He shrugs nonchalantly and stands up, adjusting himself back to his perfect façade. I stand here, probably looking like I was just run over. Viktor on the other hand, with a few buttons and a tuck, returns to his normal orderly self. I don’t understand how he can pull that off so flawlessly and have to admit I may be a little jealous.
“Well, that was new! Geez, we can definitely do that again,” I chortle, grinning cheekily. “Can we head out there though, because I’m really hungry now.”
“You should have eaten this morning,” he chastises and I’m too satisfied at the moment to argue with him. If this is his plan for the future arguments we have, then I’m in for some incredible orgasms. I smirk and he shakes his head at me, exasperated.
I hear a weird snap noise and pause to concentrate. Viktor does the same and then shuffles over to the wall, putting his ear against it.
“What was that noise?”
“Shhh!” he whispers harshly and glares at me.
I swear, with his moods today, he needs to eat a freaking Snickers bar or something. I stick my tongue out at him and he turns away, focusing on the wall in front of him. The strange noise rings out several times. I can’t figure out what it could possibly be, but Viktor appears stressed. His eyes crinkle in the corners and he wears a grim expression.
“Oh for heaven’s sake! Just tell me what that noise is!” I whisper-yell, glaring back at him.
“It’s gun shots okay. Now hush.”
“Gun shots?! Holy shit! It sounds like there have been a lot. Are they going to find us?” I inquire on the cusp of freaking out.
“No, Elaina, we are in a safe room and I’m the only person who has the code to get in here. There are only two of my men who know where this room is anyhow. I believe the gun fire is probably coming from my men. They will shoot or be shot before they allow anyone in the house.”
“I don’t understand why anyone would want to shoot at each other anyhow,” I gripe, picking the nail polish off my nails. I guess now would be a good time to get dressed.
I slip my shorts back on and pull the T-shirt over my head. Geez, when did I lose my shirt? I don’t even remember him taking it off me. Good thing my head is attached or I would probably lose that too.
“SpeSHEETS (Hurry),” Viktor says to the wall.
“What conversation are you having with that concrete wall exactly?”
He turns to face me, not looking amused and cocks his left brow.
“I was saying to hurry up. I’m hoping whatever is happening out there is over quickly. It’s been quiet now for,” Viktor glances at his shiny silver watch on his left wrist, “ten minutes. I’m thinking I can go and see what’s going on.”
“You mean we.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You said for you to go and check it out, but you meant to say we can check it out.”
“No, I’m fairly certain I said it correctly. It’s simple. I go check it out, and you stay in here, secure.” His response is stern.
“I’m not staying trapped in this tiny box! You can take me willingly or as soon as you leave, I will leave on my own.”
“Absolutely not! You don’t have any kind of a weapon. You need to quit being stubborn and realize we are at war here. I won’t have you out there getting injured, or even worse, killed!”
“Oh no? And what if there’s a fire? You’re so sure I’ll be safe in here and all.”
“A fire? What are you talking about? They are shooting, not starting fires.”
“I’m aware of them shooting. But what if they kill everyone and then torch the cabin? My butt will not be locked in this box while the rest of the place goes up in flames!”
“Clearly you watch way too many movies.”
“I’m going, Viktor,” I huff at him, standing my ground.
“You know, I could lock you in here.”
“And I could kill you in your sleep, looks like we both have decisions to make.”
Viktor turns away, angrily grumbling to himself, pulling out his gun from his leg holster and meticulously screws on the silencer. That’s one mean-looking weapon he totes around.
He glances at me shortly. “Coming?”
I smile and nod.
Viktor
Chapter 10
This woman is infuriating. I never cater to anyone else, but I need to make some adjustments if she’s going to stay in my life. I don’t know if she realizes just how serious I am about us being together. Ever since I first saw her, I knew she was made for me. Tate has his Emily and I have my Elaina.
I’m brought out of my thoughts as she bumps into my back. “Shhh!”
