Page 48 of Psychological War

“Yes, her house,” Dimitri finally muttered.

“And where is Salem, cause the last thing I remember is her and you about to rip each other's throats out,” I said, cocking a very bruised eyebrow at him.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asks, bringing his coffee to his mouth. Looking at my own cup, I took another drink, trying my best to ignore the sugary taste.

“Uh, she threw the knife at some guy behind you and then the basement where I was attacked and then I heard her screaming.” I hated to admit I heard her screaming and then I was knocked out. I was the enforcer for Dimitri, and I was so easily knocked on my ass.

I don’t know how long it was quiet until finally Dimitri sighed. “She killed the men that were attacking you. She was screaming about him touching you and whatnot. I carried you out and then she fucking blew my damn house up.” He growled the last few words out with so much venom.

“Like, blew it up, or…?” I asked. It was stupid, and the moment he swung his glare at me instead of the table, I wished I would’ve kept my mouth shut.

“What do you think? She’s a fucking psycho.”

“She saved us!” Mila snapped. Looking over at her she had one of the most pissed off expressions I’d seen on her before.

“Yes, Moy Tevtok,” Dimitri looked at his wife with love that I found myself wanting to give Salem.

“What happened after she blew the house up?” I asked, breaking the silence of them just staring at each other.

“We went to some warehouse she has, and then I don’t fucking know,” Dimitri snapped.

“They’ve had a rough friendship.” Mila chuckled. “She knocked him out with some type of drug.”

Widening my eyes I couldn’t help but look over at him. Again, he was just glaring down at his cup like it was the thing that knocked him out.

“Yeah, he was being his normal self, and she was not having it, so she stabbed him with some drug and Killian had to put him into the backseat. And before you ask, Killian is currently sleeping somewhere upstairs. Anyway, she even threatened him, but Killian being himself, just shoved you guys into the car and she drove us here.” Mila took a deep breath before she started up again. “That was four days ago. Dimitri woke up twenty-four hours after the fact. She gave you some medicine to keep you under because of the amount of damage you had to your head. She’s really smart.”

Nodding my head to all this information, I tried to process it all. The fact that I had been asleep for four days coupled with the fact that she drugged the leader of the Russian Mafia and she was still breathing said a lot.

“Where is s—” I never got to finish before the back door swung open and Tobias ran into Salem, following behind him. Her eyes were focused on Tobias, so she hadn’t noticed me yet. She took my breath away. She looked so different from the way she did four days ago. The bruises on her face were healing nicely, but here she stood in a thin flannel, overalls that were covered in dirt, and her hair was tied into two long braids on each side.

“Uncle Zaney!” Tobias screamed.

Snapping my gaze down I prepared for him launching himself into my arms. It almost hurt my heart when he just patted me on the arm instead. “Are you feeling better?” he whispered.

“I’m feeling much better, little man.” I gave him my best smile.

“Tobias, come on, let's go get cleaned up,” Mila said, both of them disappearing. I couldn’t force myself to look up. It felt too weird sitting here. The uneasiness of being in her space made me feel like I was suffocating. Even with her unflinching gaze on me, I didn’t like this.

“Salem.” Dimitri grunted. Looking over at him, he continued staring at her like he couldn’t wait to stab her when she least expected it.

Salem just stood there, not saying anything, not doing anything. The tension in this room was truly becoming awkward, and I didn’t do anything awkward.

“Well.” Standing up Dimitri glared—no, worse than that. Whatever expression this was, he literally was barely holding back from wanting to murder Salem on the spot. “Once he’s healed enough, we’ll be leaving.” He left no room for her to speak before he was up and stalking off. I could wonder what crawled up his ass and died, but from the looks of it, it was Salem.

Salem crawled up his ass.

Once Dimitri was gone, she finally turned her attention towards me. “You showered.” That southern accent I didn’t realize I enjoyed hearing so much.

“I tried to,” I finally said. I watched her closely as she walked around the island and stood next to me at the dining table. With her standing this close I could smell her vanilla, but now she also smelled like the outside; sweat. I could see a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Not as many as Mila, but I could count how many she had. Her lips oddly looked even fuller, and there was something about the way her hair laid in two braids. Her hair was frizzy, but she looked so fucking cute. She had a small smudge of dirt on her forehead that appeared like she was trying to wipe it off but just smeared it instead.

“Zane, did you hear me, or do you have more brain damage than I thought?” she smirked.

Smiling up at her, I couldn’t find myself caring that I hadn’t been listening to her. Instead, I was more interested in looking at her and wanting to map out the freckles on her face.

“Well, I’m going to shower. When I’m done, we can talk.” She laughed. Stepping away from me, I watched as she headed towards the stairs.

Again, I had a few options. One, I could stay here and try and eat this weird looking banana bread. Honestly, who puts bananas in bread? I could sip on the sugar-laced cold coffee.