Melody
Chapter sixty-nine
As the weeks fold in on themselves, our domestic life becomes a dream. We do chores together, which end in both of us panting and naked. Who knew housework could be so sexy?
We read together every night and have just finished our first book before Kaden suggested a dystopian romance as our next read. He quickly learned that the genre lacked knots and breeding and groaned with boredom. I enjoyed the work, but he wanted another monster romance.
We both work during the day, keeping tabs on each other.
I’ve tried to pry bits of information out of him on what he does for Ivan, but he refuses to give me the gory details.
I guess that should make me glad he isn’t frothing at the maw to explain how blood oozes from an open wound, but I’m left feeling a little separated from that part of his life.
It doesn’t scare me anymore, and I want to be involved in some way.
My phone buzzes on the metal table I’m using to gently build a bouquet for a wedding. I smile at the message from my husband.
Fuck, I miss you.
I type up a quick reply with one finger.
Wyd?
His response is instant.
Definitely not sitting in front of The Bloom Room trying to sneak a peek at you.
My heart flutters wildly as I abandon my work and push past the swing doors that lead to the lobby of my establishment. Kaden is standing at the front desk, two takeout containers in his hands as he smirks.
“There’s my girl,” he preens. “Have lunch with me?”
My blush spreads across my cheeks as my employees roll their lips in with amusement. I follow Kaden out to his car, our fingers intertwined as we slide into the front, and he hands my food over.
Fresh, sweet, and sour chicken wafts through the vehicle, and my stomach rumbles as I take a generous bite. “What have you been up to?”
Kaden’s mouth is stuffed full of Lo Mein as he turns to me. “Nice try.”
“Oh, come on!” I exclaim, placing a hand on his massive bicep before shaking him. “Just tell me. Please!”
He snorts past his food. “And face your wrath for doing dangerous shit? Pass.”
I roll my eyes. “I know what you’re up to, you know? It won’t bother me.”
He sighs, scrubbing a hand across his mouth. “I have to pick up a shipment for one of Ivan’s suppliers tonight. I’m not telling you what it is, so don’t ask.”
“It’s drugs, isn’t it?” I push.
His eyes cut to me. “…No.”
“Liar.”
He chuckles. “And what if it is? Then what?”
My mirth fades a bit as I curl my fingers around his neck and pull his attention to me. “Then I would ask you to be careful…”
His face softens. “I always am.”
He has a gentleness to him that’s only reserved for me. I don’t see it in him anytime he communicates with his friends or even our family. It’s something I’ve come to cherish because I know it bleeds his truth.
He really does love me, and I’ve fallen so hard for him a second time that I don’t think those feelings ever went away. They were buried, but I’ve always been that hopeless girl at my core who fell in love with Kaden and never let go of him. Even when things were tough…
“I love you,” I whisper from my heart.
His eyes screw shut as he savors the words. “I love you too, Sunny.”
Something twinges deep in my gut. It stunts my breath, making sound dull around me with an intense sense of dread. Our shared moment turns to something I feel I’m observing from the outside looking in.
Not right.
It’s a deep instinct—one I haven’t felt in years. I don’t know if Kaden can sense it, but he doesn’t seem to notice as he leans across the center console and kisses me sweetly. Even the taste of his lips feels chaste and almost like a goodbye.
Which is strange because he isn’t privy to my mood shift as he talks about cooking dinner tonight for us. His words become muddled to my ears as my expression drags downward.
What’s going on with me?
“Are you okay?” Kaden asks, frowning at me.
I clear my throat, blinking away the tension that’s lining me. “Um, yeah.”
I can tell he doesn’t believe me, but he doesn’t push the matter as we continue to enjoy our lunch. When we’re done, I still can’t shake the feeling as he grabs my cheeks before smashing his lips to mine fiercely.
“Fuck, I love you so much,” he growls.
I force a smile to my face, ignoring the stabbing at the back of my mind. “I love you too.”
He tilts his head as he brushes my hair away from my face. “I don’t want to leave…”
I stop breathing. Maybe he feels it too, somewhere deep inside of him. Maybe this is his subconscious’s way of telling him not to go…
I curl my fingers around his, holding him tightly. “Then don’t. Stay here with me.”
His face falls as he looks away from me. His jaw ticks as he swallows. “I wish I could, pretty girl.”
Is it possible for my heart to sink any lower? I feel as if it’s fallen into the depths of hell. I suck in a ragged breath, offering a wavering smile. “What time will you be home?”
His gaze finally shifts back to me. “Six.”
“Okay…” I say quietly before pressing forward and kissing him. I grab the collar of his shirt in a fist. “Six. If you aren’t home, I’m sending an army.”
He cracks a small smile. “I expect a legion, wife.”
I wave him off as I stand in front of my shop. For the rest of the day, nerves bite at my stomach, making my lunch turn to nausea. That feeling remains for the rest of the day, eating away at my sanity.
It’s six.
I got home two hours ago and have been texting Kaden since then. He read my first set of messages before the rest of them were marked as delivered. I’m in the process of calling Sergey as I pace the foyer of our home.
“Solnyshko! What is the meaning—” The Russian guard begins joyously before I cut him off.
“Where the fuck is my husband?” I snarl into the speaker, only feeling a little guilty for my reaction. Sergey hadn’t done anything wrong, but I’m freaking out.
There’s rustling from the other end, as if he’s sitting up from a sofa. “Has he not made it home?”
“No,” I rub the hem of my shirt between my fingers, the bridge of my nose beginning to sting with my quickly falling tears. I’m not normally so emotional, but today had me all messed up. I’m cramping, my hormones are out of whack, mercury is in retrograde, and my fucking husband is missing.
