Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Andrei
Dawn was just breaking when I got Lilith to the hospital.
Doctors and nurses came running down the corridor with a gurney. I laid her on it. Her hand locked around my sleeve and wouldn't let go.
I gripped her hand and ran alongside the gurney until a nurse stopped me at the operating room doors.
The door shut in my face.
I stood in that hallway for a long time. My shirtsleeve was covered in blood—hers, Pavel's, maybe some of mine. My right knuckles were purple and swollen. Those punches I'd thrown at Pavel in the warehouse—I'd used too much force. Now they were starting to hurt.
I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. All I could see was her deathly pale face looking at me, blood at the corner of her mouth, those eyes that used to shine so bright now dim and lifeless. My heart had sunk with them.
I clenched my fist and stood rigid outside the operating room. Lilith, please be okay...
"Boss, don't worry. She'll be fine."
Dmitri appeared beside me with a cup of coffee. I didn't take it. He didn't say anything else, just stood there waiting with me.
After about forty minutes, the door opened. A middle-aged female doctor with glasses came out, pulling down her mask. Her expression wasn't grim.
"Mr. Volkov, your wife has some superficial injuries.
The knife wound on her arm is fairly deep—we put in twelve stitches.
The bruises on her face and body are from blunt force trauma, but there are no fractures.
She's suffered a severe shock, but thank God—the babies are fine.
Both twins have strong, stable heartbeats.
Your wife has a good constitution, and the fetuses show no obvious signs of damage.
She needs to rest now and keep her stress levels down. "
Lilith was okay. Thank God.
I let out a long breath. I wanted to see her right away, but my legs suddenly felt weak.
In the warehouse facing Pavel, I hadn't backed down an inch. But now, standing in this hospital corridor, hearing that Lilith and my children were safe—I went slack. I had to press my hand against the wall to stay upright.
Dmitri patted my shoulder lightly. He said nothing, just stepped back. Nurses wheeled Lilith out of the operating room and transferred her upstairs to a VIP room. Her arm was wrapped in gauze. The blood had been cleaned from her face, revealing the red marks underneath.
Her eyes were closed, her breathing even and steady.
I followed the gurney into the room. After the nurses settled her in, I pulled a chair to her bedside and sat down.
The room was quiet except for the beeping of the monitors and her steady breathing.
Outside, the sky had lightened. Morning sun filtered through the blinds. I took her hand. Her fingers were ice cold. The red marks the chains had left on her wrists stood out starkly against the white gauze.
I stroked her wrist with my thumb, over and over, confirming her pulse was still beating, her body still warm. I couldn't remember the last time I'd kept vigil at someone's bedside like this. Maybe the day my mother died—and that was a lifetime ago.
All these years, I'd lived in blood and violence. I thought I'd gotten used to it. But sitting here by Lilith's bed, I realized I'd never gotten used to anything. There'd just never been anyone worth sitting beside, holding their hand until dawn.
Lilith slept through the entire day.
It wasn't until the next morning that she slowly opened her eyes. Those brown eyes still held the confusion of waking, looking especially clear in the morning light. She blinked, her gaze gradually focusing on my face. Her lips moved, her voice hoarse and weak. "Andrei... are you okay?"
She was asking if I was okay. She was lying in a hospital bed with twelve stitches in her arm, her face still marked with fading bruises, two babies in her belly, having just escaped kidnappers. And the first thing she said when she opened her eyes was asking if I was okay.
A sourness rose in my throat. I bent my head and pressed my forehead to the back of her hand, then took a deep breath.
Her fingers moved, lightly touching my hair.
Several seconds passed before I could lift my head. I wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye with my thumb.
"If you're okay, I'm okay."
Lilith smiled. It was a faint smile, just a slight curve of her lips. It pulled at the bruise on her face and made her wince. "I'm fine. Don't worry."
"Lilith, I'm so sorry."
I traced my fingers lightly over the red marks on her face, my heart aching so much I couldn't speak.
I'd sworn to protect her, but I'd still let her fall into danger.
"I misjudged Rebecca. I gave her the chance to hurt you and almost lost our children...
