by Lietha Wards
Seconds later, the door to her room burst open and Ivan along with her father rushed in. Ivan was doing up his robe, and her father had on a set of burgundy silk pajamas.
All Ivan could see was a half-naked man holding the woman he loved and she was barely covered. She was only wearing a thin nightgown with spaghetti strap shoulders. “What the fuck—”
Ryan held up his hand cutting him off. “She had a nightmare. I got this. Go back to bed.”
“Like hell.” He was about to tell him to take his hands off of Katya or he’d oblige him himself, but was interrupted.
“Katya?” Peter spoke.
She turned her face away from him and tightened her grip on Ryan’s waist.
Ivan took a couple of steps into the room. He was going to physically remove Ryan’s hands from her body.
Peter lifted his hand to stop him. “Do as he says Ivan,” Peter interjected. It may have looked like Ryan was doing something to her, but the way she was clinging to him made him know the man spoke the truth. He could also hear her soft sobs. It took a lot to reach the man’s heart, but seeing his daughter suffer was certainly effective.
“Boss?” Ivan didn’t like this at all. He’d been protecting Katya forever, and never touched her like that man did. No, he didn’t like it. It didn’t help that he could see what shape the other man was in either. “He’s got his hands on her and—”
“Do as I say,” Peter repeated with irritation. He turned and left the room.
Ivan glared at Ryan and shook a finger at him in warning before he left shutting the door behind him.
Ryan saw the warning but didn’t say anything. Ivan’s undoing would be his arrogance. Peter would sacrifice him in a minute to save his own hide. He could easily see the man had some affection for Katya. However, who could blame him? She actually felt amazing. Her skin was so damn soft and she wasn’t wearing much in the way of stopping his body from feeling how well she was put together. She was also trembling. Her vulnerability was almost too much. “Did you want to talk about it?” He needed a distraction, fast.
She shook her head.
He felt her arms tighten around him. He knew it was for reassurance, but he was a man, and having a beautiful vulnerable woman pressed against him, didn’t have him thinking the same way. “Didn’t the doctor give you medication?” She took a deep shuddering breath, and freed one of her arms to wipe her eyes. He felt her breasts press against his bare flesh when she did that. He stifled a groan. Okay, this wasn’t working for him at all.
“Yes.”
“Then, you don’t like taking it.”
“No. It makes me tired all the time.”
“I can leave the bedside light on.”
“It won’t help. Nothing helps. Just give me another minute. It’ll pass. It always does. Just hold me. Please.”
“All right.” Christ, a minute to her was an hour to him. At least she was true to her word. Her breathing was steadier now. She pressed her cheek against his chest. He turned his nose into her hair, and inhaled. She smelled like roses and her hair was as soft as silk. Her skin like warm velvet. A minute later, she sat erect and stared at him. The only light in the room was from the doorway to his. He only had a lamp on, but he could still see the puffiness of her eyes. She was vulnerable—and magnificent looking in all of that. No one could accuse this woman of being anything less than beautiful, no matter the marks on her face. Somehow, at that moment, he couldn’t see any of them.
Again she rubbed away the dampness. “Thanks. I’ll be okay now. You can leave.”
The last sentence was abrupt. She was trying to gain some control over the weakness she just displayed. “Is this behavior frequent since you’ve been released from your captors?”
Behavior? She knew he was being polite, something he couldn’t brag about, but he was trying because of the state she was in. She literally freaked out. She was a mess and she couldn’t tell anyone about it. “Sometimes.” She didn’t meet his eyes as she lied. He caught it anyway.
“All the time.”
She shrugged and met his eyes again. “Please don’t ask me to take those pills. They’re awful.”
“I know they are.” He’d never taken them but he’d worked with people who did take sedatives and antipsychotics just to help them sleep. The side effects just weren’t worth it.
“Don’t tell my father, he’ll find a way to force feed them to me, hide them in my food, or whatever.”
