“Shh,” he answered, removing my shoes. “I’m just putting you somewhere more comfortable, Emma. Go back to sleep.”
I didn’t want to go back to sleep. Grabbing his arm, I forced him to look at me. “Tell me this is a dream.”
He shuttered his expression. “It’s not. Go to sleep.”
I didn’t let him go, emotions threatening to spill over. “Artem, I want to help.”
His jaw clenched and I swore the room’s temperature went down a few degrees. There were cracks in his hard façade, the worry and exhaustion in his eyes hard to hide no matter how much he tried to. He was struggling with himself, which meant there was hope. “I can talk to my father, force him to give Irina back,” I rushed on, thoughts bombarding me left and right. “Just don’t give up on us yet. I need you, Artem. I love you.”
When he turned to go, I pushed off the bed and grabbed him around the waist, feeling the hard muscles against my cheek as I pressed myself against him. “Please, don’t do this to us. Don’t shut me out. I want to help get Irina back.” She was, after all, my sister-in-law, and she had grown on me over our time together.
Artem tried to pry my hands away but I held him tight, feeling some of the fight leave his body. I held him for a long while, until the plane dipped and threw us slightly off balance. I lost my grip on Artem and fell against the bed, severing the connection between us. He turned and my breath stilled in my chest as I saw the tortured look on his face. “Let me soothe you,” I told him bravely, holding out my hand. “Let me help you forget for just a little while.” I didn’t care if he wasn’t going to tell me that he still loved me, but I could at least feel his love.
This could possibly be the last time we were together.
“No,” he said harshly, causing me to flinch. “Sleep. We still have a few more hours before we get there.”
He left without another word and I wrapped my arms around my waist, letting the tears fall unchecked. There had been a moment back when I had first realized that I loved Artem that I had made a commitment to love all parts of him.
This part, I wasn’t so sure I was going to win with love. He was so cold, so unfeeling. There was no one around to see him like this.
So why was he being so horrible to me and me alone?
A thought hit me, and I gasped. No. He was really going to give me back. It only made logical sense how he was putting distance between us, breaking us down so that he could compartmentalize his feelings and lock them away.
“Oh God,” I sobbed, my cries filling the room. I should have known this was coming, yet I had hoped that my love had been enough.
Had he been playing this angle all along?
Of course not. He couldn’t have known that my father would go after Irina like that.
But I could have always been a bargaining chip. To Artem, everyone was. I wasn’t any different in his life. I hadn’t touched him in any special way.
The words he had said to me earlier played in my mind and I clung to them like a sinking ship. He had spoken from the heart this time when he had placed this ring on my finger.
I had to hold onto that feeling, those words, and know that Artem wasn’t going to readily hand me over to my father.
I shouldn’t be so worried about being given back, but my father was not the man that had watched me go the first time. If what Harvey said was true, then none of us knew him, and his days as a free man were numbered anyway.
Lying down on the bed, I tucked my hands under the pillow, feeling the dip of the plane as it coasted through the air. Maybe I could go back to him and rescue my brother from whatever was going to happen to our family. Then, once I did that, I could find my way back to my husband. Irina would be safe, and we could move on with the future we were supposed to have.
I would hold that plan in my heart until the day I was reunited with Artem.
That was all I could do.
Somehow, I found a few hours of sleep, and by the time Artem opened the door, I was seated on the bed, having repaired myself the best I could in the small bathroom. The plane was starting its descent and so did my stomach, causing me to swallow hard. “Artem,” I started, knowing he was standing there. “Give me to my father. I can handle him. It will get Irina back.” My tongue thick, I reached down and pulled off the rings he had placed there. “Keep these for me, will you?” I asked, holding them out with my trembling hand. “I don’t want anyone to take them. They mean the world to me.” I wanted to tell him that he meant the world to me, but I held off, allowing myself one glimpse of my husband.
Artem looked much like the man I met the first day, no trace of softness in his stance or in his expression. Gone was the man who had told me his secrets or loved me so completely in his bed. Gone was the man who had saved my life, who came after me when I had not wanted him to, or sent me cheeky texts that made me smile uncontrollably.
In his place was the boss, the leader that he had cautioned me about. Surprisingly, he reached out and took the rings, placing them in his pocket. “It’s time to go,” he finally said.
I rose from the bed and walked past him, forcing back the onslaught of tears that threatened to tear me apart. I could do this. I could be strong and fight for what I loved, what I believed in. Artem might hand me over, but he wasn’t going to get rid of me that easily.
The jet finally touched down hard, and I fell backwards, only to feel the strong body of my husband at my back, his hands at my waist. For a stolen moment, he held me, and I closed my eyes, trying to commit how it felt to my mind. I didn’t know if he would ever hold me like this again, but I sure as heck didn’t want it to be the last time.
It couldn’t be. We had just found each other and Artem needed me.
I needed him.
There was a whisper of a kiss pressed into my hair before Artem’s hands fell away and I forced myself to move forward, toward the door that had just been opened. I didn’t know what awaited me out there, but one thing was for sure: I didn’t want it to end what had just happened in here.
The sunlight was blinding as I stepped out onto the first step, the crisp air not as sharp as Alaska’s had been. I drew in a deep breath and descended the stairs, where I got the first glimpse of my father. He didn’t look like I remembered him, a haggard look to a normally groomed man who now looked several decades older. This was the man that had kissed me good night, had laughed with me, given me a life that should have been perfect.
Now he was glaring at me, not overjoyed by the fact that I was alive and well.
Instead, he had Irina by the arm, a gun pressed into her side. I was relieved to see she didn’t look harmed, only mildly pissed that she was in this situation.
I didn’t blame her. I was pissed too.