authorities at our backs. Aleksandra stands to the side, and when she attempts to help, Kirill dismisses her.
Her eyes meet mine, and I smile at her. She approaches me and clears her throat, adopting her ‘male’ voice. “Thank you.”
“Likewise, Aleksander.” I take the hint to call her by the name she goes by in public. If she doesn’t want people to know, I won’t tell.
“You can call me Sasha, miss.” She bows and heads to Kirill, who has been watching us the entire time while wiping blood off his glasses.
As soon as Aleksandra—Sasha—joins him, he gives me an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. He then pushes Sasha to walk in front of him on their way out.
The asshole doesn’t deserve a diligent worker like her. I didn’t like her guts and her loathsome loyalty to Kirill when she was a man, but now that I’ve found out she’s a woman, I’m sure dire circumstances pushed her to hide her gender. Maybe I can steal her away.
“What are you thinking about?” Kyle turns me around to face him and I stumble. The room starts spinning and my vision blurs.
Kyle clutches me by the small of my back and his hand digs into my arm to keep me upright. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“You should see a doctor.”
“There’s no need. I think it’s because of whatever they gave us.” I stroke his collar, lowering my tone. “How about you take me home?”
“I’m taking you to a doctor, Rai,” he says in his non-negotiable tone.
I shake my head as I let him carry me toward the car.
A doctor is the last thing on my mind right now. All I want is Kyle for myself.
21
Rai
Kyle drives me to the nearest hospital.
I tried arguing that I feel great and don’t need medical care, but Kyle being Kyle, he didn’t listen to those protests. Why can’t the mule understand that I would rather be in our bed right now?
While I did fight, there was a moment where I thought I would be raped then killed and would never see him again.
It doesn’t matter that none of that happened. The thought is already planted in the dark recesses of my psyche, and that idea killed me slowly. That thought broke my heart, which only beat back to life after I saw him again.
So no, a hospital isn’t where I want to go right now.
I want him to take me, to make me forget about the scum who put his limp dick inside my mouth. I want him to wash away everything and everyone so he’s the only one who remains.
But we obviously have different ideas of what I need. For someone so smart, Kyle can be such an idiot sometimes.
He’s currently driving. One of his strong hands is on the steering wheel, and the other lies motionless in his lap. Even his side profile exudes a potent type of masculinity. I’ve always loved watching him while he’s quiet and in his element. While Kyle usually has a huge amount of energy, it’s mostly camouflage. Now, he’s more relaxed, and I feel at peace when I look at him.
Well, aside from the tingling at my core that didn’t stop once we left the Albanians’ compound.
It should be wrong and demented that I want him this much after what just happened, but I do. I’m not even deterred by the stains of blood on his white shirt from when he murdered those men.
I have no right to judge when I’m a killer myself. Besides, he was strangely attractive at that moment when he showed his actual nature for me.
Kyle’s gaze keeps flitting back to me every now and then, as if he’s checking for something.
“What?” I ask.
“Are you really okay?”
“I am. And I would really rather we go home instead of to the hospital.”
“No. You’re pale and you almost fainted earlier.”
“It’s because I haven’t had a proper meal all day.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I was in a hurry in the morning, and I wasn’t exactly focused on food during the meeting with the Japanese.”
“Fuck, Rai. You need to take care of your health.”
I suppress a smile at how worried he sounds. Why do I like this feeling a bit too much? “I’ll pay extra attention in the future. Happy?”
“I’ll only be happy when you start acting on it. In the meantime, we’re going to the hospital.”
“Ugh. You’re infuriating.”
“Glad to be.” He pauses, his voice decreasing in volume as if he doesn’t want to speak. “Did they do anything to you?”
“They didn’t rape me,”