by Grady, D. R.
“So DuBois’s practice sessions don’t count?”
“No.”
He glanced at the other man in her life. “That’s okay because he’s going to be busy now.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Take a look. He’ll be asking my sister out for a date before this night is over.” He used his chin to indicate the pair.
“Oh, right.” Helena smiled as she turned. “Hopefully he doesn’t mess this up.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He has issues.” She stared at DuBois with a troubled expression.
He cleared his throat. “Issues?”
She appeared to shake off the troubled expression, although there was a faint melancholy air as she stared at the other man. “He’ll come to the conclusion that he’s not good enough for her because of his injuries.”
“That happened two years ago.”
“Yes, but it’s been a long recovery and he still has bad days.”
He shook his head. “His injuries will only make Molly love him more.”
Helena brightened. “You know, that’s true. She’s always been extra sweet.”
“Yes. He’d be stupid not to hold on to her.”
“Yeah, well I’ve never accused him of intelligence,” she muttered with a dirty look at the innocent man.
“You shouldn’t say stuff like that without him here to defend himself.”
“He knows.”
At that very moment, as though he actually did, DuBois tore his gaze from Molly and turned to stare at Helena. His eyebrow quirked at her. She mouthed something he missed but DuBois didn’t. The musician scowled at her, but didn’t reply. Instead, he returned to Molly and it appeared like he got sucked back into her orbit. He sympathized.
Molly pulled the bow across the strings and even he could tell the instrument was in tune. “That’s it,” Molly stated.
Both of them turned to stare at Helena.
She shook her head. “You two play through the piece so Molly has some practice. I’ll join you next round.”
DuBois and Molly exchanged looks he didn’t bother to interpret, before they smiled at each other. It would take an idiot not to pick up the air of intimacy surrounding the two musicians. DuBois shifted on the bench and with a final glance at Molly, who nodded, positioned his fingers over the piano keys.
When his fingers connected and the music began, Molly was right there with him, in perfect harmony.
“You knew this,” he whispered to Helena.
She smiled. He wanted to crawl into that smile, to live there. “I suspected, but I wasn’t certain.”
“It’s beautiful.” He stated the obvious.
“I think they were born to make music together.”
Her uncanny echo of his own thoughts struck a chord within him he didn’t even know existed. That made him uncomfortable. Since starting this relationship with Helena, he realized he didn’t know much about her. But he was beginning to realize he knew even less about himself.
Chapter 20
When she arrived at the lab the next morning, Tia and Jorge were already there. Maria breezed in a few moments behind her, without the cinnamon rolls she had brought yesterday. Those had gone over extremely well and disappeared in minutes.
Today, everyone crowded around the coffee machine in Tia’s office, an appliance they used often. Now, she filled her mug and sank onto the futon to drink it. Jorge dropped on one side of her and Tia on the other. After she checked some plates, Maria flitted in and took Tia’s office chair.
“I’ve made my arrangements to leave.” Tia made that sound momentous.
“When?” Maria asked.
“My cousin Mark is coming sometime today or tomorrow. He plans to stay a day or two and then he’s flying back to America. I’m to go with him. It’s earlier than planned.”
She started. “That means you leave in two or three days.”
“Yes, but Aleksi really wants me to return home with Mark.” Tia sounded baffled by this abrupt change in plans.
“I suppose that makes sense.” Maria sounded dubious. She agreed. It sounded a little fishy.
“It does. I’ll have someone to travel with and it will make the trip easier.” It sounded like Tia was attempting to convince herself this amendment to her plans was a good one.
“You’re going to be a mess,” Jorge declared. They all turned to stare at him. “What? She is going to fall apart the minute she steps on that plane.”
They all turned back to Tia. She bit her lip. “I don’t think it will hit me until after the plane is in the air.”
“Going back with your cousin is actually a great idea.” Aleksi’s plan was brilliant, at least in light of Jorge’s observation. Still it rang a little hollowly.
“Are we far enough along with your work that you can leave this soon?” Maria took a delicate sip of her coffee.
Tia sighed. “Yes, we’re in good shape there. They already know I’m getting married and the head of my department is wonderful. He’s okay with my leaving.”
“Do they have someone to take your place?” Helena stared into her mug. Somehow it was nearly empty already.
“Yes, actually. There’s a grad student who has filled in since I left and he’s willing to continue until they find someone permanent.”
“Are you going to miss it?” Maria asked.
“No. I don’t mind teaching, but it’s not what I want to do. I far prefer the lab, and the type of research we’re planning to conduct is exactly what I’ve been wanting to do all along.” Tia looked happy at that prospect. Her face did sober though, and Helena bet it was because she just remembered she was leaving Aleksi for several weeks.
Leaning over, she patted Tia’s knee. “Don’t worry. The time at home will speed by.”
Tia jiggled a foot. “In addition to the lab stuff I also need to sell my condo. I’ll be there for months.”
