The Deep End

Chapter 41

• Polina•

Three Months Later

"Package, boss." Ilya, my second in command, says, his hulking frame ducking through the door to my office with a long box in hand.

And when I say second in command I mean babysitter. Although I've never caught him I know he updates Nikolay with my every move, every second of every day. He's constantly typing away on his phone. I thought Nikolay was joking when he named him my second while I was in Moscow, after the way he treated me in that warehouse I wanted nothing to do with him. Unfortunately for me I didn't have a choice in the matter and Nikolay was serious.

Things were tense between Ilya and I at first. I could tell he looked down on me, thought of me as beneath him, but lately his sneers and scowls have lessened. Maybe I've proven myself to him a little by showing him I make a great leader. I get to boss him around and he listens well so I don't mind him much anymore.

My brow furrows at the sight of the box and I grab my phone from my desk. "I wasn't expecting a package." I mutter, scrolling through the incoming delivery log but I don't see anything that should arrive today or even the next few days for that matter.

He shrugs his bulky shoulders and places the box on my desk, knocking a picture frame off onto the floor. "Doesn't have any information on it, I assume it's from the same person as the previous deliveries. It was left at the gate, like the others."

The grip on my phone tightens at his words.

Luca and Enzo.

It's been three months since I woke up, covered in my fathers dried blood between the two men I love.

Three months since I killed my father.

Three months since I slept through the night without waking up feeling like I'm bathed in blood.

The heavy feeling of grief washed over me as my eyes opened that morning and what I had done sank in. Silent tears streamed down my face as I pried Enzo's heavy arm off my body and slowly rose from the bed. Both men remained in a deep sleep, neither even twitching as I removed myself from them. Enzo was still covered in blood, both of them dressed down to their boxers. My eyes lingered on the bruise on Luca's chest, love overfilling my body at the evidence of the bullet he took for me.

I could still taste them on my tongue, could still feel the pressure of their lips on mine. But I forced myself to step away, knowing I couldn't stay and if I waited until they woke up I may never want to leave.

I knew once I opened the door the alarm would go off and they'd wake up, giving me only minutes to run. Much to my surprise the alarm had never been set, the door had been unlocked all night. It almost felt like a trap. Forgetting to set his alarm or lock his door is not something Enzo would do. I was hesitant when I turned the knob and eased it open but when nothing happened I knew. He may have been doing his best to console me when we arrived at his house but I'm not naïve enough to think he was too distracted to set the alarm, he knew I'd leave without saying goodbye. I won't say it didn't sting to know he would let me leave so easily after everything he had said but I liked to think it was to combat the urge to force me into staying if he were awake when I left. It gave me a little thread of hope, it was a step in the right direction.

When I exited that house it felt like my heart was no longer in my body, like I was leaving pieces of me behind. And it hurt but I kept going. Since Rafael's was the closest house and the last known place Sofia was at I went there first. I felt guilty for falling asleep while Sofia was in a strange place surrounded by strange people. I wasn't even sure how long I was asleep, long enough for the sun to be setting when I awoke.