“I won’t if you continue to see the Psychiatrist.” He wouldn’t have said anything anyway. Her father could go to hell. What he did need was her to work a way through this and not have these horrible night terrors. They were hellish for her, but he didn’t think he could concentrate on what he was there for if he kept holding that soft feminine body every night.
He was resorting to blackmail. She clenched her jaw. No, she didn’t like it, but it was a better alternative and in Ryan’s defense, he was trying to help. “Fine.”
“Are you all right now?” He seriously had to get away from her. She was beautiful, half naked and vulnerable as hell.
“I am, thank you for just being here.” Her voice was terse. No, she didn’t like the ultimatum he gave her, but it was better than the alternative. Further, he spoke to her like she was an unruly child. This was something she was going to put a stop to, but not tonight. She was emotional, tired and needed sleep.
Good, she was back to disliking him again. He abruptly stood up. “I’m right next door. I’ll leave it open a crack like before.”
Katya watched him leave. Her eyes went down the length of him. If she wasn’t so distraught she might have noticed the mass of well-formed muscle she was clinging to moments ago. Every inch of his torso was solid and warm. Surprisingly, she found comfort in that even after what she’d gone through with male captors. He had the intelligence and the training, but he also had the physique. Though, she already knew there was way more to him than he let on.
One thing was certain. He soothed her quicker than the nurses and doctors could when she was at the hospital. Yes, these nightmares were frequent, and their answer was to drug her. It didn’t work and just made her irritable and groggy the following day. The drugs also gave her a splitting headache. Every now and then a very kind nurse would sit with her and keep her calm, but it wasn’t as effective as Ryan Casey’s warm body.
CHAPTER TWO
Ryan was up, and showered by seven in the morning. He’d had four hours sleep but he was well rested. It was all he ever needed. He’d never been much of a sleeper, and a light one, and he functioned well on it. He put on grey slacks and a white shirt while he walked through the adjoining door and checked on Katya and she was sleeping sound. She was on her side with her back to him. A thin sheet covered her body and he could easily see the curves of her form beneath it. She had a nice shape. Her hips were round and her waist small. She had very nice breasts, not to big, or small. Probably the right size for his hands. He gave his head a shake.
A knock on his own door brought him about. He walked over and opened it. It was Ivan. He knew the man didn’t like him. He didn’t even bother hiding the dislike in his expression. Well, it would just make killing him easier if he got in his way.
The two men never said anything but just stared at one another for a moment.
Ivan’s eyes went down the front of Ryan where his shirt hung open. The distinct contours of his thick upper chest and hard abdominal muscles just pissed him off more. He saw the physique last night from the dim light of the hall when Katya clung to him. It was worse in broad daylight. The man was in incredible shape and Ivan’s body was nothing like it. He was also disgustingly good looking, whereas Ivan’s face wasn’t much to look at. He had cauliflower ears, and his nose was flattened to his face from the numerous fistfights he’d been in. He had a large forehead and sunken eyes. It looked like he had the face of a boxer, but he wasn’t one. “The boss wants to see you. Now. Right now.” His eyes went past him for a moment to see if
Katya was in there.
Ryan saw his suspicions and just shook his head while stepping by him and shutting the door. Then he buttoned his shirt. Ideas like that were ridiculous, and insulting. He was here for a job not the seduction of a vulnerable woman. Obviously Ivan wouldn’t hesitate if he was in the position. Peter chose wisely.
Ivan never said another word to him as he led him to the familiar door of Peter Nickolov’s office. There were two men standing outside, and the door was open. Ivan swept his arm for Ryan to enter first.
He wasn’t sure what this was about, but he was thinking that he wanted regular reports on Katya. Something Ryan wasn’t about to give. He was very discreet. If Peter wanted someone to feed him information, he’d have to look elsewhere.
He didn’t even consider that the older man discovered that he wasn’t who he said he was, because there was no way that information was available. His brother of course, didn’t have that courtesy. Someone in Peter’s organization found out who he really was.
