Page 153 of The Enemy Protector
“Get me everything we have on Yuri’s movements. Every location. Every contact. We’re going to be ready. The second we find him, we move.”
Kirill nods. “I’ll get the men moving.”
I’m already heading for the door. There’s only one thing left to do before this starts. I need to find my wife.
She’s had two days to process. I know she’s gone through a lot, but it only gets worse before there’s a chance it gets better. The last time I hesitated, she was nearly killed.
I find her in the guest room, laptop open, focused on whatever she’s working on. She looks tired. More than tired—worn down. Exhausted. She’s been fighting for too long. I want to give her peace.
I lean against the doorframe and watch her for a moment.
“We need to talk,” I say.
She looks up, meeting my eyes. I see the wariness there. She’s still processing everything I told her two days ago. She’s still deciding if she can forgive me for keeping secrets.
“Okay.” She closes the laptop.
I walk into the room and sit on the edge of the bed, facing her. I expect her to stay in the chair, to maintain distance. Instead, she moves to sit beside me.
“Yuri knows about the POA,” I say. “He was at your father’s house. Mikhail told him everything.”
I watch her process this. Her jaw tightens, but she doesn’t look surprised.
“Of course he did,” she says quietly.
“Yuri is going to come for you. Soon. He’s planning.”
She nods slowly. “I figured as much.”
“I need you to understand something.” I turn to face her fully. “This isn’t a negotiation. You don’t move without me. Not until Yuri is dead. I don’t care if you have class or meetings or anything else. You stay here, where I can protect you.”
I brace myself for the fight. For her to tell me I can’t control her. She makes her own decisions.
Instead, she surprises me.
“What do you need me to do?”
I blink. “What?”
“What do you need me to do?” she repeats. “You’re the one with experience. You know how these things work. So tell me—what do I need to do to help you keep me alive?”
I stare at her. This woman who fought me every step of the way is suddenly letting me lead. I don’t want her defeated.
“You trust me?” I ask.
“I trust you to keep me alive,” she says. “That’s what you’ve been doing for eight years, right? So tell me what you need.”
I reach out and cup her face in my hand. She leans into the touch.
“You stay alive. That’s the only instruction I’m giving you. I don’t care what you have to do. Who you have to hurt. You survive. Understood?”
“Same goes for you,” she says. “We’ve got some stuff to work on, but we have to be alive in order to do that.”
I’ve never had someone need me before. I’ve never needed anyone.
Ineedher. I cannot lose her.
I pull her into my arms, holding her tight against my chest. She wraps her arms around my waist and presses her face against my shoulder.