Jorge brushed that off. “Plenty of people have sold their homes from a remote location.”
Tia perked up while her thoughts strayed to her own situation as she rose to make another pot of coffee.
If she and Vlad did get together, what would happen to their living arrangements? Would he travel extensively? If he was gone more often than not, she wouldn’t enjoy living in a house. At least in her flat, she had Beau downstairs and since he could hear if there was trouble, it calmed a lot of her fears. Not to mention the others in the building she was friendly with.
Really, she did enjoy her living situation very much. “I’m glad I have a great place at a great price.”
“How is Beau?” Tia asked.
“He met Vlad who apparently approves of him because we introduced him to Molly.”
Maria sputtered. “My Molly?”
“Yes, your Molly. Beau really wanted to meet her.”
“How did that go?” Maria’s eyes were extra wide as she reassessed the possibility of Beau and Molly.
“Really well. They play beautiful music together. He offered any of his instruments for her to play.”
Her three companions all looked shocked. “Really?” Even Maria knew how possessive he was of that collection.
“I don’t think she realized the significance of his gesture.”
“How could she? She probably has no idea.” Maria frowned. “How is it that Beau has never met my children before?”
“He was born here in Rurikstan, but then his mother took him to America soon after.” She mentally urged the coffee maker to hurry up.
Jorge glanced at her. “Do you believe that’s a problem?”
“No, merely an explanation of why Beau doesn’t know many people here.”
Maria nodded. “I had heard his mother took him to her family in America.”
“I wonder why she left Rurikstan.” Tia swept her hair off her neck and secured it with a ponytail holder.
“She probably needed her family.” Maria watched the coffee brewing with no expression.
“What ab
out his father’s family?”
“He never talks about his father, so I’m not certain.” Why was that?
“I’m amazed he’s interested in Molly.” A mother’s hope strung Maria’s words together.
“If you think about it, they have a lot in common.” If Molly’s happiness from the night before was any indication… “She’s definitely interested in him.”
“Does he live here permanently now?”
“He has dual citizenship as far as I know but has put down roots here.”
Maria bit her lip as she stared into her coffee mug. “Molly works in America. And she loves her job there.”
She didn’t have to read minds to understand Maria desperately wanted Molly back in Rurikstan. “I imagine she could find another job here. Or he might be interested in moving back to America. He does have family there.”
Maria looked up at her. “That’s true.” Her expression blanked before she turned all bright and sunny. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”
The poor lady wasn’t fooling anyone.
Tia reached out and covered Maria’s hand with her own. “She just met the man. I don’t think you should worry about this.”
“You’re right.” Maria’s voice sounded thick. “I’m worrying about something I have no control over.”
“She’ll come home when it’s time.” Somehow she knew that much was true.
“How do you know that?”
“Molly is young and enjoying her time abroad. But I’m guessing eventually she’ll want to return home. Beau seems pretty serious about remaining here. He’s bought a house and he has a job he seems to really love.”
“I don’t know him that well.” Maria took another sip of her coffee.
“I do. He seems really happy here and like he wants to stay. I can’t imagine him leaving right now.” Of course, if he was interested in Molly, that would provide a definite incentive to leave Rurikstan.
The chemistry was there between them. He had opened his precious instruments closet to her as though they were mere toys. Several of those musical masterpieces were heirlooms and one was nearly priceless. A revered manufacturer had been impressed with Beau and given him the instrument because Beau made it come alive.
Yet, it hadn’t been that huge a sacrifice for Beau because he understood that Molly would recognize the value of his instruments and wouldn’t mistreat them. Was that a metaphor for him handing her his heart? Did Molly understand the value of that?
That led her to Molly’s brother. She had probably handed over her heart to Vlad. Did he understand the value? Did he appreciate it like Molly had appreciated Beau’s trust?
Perhaps Vlad didn’t understand the significance though. Despite his parents and family, she wondered if his childhood had been happy. In many ways he had been robbed of a typical childhood. One couldn’t learn all about being a warrior at an early age, be given far more responsibility than some adults, and expect to understand the finer emotions.
With that thought came a jolt of fear. What if Vlad couldn’t love? What if that had been trained right out of him?
While his military training was superb, she suspected his emotional wellbeing had been overlooked. Severely. A good fighter had to squash emotions. She didn’t doubt he was a good fighter.
What she doubted was his ability to love.
Chapter 21
“What do you think they’re going to come up with?” Emerson asked this question before the three of them even seated themselves at the small table in his office.
Aleksi shook his head. “I wish I knew.”
“It’s bad enough that terrorists might be targeting us, but it’s even worse to think that someone here in Rurikstan is in cahoots with them.” Maks’ voice was grim. It matched their moods.
“Again, we don’t know for certain that this person knows they’re terrorists.” He reminded him.
