Partners

KAIA

The door swung open with a loud bang, and I let out a scream as I was yanked away from Aleksandr’s lifeless form. Suddenly, I was staring down the barrel of a gun once more.

“~Did you do this?~” Niko’s voice was filled with rage, but his eyes kept darting to Aleksandr’s body as two men with a stretcher checked for signs of life.

“He’s breathing!” one of them shouted. “It’s weak, but it’s there.”

A sigh of relief escaped my lips, but it was short-lived as Niko’s glare returned to me once Aleksandr was carried out of the room.

“It wasn’t me, it was ~her.~” I jerked my head toward Nadya, who was sprawled on the floor, her face obscured by her dark hair.

One of the men turned her over, and Niko sucked in a sharp breath.

“Is that ~Nadya~?”

I nodded quickly.

“She’s been plotting to take over—”

“Or you could be in cahoots ~with~ her. Let’s go,” Niko cut me off and shoved me toward the door.

As we stepped outside, I saw Aleksandr’s men swarming the motel, but it was the sight of a struggling girl that caught my eye.

“Irina!” Her head snapped toward me, and she began to fight harder.

“Kaia!” She tried to reach me, but Savva held her back.

“Please Niko, don’t hurt her. She’s innocent in all this,” I pleaded.

He pushed me against the SUV so hard that the wind was knocked out of me.

“Save it,” he growled, pointing a finger at me. “I promise you this. If Aleksandr dies, then so do ~you.~”

ALEKSANDR

I slowly opened my eyes, squinting against the harsh fluorescent light. The beeping and humming of machines filled my ears, and I froze as I realized I was in the makeshift hospital we used for injured men.

Memories flooded back in a rush. Nadya pointing a gun at Kaia, the sensation of bullets tearing into me, and Kaia driving a knife into Nadya’s neck, ending her threat once and for all.

“Look who’s back from the dead.” Niko’s voice was rough from lack of sleep.

I turned my head to see him, his clothes rumpled and dark circles under his eyes. A quick scan of the room left me with a question.

“Where’s Kaia?” I tried to sit up, but Niko held me down.

“The doctor said you need to stay put, Aleks.”

Panic surged in my chest at the thought of Kaia being hurt, or worse.

“Then answer the damn question, Nikolai.”

He stiffened, then let go of my shoulder and stepped back.

“She’s locked up, where she belongs.”

His words took a moment to sink in, but when they did, a wave of fury rose within me.

“~WHAT!~”

My shout echoed in the room, and two nurses rushed in as I tried to rip out the IV lines attached to my skin.

“Stop it, Aleksandr!” Niko and the nurses tried to restrain me. Then I felt a small prick in my arm and everything went dark.

When I woke up, my arms were strapped down and Niko was still sitting by my bed, watching me warily.

“Feeling better now?” he asked.

I tugged at the restraints.

“What the hell did you do, Niko?” I gritted out. “Kaia isn’t your enemy.”

Niko shot up from his chair and jabbed a finger in my face.

“Do you think I could ever forget that she pointed a gun at your back?” he spat. “That she led you into a trap that nearly killed you? You might forgive her, but I can’t.”

I sighed, knowing that Niko saw me as a brother and must have been terrified seeing me like that.

“You don’t know the whole story,” I told him. Then I recounted the plot between Nadya and my father.

By the time I finished, Niko looked shell-shocked.

“So Kaia really believed you were responsible for the massacre at her father’s estate?” Niko asked. “I was right all along. Was she here to kill you then?”

I let out a breath.

“Kaia didn’t come here to kill,” I stated. “She came seeking answers.”

Niko’s eyebrow arched in question.

“Wasn’t it Kaia who stabbed Nadya?”

“She only did that after Nadya shot me,” I explained. “Kaia was trying to ~defend~ me.”

I’ve known Niko for a long time. His silence was a warning sign.

“If I discover even a single scratch on her, Niko, someone will pay with their life.”

Niko moistened his lips.

“She’s unharmed,” he said slowly, and I exhaled in relief. “But there was a scuffle when she tried to escape after Feliks brought her food.”

My eyes flew open.

“She said she wanted to be with you, and when I denied her, she…reacted.”

I struggled to keep my anger in check.

“Bring her to me.”

“Boss…”

“Remove these damn cuffs and bring Kaia to me. Right. Now. ~Immediately.~”

Niko sighed but followed my orders.

While he was gone, the doctor came in and informed me that two bullets had cleanly passed through my body, but the third had grazed an artery. I had lost a significant amount of blood and was lucky to be alive. He didn’t know that now that I had found my little kitten, I had more reason to live than ever before. As long as she was in this world, death was not an option.

He advised me to rest and avoid exertion for at least two weeks. I knew I would struggle to follow his advice.

“Aleks!”

I looked up from my phone, where I had been checking emails and responding to messages, to see Kaia rushing into the room.

She almost hugged me but stopped herself just in time when she saw my bandages.

I scanned her from head to toe, my gaze landing on the figure just behind her.

“What the hell, Niko?” I snapped when I noticed the purple bruise on Kaia’s cheek.

Kaia took my hand and gently pressed it to her bruised cheek, sighing.

“It’s nothing. Feliks was just doing his job,” she said quickly, reminding me of how much she had already become a part of my family.

I gently caressed her cheek.

“He had no right to lay a hand on you.”

Kaia smiled and skillfully changed the subject.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered.

I shook my head.

“I’m not okay, but I will be,” I said. When she frowned, I patted the space next to me on the bed. “Come lie down.”

Kaia gasped.

“Aleks…I can’t. The doctor said you need to rest.” She looked around, and seeing we were alone, she seemed to consider it.

“Either you come here, or I’ll have to get up.”

“No! Don’t!”

She bit her lip, then carefully climbed into bed next to me.

I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her close to my side and suppressing a wince when my chest throbbed. I breathed in her jasmine scent, feeling as if my world had finally righted itself.

“I’m sorry for lying to you,” she mumbled into my neck.

I kissed the top of her head.

“You didn’t know whether to trust me, ~kotik.~ I understand.”

“But if I had, we wouldn’t have been so easily manipulated,” she continued.

I lifted her chin to look into her mesmerizing green eyes, glistening with unshed tears.

“Let it go, Kaia,” I said. “It’s over. You should be focusing on planning our wedding.”

Her lips parted in surprise.

“You… still want to marry me?”

I smiled gently.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

She looked down and started picking at an imaginary piece of lint on my hospital gown.

“Because I killed your wife,” she said, her voice choked with emotion.

My smile faded, and my grip on her chin tightened.

“Nadya hasn’t been my wife for a long time,” I said, my tone serious. “And there’s no one else I can imagine by my side but you.”

Her smile brightened my world.

“Does that mean you love me?”

I leaned in and kissed her.

“Kaia Rostova, what I’m trying to say is, I love you. Every single cell in my body is bursting with it. The thought of not waking up next to you, or not having you beside me when I drift off to sleep, it’s unbearable.”

“I don’t just want you in my bed, Kaia. I want you by my side, as my partner, for the rest of our lives.”

Her affirmation was swallowed in the space between us as she crashed her lips onto mine.