YURI (Her Russian Protector #3) (36 page)

The gun pressed into his side fell a few inches before being shoved roughly against his ribs. "Katya, is that true?"

"He's
lying
," she spat angrily. "All those boys were lying little bastards who wanted to ruin my father. They wanted to take him away from me and make me orphans like them. Unwanted. Unloved. Forgotten. They were
jealous
of me because I had a real family." Katya slammed her knuckles into the side of Lena's head. "Until
you
took him from me!"

Dazed, Lena blinked rapidly and tried to recover from the unexpected blow. Yuri desperately tried to draw Katya's attention. "I did take him from you.
Me.
I was the one who killed him."

"Why?"

"Because he was raping my best friend," Yuri shouted. "He was hurting my best friend."

"
LIAR
!"

"I wouldn't lie about that. Your father was a monster—and I'm glad he's dead." Yuri purposely taunted her in the hopes she'd fly at him and leave Lena alone. Something told him Jake wasn't onboard with Katya hurting an innocent woman.

"You're the monster!"

"Maybe you're right," he conceded. "I'm the one who picked up a pipe and bashed his fucking head in like a rotten apple. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Katya screamed with anger and pointed the knife at him. The mad gleam to her eyes chilled him to the very core. "Maybe that's how I should kill her. Jake, find me a pipe."

"Now, wait, Katya," Jake said hurriedly. From the sound of his wavering voice, the bodyguard was quickly losing his will to carry out this brutal attack. "You never said anything about hurting Lena. You promised we were going to use her as bait to lure him here to make him pay for attacking and robbing and killing your father. You said they used the mob to cover it up, to get away with murder but—"

"Don't be stupid! She was never going to leave this house alive."

"She's innocent." Jake's composure faltered. "This isn’t about justice anymore. This is about something ugly—and I won't be part of it."

The gun fell from Yuri's side but Jake kept his tight grip on Yuri. Katya raised her knife and pointed it at her partner in crime. Screaming like a Russian demon, she lost her fucking mind on Jake. The knife swung wildly in front of Lena's face. If her hands and ankles hadn't been bound she might have had a chance to escape…

Lena's tearful gaze met his. For a few heartbeats, the world slowed to a near standstill. Without saying a word, she telegraphed her intentions with a single look. Silently, she mouthed one simple, beautiful phrase.
I love you
.

In the next instant, Lena chomped down on Katya's arm. The shock of witnessing his sweet Lena perpetrate such a barbaric act froze his limbs. Blood spilled around her lips as she bit down even harder. Katya shrieked with agony and ripped her arm free. The wild movement brought the knife dangerously close to Lena's neck but his brave woman threw up her bound wrists and blocked the knife's blade with that wide gold cuff he'd given her. The very tip of the knife bounced off the cuff and sliced her jaw.

Lena's pained shout pulled him from his stupor. Throwing back his head, he slammed his skull into Jake's mouth and nose. A solid kick to the balls dropped the bodyguard. Scrambling forward, Yuri reached Lena in time to snatch her by the shoulders and toss her out of the way.

Katya flew at him with the knife. There was nothing to do but block her slashes with his forearms. He hissed as the blade plunged into his arm again and again. The stab wounds hurt like hell but he refused to let this deranged woman anywhere near Lena again.

As the knife slashed at his chest and ripped open his shirt and the flesh beneath, two gunshots startled Yuri. Like him, Katya jumped with surprise. Terrified Lena had been hurt, he glanced at her but her gaze was fixed on the doorway behind them all. Looking back, he found Nikolai standing there with his pistol still raised. Jake had fallen to the floor, a gun gripped in his hand and blood pooling around his chest and arms.

"
Aaarggh
!" Yuri's guttural burst of pain exploded from his mouth as Katya jammed the knife into his right shoulder. The blade became stuck as he twisted away from her and fell forward. Before she could rip it free and stab him again, Nikolai fired two more times, hitting her square in the chest. The weight of her body dropped onto his back and drove him to his knees.

In an instant, Nikolai had reached him. He pushed Katya onto the floor where she gasped and clawed at her bloody chest. Yuri reached back to touch the knife sticking out of his back but Nikolai gripped his hand. "Leave it alone. This is for the surgeons to handle."

Huddled against the wall, Lena sobbed loudly. Nikolai crouched near her and produced a knife from his boot. He quickly cut the ropes binding her wrists and ankles. Once she was free, she scuttled across the rickety floor. "Yuri!"

Bleeding profusely, he crawled toward her and rested his head in her lap. The throbbing pain of the knife embedded in his shoulder was easy to ignore when her soft hands touched him.

"Oh, baby, you'll be okay." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Just hold still, Yuri."

He reached up and touched the spot just below her bloody jaw. The wound would scar and serve as a reminder of all they'd survived. "I'm sorry."

"Don't," she whispered and bent down to brush a kiss across his temple. "I love you so much—and you came for me. That's all that matters."

A terrible rattling breath interrupted their declaration of love. Katya gasped for air as her lungs filled with blood. Yuri had seen enough chest wounds during the campaign in Chechnya to know the woman had only minutes. He wanted to hate her for what she'd done but he felt only the most supreme sadness. Her mind had been been twisted by that terrible, vile man she called a father and then filled with hatred when she'd been left orphaned and alone.

Showing the depth of her kindness and forgiveness, Lena grasped Katya's hand, the same hand that had wielded the knife that sliced her face, stabbed her father and her lover. Voice shaking but calm, Lena said, "You're all right. You're going to be all right."

It was a lie—and Katya knew it. Even so, the woman's expression softened. She dragged the final gurgling breaths into her destroyed lungs. Lena kept a tight grip on Katya's hand even after it was all over.

