Chapter 28 - Parker

Lev's men were right behind me as my voice rang out through the empty warehouse. They'd clearly been on their way, and a roar of gunfire sounded around me as they kept everyone else in the building from getting to our location.

Pietor, who was always the closest to Lev's side, was next to me in a second.

"The fuck happened?!"

"Pavel is dead. Lev…" I shook my head, my voice threatening to break before I refocused. "Laceration to his trapezius. No contact with the carotid but heavy bleeding. I need to get him stabilized."

I looked Pietor directly in the eye. "Now."

A familiar flurry of activity picked up at that. I maintained hard pressure on Lev's injury to staunch the bleeding as Pietor and two of Lev's other men helped me to get him to the car. I was desperate for my tools. Still, as we got into the large vehicle, I was able to lay Lev across the floor, holding that pressure as it sped down the road with all the fury of a hellhound.

We were at Lev's house in a blink, and we all got Lev inside and into the nearby dining room where I could work on him. To my surprise, the men had gathered a makeshift ER setup, I wasn't going to ask how they got the equipment, and I was thrilled for the better supplies.

"Everyone not ready to help with some semblance of medical experience, get out."

There was half a beat of hesitation, but then the unnecessary guards left the room, and I could hear them posted up outside the door.

Pietor remained as expected, and I put him to work.

"Get those open." I gestured at the quick clot pads and bandages that spilled from the emergency kit Pietor had set on the table with Lev. "Get us gloves."

We were gloved quickly, which I appreciated, and I'd been able to stop the bleeding with the gauze in the first aid kit they'd brought to the warehouse. Removing this layer would start it up again, but hopefully, it would be minimal until I could get him sewn up. Pietor was silent as he held the other bandages at the ready, and I swapped out this soiled one for the new quick clot pad.

It warmed beneath my fingers as I pressed it to Lev's neck, and I looked back at Pietor.

"Okay, we have a moment. I need the sutures and needle, tweezers, the disinfectant, scissors, and tape."

With all the muscle memory and training standing behind me, I was able to get Lev's injury cleaned and stitched up. He didn't wake up during the process, which was both good and bad. I wanted him numbed or out for this, but I didn't like how much blood he'd lost, and giving him blood wasn't an option right now.

We were able to successfully address and stabilize his injury, thanks to Pietor"s expert handling of my instructions. All that was left to do was wait for any changes in his condition.

"So?"

His different-colored eyes bore into me, and I nodded as I snapped off the gloves.

"I think he'll be okay. But we just have to wait. If he doesn't show signs of improvement, we're going to need to take him to a hospital. As much as I know that he wouldn't appreciate that."

"No shit." He sighed, falling into the chair that had been pulled away from the table to give us space. "That shit going to help?"

I looked at the IV Lev's men had managed to steal from somewhere.

"Yes, I believe so. It's antibiotics and fluids. He'll need both. But I'd really like to know which hospital your men stole this from so that we can donate to it or something. And how they all knew to get it."

With a half-hearted chuckle, Pietor nodded. "Google is a thing, sem"ya. And I'll find out."

I cocked a brow. "Sem'ya?"

"Family." He nodded once before standing up and heading to the door. "You're ours now."

My eyes burned as Pietor left, but I didn't have the strength to put myself back together if I fell apart now. So, I just took a seat next to Lev, holding his hand.

"Come on, you stubborn fuck. Fight for me."

After a while, and not being able to check on a monitor to see his vitals, I just laid my head down on the pseudo-bed that had been created from the dining room table. It didn't take long for exhaustion to set in, and I fell asleep.

***

Movement beneath my hand startled me out of unconsciousness, and I sat up like a shot. Lev's fingers had twitched, and I squeezed. After a second, a groan escaped as his eyelids flickered.

"Lev!" I smiled down at him, trying to stay level.

He doesn't want to see you all blubbery like some idiot. Come on.

Turning his head toward me, Lev cracked his eyes open slowly, his grip returning the squeeze.

"That was very loud, little one."

I chuckled, a rogue tear sliding down my cheek. "Sorry."

He tried to adjust against the stack of pillows we'd put behind him but was quickly stopped as the pain in his neck clearly kicked up.

"How did we…?" His eyes flared wide. "Pavel! Ah, shit."

Lev grunted, his hand going to his neck reflexively.

