Til Death Do Us Part (Kornilov Bratva Duet #2) - Nicole Fox Page 0,31
have a first aid kit in my car.”
Molly asks Hannah to watch Theo and then motions for me to follow her towards the car. I’m not concerned about the cut, but I do want to talk to her alone.
We climb into the front seat and Molly pulls out a small first aid kit from the glove compartment. She moves quickly and efficiently, her hands steady.
Hannah and Theo are looking in the window of a toy store on the street. I see the guards in the rear-view mirror, so I allow myself to ease back and focus on Molly for a second.
“Molly—”
“Not now.” She shakes her head and then grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls it up. “Take your arm out.”
I do as she says, surprised by that fact. In different circumstances, I’d grab her face and force her to look me in the eyes. I’d pull her brown eyes to mine and make her listen to me.
With Molly, however, I don’t want to push her away.
My fondness for her is a weakness. One I don’t want to be rid of anytime soon.
She dabs a disinfectant to the cut and it stings, but I don’t wince or pull away. I’ve handled far worse pain than this.
“I came here to—”
“Not. Now,” she repeats. Her pink lips are pressed into a thin line, and she tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear before unwrapping a large bandage and placing it over the cut. Blood starts to leak through the bandage immediately, and her brow furrows. “You need stitches.”
“I’m fine.”
Molly rolls her eyes and gestures to the wound. “You might bleed out on the way home, but sure, you’re fine.” Then she looks down at the console. “There is blood all over your car.”
“I don’t care.”
She ignores me and pulls a wrap out of the kit and begins winding it around my arm. The pressure seems to help and after a few layers, there is no more blood seeping through. As soon as she finishes, I reach for her hand, but she pulls away.
“I’m not ready to talk to you,” she admits, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You were supposed to tell me when you left the house.”
She looks up at me, her eyes fiery and sharp as a blade. “I’m going to go.”
“Let me drive you. The guards can take Theo back. We need to—”
“I’m going to take my car.” She pulls away and is out of the door before I can stop her.
9
Molly
Hannah is pale and silent the entire way home.
When we get back to the apartment, I go lay Theo down for his nap and then find Hannah in the kitchen. She is eating some of her leftover French fries that have to be cold by now. She looks up as I enter and gives me a small smile.
“How freaked out are you?” I ask, not wanting to avoid the elephant in the room.
“I’m worried about you,” she says, even as her voice breaks. “That was … quite a scene.”
I don’t know what to tell her.
I could tell her the truth, that Viktor’s life looks like that a lot. It was the first time I’d really seen it firsthand, but I’ve bandaged him up enough times to know he puts himself in harm’s way every day. However, I don’t think that information would comfort Hannah at all.
I could lie, but she would see right through it. After seeing Viktor fight that way, taking down those two men like it was nothing, no one could deny he is very practiced in hand-to-hand combat.
I could also be honest with Hannah and myself. Because until this point, I’ve been lying to myself, too.
The truth is, I saw Viktor take out those two men, and while I was horrified that Theo and Hannah saw him that way, and that he had put himself in danger, I also found it incredibly attractive.
Viktor’s body was strong and capable, and he overpowered two men by himself. It was barbaric and harsh and violent, and underneath my horror, was lust. A primal attraction to the strongest man in the vicinity.
That reality scares me more than anything else.
I am still trying to decide what to tell Hannah when the door to the apartment bursts open and Viktor comes charging into the kitchen. The second he sees me, he tips his head towards the hallway. “We need to talk.”
He is fuming. In the car, he was quiet and respectful. He allowed me to