Page 43 of Unbroken

“Breathe with me, sweetheart,” he says quietly.

Maybe?

“Sorry,” he whispers. “I didn’t mean that.”

That breaks my heart a little. I don’t want him to take it back.

“No,” I whisper. “I liked that. I like it a lot.”

“Deep breath,” he says again, this time a little firmer. “Together. Breathe with me, Ruthie. Just like this.”

He takes a big, dramatic breath. His chest expands, and his shoulders pull back. I mimic him, and the dizzy feeling dulls just a little. It still feels like there’s a weight sitting on my chest, but his fingers are tight around mine,grounding.

“You can do this,” he murmurs. “Just like that. Good girl. Breathe.”

Maybe I should pretend I’m panicking more often…

“And exhale…”

We come to a stop, and the two uniformed men, still staring straight ahead, push a button. Vadka is still holding my hands. Whoever’s on the other side of the door is going to see us like this—forehead to forehead, palm to palm.

He doesn’t seem to care.

Of coursehe doesn’t.

He’s never changed anything about himself for anyone.

“You made it,” he says finally. “We’re here.”

“We need a minute,” he says to someone. His voice is steady but low, and I can hear the strain in it.

I blink, and it feels like waking up.

“Understood. Ruthie, are you okay?”

I take a breath. I let it out again and give Rafail a watery smile.

“Yeah. Turns out I have claustrophobia when I’m in a small enclosed space that resembles a tomb.”

“Understood,” he says again. My cheeks heat, and I half expect someone else to be in the room with us, but it looks like we’re in a small, enclosed entryway. Shoes and coats are stacked neatly along the wall. There’s a cabinet for hats. It’s quiet.

“Phone goes in here.” Rafail gestures to a safe. “You’ll have to clean up here. We’re doing our best to keep the place sanitized. It’s tight quarters.”

“Understood.” Everything feels surreal.

“Who else is here?” Vadka asks.

“Rodion and Ember. You. Luka. Everyone else is at the secondary house. The kids are with Polina’s mom.”

Polina’s mom is none other than Ekaterina Romanova. They’re safe.

“I wouldn’t know what we’d do with them in a place like this,” Rafail admits.

Vadka smiles, the warmth coming off him like the glow of a dying fire that still has heat.

“I need to see Luka,” Vadka says. “Can we see him without waking him up?”

“Of course,” Rafail replies. He leads us down the short corridor, tapping on a door. A few seconds later, we hear rustling on the other side.

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