“Give me a moment, and I’ll ask one of the staff to find her.”
I lay there and waited, hanging on as long as I could, but against my will, the drugs she gave me pulled me back into the dark void.
My extreme thirst woke me. I opened my eyes, but I felt so weak I couldn’t even lift my head. Blaire’s grandmother looked back at me with a steady gaze.
My mouth was so dry it felt like I had been drinking dust. “Where’s Blaire?”
“She just drove home quick to shower and put on fresh clothes. She’s been sitting vigil by your side for two days now.”
I saw a water pitcher and glass on the table near the end of my bed. I reached for it, but my weak arm barely made it off the bed.
The older woman stood, carefully poured water into a glass, brought the glass to me, and put the straw near my mouth.
I sucked greedily, gulping down the entire glass. Exhausted, I lay back on the pillows.
“Thank you.” I could already feel the water reviving me. “You don’t have to be here.”
She sat back down. “Blaire wouldn’t take five minutes for herself unless I promised not to leave your side, so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
“How is she?”
“Worried sick, naturally.”
I let out a long breath. “Protect her.”
“I think Andrusha has that covered.” She delicately cleared her throat. “We need to talk.”
I almost knew what was coming. This was the point where Blaire’s grandmother asked me to stay out of Blaire’s life. “Okay.”
“The night Blaire went missing, you’re the one who stole her out of her bed.”
I swallowed and looked at her with shame in my eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And you started a brawl at my husband’s funeral, and then when Pierre started hitting you, you didn’t even try to fight back.”
I eyed her. “How do you know that?”
She gave me a reproachful look. “My neighbors showed me their closed camera footage of that day. I’m still having nightmares about what you let Pierre do to your face.”
“Did Blaire see the footage?”
“She’s under the illusion that it was a fair fight.”
“Maybe I deserved to be hit.”
She leaned forward and grabbed my arm, reminding me of Blaire. “There is nothing you did or didn’t do that deserved that. And to make matters worse, it made Blaire cry.”
I couldn’t hold her gaze. “That was never my intention.”
She switched gears. “Blaire has been fairly reticent about your past, so I would like to hear about it from you.”
“I used to be in the mafia, here in Vancouver. The Russian mafia. Andrusha was my boss.”
Her eyes widened in surprised. “Our Andrusha? The charming one who’s been bringing me tea and muffins and taking care of me?”
No one ever accused me of being charming. “Yes.”
She sat back with a sigh. “Oh, dear.”
Her mannerisms reminded me so much of Blaire it hurt. “I’m aware that I’m not the best candidate for your granddaughter.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“I tried to push her away.”
“Which gives you honor.”
“Not enough.”
She pursed her lips, thinking. “The light has gone out of Blaire, and I have a feeling you’re the only one who can turn it back on.”
Something hard cracked inside my chest. “She deserves better than someone with my history.”
“My granddaughter deserves to be loved and cherished. And she deserves to be protected and valued. Can you do that, Viktor?”
“I would die trying.”
Unexpectedly, her eyes filled with tears, and then she gave me a formal nod. “Well, I’ve seen the extent of your sacrifices to protect her, so I think I can overlook the kidnapping and your history—on one condition.”
I could feel my heart pound in my chest with raw hope. “Anything.”
“You need to turn the light back on in Blaire. If you can’t do that—I want you gone.”
I had never begged for anything in my life, but I couldn’t keep the plea out of my voice. “I need to see her.”
She gave me a wry look. “She’s going to be mad as a hatter that she missed you being awake.”
“I’ll stay awake for her.”
Her laughter reminded me again of an older version of Blaire. “Okay, dear, that sounds good. But if you sleep, she’ll be here when you wake up.”
I woke up, and, for the first time in a long time, I felt almost human. I lifted my head. Curled up in the chair next to my bed, Blaire slept. Her head was lolling crookedly to one side, making me wince on her behalf.
“Hey,” I croaked.
She opened her eyes. Our eye contact felt like pure sunshine. Her smile was more beautiful than any other smile before hers.
“Are you okay?” I rasped.
She stood up and moved to my side. She touched my face, my chest, my arms, my hands. “You’ve come back.”
“I’m back.”
The last time I had seen her, I was bleeding out on a ledge and she had to face her greatest fear by herself. “You went into the air shaft. You saved me.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she worked to not cry. “It was a team effort.”
“Hey,” I soothed, reaching for her wrist, loving the feel of her soft skin beneath my fingertips.
“I’m not sad.” She shook her head. “I’m so happy.”
“Don’t cry,” I told her. “Your grandma told me that if I didn’t make you happy, I couldn’t be with you.”
She froze, and then she started to laugh through her tears. “What?”
“She had the talk with me.” I couldn’t take my eyes off her beautiful face. “But if I can’t make you happy, I promised her I’d leave.”
She went completely still. “You make me happy.”
“You don’t know that yet.”
“I do.”
I thought about my words, speaking slowly. “I’ve been fighting this, Blaire. I feel like I’m not enough for you. I have such a dark past.”
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
“Look how my past has already tainted so much in your life. Look what it cost you.”
“You’re talking about my grandfather.”
“He died on my watch.”
“I’ve given this a lot of thought. I think if we hadn’t gone to get him, that group of men would have killed him and maybe dumped his body somewhere. When he died, he would have been so alone, and we might never have found out what happened to him.” She took a deep breath. “I wanted us to save him. Despite your best efforts, he was still murdered—but at least I got to say goodbye and he died with me holding him. That means something to me.”
I had to work to speak past the lump in my throat. “But you told me to call the police that night. I didn’t. That could have saved him.”
She scowled. “The police would have made the situation worse.”