"We're okay," I soothed, rubbing my thumb across the back of his hand. "He's…dead. You killed him. And then Pietor and the guys arrived. They drove us home. This whole room was already set up. Did you have anything to do with that?"

Looking around, Lev took in his location, and he gave a slow nod.

"I did. I had a feeling we'd need it. Either for you or one of the men."

I chuckled, but it was paired with a gentle frown. "What about you? Didn't you think that you might need it, considering you were the one with the bright idea to go unarmed against my father?"

He tried to shrug but only moved one shoulder since the other was a bit touchy.

"Honestly?" Lev eyed me, and I nodded. "No. I didn't think I'd be coming back. And I wasn't unarmed. I had a knife."

Rolling my eyes at him, I shook my head. "That does not count. Though…"

I lifted up the halves of his button-down shirt.

"You're full of surprises."

"I may be impatient, but I'm not stupid. Of course, I wore a vest. Pavel should have thought of that."

An odd well of sadness opened behind my ribs. My father was dead, but it wasn't so much his loss that I mourned as much as the loss of the chance to have any type of relationship with a parent. I'd also come so close to losing Lev, which I knew would have killed me.

"I'm glad he didn't. I…" My throat tightened. "You would have died otherwise."

"I didn't. And I think that's because of you." Lev gripped my hand tighter, and the strength there was reassuring.

"Sorry, I had to cut your shirt. I needed room to work."

He regarded the flaps of fabric hanging loosely around him. With a tired smirk, Lev's attention moved from his own disheveled appearance to mine.

"Jesus, I'd almost forgotten." His hand left mine to smooth over the growing bruise on my face, and I looked down myself. "Are you okay?"

With a shake of my head, my eyes falling to the space between us, I just sighed.

"I'm fine. Just a few bangs and bruises. Nothing I have dealt with before. I took care of all the cleaning while you were resting."

I gestured down to the bandage on my knee before holding up my wrist and giving it a little wiggle.

"All good."

Lev's eyes darkened, that fury I was used to seeing there back in place. I'd sort of missed it, and my body warmed despite the situation.

"If he wasn't already dead, I'd kill that fucker for having ever laid a finger on you." His eyes found the middle distance, and he snickered menacingly. "I'm tempted to just keep his body around to shoot up some more."

I laughed, a bit disgusted but also somehow…touched. "Gross, Lev. No. But thank you."

Meeting my eyes again, I lowered my chin, looking directly at that dark stare, and squeezed his hand between mine.

"I really mean that, you know. Thank you. You came to get me, even though Pavel could've…" I couldn't get the words out; the memory still too fresh. "Well. You know."

Lev grunted quietly as he sat up from the pillows, and I hurried to meet him halfway through the movement. He shook his head, wanting to do it himself, of course. But he did, and as he eyed me hard, Lev pulled his hand back to use both to cup my face.

"I will always come for you, little one. Always."

Fucking crying was not what I wanted to be doing right now, and I fought against the tears. I lowered my face into Lev's hands, and then Lev's forehead was against my own.

"Can I…" I sucked in a shaky breath. "I'd like to stay. Here. With you."

Lev laughed again, but it was easier this time, softer. When I looked up at him, he rubbed his thumb across my swollen lip, touching the split gently.

"I don't know what gave you the idea that you had a choice. You're my wife, Parker, and you'll stay wherever I tell you to."

Before, Lev"s voice would have been filled with tension and anger when he commanded me like this. But now, it was simply a statement of fact. We both knew that the darkness would return soon, and we were both eager for it to come. This wasn"t an angry demand, just a reminder of our current reality. Lev moved his thumb from my lip to the front of my throat, pressing just enough.

"You belong to me, little one. You're mine. To fuck, to command, to corrupt." He hovered his lips over mine. "And to love."

My heart skipped, and I couldn't stop the hushed sob that tore free.

"You…you love me?"

"The first and last person I ever will."

He kissed me. Tender and sweet. It was brand new, unlike every other kiss. It was more. Life, it seemed, was indeed a chaotic wheel that spun off the tracks on the regular, and there was nothing I could ever have done to stop it.

And I was glad because then I would have missed this.

"I love you, Lev," I whispered against his lips. "But don't get any ideas. You need to rest.

Laughing wholeheartedly against my lips, Lev pulled back just enough so that I could see the beaming grin on his face.

"When that day comes, little one, I'm going to fucking destroy you."

Biting my lip, I nodded. "Understood, Mr. Vadim. Understood."