“She told me that you were showing signs of PTSD and that you needed to be taken care of. She called yesterday to ask how you were doing.”
“So that’s why you’re here now?”
“Among other reasons.” He sighs. “Would it help if I got her down here to talk to you?”
I hesitate before I shake my head. “The only person I want to speak to won’t even look at me.”
Nikolai winces and scrubs a hand over his stubbled beard. “It’s because he’s hurting, Alyssa. He prides himself on being this family’s protector. He’s taking it all personally.”
“‘Personally’?” I laugh right in Nikolai’s face. “He’s not taking it personally; he’s taking it out on me.”
Right on cue, that familiar, thudding cadence strikes up again in my head.
It’s hard to be mad at Uri when I know he’s right to despise me.
“I know it
