Til Death Do Us Part (Kornilov Bratva Duet #2) - Nicole Fox Page 0,47
emotional part that we have trouble with.
I woke up in the middle of the night last night to Viktor tossing and turning. He was whispering in his sleep. Just the word “no” over and over again. When I shook him awake, he sat straight up, his eyes wide, and then sighed in relief when he realized where he was.
“Bad dream?” I asked, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.
“A memory,” he admitted. “The fire.”
The fire that killed his parents.
He told me about it only once and had never spoken of it again.
He saved his brother and couldn’t save his parents, no matter how badly Fedor wanted him to. Viktor wouldn’t admit it, but he felt guilty. I tried to soothe him with my touch, but I could see his eyes were distracted, and eventually, he kissed my cheek and rolled away from me.
I couldn’t blame him. I still haven’t decided whether I will leave him or not … when this is all over. It makes sense why he doesn’t want to be vulnerable with me.
Still, I wish he would be.
“I’m thinking about linen curtains here,” Niamh says, pulling me from my thoughts.
She is standing next to the windows. I didn’t even realize she’d moved. Hopefully I haven’t been so deep in thought I ignored her.
“What do you think?” she asks.
I set my cup down and smile at her. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine. I love linen.”
Theo and the nanny are coloring in the living room, and I kneel down on the floor next to my son and kiss him behind his ear.
“Where did Hannah go?”
“I don’t know,” Theo says distantly.
I muss his hair and turn to the nanny. She shrugs. “She just left a little bit ago. She didn’t say where she was going. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You aren’t Hannah’s babysitter,” I joke. Besides, Hannah is free to come and go as she pleases.
She was feeling trapped early on in her stay with me, and after our disastrous lunch out when we ran into Viktor beating up two drug dealers, Hannah stopped going out with me. I don’t blame her.
I’m tempted to call her and see, but I don’t want it to look like I’m keeping tabs on her. Plus, she might be out looking for a job, in which case, I don’t want to distract her. She has been taking calls in her room often. Each time, her eyes get big and she tells me it could be a possible job. Apparently, none of the jobs have panned out yet because Hannah hasn’t said anything.
Or, just as likely, she needed some fresh air.
Either way, she’ll be home later.
“Tell Viktor to come look at my picture,” Theo says.
“Viktor is here?” I ask, spinning around as if he might have crept into the room without me noticing.
Theo nods, but doesn’t give me any more information. I leave him to his colors and get up to search for Viktor. I find him quickly enough in the hallway bathroom. When I open the door, I hit his side.
“Sorry.”
He steps back to let me in, and I freeze when I realize he is shirtless.
I’ve seen him naked, but it is still shocking to see the full expanse of his muscled chest without the proper preparation. Especially since he is twisted to one side, his muscles stretched and taut as he messes with his arm.
His arm.
“How is your cut?” I ask, my voice thick with desire. I clear my throat.
“Fine,” he says, but I can see it is bleeding again.
I step into the room with him and slide between his body and the sink. “You need stitches.”
He snorts in disagreement and continues trying to disinfect the wound himself. His arms are thick with muscle and it’s hard for him to reach the spot on the back of his arm. I push his hands away and take over.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.” Another lie. I can tell by the way he won’t meet my eyes. And by the grazes on his knuckles.
“You can tell me the truth.”
“I just did.” His voice is flat and emotionless, and the distance has me confused and frustrated.
I never know what to expect from Viktor. Is he going to be warm and gentle? Or perhaps, serious and passionate? Or, worst of all, cold and distant? There is no consistency, and I’m getting emotional whiplash.
“If I’m your Bratva queen, you can’t hide these things from me.” I press a cotton ball soaked with disinfectant to the wound, and he winces.