My gaze locks with my best friend’s. “But I have no intention of losing this war.”
“Damn right,” Andreas chuckles as he comes to stand next to me.
Chapter 42
Tess
My mind’s still reeling, my heart shattered shards in my chest.
It’s been confirmed. Mom and Peter were killed.
Mamá.
Sitting on the side of the bed with Athina next to me, we both just stare at nothing, our tears dried on our cheeks.
Mamá.
Sorrow hits hard. Again and again.
My eyes burn, my throat too tight to talk.
Mamá.
My body shudders from the weight of grief bearing down on my shoulders.
“Tess, Athina,” Nikolas calls, then he walks into the room. He comes to crouch in front of us, his eyes brutal and unforgiving with the rage that seems to be burning hotter every time I look at him. “It’s time to leave. Come. Get up.”
I have no energy, but my body listens.
Athina gives Nikolas a hug, and without saying a word, she leaves the room.
Looking up at the man who’s taught me what it truly is to love, the pieces of my heart shrivel. I try to memorize every inch of his handsome face as I reach for his hand. Holding it in both of mine, I press it to my chest.
What if he goes to war and I lose him as well?
I have to swallow hard, too much heartache filling me. “I…” My face threatens to crumble, my voice disappearing. Letting go of his hand, I throw myself against his chest, wrapping my arms around him.
Please, I can’t lose Nikolas. I won’t survive it.
Nikolas holds me tightly. “It’s only for two days, kardiá mou.” He kisses my hair, then my forehead, my cheeks. His mouth meets my trembling lips, and I focus so hard to imprint the taste of him in my mind.
I let my fingers brush through the stubble on his jaw, savoring the feel.
Don’t die. You have to win the war and come back to me.
When he breaks the kiss and presses his forehead to mine, I force the words out through a tight throat, “I love you so much, Nikolas. Promise you’ll come back to me.”
His eyes find mine, and for a fleeting moment, they turn tender. “I promise.”
I shake my head. It’s unbearable leaving him. “You made me fall for you, and now I can’t live without you.”
His hands frame my face, and he presses a tender kiss to my mouth. “Forty-eight hours, and you’ll be back in my arms. Okay?”
A forlorn breath drifts over my lips. “Okay.”
Nikolas picks up the bag I packed, and with his other hand, he takes hold of mine, linking our fingers. I lean against his shoulder, sucking in deep breaths of his scent as we walk out of our bedroom.
Stopping suddenly, I pull my hand free and run back to the bed. I grab Nikolas’ pillow, and wrapping my arms around it, I walk to where he’s waiting.
“This way, I can still smell you.” My voice is hoarse, and devastating emotions overflow in my chest, my eyes burning.
Nikolas wraps his arm around my shoulders, and we walk down the hallway, taking the stairs down to where a group of men waits.
Then I see James, and it becomes next to impossible not to cry. He’s wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and beside the pale coloring of his skin, you wouldn’t know he’d been shot earlier today.
We stop in front of James. Nikolas hands my bag to my guard, then says, “Take care of Tess.”
“With my life,” James answers.
A moment passes between the men, then Nikolas says, “I’ll never forget what you did today.”
James nods, then he reaches for my arm, pulling me away from Nikolas.
No, I don’t want to leave him.
I can’t stop the sob bursting from me and have to blink fast so I can look at my husband one last time.
Nikolas gives me an encouraging smile, and after our little group piles into the elevator, and the doors start to shut, he says, “Se agapó, kardiá mou.”
Athina wraps her arms around me as another sob bursts over my lips because this might be the last time I hear the words ‘I love you’ from him.
My heart. I can’t.
Please don’t let anything happen to Nikolas. I can’t lose him as well.
The flight to Switzerland is long and tiring. To stay sane, I fuss over James and make him as comfortable as possible.
I’ve given Athina a Xanax and had one as well, to help take the cruel edge of what happened.
Elias and Craig are quiet until we touch down in Geneva.
“Listen up,” Elias says as he stands in the middle of the aisle. “Craig will take the lead. You stay right behind him. No one’s dying on my watch.”
I help James up, and with my free hand, take hold of Athina’s. When we exit the plane, we have to jog to keep up with Craig.