Elaina nods hurriedly and looks around the kitchen. I follow, taking stock of the broken glass and bullet holes everywhere. It looks like someone just stood outside the cabin and shot the place up.
The wind blows in, swaying the pale yellow curtains.
I gesture toward it all. “Be careful with the glass, I don’t want you to cut your feet.”
She stares at the glass riddled counters, lost in thought. Tears spill from her eyes and track down her cheeks.
“It’s okay, Princess, come here,” I utter softly, pulling her to me. She grasps my shirt and buries her head in my chest, crying silently. My poor love has been through enough this week as it is.
I have to figure out a way for this craziness to stop. She will break from it eventually and I will never move past that. I’m torn from my thoughts as a sharp pain slices from my head down through my body.
I drop my gun in shock and melt to the ground, staring in horror at Elaina. She gasps and scrambles backwards. Mouth gaping and wide eyed, she points behind me.
I feel wetness drip down over my forehead creeping towards my nose, and I touch it lightly. Pulling my hand away, I’m met with red fingers coated in my own blood. I stare at Elaina in a trance as she screams bloody murder.
In a fit of rage she dashes for my gun, raising it up in front of her, aiming it behind me. What on earth is she aiming at? Blinking a little of the fogginess away I watch as she yells, body jerking as she empties the clip into something behind me.
I turn slowly due to the wobbly feeling I have in my head. Lying face up on the ground behind me is a very dead Kendall, along with a large, bloody butcher knife. Confused and foggy, I consider Elaina again, and then everything goes black.
……………………………………………
Elaina
“Alexeeeeeeeeei!” I wail as loud as possible. Rocking back and forth, weeping uncontrollably, I clasp Viktor to me tightly. The glass crinkles and stabs into my bare skin with each movement but I feel none of it. “Spartaaaaaaaaaaaak!” I scream between sobs and hiccups.
As soon as I saw Viktor close his eyes, I ran to him as quickly as possible. I shook and shook him, but he never opened his eyes. I can see and feel him breathing, but there’s no telling just how bad the damage is to his head. God, the blood. There’s just so much blood.
I glare, angrily yelling at Kendall’s motionless body, “You evil, stupid bitch! I HATE you! How could you hurt him? He was mine! How could you?”
Coughing, I lean over and lay Viktor’s head in my lap. “I’m sorry, my love, so fucking sorry, my God,” I gasp to his unmoving body, tenderly running my hand over his soft, bloody hair.
“Alexeeeeei! Pleeeease help him!” I call frantically, my crying hysterical. I wait, holding my heart in my hands and pray to any possible being out there that can help me.
After what feels like hours, Spartak rushes in the kitchen door. He scans the entire room until his eyes fall on us in the middle of the floor.
“Miss Elaina! Are you hurt?” he asks, rushing toward me only to stop abruptly when I raise my head, pointing the gun straight for him.
“Don’t touch him,” I growl savagely.
He raises his hands up in a placating gesture and takes a step backwards. “Woah! It’s okay, it’s just me, Spar. I’m here now, so you are safe. Let me check the boss.”
“He’s outside doing perimeter and building checks. We weren’t prepared for so many people to show up.”
“Go get Alexei,” I croak, my throat raw from screaming.
“Ma’am, please. I can take over and help now if you would let me.”
“I SAID, go fucking get Alexei! I will not leave Viktor, end of discussion! Now!”
“Yes, of course, ma’am,” He nods worriedly, quickly jumping up and rushing out the back door.
I’m so sad and angry inside I feel like I could shoot ten other people right now. Not that I can. I emptied the entire clip into that bitch, but no one else knows my weapon is spent.
Seconds later I hear Alexei shouting frantically, “Viktor is hurt? Where is he? What happened to him?”
I clear my throat, and then call out hoarsely, “In here, Alexei!”
I don’t even get to finish with his name and he’s already charging through the door. He turns white as a ghost when he sees Viktor lying on the ground, frozen.
“Put the fucking gun down, Miss, now.” He grumbles and hastily makes his way to me, not even flinching as he passes my outstretched weapon. His accent is more pronounced, I’m assuming because he’s stressed out. “Tell me what happened to him, damn it.”
