“I’ll need help getting him in the car.”
Rory nods, and then he’s bolting over to help, but Ronan’s still staring at Andrei.
“Ronan.” I grab his face and pull his attention back to me. “You can deal with it later, okay? Let’s get in the car.”
“He tried to hurt you,” he says again. “Ye’re mine.”
“I am,” I agree. “And I need you to stick around. For a really long time, okay? Because I can’t do this without you.”
I try to get him to move forward, but he stops us. I think he’s going to argue again, but instead he kisses me. It’s rough and possessive. When his lips fall away, his face is as earnest as I’ve ever seen it.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he says. “Because I love you, Sasha.”
My eyes clog up with tears, and I’m nodding like crazy because I’m too choked up to speak. Finally, I get myself under control enough to tell him what I’ve been dying to for the last three years.
“I love you too, Ronan. I think I always have.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Sasha
Ronan’s passed out in the backseat, his head in my lap. Scarlett and I are both applying pressure to the wound while Daisy nudges at his leg, whining in fear.
That fear is spreading through me like toxic sludge, darkening my world that was only just beginning to get bright again.
“You have to hurry,” I yell at Rory for the tenth time, although I know he can’t drive any faster.
“He’s going to be okay, Sash,” he answers. “He’s survived much worse.”
“I don’t care,” I snap at him. “Where the hell are you taking us? It’s been too long. He’s bleeding too much…”
“We can’t go back to Boston just yet,” Rory says. “In case it wasn’t clear, we’ve got mad heat on us right now.”
“I don’t care about that…” I protest.
“Sasha, we have a friend out here,” he explains. “He’ll take care of Ronan.”
I want to believe him, but when I glance down at Ronan’s pale face, I don’t know if I can. This is too big to put my faith in someone else. This man resting on my lap is my whole world. My whole life. The sun rises and sets with him. And I know he’s strong. He’s stronger than anyone I know. But just because he’s survived so many horrors in his lifetime, doesn’t mean he’s going to survive this one too.
“It’s too much.” I shake my head. “He’s been through too much. Eventually, your body can’t handle it.”
“Sasha.” Scarlett grabs my hand and gives it a little squeeze. “Just take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay. He doesn’t want to leave you. He won’t leave you.”
“I’m having his baby,” I announce.
“I know ye are,” Rory answers. “And there’s nothing that could stop him from being around for it Sash.”
“He told you?” I meet his gaze in the mirror.
“Aye.” Rory nods. “He wouldn’t shut up about it. How much he needs to protect you. Take care of you. He blames himself for walking on out on you today. For not being there.”
I shake my head and trace the lines on his face again. “He just needed some time,” I whisper. “That’s all.”
The tires crunch over gravel, and when I glance out the window again, we’re in front of a house. A house in the middle of nowhere.
Rory turns off the engine, and a moment later he’s got the back door open. A man walks out of the house and Rory gestures for him to come over.
“Franco,” Rory greets him. “He needs help.”
Franco glances at Ronan and his lips flatten. He speaks in Russian, and I can’t understand what he’s saying, but his expression says it all. He doesn’t like Ronan.
Another man comes out to join us, and Franco clips out a few words of explanation in their native tongue. The third man glances at Ronan and lifts a brow. I don’t know who he is, but somehow I know he’s the one in charge. And whatever their beef with Ronan, I don’t care. I’m prepared to do whatever it takes.
“Please,” I beg. “You have to help him.”
The man’s eyes examine me, blue as the sky and gloomier than anything I’ve ever seen. He takes in my expression and my hand clutching at Ronan’s shirt, and something shifts in his features. He gives Franco a small nod, and then they’re carrying him inside, with me and Scarlett in tow.
“You’re going to help him, right?” I ask.
The man with the blue eyes nods. “I will do what I can.”
Chapter Forty
Sasha
I don’t know who this man is. The one with the blue eyes. But Rory calls him Alexei, and I’m certain he’s one of the big fish in the Russian mob. He has to be.