Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Leah
The second the chains fell away, I threw myself into Roman's arms.
I buried my face against his chest, letting my tears soak through the fabric. I couldn't even cry properly—just shook, clutching his shirt so hard my nails dug into his skin through the cloth. Like if I let go, he'd vanish.
His heartbeat pounded beneath my ear, fast and heavy. Only when I was in his arms, hearing that heartbeat, could I let myself believe it.
Roman was alive. He was still here.
I couldn't stop the tears. I held him with everything I had.
His body trembled slightly—blood loss or pain, I didn't know. The realization damn near shattered me.
"Leah, don't be scared. I'm here." His voice was low.
The terror of almost losing him made me pound my fists against his chest.
"Why did you come in alone?"
"You knew it was a trap!"
"You almost died right in front of me—how could you be so cruel?"
I couldn't hit him anymore. I was sobbing, gasping for air, incoherent like a tantrum-throwing child.
I knew I was being unreasonable, but I couldn't help it. The fear needed an outlet, and he was the only one.
I pressed against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.
A soft laugh came from above my head.
I jerked my head up. After everything that just happened, this man could still laugh.
"You're laughing!"
"Sorry." He didn't sound sorry at all as he pressed me closer, chin resting on top of my head. "I just didn't expect you to cry this hard for me."
"I'm not crying!" My denial was pathetic, tears still falling onto his shirt.
"Wrong time to say it, but I'm fucking thrilled."
"Shut up."
He actually did, just tightened his arms around me and let me soak his shirt through.
After a long while, I found my voice again, muffled against his chest.
"This is my fault. If I hadn't tried to leave, Dmitri wouldn't have had his chance, and you wouldn't have—"
"Stop. This is all on me." He cut me off.
"I didn't explain the situation. I was too arrogant, thought keeping you in the dark was best."
He looked down. Those eyes I could never read were right there, so close.
I'd been afraid for nothing. All this protection came from love.
Fresh tears welled up.
I'd always feared Roman's extreme love, his control, his possessiveness, being locked in that gilded cage.
But I'd never truly understood him. Guilt and overwhelming love twisted together in my chest.
I looked up, leaning in bravely to kiss him.
Roman understood. His eyes darkened as he bent toward me.
Our lips were about to touch when Nick's voice cut in without mercy.
"Boss, what do we do with Dmitri?"
"Fuck." Roman cursed under his breath, then reluctantly turned his head toward the man in the middle.
As Roman pulled away, I dropped my head.
God, was I insane? In front of all these people, I'd almost kissed him like that.
I coughed awkwardly and looked over at Dmitri too.
Two men in black had him pinned to the ground, blood still seeping from his wrists, but he didn't seem to feel it.
He'd fallen into some kind of deranged state, eyes wide, pupils unfocused, repeating the same words over and over.
"Impossible, impossible."
He kept saying it, voice completely hoarse, but still refusing to accept reality.
Watching him, a strange sadness rose in me.
He'd waited so long, thinking he was avenging his sister, only to discover he'd been the one who drove Irina to her death.
That kind of devastating reversal could destroy anyone's sanity.
"Lock him up for now." Roman's voice came from above my head, flat, emotionless.
Nick hesitated. "Not taking care of him?"
"For Mira's sake, lock him up. We'll deal with it later."
Nick glanced at Roman, said nothing, and gestured to his men.
Two men in black hauled Dmitri up. His body was limp, no resistance, just dragged toward the warehouse exit.
Dmitri kept shaking his head, his feet leaving two long trails of blood on the concrete as they pulled him along.
When he passed me, I couldn't help but look.
His face had completely changed. That hollow, devastatingly sad expression made him look like he wasn't in this world anymore.
I thought if Irina were still alive, she wouldn't want to see her brother like this.
But I bit down hard on my lip, forcing myself to stop.
I was pitying an enemy who'd just tried to kill Roman. That was absurd.
There were more important things to worry about. I pushed the thoughts away and tugged at Roman's shirt, making him look at me.
"What?"
"Let me see your wound..." I looked down at the knife wound in his leg.
"It's nothing. I held back; it's not that deep." Roman shrugged like it was no big deal.
This idiot, did he really think he could fool me? That was a deep stab wound—how could it be nothing?
I examined the dark wound with a pained heart, though I couldn't see much. I was about to wave Nick over to help get Roman to a hospital.
But the second I raised my hand toward Nick, chaos erupted.
Roman's face darkened as he shoved me behind him hard.
I looked over his shoulder in horror toward the commotion and saw Dmitri had somehow found the strength to break free.
Then he lunged sideways, his good hand reaching for a gun on the ground that no one had collected yet. My heart jumped with Dmitri's movement.
This was too dangerous! Even I knew Dmitri wasn't in his right mind—someone in that state was capable of anything.
Roman cursed in the same instant. "Damn it! Bunch of useless—"
Everyone prepared for Dmitri's counterattack.
But when Dmitri got the gun, he just laughed maniacally at it.
"Ha ha ha ha ha, I'm so fucking pathetic."
After venting, Dmitri didn't look at anyone else. He looked up at the sky, raised his hand, and pulled the trigger cleanly.
"Don't look!" Roman roared, reaching to cover my eyes.
Too late. When the gun went off, I saw the whole bloody scene clearly—red and white matter splattered across the gray concrete wall.
Intense nausea hit me instantly. My stomach churned violently. I bent over, dry heaving, the sickness nearly swallowing me whole.
"You okay?" Roman bent down despite his leg wound, patting my back anxiously, voice low.
"I'm fine, I just don't understand..." I shook my head, face pale.
"What?"
"Why didn't he try to understand her when Irina was alive? Why do people only learn pain and how to cherish things after they've lost them?"
"Because cherishing is a skill you have to learn."
Roman's palm moved over the back of my head, tucking my messy hair behind my ear.
"I'm learning too."
His fingers stopped behind my ear, thumb gently brushing the tear tracks on my cheekbone.
"Let's not become like that, Leah."
I looked up at Roman's pale face.
I never thought Roman would say something like that.
An impulse swept through me. I didn't care who was watching.
I stood on my toes, cupping his face with both hands. This time, no one interrupted.
My lips pressed against Roman's. His lips were chapped, tasted like rust, rough stubble scraping my chin.
After a brief pause, Roman snapped out of it and gripped the back of my head, pulling me closer, kissing back.
It was an almost frantic kiss. After all the crisis and misunderstandings had been cleared.
All the pain and hurt dissolved in this kiss.
Like the whole world was just the two of us. Just cherishing and love.
But then Nick's voice suddenly rang out.
"Watch out!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught an impossible sight.
In the corner of the warehouse, Trent—lying in a pool of blood—had somehow opened his eyes.
His face was covered in blood, his right hand gripping a gun he'd found somewhere, the barrel aimed at my back. "Leah! Go to hell."
The gunshot followed, giving me no time to react.
I just remember being shoved hard to the side, the force so strong my feet left the ground. I flew backward several steps, my back slamming hard against the concrete.
By the time I scrambled up from the ground, Trent was lying in a pool of blood. Nick had fired several more shots.
Then Mark dropped his gun, shouting.
"Roman! Fuck! Get the helicopter ready!"
That's when it hit me. I looked toward where I'd been standing.
Roman was lying there. A bright red hole pierced through his shoulder, and his face was already ashen gray.
No! No!
"Roman!" I crawled toward him. My knees hit broken glass, my palms sliced open by something on the ground. I felt nothing.
I just knew I had to get to him. Had to. Now. Right now.
But no matter how much I called out, Roman didn't respond.
Not until I felt his body slowly growing cold.