Todos los capítulos de Alpha Romanov: Capítulo 81 - Capítulo 90

Nikolai:I woke with Valeria lying on top of me.For a few seconds, I simply listened to the quiet sounds of the infirmary: the faint crackle of the fire and the slow rhythm of her breathing against my chest. Sometime during the night, she had shifted closer until most of her weight rested on me, one leg tangled with mine beneath the blanket and her cheek tucked just below my shoulder.I had barely slept. Every time she moved, I woke up, and whenever her breathing changed, I held mine until it settled again. More than once, I slipped a hand beneath the blanket and rested my palm over her stomach, as though the warmth of my skin could reassure me that the tiny life inside her was safe.The doctor had said the bleeding had stopped and that both of them were stable. It should have been enough, but after seeing the fear in her eyes yesterday, reassurance felt painfully fragile. And the fact that she needed me and I wasn’t there made me feel guiltier than I ever thought I would be.I looked

Nikolai:Viktor was already in my office when I walked in.He stood by the window with his back to me, hands clasped behind him, looking out over the training grounds. For a long moment I simply watched him. There had been very few times in my life when I entered a room with Viktor and did not know where we stood. Even when we argued, there had always been something solid beneath it, trust, history, the certainty that however badly we disagreed, neither of us questioned the other’s place.That certainty did not exist today.“You wanted to speak to me,” I said.“Yes.” His voice was calm as I stayed by the door. He didn’t speak for a few seconds, and I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for what was to come.Viktor turned at last. The anger I’d seen yesterday was gone, but what replaced it felt heavier. He looked tired but I knew that it was not from lack of sleep, but from everything that had happened between us.“I heard Valeria is stable,” he began.“She is.” My jaw tightened aut

Valeria:By the time Nikolai returned, I had followed every one of Yelena’s orders. I had bathed, eaten the soup she practically forced on me, and allowed her to march me back to bed as if I couldn’t be trusted to make a single decision on my own.I was propped against the pillows with a book open in my lap when the door clicked shut. I recognized his footsteps before I looked up. He moved quietly, closing the door behind him, and I watched him for a moment, watching as he took a step toward me.“How are you feeling?” he asked.“Better,” I said. It was the first easy answer I had given all day, and some of the tension eased from his face.He stopped a few steps from the bed. Yesterday, he would have crossed the room without hesitation. Today, he waited. “Can I sit?”I studied him for a moment before nodding. He sat carefully on the edge of the mattress. The book remained open in my lap, though I had not read a word since he walked in.“How did it go with Viktor?” I asked.Nikolai rubb

Elena:When Nikolai summoned me to his office, I spent the walk there trying to decide whether I was about to be forgiven, punished, or reminded that the only reason I was still inside Romanov territory was because Valeria had almost lost her child.None of those options settled well, and I knew that now more than ever one mistake could be fatal for me.I knocked once on Nikolai’s door, taking a deep breath as I did, preparing myself for the worst. Hell, I punched the man in the face, I was lucky to be alive after doing so, but now standing outside his door… I didn’t know how I should be feeling about it.“Come in,” he said.His voice was calm and that made me more uneasy than any raised tone could have.I opened the door. He stood behind his desk, papers spread out in front of him. The bruise along his jaw looked darker today, a reminder of what I had done. My gaze went to it before I could stop myself. He noticed, but neither of us said a word.“You wanted to see me,” I said.“Yes.”

Santos:I waited three minutes after Elena left, long enough for her footsteps to fade and for the maid to wonder if I was still outside.She had seen me over Elena’s shoulder. Panic flashed across her face when our eyes met, and I lifted a finger to my lips. The gesture was casual enough to escape notice, but the maid understood.When I pushed the door open and stepped inside, she was waiting for me. Her anger hit before the door even closed.“You bastard,” she spat.I shut the door calmly. “That took longer than expected,” I said.“You stood there,” she accused.“Yes,” I answered, leaning against the frame. “I stood there the entire time and watched you lie to her.”“You made me lie,” she said. “She was my friend, and you chose to make me lie to and betray her!”“I didn’t make you do anything,” I replied. “You chose to do that, I simply gave the instruction, but you chose to listen to what I said and you are the one who followed along with it.”“You told me not to speak.” She snappe