" If I hadn't been careless, if I hadn't kept Rebecca at the manor, none of this would have happened.
Those chains, those slaps, that blade, that fear—it was all because I failed to protect her.
"No, I don't blame you." Lilith shook her head. She looked at me gently. "That day, something happened with my sister. I was panicking. I couldn't find you. When I got back and saw your clothes mixed with Rebecca's, and heard what she said... I didn't trust you enough. That's how she got to me."
Lilith looked guilty. She squeezed my fingers lightly. "Andrei, I'm sorry."
Her tears fell. Silent tears poured from the corners of her eyes, streaming down her cheeks, dripping onto the pillow and spreading into dark stains. I reached up to wipe them, clumsy—her tears were like broken beads, endless. I couldn't wipe them all.
Watching her cry, my heart ached almost to suffocation. I gently pulled her into my arms.
"That night, when I came back from outside, I was covered in dust and sweat.
I didn't want the smell of smoke and blood on me to bother you, so I showered in the guest room.
I thought you were asleep in the bedroom.
" I looked at her, speaking each word carefully.
"I didn't know Rebecca was scheming against us.
I didn't know what she'd said behind my back.
When she said all that nonsense, the shower was running—I didn't hear a thing.
If I'd heard that absurd crap—I would've thrown her out the window right then and there! "
"And with Elena, Lilith, I'm so sorry. When you were there alone with her and couldn't reach me—you must have been terrified..."
"It's over now," Lilith said. "I believe nothing happened between you and Rebecca. And with my sister, I know you had urgent business to handle. She won't blame you."
Her words hit my chest harder than Pavel's knife in the warehouse. They hurt me and healed me. I lowered my head and pressed my lips to her palm, eyes closed, unable to speak.
"I'll apologize to Elena. If she'll forgive me, I'll do anything—even if it means working as a waiter in her restaurant for the rest of my life."
Lilith smiled at that. "A mob boss waiting tables? My sister would be thrilled. What prestige."
"But won't your men laugh at you?"
Seeing Lilith's mood lift, I relaxed a bit. I raised an eyebrow. "I can make them all wait tables, too. Elena will be even happier—won't have to hire new staff."
Just then, the door opened. Dmitri stood there. He was silent for a few seconds, then his brow furrowed tightly. "Boss, do I have to wait tables too?"
The moment he said it, Lilith laughed again. Dmitri's frown deepened. He shrugged innocently.
I looked at him. "What is it?"
"Boss, what do we do with Rebecca? She's in the dungeon now, crying and carrying on, saying she's sorry, wants to see you." When Dmitri mentioned this, I saw Lilith's smile vanish. Her body trembled almost imperceptibly. She was remembering the fear again.
Rebecca. Damn her.
"Because of Lev, I tolerated her wickedness for too long—that was my mistake." Thinking of Rebecca's insane jealousy—she'd nearly killed Lilith. My fists clenched.
I wanted to kill her. But the person with the real right to decide Rebecca's fate was Lilith.
"Lilith, what do you want to do with her? Don't worry about Lev. Whatever you decide, I'll support."
Lilith's pressed lips parted. She spoke each word deliberately. "She almost killed me and my babies. I'll never forgive her. I—want her dead."
I nodded. "Dmitri, do it."
"Got it. Oh, and Boss—one more thing. Luca knows she's awake. He wants to visit."
"Tell him Lilith's condition is still unstable. He can visit later." After I spoke, Dmitri nodded and left.
"How's... Luca?" Lilith asked.
I snorted. "He'll live. Little punk fired a gun for the first time and the recoil dislocated his wrist."
Lilith was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "He saved me too.
" I knew what she meant. Luca, that bastard, had humiliated her with the ugliest words, then harassed her daily with texts begging to get back together.
But that night, he'd stood in that warehouse doorway, pulled the trigger with shaking hands, and hit Pavel in the shoulder.
That shot gave me the opening to take Pavel down. Without it, things might have been worse. "I'll give him that much," I muttered.
Lilith laughed.
"Andrei." Then she called my name. "When we go home, I want apple pie."
"Alright, I'll bake you two."
"Why two?" She blinked.
"You've got two little Volkovs in there. They should get a taste too."