Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
God, I don’t know what I’d do if he weren’t here.
A random thought knocks the air from my lungs – if the threat against my life is gone, Max can leave me at any time.
NoNoNoNoNo.
Max must feel my panic because he takes hold of my jaw and lifts my face to his.
Because I’m beaten and weak, I beg, “Don’t leave me.”
A frown forms on his forehead, but he says what I need to hear, “I’m not going anywhere, baby.”
Stay with me forever.
This time I can’t say the words, and instead, I bury my face against his chest. I breathe in his masculine scent and focus on the feel of his arms around me.
I’m not sure I’ll recover from losing my father. I can’t lose Max as well.
He’s all I have now.
The most vulnerable emotion I’ve ever felt grips my chest in a chokehold.
The SUV comes to a stop, and Max helps me out of the back seat. With his arm around me, he leads me into the hospital, and I don’t pay any attention to what’s being said.
Exhausted and heartbroken, I allow Max to steer me everywhere. He speaks on my behalf and fills out forms.
At some point, I’m given an injection, and not long after, a dreamless sleep engulfs me.
Chapter 29
Max
Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
Cami’s not handling the loss of her father well at all, which is to be expected. She’s been strong through everything that’s happened until she lost Maurice. It’s fucking breaking her right in front of my eyes, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
Luckily, the hospital gave her an injection to calm her. We also got pills she can put under her tongue to dissolve, which will take the edge off.
I lay her down in the bedroom Philippe, the chef, pointed out to me and take off her shoes. Covering her with a blanket, I press a kiss on her forehead before staring down at her.
Jesus, baby. I wish there was more I could do.
I sit down on the side of the bed and brush my fingers over her cheek and jaw.
I’ll get you through this, somehow.
Earlier, she asked me not to leave her. I didn’t want to have an intense conversation with her while she’s in this state, but it worries me that she even had to ask the question.
Obviously, I haven’t been clear enough about my feelings for her. It will have to wait, though.
I’m definitely not telling her I love her while she’s going through hell.
Still, as I look at my woman, I whisper, “I love you, baby. You’re stuck with me for life.” I lean forward and kiss her forehead again. “It’s you and me from here on out.”
I sit with her for a while longer before I get up and leave the room. I find Philippe in the kitchen, sitting at the island.
His eyes flick to me, and he stands up. “Is there anything I can do, sir?”
“I’d appreciate it if you prepared something to eat for the guards.” I glance around the room, then ask, “Can I have a bottle of water?”
I got the extra guards from St. Monarch’s to help me protect Cami until after the funeral.
Philippe hands me the water, then asks, “How’s Cami doing?”
“She’s resting.” I leave the kitchen and go to Maurice’s office so I can make a couple of calls.
Taking a seat at the oak desk, I pull my phone out and make the first call.
“How are things there?” Nikolai asks.
“Shit,” I spit out. “Fucking shit.”
“And Cami? How’s she holding up?”
“She’s not.” I lean back in the chair and rub my fingers over my forehead. “She’s heartbroken. Maurice and Cami were close.”
“I got the assassin’s name from my uncle,” he informs me.
It’s one of the benefits of having a Vetrov for a friend. They have access to information the rest of us aren’t privy to.
“Who was it?”
“Jedrik Rusnak.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I saw him right before the attack at Cami’s penthouse,” I admit. “He said he was in town for a businessman.” I shake my head because that was a month ago. “He doesn’t take that long to complete a hit. Are you sure you have the right name?”
“The contract was taken out today. It all went down in a matter of an hour. Rusnak took the hit as soon as it went live.”
An icy sensation skitters down my spine. “Which means whoever’s behind this knows about us. They had to know they’d only have a small window of time from when the hit was ordered because your uncle is the director of St. Monarch’s. They knew I’d find out.” I shake my head, then ask, “Can Director Koslov tell us who took out the hit?”
“I can try to find out.”
I let out a sigh, then mutter, “Fuck, I’m sorry this happened while you’re on honeymoon.”