they must know one another fairly well. He also has a Yorkshire accent and an unfriendly face. He’s the one tending to Reece.
I don’t know who these men are, and I still can’t speak or move. I’m standing in the middle of this room, arms by my side, something awful on my face, and I can’t move.
Konstantin looks to me, and his face pales. It actually pales. Why? Have I been shot too?
Konstantin reaches into Andrius’ pocket and takes out a fancy silk square and crosses the room to me.
“It’s going to be okay,” he says to me.
I nod dully because frankly I don’t care anymore. Nothing is real. Nothing seems real or feels real, except for the gunk in my hair.
I reach toward my head with a shaky hand, but Konstantin catches it. “No, sunshine, don’t do that. Let me.” He dabs at my face and hair. He checks me over as he does so, turning my face this way and that way.
“Tigran isn’t in charge,” says the big blond. “So who is?”
“Aram Ohanian,” Andrius says. “He’s the one behind this. He’s fucking scum of the earth.”
“How scummy exactly?” asks another moody-looking dark haired man.
“Scummy enough that if he’s set this shitshow in motion, and he’s wanting to build up his power and hit people like me and Konstantin, none of us are safe. Scummy enough that even though my wife will be deeply unhappy about it, I’m coming out of retirement until he’s dealt with.”
“You are?” The big blond…Reece, stares at Andrius. He’s holding his arm, which is bleeding heavily, but he seems okay other than that.
“My wife, my child, everything that matters to me is not safe now. I have taken the life of his second, and he will want revenge for this. I’m back in the game, whether I want to be or not.”
“This is my fault,” Konstantin says. His next words confuse me. “You’ve put the woman you love at risk to help me save Cassie.”
He was saving Liza not me.
Except, she betrayed him, didn’t she? Maybe now he doesn’t want her anymore. Although, I don’t think Liza is going to make it anyway. My thoughts are all jumbled. My hair is so sticky. Once more, I reach up absentmindedly, but Konstantin catches my wrist again. “Leave it, Cassie.” It’s an order, and without thinking, I obey and lower my hand.
“It’s not your fault, K.” Andrius shakes his head. “These fuckers are on the warpath. They think they can move against Allyov, threaten to try to hit me in Corfu, take your woman and get away with it? They only thought they could do this because you and me? We’ve become something we’re not. We are soldiers, and we tried to live as ordinary men. In times of peace, maybe we can do that, but this is now a time of war.”
I glance at Liza who makes an awful, inhuman noise, and a whimper crawls out of my throat. I might not like her, but my God this is awful. The most awful thing I’ve ever witnessed.
“It’s okay, baby,” Konstantin says as he holds me to him, wrapping his arms around me. I push him away, and he frowns as he looks at me.
“Go to Liza,” I tell him. “You might not have long with her.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Liza,” he says with venom. “I am, however, very concerned about you. You’re in shock.”
“You love her, and you came for her.”
He tilts my chin up, looks right into my eyes, and purses his lips as he gives a frustrated shake of his head. “I came for you, Cassie. For you.”
“But you said, in the call to Tigran, you said…” I can’t remember what he said.
“Cassie, whatever bullshit I said wasn’t real. I wanted their focus elsewhere. All you need to know is this—I came for you. Andrius came for you, at great risk, and all these men here came for you. I built an army, in a day, for you.”
I stare at him, unable to speak. Another moan from Liza has my head automatically turning her way, but Konstantin pulls me to him and gently pushes my face into his chest. “Don’t look,” he murmurs.
The ear-splitting wail of sirens sounds outside, and moments later people are rushing into the room.
The dour, dark-haired man gives his name as Liam, states he’s working on a case, and then reels off the stats about who is dead. He says Liza needs the most urgent treatment. He