Sergey moves, the sounds of joints popping as he rises. “I’ll check with the Pahkan. Do you have Smerti’s location?”
I run a hand through my hair, sniffling as my words become a jumbled mess. “I-I don’t think so…”
“Hey, listen to me,” Sergey says softly like a father comforting his own child. “Everything will be okay, yeah? This is not the first time he has gone silent.”
“Not the first time?!” I rage, fisting my hair at my temples as my knees almost buckle. “Sergey, something is wrong! I can feel it in my gut—”
“Okay, okay,” he murmurs reassuringly. “I’m getting in my car now. Contact Saint and ask him if he’s seen Smerti today.”
There’s a heavy thud from the other side of the front door. I stop, my head whipping around to the sound as something scrapes against the steps. My heart thumps painfully as the blood rushes past my ears.
“…Melody?” Sergey calls, and I realize he’s been saying my name on repeat.
“Someone’s here,” I whisper faintly, my hands beginning to shake as my vision tunnels.
There’s someone out there…
All traces of gentle nature vanish from the guard’s voice as he barks his command. “Don’t open that door! I need you to hide, Melody! Find a room you can lock yourself in.”
I don’t blink as whoever is outside groans. It’s a pained whine, almost like a ghost. The sound of a body hitting the steps makes me jump in shock as my heart ricochets around my ribcage.
Then I realize that I know that voice…
I ignore the guard’s screaming on the other end of the phone as I race to the door.
My fingers are trembling so hard that they can barely hold the handle before I force myself to choke down a steadying breath and push past the threshold.
At first, I don’t see anything. Not beyond my frantic searching in the darkness.
Until I look down and my blood runs cold.
I can tell Kaden tripped coming up the steps.
His hand is braced on the top one while his other arm curls around his abdomen.
His head is tucked, so he can’t see me, but my eyes are raking over him with a sharpness.
His shoulders are shaking as his breath comes out in quick pants.
He’s coiled tightly, every movement restrained and edged with sluggish exhaustion.
I stare at him with wide, rounded eyes of fear as my sight drifts downward. I stop breathing the moment I see it.
Blood.
It’s oozing through his t-shirt and jacket, dripping onto the cement of our steps like a stark crime scene that I’m forced to bear witness to. As the thick essence falls, smaller specks splatter around it, making a horrid painting out of my broken husband’s suffering.
I don’t think—don’t breathe—as I fall to my knees in front of him. My phone clatters to the ground, Sergey’s yelling causing Kaden’s head to rip up at the very moment I cradle his face in my hands. Sweat slicks his brow, making his hair stick to his temple as his eyes widen at the sight of me.
“You’re bleeding…” I mumble, my voice trembling.
The fucker smiles at me as his breath skates heavily past his lips. “I told you I would…be home for…six…”
If he weren’t hurt, I would slap him.
“You’re shaking…like a leaf,” he chuckles weakly. “I’m fine, Sunny.”
I suck in a breath, my eyes screwing shut as my nose wrinkles. I’m beyond relieved he’s alive, but so fucking mad. My veins sizzle as everything tips over. “YOU’RE FUCKING BLEEDING!”
He flinches, his lips pulling over his teeth. “Yeah…”
“What happened?!” I shout.
“Got shot,” he huffs, a humorless laugh. “It was…my fault. I didn’t…search the supplier.”
I shake my head raggedly, blinking back the tears that are threatening to fall as I paw at his chest. “We—we have to get you inside.”
He nods before planting a hand on the railing and forcing himself up with jagged movements. I wrap my arm around his back, my eyes trained on the wetness that’s growing across his abdomen.
“Eyes up here, pretty girl,” he commands, making my gaze snap to him. “Don’t look at it. I’m fine, okay?”
I nod, still shaken as I guide him inside. I’m not even sure I’m helping as he shuffles over the doorway with groans of pain. Each sound pierces my heart like a knife, and I have to close my eyes as we near the dining room table.
He falls back into a chair, his legs spreading out in front of him as he slaps a hand over the tear in his shirt where the bullet entered. He’s trying to shield the worst of it from me, but it’s too late. I don’t need to see the damage to know it could potentially become fatal.
Which shunts me into action. My nerves are shot, but I can’t think past the urge to help him. In any way I can.
“Hospital,” I breathe as I flip the handle of the sink, allowing the water to flow onto the dish towel I’m holding tightly to.
Once it’s soaked, I wring it out before padding over to my husband and dropping to my knees in front of him.
I swallow past the thickness in my throat as I lift the towel to his bloodied knuckles. “We need to call an ambulance—”
“That isn’t mine,” he groans.
I balk at his dripping fists as the essence stains the floor beneath him.
“I beat…the guy after…he shot me.”
“Oh,” I draw back, curling my lip as I press the cloth into his abdomen. “You need a doctor, Kaden.”
“I know,” he sighs. “Can you grab my phone out of my pocket?”
I shove my hand into his jeans, pulling out his device as I frown at the shattered screen.
“Go to my contacts and call Doc.” He says softly as he rests his head back against the chair.
I nod, my fingers flying over the shattered bits until I find the contact and hold it up to my ear. It rings twice before an aged, gravely voice picks up.
“Kaden, this had better be fucking life or death—”
“Hi,” I respond meekly, mentally slapping myself. Now isn’t the time for social anxiety. “Not Kaden. I’m his wife, Melody.”
“Holy shit,” the man mutters. “He really did marry his sister…”
“Kaden was shot,” I rush, waving a hand as if the man can see me in my desperate state. “Is there something you can do?”
“Mother fucker,” he curses before the sound of something slams heavily on the other end. “I’ll be there in ten.”
The line goes dead, and I’m left standing here, praying that ten minutes won’t be the difference between my husband living… or dying.