“Whoever this is knows,” Emerson stated in a flat voice.
He shifted in his chair. “You heard that SEAL. There’s a good chance even military people don’t recognize terrorists on sight.” He stood, strode to his desk where he tugged out his tablet computer, then returned to the table.
“We didn’t just get lucky with these SEALs helping us.” Maks’s fist tightened around his phone.
He glanced up after he opened his notes. “No. My father realized terrorists were going to be a problem.”
“He took one look at Vlad and realized he had the very solution he needed right there within the family.” Emerson uncharacteristically gave nothing away.
Maks broke the silence. “I was there, yet I can’t imagine what Vlad’s childhood was like.”
“So was I, and I don’t want to imagine,” Emerson added.
He scrolled through some lines. “He didn’t have one.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because my dad’s notes on that USB drive told me so.” He started another note file.
Emerson tapped the table. “How bad was it?”
They received the impression that Maks couldn’t bring himself to ask. He turned to him. “Before you start feeling guilty, don’t. I spoke with Vlad about this, and he assured me my father’s coursework for him was exactly what he needed.”
“I just keep remembering how surly he was when we were teenagers and now that I know why…” Maks sounded unhappy and a little chagrined.
Before either of them could reply, someone rapped on the door. It opened the next moment and Vlad strolled in.
“How did you…?” He stared up at the ceiling. “Oh right, you have my office bugged.”
“We have the entire palace bugged.” Vlad helped himself to coffee and offered it to them. They all shook their heads. After he poured some, he joined them at the small table. It was a tight fit with four big men.
“It’s pretty obvious we all share the same genes.” He shoved his chair over a bit to make more room for Vlad.
“At least Emerson got different coloring.” Vlad had to be the quietest coffee sipper he had ever witnessed.
Maks also shoved his chair back in attempt to gain more room. “But the same body type.”
Vlad nodded as he took a long sip of coffee. When he set the mug on the table he stared around at them and his expression turned businesslike. “I do not regret my childhood, so you shouldn’t, either.” He stared pointedly at Maks.
“We had normal childhoods, you didn’t.” Maks didn’t break the eye contact.
“It used to bother me that you three were so close and did everything together.” Vlad cupped the coffee mug between two huge fists. “I hated that you all were such good friends.”
“Why?” They would have included Vlad. Mostly.
“Because I didn’t fit in.”
At his bald statement they all stared at each other and then at him. “How could you feel that way?” He stared down his cousin.
“I might look like you, but I’m not like you. It was hard to not fit in with my own family.”
“My father realized this.” Some of his father’s notes finally made sense.
“Yes. He gave me a goal to focus my energy and aggression on.”
Maks set his phone on the table. “You had a lot of that.”
“I did.” Vlad nodded. “It was reassuring that Prince Aleksandr knew how to siphon it off.”
“Yet you didn’t fit in?” Emerson looked like that was so far beyond his comprehension he couldn’t fathom it. Probably he couldn’t as Emerson was the one person who fit into any situation he found himself.
“No. I didn’t feel like I belonged until I hit SEAL training in America.”
They all stared at him. “You were eighteen or nineteen then.”
“I was twenty.”
“It took until you were twenty to fit in?” Emerson stared hard at Vlad.
“It took until I went to America.” The quiet, expressionless way Vlad said that was almost harder to take than what he said.
“Why?” Maks asked.<
br />
“Because here were men who were finally just like me.” Vlad took another sip of coffee. “I had searched all over Rurikstan, but there wasn’t anyone else like me here.”
How awful would that have been? To live somewhere, be a part of a family and no one there understood you? He couldn’t comprehend it.
“How were these other men like you?” Maks rotated Vlad’s cup of coffee.
“They were warriors focused on a career that ninety-nine percent of the population can’t fathom.” Vlad retrieved his beverage.
A piece clicked into place in his mind. “The SEALs who are helping you, they’re the ones you felt at home with?”
“I’m at home with any Special Forces and Special Operations men from around the world. They’re like me.”
“The thing is, Vlad, you’re absolutely different than the rest of us.” A few meetings with Vlad had proven that. “And I’m utterly grateful for that, because none of us can do what you do.”
“That’s what your father explained. He recognized we were heading toward conflict.”
“On that USB drive he told me it was best that we have a highly trained military man on our side. He said you were probably the very best of the very best of that number.”
Vlad’s cheeks turned a dull red and he was amazed, yet he was heartened to see Vlad was actually human. That had been questionable since their youth.
“He made certain I had the very best possible training,” Vlad finally mumbled.
Maks shook his head. “I think what Aleksi is trying to say is that you need the raw material to work with, or it won’t matter how well it’s shaped or trained.”
“None of us could be what you are. We’re impressed.” Coming from Emerson that meant something.
“Prince Aleksandr told me that I would one day have an important place to fill. I never quite understood what he meant by that.”