Page 92 of No Longer Mine

Dimitri didn’t leave,but he didn’t speak again. He just watched. His grandmothers worked—well, Nana worked, and Grandmother tried to pry every secret from me with nothing more than a scolding gaze.

Pain radiated through my body, sharp and unrelenting. I needed painkillers—hell, maybe even a blood transfusion. If I called Oliver, he’d demand I go to a hospital. But Sinclair was probably already scanning every ER from here to Canada.

I couldn't risk it.

I hissed as Nana finished covering the wound. Dimitri’s jaw flexed, but he stayed where he was, arms crossed, unreadable.

“You’ve got too much blood on your hands, love,” Grandmother murmured, watching me with eyes that saw too much. “Some of it yours, some of it not.”

I forced out a breath. Another day, another time, I would have stewed on her words, but I was in too much pain to really dive into it. “Occupational hazard.”

She hummed like that answer didn't quite satisfy her.

Nana, unfazed by our exchange, gave a satisfied nod. “You’ll live. But no sudden movements, no fights, no?—”

“No fun?” I tried to joke. It fell flat.

Dimitri only clenched his jaw and looked at the ceiling. “Thank you both for coming and taking care of her.”

Nana shoved a few items back in her bag. “She’s going to need strong painkillers.”

“I have some in the medicine cabinet.” I let out weakly.

“She really needs a hospital. Thankfully, it wasn’t too deep. She will need someone to help her get around.” Nana’s silver brows shot up as she spoke to Dimitri. “You’re going to have to be here for her, if she doesn’t want to be seen injured.”

She was right. I thought I was ready to fight Dimitri when he said something about his father, but now, there was no fight left. I’d never hurt so badly in my entire life. Thankfully, I hadn’t gotten rid of the painkillers from when I’d had my wisdom teeth removed a few years prior.

“She has friends,” Dimitri bit out.

His words hurt almost as much as the bullet wound did. I couldn’t tell them about this. Oliver would never let me out of the house, and Cleo would probably agree with him.

Grandmother’s cane shot out, and she hit him in the chest with it. “She’s going to at least need help tonight. Don’t get the wound wet but help her get the blood off of her body, at least.”

Nana patted my hand one last time before she set out with Grandmother on her heels. They were an interesting duo, and I wasn’t sure what I thought about them, but I was thankful for their help. I would have to ask Dimitri what kind of gift I could send them that would be meaningful and show my appreciation. Though I wasn’t even sure of what I could say, thank you for saving my life.

I opened my mouth to speak as the door clicked shut behind Nana and Grandmother, but Dimitri beat me to it.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.”

I braced myself to stand, but before I could even attempt it, his arms swept around me. In one effortless motion, he lifted me off the couch like I weighed nothing.

“Tell me where to go.”

I blinked up at him, my heart doing something strange and unwelcome. He was taking me to my bedroom. Any other time, I’d be a mess of nerves, but now? Now, I was just uneasy about having him in my space when I was too weak to fight back.

I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. But still…

“Third floor.” Heat rushed to my cheeks as I imagined him carrying me up all those stairs. “I’m sorry. Maybe you could just set me up in a guest room?—”

He let out a low chuckle, the sound curling around my spine. “Absolutely not.”

Something flipped in my stomach at his words, and I told myself it was just the bullet wound. Nothing else.

He didn’t even break a sweat as he took the stairs two at a time, his grip secure, his scent—clean, sharp, utterly distracting—filling my senses. By the second floor, he let out a low whistle.

“You live in luxury, huh?”

I pressed my lips together, unsure how to respond. “Uh… thank you?”