I draw in a deep breath and calm my tears, having to concentrate on explaining everything. “We came out of the safe room, there,” I point towards the pantry door a few feet away.
“He was warning me about the glass everywhere, you know how he is.” Alexei nods and I continue, “then out of nowhere blood pours down his forehead. When he fell to the ground I saw Kendall had that huge knife. I realized she had stabbed him in his head and when she went to stab him with the butcher knife again I shot her.”
“You shot her? But why didn’t the boss shoot her?”
“Because he was bleeding like crazy and on the ground! Look around you, there is blood all over the place!” I flail my arms violently in the direction towards the bloody mess. When he fell, his blood splattered and smeared everywhere around us. “Anyhow it doesn’t matter who shot her, what matters is Viktor is hurt. You need to help him, please!”
He crouches down next to us feeling Viktor’s pulse. “I understand your upset, but did you check his pulse?”
“Well no, he was unmoving and unresponsive, I just figured he needs to go to the hospital or he’ll die from all this blood loss. I know he was breathing, I saw his chest rise, but he passed out and hit the floor. It has to be bad, right.”
“Head wounds bleed a lot regardless. It looks like he needs some stitches. I’m calling one of the guys in who used to be a medic in the Russian military. Try to calm down a little, you will help him out more that way.” I nod and stroke Viktor’s cheek lovingly, not paying attention to anything he says passed the word medic.
I hope he will be okay. I have come to care for Viktor so much. Do I love him? Yes, absolutely. There’s no doubt in my mind that I do, after the events that occurred today. Alexei pulls out his phone and I stare at him questioningly. I don’t know who he would be calling at a time like this. It’s hardly the time, and he needs to be concentrating on helping Viktor right now.
“I’m calling Dmitry. He’s the one who can help.”
I nod, wiping at my tears. Shit. I have blood all over my hands, I’m sure I just rubbed it all over my cheeks. I probably look the part of a psycho killer now. Zoning out, I don’t pay any attention to what is said on the phone. I have Viktor’s gun and as I stare at him, I vow to shoot anyone who hurts him. I lightly kiss his bloody forehead and whisper to him, promising, “You’ll be okay, love.”
“Oh shit! Boss?”
I’m pulled out of my reverie by an unfamiliar voice.
“Relax, мышь (mouse), it’s Dmitry. He will help as much as he can.”
“What’s going on?” Dmitry inquires, coming to squat beside myself, Viktor and Alexei.
Spartak stands in the doorway, concerned, but also ready to protect us in case something else goes wrong.
Glancing up, I mutter, “He won’t wake up and his head is bleeding all over the place.”
He shoots me a worried look with his whisky-colored eyes and nods, bending his head to look at Viktor. He reaches for him and I raise the gun.
“Easy, Miss. I’m just going to have a look. I have to see what’s going on, so I can attempt to fix, yes?”
I look him over from top to bottom. He looks older than us, probably around forty and in great shape. He has very short brown hair to match his sparkly, intelligent eyes and has a pleasant nature about him. He doesn’t strike me as a threat so I lower the weapon and he scoots in to get a better look.
“Well, it appears as if the blood flow has had some time to slow down and start clotting. Head wounds bleed more than most anyhow, that’s why it looks as if you butchered someone.”
As soon as the word ‘butcher’ comes out of his mouth, I start to weep miserably again.
“You fucking idiot! The nutso over there used a fucking butcher knife on the boss. Meesh peeLAA desyiVAW (Mouse saw everything),” Alexei growls angrily and Dmitry pales.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” he says to me, remorseful.
I choke up. “Please just fix him.”
He goes straight to work gathering everything he needs and cleaning the area. I sit stationary and watch every move Dmitry makes. Thank God the blood has slowed down some. It’s still bleeding but it’s not pouring out like before.
My skin feels stiff and gross from the blood drying. My nails are grimy and caked with it but I refuse to leave him like this. Even if Vik has someone here to help, I’m staying next to him every single minute. A harsh scrubbing can wait.