Dizzy from the blood loss and awash in adrenaline, Yuri started to fade. As he fought to stay conscious, he watched Lena hold out her now bloody hand toward Nikolai. "Give it to me."

Nikolai couldn't hide the shock on his face. "No."

"I'm not asking. Give me the damn gun and go."

"It's a clean gun." Nikolai hesitated for a moment before handing over the weapon he illegally possessed. He crouched down and gripped Yuri's hand. "I'll stay close by—just in case."

"Go," Lena urged.

As Nikolai fled the scene, Lena expertly unloaded the weapon and made sure to wipe down every inch of it—even the shiny rounds—before marking the gun and bullets with her fingerprints. The way she expertly handled the weapon would have impressed him under different circumstances. Today, it saddened him.

"You don't have to do this." He stayed on his side as she slid away from him and started to rifle through the drawers in search of another knife. When she found one, she used it to slash at the ropes that had been binding her wrists and ankles. She dropped the knife on the floor there.

"I do. He saved us. I know he's done some shady shit in his life but I won't throw him to the wolves. We'll tell them this was the gun you brought. If Nikolai's DNA or fingerprints show up on it, you tell them that Nikolai took it away from you because he didn't want you to go after Jake and Katya on your own. We'll tell them I was able to get to the gun when it was knocked off the counter after I cut the rope cuffs. I got behind Jake and shot him. Then I shot Katya."

Yuri cringed at the ugly idea of letting Lena take the fall for the shootings. "No. I won't let you do this."

"It's too late. This is happening." She reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone. "No one is going to charge me for defending the man I love and saving my own damn life."

He tried to stay awake as she dialed 9-1-1 but the blood loss made him weak and cold. There were so many questions racing through his mind. How Nikolai had come to be here still perplexed him. Listening to Lena take the blame for what had happened here soured his gut. He wanted to cry out that she was innocent but the numbness took hold.

For now, Lena was safe—and that was enough for him.

* * *

"It's not that bad. Really," Erin added with a reassuring smile. "That plastic surgeon did a really nice job."

Sitting in the hospital waiting room, I studied the swollen area along my jaw that had been sewn and glued shut in the reflection of the mirror she'd produced from her purse.

"Erin is right." Vivian comfortingly patted my arm. "It will heal nicely."

Closing the mirror, I handed it back to Erin. "I guess a faint scar is better than the alternative."

Erin hugged me from the side. Teary-eyed, she whispered, "I don't even want to think about that. I'm so glad you're all okay."

Okay was probably the best way to describe everyone. Kelly and Feodor were being kept overnight for observation after having the unknown sedative injected into their systems. Sasha's vet had made a house call to check on him and now Dimitri and Benny were staying over to watch him as he slept off the tranquilizer.

"Your dad looked pretty good," Vivi remarked. "From what I could see from the hallway, I mean."

I nodded and sipped cold water from the bottle Ivan had handed me before taking up a strategic seat across the room. He had the best view of everyone coming and going. No doubt he'd been tasked with watching over all of us.

"For someone who took a boot to the face and a kitchen knife to the back? Definitely."

"At least they'll be on the same floor," Erin said, clearly trying to find a silver lining to all this. "Yuri and your dad, I mean. It will make visiting easier for the next few days."

"How long do you think they'll keep them?" Vivi wondered.

"The doctor said Dad will probably go home in two days. I hope they won't keep Yuri very long. He won't be able to handle sitting still and doing nothing."

"Maybe it would be good for him to learn to enjoy a slower pace," Erin suggested. Lowering her voice, she said, "Ivan was a real workaholic before we got together. He still puts in some crazy hours but he's definitely learned to cut back and enjoy life more. That might be good for Yuri. All that stress can't be healthy for him."

"It might be good for both of you to slow down," Vivi remarked. "You two are exactly alike when it comes to work. In all the years I've known you, the last week has been the first time I've ever seen you take some time for yourself—and it took a dang cartel threat and some blackmailing nut to make you do it!"

When she put it like that…

"Miss Cruz?" A nurse in bright blue scrubs smiled at me. "Mr. Novakovsky is in his room now."

Even though I wanted to jump up and run down the hall to see him, I rose slowly as instructed by the doctor who had seen me in the ER for my smacked up face and the surgeon who had sewn me back together. Vivian gave my hand an encouraging squeeze. As I left the waiting room, Ivan winked at me and smiled.

The nurse walked me to Yuri's private room. Desperate to see him, I entered quickly and shut the door. The setting sun filled the room with a pinkish hue.

Yuri's tense expression relaxed as his gaze fell upon me. "Kitten."

Joy bubbled inside me like the fizzy champagne we'd enjoyed on his yacht. I couldn't get to him fast enough. Standing next to the bed, I visually examined him. Both of his arms were bandaged. The gaping neck of his hospital gown revealed another bandage on his chest and the top edge of the bandage on his back. An IV line snaked out of his right arm.

Cupping his strong jaw, I whispered, "How are you feeling?"

"Buzzed," he answered honestly.

I giggled. "I suppose that's a good thing right now."

"Very good," he agreed. His smile faded and he brushed his fingers across my cheek. "Are you all right?"

"The bruises will fade and my lip will heal. This too," I added while gesturing to the cut.

"And what about this?" He touched my head. "And this?" He touched my heart. "Are these going to heal so quickly?"

"I don't know. I don't think it's really hit me yet." I swallowed hard. "I'm sure it will later, when I'm alone."

"I don't want you alone. You need to be around the people you love and the people who love you."

Thinking of Erin, Vivian, Benny and their men, I nodded. "I don't think that will be a problem. Dimitri and Benny are already at our house taking care of Sasha. I guess Vasya was able to carry him into his kennel after the vet saw him. And Ivan brought Erin and Vivian to the emergency room. They haven't left my side."

"Good." He hesitated. "Have you spoken to the police?"