into the silence. Her cheeks pinkened as she passed a glass to him, then poured another.
“Thank you.” Zoey squeezed Stacia’s hand and smiled. “You’ve all done a great job on the house. Every time I come here it’s so different.”
“We have a lot of help thanks to you.” Heat crept up the woman’s face. “Your teams come by here often and always bring supplies. They work on whatever we ask them to do between our training sessions.”
“I’ve heard you all are doing very well,” Addy said. “My team and I will be here next month. Gage says you’re ready for more rigorous hand-to-hand lessons.”
And of course, his Addy would facilitate that training. Anticipation rose within him. He’d be fully healed soon, and he looked forward to seeing how they stood up against one another on a mat. Blood surged southward as he contemplated the potential prizes he could collect if he won.
A gleam resonated within Addy’s gaze when he looked at her. Yeah, she was looking forward to that as well.
Stacia nodded. “I fear I’m not as good as the others. They have a fighter’s spirit I lack.”
“I’m not a fighter either,” Zoey admitted. “I fight with my mind, not my fists. You’re more like me. You’ve done well learning computers and how to run the security system.”
Red rose in Stacia’s face as her gaze moved to Kristof. “I was always the brainy one of our group.”
“She’d help Gavriil and me with our homework,” Kristof teased. “Even though she was much younger than us.”
Silence loomed as she sipped her tea. Kristof leaned back in his chair and fought the urge to break the tension with questions. She needed time to acclimate to his presence, the fact that Olaf was still alive and now free. How much had Zoey shared?
“Zoey said you had much to share with me,” Stacia said, cutting her gaze to him. “She said Olaf is alive.”
Fear mingled with hope in her gaze. Kristof nodded. “He is. Thanks to Zoey and her friends, we were finally able to free him. My father is dead. The Sidorav syndicate is no more. Your brother helped with that. I wouldn’t have managed it without him.”
Stacia took a big breath. Her shoulders raised as she swiped at the tears rolling down her face. “Gavriil. He’s well? Olaf is well?”
“Gavriil is well. He’s tending to a few things but hopes to come to the States to see you. He sends his love,” Kristof said.
Stacia smiled. “I want to see him. We have internet now thanks to Zoey.” Her gaze shifted to the woman beside her. “Can I—”
“We’ll work something out,” Zoey said. “We have to be careful, but we’ll coordinate a video chat with your brother. He’s really smart with computers and has a really good network set up. But he’s coming here soon, to see you.”
Happiness danced across her face and ended in a full smile that eased some of the worry in Kristof. “He was always so smart,” she replied. “And Olaf?”
“He’s been through a lot,” Kristof said. He leaned forward. “Father kept him imprisoned since that night, but he’s free now. He will heal.”
“I want to see him.”
“How much of that night did you see?” Kristof asked gently.
Stacia wrapped her arms around herself. “Too much, not nearly enough. I replay it again and again in my head. I should’ve called Gavriil. Or you. I was so stupid. We both were.”
“It’s sometimes easier to blame ourselves for something that’s happened,” Addy said. “But we can’t change the past. All we can do is accept that it happened and work our way past it.”
“You sound like that doctor that comes here sometimes,” Stacia said with a laugh. “She has told me that many times.”
Kristof was glad that The Arsenal had doctors visiting Stacia and the other women. Were they medical or psychological? Knowing Addy’s crew, they were both. Admiration rose within him. Too many would’ve forgotten about the mental aspects of healing from trauma, but they hadn’t.
“He’ll need time to heal and acclimate to freedom,” Kristof said. “There are a few things you should know, though.”
Worry filled her gaze. “Tell me.”
“He cannot speak.” He didn’t explain further. Had she seen Olaf’s tongue cut, or had it happened after she’d been taken away? Kristof wanted details from that night, but he doubted he’d ever get them.
“I saw…” Her voice broke. “He did it after he…”
Kristof clenched his fists. Addy squeezed his thigh. Grasping her hand, he forced a deep breath. Then another.
“He made