Chapter 69 Sienna
SIENNA
I let out a frustrated groan when my bladder woke me for the second time. I slowly teetered up to a seated position. Vovchyk lifted his head and hopped off the bed, ready to escort me to the bathroom again.
“Baby Girl thinks my bladder is a trampoline.”
Vovk nudged my hand.
“Ugh, okay. You’re right. The sooner I get up, the sooner I can go back to sleep.”
I grabbed my phone on the way to the bathroom.
I didn’t expect to have any messages from Dimi—he’d told me not to panic if I didn’t hear from him—but my heart still sank when my too-bright phone screen didn’t yield any assurances that my husband was safe.
Although, it did tell me it was just past three in the morning.
I peed quickly so I didn’t fall asleep on the toilet. Vovchyk’s paws padded silently back to the bed, but as I sat down on the edge of the mattress, he growled.
Ice trickled through my veins, transporting me back to that dark aisle in the shipping yard.
My hands grew clammy as I rested one on Vovk’s back for balance.
I hadn’t seen him like that since the shipyard—every muscle tense, a low steady growl still rumbling through him.
What were the odds Maxim was moving around the house and that’s what Vovk was reacting to?
When his growl grew louder and even more fierce, my hope vanished into the night’s darkness.
My fingers shook while I dialed Maxim. I held my breath, willing him to pick up, but the phone didn’t even ring.
My heart sank all the way through the floor when I realized I had no service.
There weren’t even bars in the top corner of my phone screen—it just read SOS.
I tried calling him again. Nothing. I tried a text, but it didn’t go through.
As a final hail Mary, I dialed Dimi, but I was met again with silence.
The dread that had been a small rock at Vovk’s first growl was now a heavy boulder in my stomach.
I slowly opened the nightstand drawer and took out my handgun.
I didn’t bother closing the drawer, not wanting to risk making more noise.
Sweat trickled down my back while I strained to listen. Was someone in the house?
My hand curled around the doorknob, but I hesitated. Was this a stay put type of situation? Or would that just make me a sitting duck? My brain, usually filled with racing thoughts that were impossible to slow, was blank.
Well, doing something had to be better than standing by the door in my sweatpants, t-shirt, and fluffy slippers. I would go out, see Maxim sitting in the living room, tell him Vovk had heard something, and he would take care of it.
I slowly pushed the door open. Vovk immediately moved in front of me, the hair on his back raised as his growls continued.
I tightened my hold on the gun, willing my hand to hold it steady as we crept through the shadowy hall to the living room.
I peered around the corner, expecting to see Maxim on the couch, but the room was empty.
The table lamp was lit, and there was a plate with half a cookie on the coffee table.
The silence weighed on my chest, so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
I kept my fingers tangled in Vovk’s fur as we crept through the living room, almost letting out a whimper when I saw it.
The front door was open.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Maxim would never leave me.
My free hand clutched my chest, trying to slow my breaths before I passed out. I needed to keep it together because something was horribly wrong.
I flipped the safety off the gun and stuck to the wall as we crept towards the open front door.