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Máxim was fearless. “I know gunmen. You’re not one.”
Edward cocked his weapon. “I will shoot!” This close, he couldn’t miss.
“And when you do, my man will retrieve his gun and take you out.” Máxim was planning to get shot? For me? “There is no scenario where she doesn’t live.”
Need to help him. Gritting my teeth, I patted the ground for Edward’s blade. So dizzy. Stay awake or Máxim dies. For all these years, I’d wanted to be brave. Now was my chance.
There! The knife. I curled my fingers around the hilt.
“Stop where you are!” Edward squinted one eye—to take the shot!
No, no, no! I lifted the knife. With the last of my strength, I screamed and struck, stabbing his arm. But the gun was going off! The deafening blast boomed beside my ear.
Máxim’s shoulder jerked back. Edward yelled, “You bitch—”
Another shot followed? Edward was thrown back from me. My head slammed into the ground, and the angry sky spun.
A second later, Maksim pulled me into his arms. “Katya,” he rasped. “I’ve got you.”
CHAPTER 38
As the car started moving, I tried to wake up more, to make sure Máxim was okay and to tell him that I’d be fine.
He had one arm wrapped around my back, his other hand pressing down on my wound. “Stay with me, solnyshko! You need to stay awake!” He yelled at Vasili. Our speed increased till I felt like we were zooming.
“Máxim . . . you were shot.”
“Flesh wound. You fouled his aim—or I’d be dead.”
I pried open my eyes. “Is he?”
“He’s taken care of. Please stay awake for me!” Máxim looked like he was about to lose it. “Talk to me. Tell me about this.”
“I finally can.”
“You’ve been running from Edward for three years?”
“Never stay in a place . . . longer than six months.” My voice sounded so far away. “Rule number three.”
“You were about to leave Miami for good?”
I tried to nod. “I clean houses. Ivanna’s. But Shadwell . . . I had no money. Thought I saw Edward here. . . .”
“Keep talking. You thought you saw him, then what happened?”
“Scared. I could take Ivanna’s date with some Russian . . . I figured one guy, one night. Couldn’t be worse than Edward.” I lost track of what I’d been saying. My lids felt so heavy.
“You told me I was your first. I refused to believe you. No, no, stay with me! Keep talking. When did you marry him?”
“Eighteen. After my mom died. H-he killed her.” My voice broke. “I was so stupid. Got swindled out of everything.”
“Swindled? What did he want from you?”
“He and Julia . . . wanted my beach. Planned to kill me too.”
“Your beach?”
“Martinez Beach. Worth one fifty.”
Sevastyan’s brow furrowed. “They targeted you for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars?”
“Million.”
I heard Vasili gasp from the front seat. “Is Vasili shot too?”
“No, he’s surprised, as am I.”
“It’s in trust . . . couldn’t sign it over.” I needed to close my eyes for a second. “Edward’s a lawyer. I signed everything else over to him. Idiota. . . .”
“No, you were so young. Keep talking. Wake up!”
My lids flashed wide.
“Eyes on me, baby. Then what happened?”
“He framed me. Couldn’t go to police . . . I got a gun. Accidente. Shot Julia and blood was everywhere . . . He swore he’d kill me. I ran and ran. Probably going to jail.”
“Nothing will ever happen to you again! Never. Look at me. Talk to me. About anything. What were you doing in the classroom?”
“Last exam. Máxim, I-I finished college today.”
His brows drew together, as if I were breaking his heart. “Congratulations, little love. We will celebrate when you are better.” He barked something to Vasili, who responded just as tersely. “You must’ve had a laugh when I asked you why you didn’t go to school.”
“I never lied. I bob. And weave.”
“You’re very good at that. But you’re an atrocious liar.”
“The worst,” I agreed. “Anthony told me . . . you booked Ivanna.”
“Fucking kill him. He likely said that to convince you to take the date you spoke of. I only called for her number to try to find out more information about Edward. I decided on the plane that I would discover who he was and pay him to give you to me.”
“You did?”
“When I comprehended you were really leaving me yesterday, I let you—so I could track you and find the man I thought you loved.”
“Sneaky.”
“I knew he wouldn’t possibly leave you for less than a billion, so I decided to give him that and make the better bargain.”
“Are you telling me this . . . because I’m dying—”
“NO! You are not dying, solnyshko. We’re almost at the hospital. I’m telling you this because I will always tell you everything in the future.”
“I saw the blade . . . but my chest doesn’t hurt at all.”
Immediately, I perceived even more pressure from Máxim. He snapped at Vasili, then asked me, “With all that happened to you, how could you not scream at me when I accused you of entrapping me?”