Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Rico scratched his jaw. “When he’s stable and has rested a bit, I need you to find out everything he knows, got it? It’s the only way we can get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, keep him indoors. I’ll talk to Niran about upping security around the place until this shit is settled.”
I pushed up from my chair, eager to get back to Maksim. I needed to be there. To watch over him and track every single thing Nicholas did to him. Maksim had lost a lot of blood and was too weak to defend himself. He needed me there to be his protector so he could properly rest and heal.
I’d never let another soul touch him again. And when I found who did this to him, I was going to slaughter them to fucking pieces.
Seeing Maksim damn near on the verge of passing out with blood staining his skin, coming to me for help because clearly he couldn’t trust his own family—the Bratva—had me seeing red. I’d never felt anything this viscerally in my life. I was laid back and took things in stride. Hardly anything affected me. But seeing the man I’d claimed as mine in desperate need of my help, damn near about to fucking die if he lost any more blood, had me ready to rip the goddamn world apart.
Someone was going to fucking pay for nearly taking him from me, and I wouldn’t properly rest until my hands were coated in their blood.
When I made it back to the infirmary, Maksim was asleep. Nicholas was already stitching him up. An IV needle had been inserted into the inner elbow of Maksim’s left arm, and he’d been covered up with a blanket, apart from where Nichoas was working.
“That was fast,” I grumbled.
Nicholas nodded. “I can work quickly when I have space to do so and no one is bothering me. It was a clean shot. Went through the other side, so no bullet fragments. He’s going to be out of commission for quite a while though. You’re looking at physical therapy for quite a few months too, but I’ll let you know when that should start. He’s got a long road of mending ahead of him before he’s ready for physical therapy.”
I strode around the gurney to Maksim’s other side. Cupping his cheek, I stroked my thumb over his soft skin. His stubble had grown in more than last night, which meant he hadn’t even had time to get ready for the day before he’d been shot. I had a thousand and one fucking questions, but no way to get answers for them until he was conscious.
“I want to keep him down here for the rest of the day for observation,” Nichoas told me as he finished stitching Maksim up. I grunted, not liking that, but knowing I’d put up with it anyway for Maksim’s sake. If Nichoas thought he shouldn’t be moved yet, then I trusted his judgment. He hadn’t been hired by Rico for his incompetence. “He’ll be asleep most of the day anyway. I have him on a morphine drip for the pain, which I’ll take him off tonight and put him on a pain pill instead. That’s when you’ll be able to take him.”
I nodded once, then grabbed one of the chairs along the wall and dragged it closer. If Maksim was going to be in the infirmary all day, then so was I.
He wasn’t leaving my sight until I had the mother fucker who did this to him within my grasp.
Chapter Thirteen
Maksim
I’d never been so groggy in my life.
Slowly, I peeled my eyes open, thankful the room I was in was mostly dark. The doctor I remembered from earlier was sitting at his desk working by a lamp light as he typed something out on his computer. When I turned my head, I found Alfonzo sitting beside my bed, his chin resting on his chest. His arms were crossed, and he was sleeping peacefully. But I had a feeling the moment I made a single move, he’d wake up.
Alfonzo was a predator through and through. And a predator did not sleep deeply. Even when they were supposed to be resting, they were always aware of what was happening around them.
And sure enough, when I adjusted my leg, his eyes snapped open and he looked up, immediately catching my gaze. His only show of surprise was a slight twitch of his right eyebrow. Standing, he hovered over me, his hand coming to rest on the side of my head. When his thumb stroked over my buzzed hair, I moaned and sank into his hold.
“You’ve been asleep for a while,” he murmured, keeping his voice low. “You’ll probably feel like shit for a good bit, but you’re not going to die.”