Page 114 of Capuleto

Damn, she was burning up!

I checked the wound I had refused to treat. It looked bad, red and with a yellowish layer that wasn’t there before. It was infected!

Her temperature was so high she was convulsing. I shouldn’t feel bad. Not after what she had done to me, but whether I liked it or not, it hurt to see her like this. She kept insisting on her partial innocence. Of course, I didn’t believe her.

I untied her, lifted her in my arms, turned on the shower, and brought her in with me once the water was warm.

I called her repeatedly without success. I had behaved like an animal. I wasn’t going to regret it. Nikita had asked for the bullet, and if she died from an infection now, it was her own fault.

I looked at her perfect face, covered in streaks of water, and my stomach clenched. It was the same when I washed her at night and had to soap her glorious body. Every guy knows his dick has a mind of its own, and mine was no different.

I stayed under the water until my arms started to tire.

I wrapped her in a towel, not caring about the trail of water I left until I laid her on the bed.

She was still too hot.

I changed my clothes. Whether I liked it or not, I had to take her to a doctor. Infections were tricky, and as much as I wanted her dead, her time hadn’t come yet. I couldn’t lose her. She was my lure.

An incredulous laugh echoed in my mind.

I wanted to silence it for its implication that “you don’t even believe that yourself, if she’s not dead, it’s because deep down, no matter how much she screwed you over, you can’t stand the idea of losing her.”

"And what the hell do you know?" I scolded it as I went to find something to cover her with.

"Apparently, much more than you, and you better hurry if you don’t want to be given condolences when you arrive at the hospital."

Once I had her dressed, I ran into Adri on the stairs.

"Is Aunt Nikita worse?" he asked innocently. I had told him she had a contagious illness and couldn’t get close.

"Don’t worry. I’m taking her to the hospital to get better."

"Can I give her a kiss?" I couldn’t refuse, maybe it would be the last one. I lowered her and let his little lips press against her cheek. "Don’t worry, Aunt Nikita, Daddy will take care of you."

I gave the kid one last look as Ana María took him away, shaking her head.

46

The electrician

Andrey

Iwas used to becoming a ghost or a chameleon when the need demanded it; in fact, that's what I had turned into over the past three days. That was my nickname in the army, Khameleon, because I could blend in and go unnoticed during the most perilous missions.

That was it. As soon as my boss told me what was going on, I knew that the omission of the truth would lead her straight to the firing squad, one with a proper name that didn't mess around. Sooner or later, everything would blow up, and by then, I needed to collect evidence that would exonerate Koroleva, if not completely, at least by seventy-five percent.

I had to create reasonable doubt, enough that, combined with Romeo's love for her, it would provide her a shield against the Capulet family.

Getting into Yuri's house wasn't easy. The atmosphere was tense, too risky to make a move immediately. Korolev’s men were everywhere, and I needed to get an idea of their numbers at the very least.

The first day, I kept watch and tried to count the personnel. From the outside, it was difficult; I counted three vehicles, but the windows were tinted, so I only saw the men in the front seats.

I needed to get in without arousing suspicion, a reconnaissance route to map out the terrain, the building, and the enemy troops. The easiest way was to wait until night so that the next morning they would wake up to an electrical failure.

I intercepted the phone signal so that if they made a call to the company, I would find out.

Like in all houses with service, the first to notice the power outage was the maid, who didn’t hesitate to contact ENDESA.