Meeting my eyes Dmitry kindly says, “Hold him still. I have to put in a lot of little stitches and don’t let his head fall backwards, keep it elevated so the blood will flow downward.”
“Okay. Do you know if he will he wake up?”
“He will wake up after some rest. I think his body went into shock when he saw his own blood. It went into protection mode and had him pass out. It’s actually fairly common when people see a larger amount of their own blood. The wound’s not deep enough to do permanent damage to the brain area. Luckily this was right over the skull, so it acted like a protective barrier. Now, if he wakes up and after a while doesn’t seem to be himself, then we should take him to the Emergency Room. I’m confident this will suffice.”
“Thank you.” I show my appreciation and Alexei grunts in agreement.
“Please don’t thank me yet. Wait until we see if it works. And Alexei, we need to get him on the couch or to a bed and put a pillow under his head.”
“Okay, now?”
“Yes, now. He is all stitched up and the only other thing I can do is put ointment on the cut. I’ll do that after we move him though.”
“Okay, Doc, sounds good.” Alexei gestures to Spartak to come help lift Viktor.
“You’re a doctor?” I quiz Dmitry.
Alexei interrupts, “Yes, he’s a great doctor. He went overseas to help tend to the soldiers over there with the war.”
My eyes widen marginally. “Seriously? That is so kind of you.”
He shakes his head sadly. “No, Miss, they are the ones who truly sacrifice. I just sew people up.”
I squeeze his arm gently and follow Alexei and Spartak to Viktor’s bedroom.
I race ahead of them to fix his pillow perfectly. They get him all settled and the doctor puts a thick coat of clear ointment on Victor’s wound.
“Thank you all so much for helping him,” I say as they start to leave the room.
“Are you going to watch him?” Alexei inquires, peering at me curiously.
“Yes, I will not leave him,” I state, making a silent promise to myself and glancing back at Viktor for a brief second.
“Good, take a shower and wash up while you wait. If he wakes and you lo
ok like that, then we will have World War Three on our hands.”
“I would rather just sit beside him.”
Spartak grumbles at me. “No, Miss Elaina, please listen to Alexei about this.”
Rolling my eyes, I turn away from them. “Okay, geez, but I’m shutting this door because I’m leaving the bathroom door open for him.”
They all leave the room and I’m met with a loud silence when I shut the bedroom door.
I’m not sure exactly how I should do this. I can see a large portion of the room from the shower, but not the bed, which is where Viktor’s lying. I’ll set the gun on the counter, beside the shower. That way just in case I don’t hear something and he needs me to protect him, I’ll be able to jump out quickly and take care of it. I know the cabin is empty besides the guards and the area is supposed to be secure, but I can’t help to be paranoid. We were just attacked for heaven’s sake.
I strip him of his filthy shoes and unbutton his pale blue, blood-saturated shirt, attempting to make him comfortable without moving his body or head too much.
Using a wet wash cloth, I do what I can to clean off his face for him.
Once I complete that task, I cover Viktor up with the soft, light sheet. Dipping down and gently kissing his cheek, I make my way to the bathroom to start the shower. God knows I need a strong scrubbing. Today’s a completely new kind of dirty.
Viktor
Chapter 11
Five hours later
I’m awoken by movement next to me and a sharp pain shooting through my skull. Everything’s a little fuzzy but from the sweet brown sugar smell I know it’s her beside me.
Taking a deep breath, I open my eyes tiredly and glance at my princess. Elaina sleeps on her side curled into my body, with her hands clasped together tightly next to her chin. She’s breathtakingly beautiful. She has no clue just how much I worship her. The gun rests beside her with the safety on. Good girl.
Reaching over to lightly touch her silk-like skin makes my head throb and I hiss through my teeth. I’ve got to see what’s going on back there. I remember the pain¸ but I don’t remember getting hit with anything. It was instant pain, sharp and stabbing. And blood. I remember lots of blood.
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