The chill of the winter rain had penetrated Aibek to the very marrow of his bones, cooling his muscles into a painful stiffness. As he crossed the glass window held by Zinov's arm, his teeth began to chatter uncontrollably, and a violent, involuntary tremor ran through his entire soaked torso. In his numb hands, he tightly clutched the lush bouquet of white freesias, whose sweet, fresh perfume mingled with the smell of dampness and wet earth emanating from his completely water-saturated clothes.
Zinov acted with an immediate, serene, dominant, and calculated determination that left not the slightest room for doubt, discussion, or hesitation. Without asking anyone in the room for permission and completely ignoring Jake's tense presence, he took Aibek firmly by the shoulders and carried him directly toward the ground floor's main bathroom, enveloping him in an atmosphere of absolute and unshakeable protection.
