and says demurely, “It’s a surprise.”
“In that case, I won’t ask what it is and spoil the surprise.”
“It’s the big plane, the one you and me and Mommy flew in.”
I can’t help but chuckle. Noah isn’t good at keeping secrets. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Sniffling, Jasper wipes tears from her cheeks.
Noah stares at the still shape of his mother. “Why doesn’t she open her eyes?”
“She will.” I brush a hand over his head. “For now, she’s resting.”
“Is she tired?”
“Yes.” I swallow down the lump in my throat. “She was hurt, and she needs rest to recover.”
“Did she fall like me when I played soccer?”
Emily gives me a look. “Your mommy is going to be fine, but we have to let her sleep. Come on, big man. It’s time for lunch.”
I put him on his feet. “Go with Emily. When you’re done, we can read a story here.”
He perks up. “Really?”
“Sure thing. I think your mom will like that.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
He hugs me before running ahead of Emily to the door.
“Slow down, Noah.” Emily hurries after him. “You may break a bone if you fall.”
Jasper sniffs. “I’ll go help with lunch.”
When she turns to leave, I hold her back with a hand on her arm. “I saw the scars.”
She tips her head up quickly. A look of regret mixed with hurt washes over her features.
The tightening of my fingers on her wrist is involuntary. “You know about that.”
She flinches. “Let me go, Dante.”
Obliging, I loosen my fingers and release her wrist. “What happened to Tatiana?”
She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth.
“Tell me, Jasper.” I bite off every word. “I need to know so I can hunt down the motherfucker who did that to her.”
“I’m sorry. If Tiana wanted you to know, she would’ve told you.”
With that statement, she turns her back on me and walks to the door.
This isn’t a conversation I want to have in front of Tatiana, knocked out cold on a tranquilizer or not. I wait until Jasper has left the room before I go after her and corner her in the hallway.
“I admire your loyalty to Tatiana, but you will tell me.”
She purses her lips.
The sight of Tatiana’s back drifts into my mind.
Slamming a fist into the wall next to Jasper, I order through gritted teeth, “Fucking tell me.” It’s all I can do not to unravel and do something Tatiana will hate, such as torturing the truth out of Jasper.
Jasper jumps. “Jesus, Dante. Get yourself together.”
Pain flares in my knuckles, but I barely feel the discomfort. “I need to know who did that to her because I’m going to kill that fucking son of a bitch.”
“You already did,” she cries out, her eyes flashing with anger.
The moment the words have left her mouth, she clamps her lips together. Regret replaces the anger she can’t contain.
I go still. I’ve fought a few wars in my life, and I’ve killed my fair share of enemies.
Moving closer, I tower over her. “Who?”
She looks away, unable to hold my gaze. She’s said too much in the heat of the moment, and now she blames herself for slipping up.
“Shall I name the candidates?” My smile is taunting. “It’s a long list.”
She jerks her head back to me, animosity clear in the pinched lines of her face. “Her father, okay? There. Are you happy now?”
I stumble back a step. She might as well have punched me in the gut.
Clenching her hands into fists, she continues in a heated tone.
“On the night you blew up his convoy, Tatiana told him she couldn’t marry Joni because she was expecting another man’s baby.
She thought he’d see reason, call off the engagement, and let her marry you.
Instead, her father took a whip off the wall and tried to beat the truth out of her.
Milena didn’t go into the sordid details, but she told me enough.
He demanded Tatiana tell him who’d made her pregnant so he could kill that man.
” She watches me with contempt. “She didn’t break.
She refused to tell him.” Her expression turns sad. “She protected you right to the end.”
The unsaid rings loud and clear.
Whereas I betrayed her.
That’s the real reason Tatiana didn’t want me to know about her scars.
She didn’t want to tell me that she was ready to die for me, to be fucking tortured to death, while I’d used her in the most despicable way.
To do so would’ve meant confessing just how deep her feelings had gone for a man who didn’t deserve her loyalty.
Tatiana has always been proud. Telling me the truth would’ve hurt her pride deeply.
Losing some of her steam, Jasper hugs herself. “Milena booked her into a private clinic under a false name. She didn’t want Tatiana’s father to find her. He would’ve forced her to get rid of the baby and to honor the marriage contract he’d signed with Joni. That’s why you couldn’t locate her.”
The pieces of the puzzle click into place. “Then she found out about the explosion that killed her parents.”
“And she realized you’d played her. Like I said, we thought you were only after the money and territory.”
So she ran.
The facts rain down on me like bullets, each one cutting through flesh and splintering bone.
Tatiana endured unspeakable suffering to protect me. In turn, I added to her pain. I might as well have held that whip in my own hand. Now the pain is mine, the knowledge a torment I’ll live with for the rest of my life.
Staggering like a drunk man, I clamp my hands on my head as if it would help if I crushed my skull like a nut when the image of those scars is burned into my brain. “I always cared about her.”
Jasper’s chuckle is wry. “I’m not the one you have to convince about that.”
She turns on her heel like a person who can’t look at my face for another second and walks away, leaving me alone with my gut-wrenching guilt.