Page 78 of Beautiful Trauma

“I hope so.”

At the sound of footsteps behind us, I peered over Maksim’s shoulder to see Annika with a tearstained face. “Father wants to see you,” she said in a soft voice.

With a nod, I eased out of Maksim’s arms.

When I entered the study, Father sat at his desk with his head buried in his hands. His entire body was coiled into itself, radiating defeat. Two empty vodka decanters sat on the desk, along with smoke curling from a lit cigar in the ashtray.

While I stopped in front of his desk, Annika walked around to stand beside Father. After placing her hand on his shoulder, Annika murmured into his ear. “Father, Mila is here.”

His head jerked up before his haunted eyes met mine. He stared at me for a moment before rising out of his chair. His movements were slow and sluggish.

Surprise flooded me when he opened his arms to me. When I stepped forward on tentative legs, he suddenly lunged at me. Annika screamed in horror when his hands wrapped around my neck.

“You worthless cunt! You’ve killed my son!” His face warped into a mask of rage as he tightened his grip. My own hands flew up to try to fight him off as the escaping air slowly deflated my lungs.

Just as my vision began to grow dim, Father suddenly jerked away from me before slamming back into his desk. As I gasped and choked for air, I collapsed to the ground.

It was then that I realized that Maksim and Aleks had pulled Father off of me. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that if they hadn’t, he would’ve killed me.

Lev dropped down beside me to pull me into his arms while Aleks shoved Father. “What the fuck is your problem? Mila isn’t the one who shot Dima.”

“Butshe’sthe reason why he was there! She’s the one who alerted Kavanaugh that Dima was about to shoot. That’s why his fucking bodyguard returned fire.”

Lev shook his head. “Dima shouldn’t have been firing on Kavanaugh to start with. Not to mention telling our men to stand down so he could be the one to end Kavanaugh. For fuck’s sake, that’s the reason this happened.”

Jabbing a finger at me, Father countered, “But he’s dead because she alerted Kavanaugh.”

“Dima isn’t dead,” Lev argued.

“You know what the doctors have said. Even if he comes out of this coma, he’ll be a cripple!” He snatched the antique figurine from the table before flinging it at the wall. The smashed pieces rained down onto the floor.

“My heir will be a cripple!” he screamed. Slamming his hand against his chest, Father shouted, “The Korolovas can’t be run by a cripple. He’d be better off dead.”

“You bastard!” I hissed from the floor.

When Father started to come after me, Aleks and Maksim stepped in front of him. “Enough!” Maks blared clearly.

“Get her out of here,” Father snarled.

When Lev started to help me, I shook him away. I wanted to be able to walk away from him all on my own. Although I staggered and lurched, I made it to the door without help.

“Do you want something to change into?” Kira asked in the hallway.

With a shake of my head, I started back to the elevator. “I’m going to be with Dima when he wakes up.”

“But Mila–”

“Hewillwake up. I won’t lose him.” A shudder rippled through me. “I can’t lose him.”

And then I got into the elevator.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: KELLAN

As I paced the floor of my office atBandia, I gripped my phone tightly against my ear. Like us, Bratva had a strong security wall. It had taken Giovanni almost twenty-four hours to get Mila's cell number.

I’d spent the last thirty-six hours in agony. I hadn’t eaten, and I’d barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Mila cradling Dima’s head on the tarmac. The despondent expression on her face haunted me.

I kept going over and over those last few moments when Dima had tried to assassinate me. Although I wanted to hate Andrew for returning fire, I couldn’t. It was what he was trained to do, which was to save my life when it was in danger. Firing back at the threat was part of protocol.