I tip my head in Gio’s direction. “We saw it. I was tracking your phone. Gio was tracking Renzo’s. We saw his body get tossed from the car, right before the accident. I thought—I thought?—”
I thought you were dead.
I can’t even say it. Can barely cope with thinking it. Sera’sexpression softens and she slips her hand to the nape of my neck. It’s a simple gesture and one that makes my whole world go topsy-turvy. She’s alive. She’s touching me. She’s mine, and I’m never letting her go, not ever again.
I have to clear the emotion from my throat before I can say, “We caught up to the Mercedes just before Renzo was tossed out. Gio and I stopped; I had to see whose body it was. Once I knew it wasn’t you, we were about to follow the car again, but that’s when Martina’s Cadillac came out of nowhere, crashing into you.”
My voice gives out and, helpful fucker that he is, Gio adds from over my shoulder, “This idiot was running at you like he could stop the wreck from happening. He got knocked out instead.”
“Is that where this came from?” Sera dances her fingers around the gash on my forehead, and I let her, no matter how much it burns. From this moment on, she can touch me however she wants, wherever she wants, no matter what.
“Da. Knocked me out cold.”
“He’s a heavy fucker, your man,” Gio says. “Not to mention a pain in the ass. Wouldn’t shut up the whole way here, kept yelling at me to go faster.”
“You were driving too slow,” I force through clenched teeth. “We weren’t going to make it in time. We almostdidn’tmake it in time.”
“And we wouldn’t have made it at all if you’d been the one driving. We would’ve skidded clear off the road and died in a snowbank.”
I glare up at him over my shoulder. “Only because you have that stupid fucking Bugatti. Who takes a car like that out in the snow?”
“Someone who is trying to get somewhere fast, asshole.” Gio matches my glare with one of his own. “You’re one to talk. Who the fuck takes out a motorcycle in a snowstorm?”
“You fuc?—”
“Boys, boys.” Sera out-glares us both. We both fall obediently silent. Her eyes flick up to Gio. “Thank you for getting him here. And thank you for that.” Sera points at her mother, all of us ignoring what must be very colorful curses in Italian.
To me, Sera says, “And thank you for coming to get me. For getting here in time. For getting here at all.” She tugs my face to hers, pressing her bloodied and swollen lips against mine. The kiss is little more than a brush and I swear it’s the single best kiss of my life.
“You don’t have to thank me,moya voitelnitsa. I’ll always come for you. Always.” Mindful of her injuries, I carefully scoop her into my lap. When the di Salvo woman starts to make gagging sounds, Gio helpfully drags her outside with a promise that they’ll both be there when we’re ready.
When we’re alone, I let myself fall into Sera’s eyes, knowing nothing and no one in the world will ever feel like home the way she does. “Why did you leave like that in the middle of the night? Without a word? I’m so fucking pissed at you.” Anger and latent fear threaten to overwhelm me. “I would’ve come with you. Would’ve fought with you, if you’d told me what you were doing.”
Sera stares at her hands, her expression closed. “Renzo was never going to give up. He was going to keep coming for me, Alik. We both know that. His debt to Shkodra was too high. He couldn’t outrun it. He’d already attacked some of your men and shot Dimitri. He promised to kill you too. I couldn’t let you get hurt because of me. After everything you’ve done for me—freeing me from my uncle’s basement, getting me out of the club instead of getting your revenge…” She sighs, glances up. “I couldn’t let you get hurt because of me, couldn’t risk you not finding Rina because of me. I…I…”
She trails off, real trepidation in her eyes. Her hands are cool on mine, but her grip is steady, strong. She squeezes myfingers, giving herself strength as she says, “I love you too much. I love you, Alik, and I had to protect you the only way I knew how. I had to take care of Renzo and do what I could to find out what happened to your sister, without putting you in danger. That’s why I left without telling you.”
All my thoughts come to a stutter at Sera’s confession. All but one. “You love me, so you left me?”
Sera surprises us both with a burst of laughter. She looks at me wide-eyed before hiding behind her hands. “It sounds so stupid when you put it that way. But, yeah…” She peeks at me through cracked fingers and I have a flashback to our night in the pool. She’s embarrassed, shy even, but she’ll still say what needs to be said. The truth. “You’ve helped me so much, Alik. I wanted to help you too. I wanted to try to make up for what my parents and uncle did to your sister, what they took from you and your family. And I couldn’t handle the idea that Renzo might hurt you—kill you—while trying to get to me. The di Salvos have done enough damage to your family. It needed to stop.Ineeded to make it stop. For myself, and for you.”
I carefully peel her hands away from her face, swallowing a growl when I see how swollen her eye has gotten. “Rodnaya.” My own. Beloved. A word pulled from so deep inside me it can only be the truth. “I understand the need to protect the ones we love. More than most. So, for that, I thank you. From the bottom of my heart. But—” I hold her gaze as I draw each one of her palms to my mouth, brushing a featherlight kiss across the scraped skin. “But what about what your family did to you? What they weregoingto do to you? You dove headfirst into so much danger,moya voitelnitsa. Did you have any kind of escape plan at all? What were you going to do once Renzo handed you over to Shkodra?”
“I was going to do whatever I had to,” she answers, voice rough but determined. “I would’ve done everything I could to stay alive. I can survive a lot, Alik. I know that now. I would’vedone whatever was necessary.” She takes my hands, pulls them to her chest. “I would’ve found a way to kill him, to escape. I would’ve found a way to get back to you.”
“And what about me?” I let the emotions of the last few hours run riot. The betrayal and anger I felt when I realized she’d left. The fear when I pieced together what she was doing. The absolute devastation when I thought she was dead. The love I can’t suppress anymore, and the unbearable realization that I could’ve lost her before telling her how I feel.
“What about me?” I say again, barely recognizing my own voice. “How was I going to survive if anything happened to you? How was I supposed to survive knowing that that fucking, demented creature had his hands on you. What was I supposed to do, huh?” I break free of her grasp and capture her face, draw her in until we’re breathing the same air. “How was I supposed to live knowing you were surviving like that?”
Sera blinks at me, speechless.
“I wouldn’t be able to,moya voitelnitsa.” Neither one of us can ignore how my voice cracks. “I would lose my fucking mind.”
“Oh, Alik.” Sera kisses me, despite the cuts on her lips. Her mouth is hot against mine, soft, so full of life and I let her tame me, let her soothe the insanity that’s been dying to break free since I woke up in her bed alone.
We’re both breathless when she pulls back. Breathless, but a little more clearheaded. “You would’ve fought, survived,” she says, so certain. “You would’ve come for me because you love me. And you fight for the ones you love, Alik. You’re theArkhangel. The fiercest protector I’ve ever known. You love me, and you’ll always protect me, because that’s the man you are.”
She says it so easily, so simply, and the truth is like a two-ton truck to the head. The impact clearing out all my questions, my fears and doubts. “Fuck, sweetheart. I do love you. I do. AndI will always come for you, no matter what. I’ll always fight for you. With you. For as long as I’m alive.”