Page 92 of Obsessed Bratva King

“Don’t die.” Her voice breaks. “Your queen forbids it.”

I try to respond, but my throat is thick.

She lets out a sob, gripping me tighter, like she can physically keep me from slipping away.

I reach up weakly, brushing a bloodstained hand over her cheek.

“I shouldn’t have locked you away,” I rasp. “I’m sorry.”

She sniffs, her tear-filled eyes searching mine.

“You did it because you love me, right?”

I exhale, nodding. “Yeah.”

“Ivan,” she breathes, her fingers digging into my jacket. “Do that again and I’ll kill you.”

“Won’t have to. I’m bleeding out.”

“No, you’re not. You’ll be fine.”

“I’m sorry I brought you into all this,” I admit, my vision blurring at the edges.

She shakes her head. “I’m glad you did.”

Darkness.

The last thing I hear?—

“Stay with me. Please, Ivan.”

26

CORA

The beeping of the monitors is the only sound.

Ivan lies motionless in the hospital bed, his chest rising and falling in slow, even breaths, the only movement in the otherwise still room. His face is pale, his lashes dark against his skin, the deep bruising along his ribs and jaw a reminder of how close I came to losing him.

I haven’t left his side since they brought him here.

I reach out, brushing my fingertips over his bandaged hand, needing to feel him.

He doesn’t stir.

Something tightens in my chest, the same weight that’s been sitting here since the moment he collapsed into my arms.

I can’t do anything to fix him. No first aid kit, no easy solution. All I can is wait.

I bite my lip hard, fighting the tears that threaten to spill over.

The door opens. Elena and Veronica come sit beside me. Maxim and Dmitri talk in low voices in the doorway.

Veronica stretches out in the chair, arms crossed, one boot resting on the other knee. Elena is more composed but I see the understanding in her eyes when she looks at me.

I look back at Ivan, at the man who claimed me, who taught me how to fight, who refused to let me go even when it would have been easier for him. He locked me up to keep me safe. But it was him at risk all this time.

I squeeze his hand, willing him to wake up.

---