Chapter 212: If You Die....

"You won’t," Dimitri said.

"You don’t know that."

"No," Dimitri agreed. "But I believe it. And I need you to believe it too."

Eve closed her eyes. She felt his hands on her shoulders, pulling her close. She felt his heartbeat against her cheek as he held her. She felt the warmth of him, the solidness of him, the reality of him.

And she felt the terror of knowing that in three days, all of that might be gone.

"If you die," Eve said against his chest, "I will find a way to bring you back just so I can kill you myself."

She felt his chest move with something that might have been a laugh or might have been a sob.

"Deal," he said quietly.

Mike cleared his throat. "I’m going to head out. Let you two...." He gestured vaguely. "Talk. Or fight. Or whatever happens next."

He walked to the elevator, paused, and looked back at Dimitri.

"Seventy-two hours," Mike said. "Don’t waste them."

The elevator doors closed, leaving Eve and Dimitri and Nonna in the penthouse.

Nonna disappeared into her room without a word, giving them privacy.

Eve pulled back and looked up at Dimitri. "What happens now?"

"Now," Dimitri said quietly, "I spend the next seventy-two hours preparing for a mission that might kill me. And you decide whether you can stand beside me while I do it."

"That’s not a decision," Eve said. "That’s an ultimatum."

"No," Dimitri said, pulling her closer. "It’s a choice. The same choice you made in that hotel room when I told you everything and you came back to me. I need you to make it again. I need you to choose me even when it terrifies you."

Eve looked into his storm-gray eyes. At the man who’d wanted her for seven years. At the man who’d broken a promise to her brother. At the man who’d taught her what real pleasure felt like, what real fear felt like, what real love felt like.

At the man who was about to risk everything because he believed it was right.

"I already chose you," Eve said quietly. "I chose you the moment I came back. And I’m choosing you now. Even though I hate this. Even though I’m terrified. Even though every instinct I have is screaming at me to stop you."

She reached up and pulled his face down to hers.

"But if you die," she whispered against his lips, "I will burn that facility to the ground myself. And I will make sure everyone knows that The Devil died trying to save the world."

He kissed her hard and desperately, Like he was trying to memorize the taste of her. Like he was trying to convince himself that this wasn’t goodbye.

When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, he rested his forehead against hers.

"Seventy-two hours," he said quietly. "And then I go to war."

"Then we have seventy-two hours," Eve said. "Don’t waste a single second of them."

***

The water was scalding, but Eve didn’t adjust the temperature.

She stood under the rainfall shower in the master bathroom, arms wrapped around herself, letting the water pound against her back hard enough to hurt. Her eyes were closed, but tears were still falling....silent, hot, mixing with the water that streamed down her face.

Seventy-two hours.

Three days before the man she loved walked into a bioweapon facility that might kill him.

Three days to pretend she wasn’t terrified. To pretend she was strong enough to stand beside him while he prepared for a suicide mission. To pretend that every time she looked at him, she wasn’t thinking about the details, the way his jaw tightened when he was thinking, the way his eyes found hers across any room, the way his hands felt when they held her face.

Like she was trying to memorize him before he disappeared.

The bathroom door opened.

Eve didn’t turn around. She knew his footsteps, knew the way he moved through space like he owned it.

The shower door slid open.

Dimitri stepped inside....naked, water streaming over the hard planes of his body. He didn’t say anything. Just moved behind her and pulled her back against his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist, holding her like he could keep her from breaking apart through sheer force of will.

Eve’s breath hitched.

"You’re crying," Dimitri said quietly against her ear.

"I’m not," Eve lied.

His hand came up to her face, turning her head slightly so he could see her profile. Water and tears. He could tell the difference.

"Cara mia," he said, the pet name rough with something that might have been pain or might have been guilt.

"I’m allowed to cry," Eve said, her voice breaking despite her attempt to keep it steady. "You’re asking me to let you go. You’re asking me to watch you walk into something that might kill you. I’m allowed to break down."

"Yes," Dimitri agreed. His other hand slid up her body, between her breasts, over her sternum, until his palm rested flat over her heart. "You’re allowed to break. As long as you let me put you back together."

Eve laughed....a bitter, broken sound. "Is that what this is? You destroying me and then fixing me just enough so I can watch you leave?"

"No," Dimitri said, his voice dropping to that dangerous octave that always made her body respond despite her mind’s protests. "This is me reminding you that I’m still here. That I’m not gone yet. That we have seventy-two hours, and I don’t intend to waste a single second of them."

His hand moved lower...down her stomach, over her hip, between her thighs.

"Dimitri..." Eve started.

"Turn around," he commanded.

She did, because even now...especially now....her body obeyed him before her brain could process the order.

He looked at her face. At the tears still falling despite the water. At the fear and anger and desperate love she couldn’t hide.