Ivan looked away from Adelaide. His gaze focused on me. “And you think you’d have been able to handle that? You think I don’t know the hours you spent, keeping an eye on her. Giving yourself little rewards just to make sure she was safe, happy?”
No one should have known about that. No one. I’d been so fucking careful. Always lurking in the shadows when it came to Adelaide’s life, and I shouldn’t have been surprised that Ivan knew. The man knew everything.
Sipping at the coffee, I grimace. It really is bad.
I take a seat beside Adelaide. The tubes are hideous and distracting.
“She is going to wake up,” Ivan said.
I stay quiet.
“The man responsible is waiting for you to deal with him.”
I nod. I have every intention of dealing with that fucker.
“I can stay here,” Ivan said.
This made me turn my head to look at him. “Don’t you want to deal with him first?”
“This is for you, and I imagine with Adelaide like this, there’s no one else you could trust with her safety.” Ivan released a yawn. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.”
I highly doubted it, but I got to my feet.
“I’ve also given permission for Nathan to be taken care of as well, and no, I don’t mean killed. The nurses are fixing him up. Did you have to break the face of one of the best hitmen?” Ivan asked.
“He lied.”
“For good reason. You don’t want everyone to find out you’re a hit man. It would be bad for your reputation.”
I wasn’t in the mood for jokes. I stepped toward the bed and stared down at my wife’s current unconscious body, and I begged for her to live. She couldn’t die. Life was unfair and cruel, but it didn’t have to be-not with her.
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
I don’t know if she can hear me. I hope so. Touching her cheek, I feel a slight warmth, but there’s no animation there. Just stillness, and it’s breaking my fucking heart.
I vowed to protect her, to keep her safe. What did I do? I all but killed her.
Gritting my teeth, I stand up, turn to Ivan, nod in his direction, and then leave the room. With Ivan offering to take care of my wife, I don’t have a choice. This means he wants me to handle business first, and I’m a good soldier.
Terrance and Leo are waiting for me.
I’m angry at Leo, but I also knew what happened. Adelaide drugged him with some sleeping pills she found in our penthouse. I don’t recall ever having them, and I know for a fact Adelaide never had, but they were there. She’d used them to spike Leo’s drink so she could leave without being questioned.
He looked down. I saw the shame on his face, and this was why I couldn’t punish him. Neither of us expected my wife to do something like that. She’d been desperate. All her life, she’d been alone. There had been a guard from time to time, but she’d been able to wander freely.
I want to kill Leo. I do. He shouldn’t have drunk the coffee, but then, I’d have asked him to do anything to make my wife happy. Those were my instructions today. She’d been miserable for some odd reason.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Leo looked up.
“Sir?”
I held my hand up. “I get what happened and I understand why, but don’t try to test my patience. Take me to the shooter, now.”
My voice is firm as I say that final word.
Terrance had gotten him into a secure place, organized my soldiers to keep guard, and then come to the hospital. Leo had done the same. The two men are my constant. I still don’t trust them, but they were the best of the best. They had so far proven their loyalty to me and to Volkov.
Leaving the hospital was fucking hard. One look up at the building, and I want to go back to see Adelaide. To kiss her lips, touch her face, beg her not to leave me.
I can’t stand the stillness.
“How is Adelaide?” Leo asked.
That was too much.
Slamming my fist into his stomach, he immediately bent forward. I grab a fistful of his hair and lift him up. “Let’s be clear right now, you are only alive right now because I know she will be upset if she thought for a second her actions got you killed. You should have known better, and my patience has already been tested today. Do not test it again. I’m not in the mood.” This is an understatement.
I let Leo go, and he has no choice but to pull himself together.
Terrance and Leo get in the car, knowing not to question me as I climb behind the wheel.
My hands are no longer covered in Adelaide’s blood, but as I put them on the ignition, I remember the sight of it. I’d stood in the bathroom while Ivan supervised as I scrubbed at my hands. The pristine white sink, soaking red as I cleaned the mess off my hands.
“I … I’m so cold.” The fear on her face. She’d gripped my shirt, as if she was begging me to warm her up.
Pulling out of the hospital, I get on the road, navigating the traffic. Nothing distracts me. All I see is Adelaide jerking. The scene plays over and over in my head, on replay. The red dot. The indication that she’s a marked target. The speed with which everything happened. Feeling her in my arms, shaking, in pain, so cold.