I opened my mouth to tell her not to bother. I had a strong stomach, and a couple of mild pain relievers weren’t going to bother me much, but she was already bustling out of the room.
And maybe I didn’twantto stop her. Not because I was hungry, but because it felt damn good to have someone take care of me like this.
“Is Nik with Alexis?” I asked Lev. One of the phone calls I’d made on the way here was to Nikolay, ordering him to watch over Alexis and Sarah’s mom while she was brought here. I wanted my most trusted man making sure that little girl was okay.
“Yeah,” Lex said. “And the grandma looked pretty confused when we dropped her off. I think Sarah’s going to have fill the old woman in on what’s going on, especially if you’re going to have a bodyguard on the little girl at all times until this shit with the Italians blows over.”
I couldn’t imagineeverremoving the protective detail on Alexis. If the Italians weren’t the threat, there could be someone else. The danger never ended in this world, especially for an innocent child associated with the likes of me.
But that didn’t matter.
I wasn’t going to let anyone touch her. I’d destroy anyone who tried.
“I’m going to head out,” Maxim said. “I’ll report back to you as soon as I know anything.”
I nodded, and he left.
“I’m going to stay in the other bedroom,” Lev said. “And I’ve got two guys keep an eye on things outside.”
He shut the door behind him, leaving me alone with Sarah. Without a word, she went into the attached bathroom. I could hear water running for a moment, and when she came back, she was holding a wet washcloth. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she slowly and carefully started to clean the blood from my head.
The silence of the moment felt intimate instead of heavy. I could sense that she was still worried, but the softness in her eyes and the gentle way she touched me overrode that. When she was done cleaning me up, she started to stand, but I reached out and grabbed her wrist.
“Thank you for coming.”
She swallowed hard. “Thisattack.Was it the people trying to get you convicted? The ones who ordered me to lie on the stand?”
“I’m sure it is. The Italian mafia wants to get me out of the way so they can take over my territory. They’ll do whatever they have to do to make that happen.”
“Even kill you.”
It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway.
“But they’ve underestimated me. And I’m pretty sure they underestimated you too.” I ran my thumb over her knuckles. “So why didn’t you lie on the stand?”
Sarah’s smile reached her eyes. “I trust you to keep me safe.”
The statement was simple and straightforward, but it meant more to me than I could explain.
“Lie with me,” I said.
Sarah hesitated. “I should really check on Alexis.”
“Nikolay is watching over her. I promise, she’s okay.”
She bit her lip, and for a moment, I thought she was going to deny me, but she pulled back the blanket and slid into the bed beside me. It was only twin-sized, so there wasn’t much room, but I didn’t mind. I tucked her under my arm and inhaled her sweet scent.
I wasn’t sure if it was the shock of being hit by a car and shot or how touched I felt at her show of genuine concern, but I suddenly wanted to share something with her. Something real about me that I usually kept locked up tight.
“You’re a good mom,” I said. “Alexis is lucky that way. I had a good mom, too. But my dad… he was a cold son of a bitch.”
Sarah looked up at me with a small frown on her face. “Did he hurt you?”
My throat felt tight. I tried not to think about the shit my old man put me through. It was better left in the past. Talking about it was even harder.
But I felt like I needed to share a part of myself with Sarah. She put her trust in me today, and I owed her the same.
“Yes,” I said, running my fingers through her silky hair. “Physically and emotionally. The man didn’t have a paternal instinct in his body, no desire to be a good father.”