When Ryan entered the darkened room, he expected the same stern psychopath waiting for him. Instead, Peter looked a little shaken.
“Oh good.” Peter came out behind his desk holding a piece of paper. There was an open parcel sitting on top of the polished surface. It was wrapped in traditional brown package paper, now torn open. He could see the muscle in Peter’s jaw pulsing. He was raging and seemed a little off balance.
Ryan stopped as Peter approached and handed him the paper. Ryan unfolded it, scanned the writing then his eyes went to the opened package, then to Peter. “When did you get this?”
“This morning. It was left at the front gate. They were gone before my men could do anything. The cameras picked up two masked men in a white van, but there was no plate.” He nodded toward the note. “You are a man of many talents. I recalled that you served in the Middle East. Please tell me you can read that.”
His eyes went back to the crumpled note. Well, now he knew the urgency of Peter’s request. He scanned the paper. The note was written in Arabic. His eyes went to Peter. He already knew to lie to him would have him thrown out of the place, or killed right there, and with it, his hopes of finding the one who killed his brother. “It says, ‘We’re not done.’”
“That’s it?”
He shook his head and nodded toward the package. Now he knew what was in it. “That it’s your oldest daughter’s pinky finger in the box.”
Peter turned red—angry red, twisted away and started cursing in his native language. Then he stopped and leaned a fist on his desk with his back to them. “Anything else?” he asked softly trying to regain his composure.
“That there will be more if you don’t pull out of Miami. The territory is ours. He flipped it over to see if there was more, there wasn’t. That’s all it says Mr. Nickolov.” They wrote this in their native language when they could have written it in English. Obviously they wanted Peter to know their origins and make him work for it. Whether that made it more serious, who knew? He didn’t think so. Obviously they thought a lot of themselves. Again, typical vermin he had to deal with in his career. Arrogant and thinking they were omnipotent. Well, everyone bleeds, and everyone dies at some point. Some sooner than others.
Peter turned to face him again. His eyes went past him to Ivan. “More pieces of my Anna. You find these men and kill them!”
“Yes boss.” Ivan turned and left the room calling for the two men outside the door.
Once they were alone, Peter spoke again. “So you do speak Arabic. I was hoping with all the time you’ve spent in the Middle East. I wonder what else my sources didn’t uncover about you.”
He smiled slightly. “What do you want to know?”
“Maybe I should have asked you questions instead of reading a ridiculous file.”
Of course he should have. “Did you want to report this to the police?”
“No. We keep it within our circles. I will deal with them my way, my style.”
“As you wish.”
“That will be all Mr. Casey.” He waved his hand dismissing him.
Ryan nodded, set the note on the desk and left the office. Peter clearly had this affect him. Well, he probably wouldn’t appreciate the threat of having pieces of his offspring mailed to him either. The dirt was still fresh on Anna’s grave.
When he went back to check on Katya, she was sitting in a chair in her room, bent over, lacing up running shoes. She’d removed the sling, but he could see that she was having some difficulty with her arm. By the way she was dressed; in black athletic shorts and a pink sports bra, she was going for a run.
“Going somewhere?”
She spoke without looking up, still struggling with the last sneaker. “I like to jog. It helps me clear my head.” Yes, she was absolutely terrified, but she was going to face her demons and not hide. She would not let her father, or anyone else dictate how she was going to live her life, and she was going to live.
“I’ll get changed.”
She sat up with frustration and blew a stray piece of hair out of her face. “I don’t need an escort; like some small child with a babysitter. There’s a crowd on the beach this time of day, and I’ll stick to it.” She was scared to death to go alone, but she wasn’t going to admit it. She also was hoping this would start helping her cope with her fears.
He was amused, most particularly at the metaphor. She was definitely no child. “You’re getting one because you are not getting out of my sight. We’ve been over this Katya.”
She took a resigned breath. “Well fine, Mr. Babysitter, but I’m not slowing for you.”
