Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 120165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
“It’s safe?!”
She blinked at me, then nodded.
I let out a wail of relief and pulled the door release. I tried to climb out of the car but after close to an hour of sitting perfectly still, my legs were completely numb, and they folded under me like paper. It didn’t matter, though, because Radimir was already grabbing me and pulling me into his arms. I distantly heard everyone cheering as we went full-length on the ground, rolling and hugging, and then he was kissing me, over and over, as if checking I was really there. I went limp in his arms as all the tension drained out of me. Then I started kissing him back just as hard as he was kissing me, panting and drunk on the feeling of being alive.
Remembering something, I broke the kiss and turned back towards the car. Boxley was still in the footwell and while everyone else was celebrating, she was just...packing up her tools. I gestured to Radimir to give me a second, crawled over to the car and threw my arms around Boxley, pulling her close. “Thank you!” I croaked. “Thank you!”
She just knelt there stiffly for a moment. Then I felt her body slowly, cautiously, relax. My heart cracked. Doesn’t anyone ever hug her?
She packed the last of her tools, then climbed past me out of the car. She didn’t join the other police and bomb technicians, just walked off down the drive. The chief was the only person who even acknowledged her. “Great work, Boxley!”
Boxley just nodded. As she reached the street, she turned and glanced back. I saw her look at the people celebrating: at Valentin and Gennadiy; at Mikhail and his dogs, who he’d now let free from the house and who were jumping around us and woofing excitedly; at Radimir as he came up behind me and gently put his hands on my shoulders.
Just for a second, I thought I saw longing in her eyes, like she didn’t want to be so alone.
And then she turned and was gone.
I turned back to Radimir, and he wrapped me up in his arms and squeezed me like he never wanted to let me go. He kissed the top of my head...and then I felt a hot drop of something splash on my scalp, and then another. Radimir squeezed me even tighter, so tight it was almost painful, but I didn’t mind at all because I was hugging him back even harder.
“I love you,” he said in a ragged whisper. “I love you, I love you.”
He held me so tight that there wasn’t room to speak, so I just nodded really hard. And then shivered. The cold was creeping into me and the aftershocks of what had just happened had started to roll through my body, ghosts of alternate realities where I hadn’t heard that click, and had pushed the Start button—
I was suddenly lifted into the air. My legs went either side of Radimir’s body and I clung to his shoulders as he marched towards the house.
“We still have some questions…” said one of the FBI agents.
“You can ask them tomorrow,” Radimir told him. He stalked indoors, pushing past any agents who got in his way. He didn’t stop until we reached our bedroom. Then he set me down by the bed. “Undress,” he commanded, and went into the bathroom.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
I heard the faucets start. “Running you a bath. You’re going to lie in it and relax.”
I didn’t argue because actually, a steaming hot bath sounded like exactly what my stiff, sweaty, cold body needed. “But what are you going to do?”
He came out of the bathroom and looked me right in the eye. “I’m going to tell you what happened to my family.”
59
RADIMIR
Bronwyn stared at me in shock, but I just nodded firmly. Watching her in that car, knowing how close to death she was, knowing that at any second, that could be it...something had cracked inside me, thick layers of ice that had been there for decades. I’d thought that ice was protecting me, and keeping us apart was the price I paid. But almost losing her had switched everything around. I couldn’t let anything come between us ever again. And if the cost was pain, then I’d pay it.
There was a little bottle of bubble bath beside the tub, and I poured the whole thing in. Thick foam started to spread over the surface. By the time the water was deep enough, Bronwyn was naked. I pointed at the bath. “In.”
She climbed in, still looking a little shell-shocked. As soon as her legs hit the water, her expression dissolved into bliss, and she slid down into the tub.
I wanted to tell her, but I needed to make sure she was okay, first. I waited until the heat had soaked into her bones and chased the cold away, and she stopped shivering. Then I scooped up some steaming water and began to rub her shoulder.