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I am a monster.

But I free her, and she flings herself into my arms, sobbing. “I thought… I thought he’d kill you. A-a-and Sasha?” Her voice rises in pitch and hysteria. “My boy? Oh my God, my boy, is he…?”

“He’s okay, I promise, Erin,Lyubimaya,” I say, holding her close, lifting her in my arms to take her away from the mess. “And I’m hard to kill.”

That sets her off, into deep, heart-wrenching sobs, me telling her Sasha’s fine.

“Are you sure? I was so terrified,” Erin says between sobs.

“I got him back myself. He’s okay, he’s good. Unharmed. He misses you, but Alina’s watching him. The entire house is. He’s safe.”

Now.

But someone got in.

He’s dead and I’ve fixed the hole in security, but… fuck.

“And Ilya… he got shot. Because?—”

“He’s in surgery.”

“He’s alive?”

“Yes.”

She grabs my face. “I tried to get away b-because N-niko wanted you dead and I couldn’t…” She dissolves again.

I kiss her forehead. “Ah, Erin, I’m hard to kill, like I told you.”

I hold her tight, letting her trembles melt into mine, hoping like fuck she doesn’t notice.

With her face pressed deep in against my jacket, so she doesn’t see the carnage, I walk out of the room, away from the dead man who hurt her, who stole my son, and out of that cesspit of a place.

There’s going to be a feeding frenzy over his territories, over this, and right now, I don’t care.

I don’t care about anything other than getting her home.

Safe.

Chapter Five

ERIN

“I want to see my son.”I glare at the man holding my hand in that antiseptic smelling hellhole, the hospital.

“You need to be checked out. He tried to choke you. I want to make sure…” He doesn’t finish.

“No one touched me like that, Demyan.”

I squeeze his hand, oddly touched that this strong man is worried someone might have touched me in the wrong way. And I keep the threats made of exactly that, of rape and sexual abuse to myself.

Although I’m pretty sure he and his men killed everyone in there, I don’t want to set him off on a rampage.

The doctor comes in right as Demyan’s phone lights up and he kisses my hand before standing. “I’ll step out for a second and take the call. I’ll?—”

“I’d like some time alone with Ms. Banks,” the doctor says firmly to Demyan.

Demyan doesn’t move. Of course he doesn’t. He’s not going to listen to the doctor. He’s worried Niko or one of his men tried something or abused me, other than what’s beendone to my face and throat—it hurts to swallow. But I need him out of here. I need some control.