I pull back from Alexei, and he waits for me to rinse out my mouth. With a bitter taste in the back of my throat, I follow him to the room Demitri’s in.

Alexei takes a seat while I move closer to Demitri, wrapping my fingers around his palm that’s cool now. His fingers instantly flex, and then his eyes drift open, and they lock on me.

He manages a weak smile, and I have to fight hard to not start sobbing.

“Kiss me,” he whispers.

I shake my head and swallow hard. Instead, I lean down and press a kiss above the bandage to his chest. He smells like antiseptic, where I’m the one that smells like death.

Pulling back, I force a smile around my lips, and brushing my fingers down the side of his face, I soak in the feel of him.

“Just get better, okay.” I keep touching him, unable to pull back.

“I’m already better,” he says, his voice calm compared to the storm raging in me.

The man is seriously made of steel because he turns his eyes to Alexei and asks, “When can we leave?”

“Tomorrow, we’ll go back to the compound. You need to get stronger before we make the flight back to LA.”

I have a couple of days, probably a week at most, with Demitri, and then I’ll have to return to my own life.

The thought clears my mind of all the heartbreak and worry and forces me to focus only on Demitri. On now. On the precious time, I’ve been given to say goodbye.

DEMITRI

I’m not going to lie, it’s a fucking struggle getting back to the compound, and by the time I lie down on the bed, my body’s covered in sweat and burning with pain.

Alexei tucks me in like I’m a damn kid while Ariana runs to get water and painkillers for me.

“You holding up okay?” Alexei asks, his voice tight with worry.

“Stop this shit. I’m fine,” I grumble.

Alexei sits down on the side of the bed and then just stares at me. “You gave me one hell of a scare. What went wrong?”

“The guy got a lucky shot,” I try to play it down.

He shakes his head. “Don’t lie to me.”

I try to take a deep breath, but the pain in my chest stops me, and I wince. “I was focused on taking Yuri down.”

Ariana comes rushing back into the room, and Alexei gets up so she can help me take the meds. Then she’s up again to get a cool, wet cloth from the bathroom. While she wipes the sweat from my face, I try to catch her eyes, but she avoids making eye contact.

My body’s too weak to stay awake, and with Ariana’s scent wrapped around me, I drift off.

Every time I wake up, Alexei and Ariana are by my side, and then I’m dragged back to sleep.