I don’t even remember moving to kick him, but I know I did because now I was standing over his motionless body. It didn’t even look like he was breathing. I just stared at him, completely numb. glanced at my knuckles. They were sore. There was blood on them. Was it mine or his?
Viktor walked to me, handing me a towel to wipe Mike’s blood off nie. He also handed me my shirt. I only vaguely remembered taking it off. Guess Chris and Keith are in the club now. I felt Adrik next to me, but I couldn’t see much except what was directly in front of me. I felt like I did the day that Misha and I were attacked, like I was waiting for the darkness to come. I knew Mike hadn’t landed a square hit, so I didn’t know why I felt like that.
I heard Adrik tell Viktor, “he’s done here. If he wakes up, make sure he understands he won’t next time if I ever see him in this city again.”
I stared at Mike’s body. He still hadn’t moved. It still looked like he wasn’t breathing, but nobody was checking to see if he was still alive. I looked at Adrik. I saw the surprise in his eyes when his eyes met mine, but it quickly turned to…lust? He held my gaze for a moment before he forced himself to look away. I looked to Viktor, then back to Mike’s motionless body. “He’s done on this earth. He’s not going to let this go, ever. He’ll either spend the rest of his life trying to get to me or he’ll run to Sal to tell him everything he knows about us. Or both. He can’t walk out of this building,” I said, in Russian, since Chris and Keith were still around.
Viktor looked at me, every bit the proud older brother. A slight smile crept across his face, like he wanted to beam at me, but was trying to hide it. “You both are assuming he’s going to wake up. Ten bucks says he’s already dead.”
I noticed Chris and Keith walk into the ring. Chris was the one that finally went to check Mike’s vitals. He seemed to be the only one concerned with that, but he walted several minutes, so he clearly wasn’t that concerned. Keith said something, but ! honestly wasn’t paying attention. I was watching Chris.
“I hated that guy,” Chris sald, looking up at me.
“Hated? As in past tense?” I asked.
He nodded his head. “No pulse. I think that final kick to the head did him in,” he said.
Huh. So, I just killed a man and I felt strangely fine about it. Maybe it would hit me later, but right now, I felt very much the way I did when I killed my uncle. Completely void of everything. I feel nothing-I looked to Viktor. “I guess I owe you ten bucks, Papa Bear.”
I could see that the guys came into the ring, but I was still struggling to see correctly. I kept staring at Mike, like I wast expecting him to get up and curse at me for kicking his a ss. He’s not getting up. He’s never getting up again.
I heard Ivan’s voice, but it took me a second to find him. “Sephie, he sealed his fate the second he called you a wh ore. If youl hadn’t ended him, we would have. There was no walking out of here alive for him today. You just delivered his sentence, Princess.” His voice softened when he said that last sentence, like he was trying to coax me out of the log he knew I was in. It worked. I could see more clearly. I walked quickly to him, just wanting to hide. I buried my face in his good shoulder as he held me tightly against him. He kissed the top of my head and whispered, “do you believe us now that what’s said in anger is the truth?” I nodded my head, but kept my face hidden. I felt the tears coming now. He squeezed me tighter, then whispered, “I’m just glad no broccoli was harmed today.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I looked up at him, his handsome smile across his face, clearly relieved that I had laughed. They knew if they could make me laugh, it was generally going to be okay. I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek, thankful he knew what to say to snap me back to reality. Then I remembered what Mike had said to me.
“Oh God I’m using my sexual charms again!” I said as dramatically as possible. “Somebody please stop me.”
And just like that, we were standing over a dead body, laughing like it was the most normal thing ever, forgetting completely the severity of the situation. “Normal is completely overrated anyway
*
Sephie
Adrik took me upstairs, straight to the shower. My muscles were starting to feel sore already. My hands hurt, too. I had blood on my hands, literally and figuratively, but I didn’t know if it was mine or his at this point.
Adrik pulled me under the warm water, which helped my muscles relax. I looked at him, thinking about what had just happened and how confusing it was to not feel how I thought I was supposed to feel. “What does it mean that I don’t feel bad for what just happened? I felt the same standing over Mike as I did standing over my uncle. Completely void.”
I watched his eyes as I talked. No change. He looked at me the same as always. He ran his finger over my face, saying, “Ivan was right, Sephie. He sealed his fate with me when he said your pretty face was all you had going for you. Ivan too. It just kept getting worse as he got angrier. Do you believe me now that what’s said in anger is someone’s true feelings?”
I smiled up at him. I knew he hadn’t heard Ivan tell me that in the gym, but I know I needed to hear it a second time. “He really didn’t know when to shut up,” I said, turning around so I could lear back against him. I looked at my hands under the water. Turns out some of the blood was mine, some was his. I had split my knuckles in a few places. They were starting to swell, too, and turn pretty colors that knuckles shouldn’t display. Adrik ran his hands down my arms, grabbing each of my hands in his. He inspected both, then said, “I have a trick to help this.”
I looked up at him, curious. “From all those punching bags you used to break?” I still found it amusing when I thought about what Tori had told me about Adrik that first weekend at the house. He looked surprised. “How do you know about that?”
“Tori told me about it. She said they thought you had anger issues because you were constantly breaking punching bags. That one was hard for me to believe, honestly,” I said, still remembering how surprised I was at Tori’s revelation. I pulled his arms around my waist, loving the extra warmth that his body provided when it was against mine.
“She was right. They used to have to keep an extra supply of bags because I went through them so quickly. I think I’ve only broken one bag since I met you, though.” He smiled at me when I looked up at him again, completely surprised. “I told you, solnishko. You made that side of me go to sleep.”
I remembered feeling his anger when I was in the ring with Mike. I laughed. “Not entirely, though. I could feel your anger when Mike made the comment about my sexual charms,”
It was like it was almost a living thing that I could feel almost envelope me. He looked surprised. “Seriously? I did wonder how you knew I had made a move toward the ring.”
“I noticed it the other night when we were talking to Andy about the kidnapping attempt. It’s like your anger feeds mine. I don’t know how to describe it, but I could feel it then and I could feel it today.” I realized how crazy what I had just said out loud sounded. I turned to face him again, slightly worried. I searched his eyes, but he just smiled down at me.
*You do read my mind already. I don’t know why it would be any different that you can feel what I feel. It’s one of the many things I love about you.”
I stood on my toes, pressing my lips to his. I wanted more, but my body felt like it had been hit by a truck. I felt like I just wanted to sleep the rest of the day. I turned around again, leaning back against him as it was both warmer and easier to remain standing when I was leaning against him.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.