He smirked, walked over to stand in front of her. She craned her neck to look up at him. Then he adjusted his slacks by tugging on the material on his upper thighs to give him room to bend, and got down on one knee. He met her eyes and tied the remaining shoelace without looking at it. “Is that a challenge?”
Her mouth parted as she stared at him. Gosh, he was mesmerizing. His grey eyes held such intelligence that she was momentarily speechless. And his unwavering confidence seemed to melt her anger momentarily. Get it together Katya, she scolded herself silently. This wasn’t possible, the attractiveness, especially after what she just went through. Maybe it was some sort of traumatic after effect of her captivity. How the heck did she know? She knew nothing of what happened to someone in her position, which is probably why he kept telling her to go see the psychiatrist. Still, she felt something now, between them. However, it only seemed one sided. He never gave any indication that it existed on his end. Well, he was probably used to women falling all over him. After all, she did witness the nurse’s reaction to him. God certainly gifted him with all those masculine skills and looks to attract anyone he wanted, so more than likely he was immune to that electric feeling. Still that look went beyond normal. She slanted her eyes as something suddenly occurred to her. “You run don’t you?”
“Every morning.”
She sighed heavily. “Well, I should have known.”
He stood up. “I’ll get changed. Two minutes.”
He was actually ready in less than that and came back for her.
***
They ran a good ten miles along the beach. Neither one of them spoke and she was grateful for the silence. She also noticed how out of shape she was. She’d broken into a sweat and was breathing pretty heavy. Her arm was hurting too. He’d yet to even show any fatigue. What a surprise though, he’d caught her difficulty.
“You need to stop for a minute.”
She nodded and slowed to a walk. Then she paused and looked out toward the ocean with her hands on her hips while trying to catch her breath. Her wrist was throbbing. It was a bad sprain. One of her captors twisted it and although she could wiggle her fingers now, she obviously still lacked the strength to tie her shoe laces.
“You’ve been hospitalized and injured. It takes a toll on the body.”
“You’re being kind.” Yes, she was out of sorts, but he was obviously in immaculate shape. Sh
e was usually puffing by the time she made it back home but he still didn’t seem near breathless.
He never said anything.
She turned back to him. “How far do you usually run?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
That was the first time she came close to laughing since her captivity. Again, he was saving her feelings. She was competitive and he obviously knew that. “I hope there’s something I can do better than you Mr. Casey. My ego is taking a beating so far.”
Again, he never said anything but his eyes seemed to darken for a moment as if there was some statement in them about knowing something she could do better. Well, he kept it to himself. She was probably better off that he did. Unable to hold his gaze anymore, she looked past him at the crowd as something caught her attention. There was a man, a darker skinned man, standing there in blue shorts just watching her. He was a little on the heavy side, and looked very familiar. She felt her skin crawl with fear and that hit her with a wave of adrenaline.
“Katya?”
Her mouth fell open and the bottom lip started to quiver. He was looking at her. Directly at her. It was one of the men that hurt her. She was sure of it. Her eyes started darting around the crowd. The beach was packed now but there was no mistaking that face. “That’s him.”
“Him?”
“One of the men.” Then her eyes went to another man. “Him too.” Then, she saw the same face everywhere. Dark skinned, dark hair and staring at her with those black, soulless eyes. In fact everyone was staring at her. It seemed as if things were spinning around her. She buried her face in her hands unable to look at anyone anymore. Suddenly she felt blackness close in around her. She was close to fainting.
Ryan spun around and saw nothing. No one looked the least bit threatening. He would know. He turned back to her. Shit, she was hallucinating. Jesus, what the fuck did they do to her? “Stop. Look at me Katya. Look at me. ” He grabbed her by her good arm and made her face him. She was trembling under his grip. She lifted her head and slowly raised her eyes to meet his. There was definite terror in them. He kept his gaze steady on hers. “Good, now take a deep breath. You are having a panic attack. That’s all this is. Deep breath.” Her eyes were still wide with terror. Finally he cupped her face and made him look at him. “Deep breath,” he repeated again.