Page 40 of Sold to the Bratva
She smiles back, and for a second everything feels right. The sun is warm, our arms are full of bags, and we’re two women laughing in the city as if nothing could possibly go wrong. Then the sidewalk tilts beneath my feet.
It happens so fast.
One moment I’m standing, smiling, laughing, the next, everything around me warps. Sounds blur, my pulse pounds inmy ears, and my vision tunnels into black spots. My body sways, knees buckling.
“Katya?” Evie’s voice slices through the fog, suddenly sharp with alarm. “Katya!”
I reach for her blindly, desperately, as the world slips out from under me. Her hands catch my arms just in time to stop the fall, and then everything goes dark.
16
ISAAC
“Isaac, Katya needs you!”
When the call comes in, my mind spins so fast I barely register Evie’s voice beneath the rush of panic. Her words are clipped, breathless, yet sharp enough to jolt every molecule in my body into motion.
Katya fainted in the street. She’s already on her way to the hospital. Those facts whip through my skull like rabid bats, slamming me from every direction.
I’m out the door before she finishes giving me the address. My driver aims for our usual route into the city, but I bark at him to take every shortcut he knows. I don’t care how many red lights we skim past or how many horns blare behind us. Every second feels too long and too far from her. My thoughts won’t slow down. I run through countless possibilities, none of them good. Either someone attacked her, her own body betrayed her, or it’s cancer and she’s dying, or one of my enemies poisoned her.
No.I crush each thought before it can fully bloom. I refuse to entertain worst-case scenarios, not until I see her with my owneyes and know she’s okay. If something happens to her, I don’t even know what it would do to me.
She’s my wife, but she’s so much more than that. She’s become the only part of my life that makes sense. She’s fire, defiance, and too much heart, and I didn’t realize how badly I needed all of it until the moment it was threatened.
When we finally reach the hospital, I’m out of the car before it’s fully in park. Inside, the receptionist recognizes my name and waves me through, proof that Evie already added me to the visitor list. I’ll have to thank her later.
I find them in a private room at the end of the hall. The sight of Katya, upright in bed, talking, undeniably alive, floods me with relief so intense I might be the one to pass out next.
The knot in my chest unravels in one sharp breath. She sits with a thin blanket draped over her lap, while Evie perches on a nearby chair, her hand resting lightly on Katya’s wrist. They both look up the moment I step inside.
Katya’s eyes widen in surprise. “Isaac, what are you doing here?”
I cross the room in three strides, adrenaline still spiking through my bloodstream. She’s pale but alert, tired yet unmistakably present. I cup the side of her face, tilting her head enough to meet her gaze, check her pupils, reassure myself she isn’t broken.
“Are you okay?” I ask, my voice low and rough.
She nods slowly. “I’m fine.”
I finally exhale and look toward Evie. “Thank you for staying with her and for calling me.”
Evie stands, collecting her bag. “Of course. I figured you’d want to know.”
Katya looks from Evie to me, and I can practically feel the eye roll she’s holding back. I know exactly what she’s thinking. She believes Evie overreacted by calling me. She thinks I overreacted by racing here. What she doesn’t understand is that no reaction is too big when it comes to her. She’s too important.
I nod to Evie. “I really appreciate it.”
She squeezes Katya’s hand. “I’ll give you two a minute.”
Then she slips out, leaving us alone in the sterile hush of the hospital room. I slide the chair Evie vacated closer to the bed and sit. My knuckles brush her knees under the blanket.
Katya watches me in silence.
“You scared the hell out of me,” I say.
She grimaces. “Sorry. That wasn’t exactly on my to-do list today. Honestly, I’m fine. You two are being dramatic.”
“What happened?” I ask, unable to take my eyes off of her.
