Page 24 of In Her Blood
One. Strap.
Because the other had been too close to a bullet and split apart.
Anything she started to say fell on deaf ears as Otto hauled her from the car, swinging her into his arms. There were spots of red—ofblood—on her knees and shins. Her forearm was bleeding. She was trembling.
The 9mm clattered to the ground.
Otto stepped from the car. “We’re gonna need a ride.” Artem could figure out the rest. It wouldn’t be possible to pretend they hadn’t been there at all. No way no one had seen that mess.
Lina pressed a hand to Otto’s chest. “Artem,” she said, her voice steadier than her limbs, “thank you. When I’m feeling a little better, you’ve definitely earned that conversation.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Glad to be of service. Let’s get you home and get those wounds treated.” His gaze shifted to Otto. “Both of you.”
Chapter eight
Unsettled
There was a stretchof silence on the phone after Evelina finished her story, the words seeming to hang in the air, before Kat finally spoke. “But, like, you’re still coming shopping this weekend, right?”
The unexpected question pulled a gasp of a laugh from Evelina’s chest. “Yes. Absolutely, yes. Retail therapy. I think I’ll take yourquota, too.”
Kat matched her laugh. “No fair, you already get Grumpy’s!”
Evelina’s laugh stuck in her throat and she rolled her lips together, fighting the urge to cast a guilty look Otto’s way. Hours had passed, the adrenaline had faded, they’d both been patched up, and he was still mad at her. She supposed if she were responsible for the safety of someone who’d done what she had chosen to do, she might be angry, too. But shewasthat someone, and she had other things to consider.
“Um, Earth to Lina? Anyone home?”
Exhaling a quieter chuckle, Evelina said, “Sorry, Kat. My head’s still a little scattered.” She rolled her neck. “Actually, I think these pain meds are starting to hit me. It might be time to sleep.”
“Well, that’s plenty reasonable. How many stitches did you say you ended up with?” Kat let out a disappointed sigh. “Not even truly pakhan yet and you’re collecting battle scars. You need to be more careful with yourself.”
Evelina smiled. “He doesn’t know it yet, but Otto just decided to like you five percent more.”
“Aw, I’m touched!” Kat giggled at herself. “Get some sleep, bish. And no more gang fights. I need you upright on Saturday.” She made an overdramatized kissing sound and disconnected.
Evelina switched her phone to sleep mode, which automatically set all sounds to mute and disabled the majority of her apps. She’d personalized the feature to allow communication with a select number of contacts, but truthfully, Otto was the only important one. Although she wondered if perhaps someday,she might trust Artem enough to give him the privilege.A thought for another time.
“Turnin’ in early?”
Otto’s quiet, monotone question was entirely expected, so she lifted a smile to him. “Yeah. I don’t know how you’re not beat.”
His brow dipped. “No pain meds, for starters.”
“Braggart.” She knew the clan doc had still forced an antibiotic on him, though. Evelina pushed to her feet, her gaze dropping to the stark white bandage wrapped around her arm. She’d simplified the outcome for Kat’s sake, and because there were going to be things moving forward that she wouldn’t be able to share with her friend. The day’s events hadn’t just landed her with a few sutures and a story she might one day regale her grandchildren with. She’d watched in an alarmingly detached, chemically numbed state as their doctor dug into, and carefully pried open, her wound in an effort to ensure no foreign matter had adhered beneath her skin. Only when he was reasonably sure she’dgotten luckyhad he been willing to stitch her up.
It was all to prevent infection, of course.
Otto had still been sober, his gun reloaded, and Artem standing beside him, both keeping watch to make sure the doc didn’t try anything while she was loopy.
He hadn’t, and she’d barely felt a thing, but still she’d cried. They blamed it on the adrenaline crash. She blamed it on everything. Not that the blame mattered. Not that the tears mattered. It didn’t truly matter that, despite her doctor’s steady hand and swift work, she would almost certainly scar.
A battle scar earned while surviving a fight against a rival clan was a badge of honor in the bratva. Evelina wasn’t ashamed of that. And the fact it was curved across the underside of her forearm, one of the most difficult places to hide outside of winter? She’d be flashing her new badge from the moment it healed with her head held high.
She just really wanted to get to that healed part, because even with the pain medication, it hurt. The anesthesia or whatever she’d been given while the doc had done his thing had been exceedingly temporary. That was for the best, though she liked the lack of pain better.
Evelina shoved the thought from her head.Otto’s not even letting himself take the edge off.And she knew why. She was why.
She stepped into her en suite, pushed the door most of the way shut as she always did, and set about her nightly routine. What was left of it, at least, since she’d already bathed. She was stuck using baths until her arm could get wet again.
