by Ruff, K. S.
My eyes snagged on the highly polished chrome wheels. “The tires are new. The rims are beautiful.”
“The mechanic installed a brand new transmission, engine, alternator, fuel pump, drive shaft, front and rear axle, brakes, hoses, electrical and AC components,” he confessed.
I gaped at him. “He accomplished all of that in a week? How’d you get my jeep into a mechanic when we were in Montana?”
“Jase,” he replied. “Look inside.”
I opened the driver’s side door and gasped. “Leather seats?”
“Heated leather seats,” he corrected. He was grinning.
My fingers danced along the silky smooth leather. The vehicle even smelled new. “They installed new carpeting.”
Rafael joined me at the side of the jeep. “The steering wheel, speakers, and stereo are new. They also added blue tooth capability.”
“But this is still my jeep?” I had to ask because the body style was the only thing indicating that it could be.
He nodded. “Look at the mileage.”
I ducked my head inside the jeep to peek at the odometer. “It is my jeep!” I threw my arms around Rafael’s neck. “Only you could get me a brand new vehicle while still respecting my wishes to keep the old one.”
“Do you like it?” he asked. “I was worried I’d requested too many changes.”
“The jeep looks beautiful, and I’ve got seat warmers. Are you kidding me?” I kissed him affectionately. “I’m dying to try the seat warmers.”
“It’s seventy-four degrees outside,” he protested while laughing at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Who cares? I’ll turn the air-conditioning up.”
Rafael pulled me in for a more thorough kiss… a kiss that I felt clear down to my toenails. “You better get going before I drag you back to bed. I don’t want to make you late when it’s your first day back to work,” he finally relented.
“Thank you,” I breathed before kissing him again. “I don’t have any classes scheduled, so I’ll cook dinner this evening.”
“You ready?” Jase asked. As if on cue, he’d tromped down the stairs leading into the garage. He was carrying two stainless steel travel mugs filled with freshly brewed coffee.
Rafael slowly released me. “Have a good day at work.”
“I can’t go to work without a bodyguard?” I asked for the hundredth time.
“Not yet,” he replied. “The SVR knows where you work, and that building isn’t very secure.”
I stared at him, silently willing him to change his mind. I huffed out a breath when I realized the silent treatment wasn’t going to work on him. “Okay,” I finally conceded. I smiled as I turned to face Jase. “I’m driving!”
He handed me one of the travel mugs, walked around the jeep, and opened the passenger side door. “I figured as much.”
I gave Rafael a quick peck on the cheek before jumping into the driver’s seat. “Have a nice day at work,” I encouraged cheerily before pulling the door closed. I sighed contentedly as I settled into the seat. “Do you want to try the seat warmers?” I asked Jase.
He laughed. “Sure. Why not?”
* * * * *
I took a deep breath before stepping across the threshold of our office suite. What I was about to do was either incredibly brave, ridiculously stupid, or both.
“Kri!” Alyssa shouted as she bolted from behind the reception desk. She flung her arms around my neck. “I’m so glad you’re back. I didn’t think you’d ever come back!” Her eyes widened as she took a step back. “Whoa. Who’s that?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “This is my bodyguard, Jase. Jase this is Alyssa, our receptionist, finder of lost things, and fixer of all things broken.”
Jase reached for her hand. “Nice to meet you. Do you always keep that door propped open?”
“Yes,” she responded uncertainly.
“Do you get a lot of visitors, people who drop by unexpectedly?” Jase asked.
She glanced at me before shaking her head. “No…”
Jase walked a small circle around the lobby, then peered behind the reception desk. “Do you have access to everyone’s schedule?”
Alyssa looked stumped by this line of questioning. “Yes.”
Jase studied her intently. “So you know when people are expected?”
“Yes,” Alyssa confirmed. “The staff typically tells me when they’re expecting someone.” She joined Jase behind the reception desk.
Jase ran his hand beneath the edge of the desk. “Can we keep the main door locked then, and open it only when visitors are expected?”
“I think so. I’ll have to ask Paul,” Alyssa replied. “Is this because of what happened in Ukraine?”
I nodded. “Jase and I can take this up with Paul. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, Alyssa. This shouldn’t last more than a few weeks.”
Shae breezed into the office. “Hey, Kri… Jase… Alyssa.”
“Shae!” Alyssa cried. She ran out from behind the desk and gave Shae the same warm welcome she’d given me. “It’s so good to see you! I’m so glad you’re back! Uh… who’s that?”
Shae looked pointedly at me. “That’s Chance, the bodyguard her boyfriend assigned to me.” She didn’t sound very pleased.
Chance stepped forward. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alyssa. Nice seeing you again, Kristine.” He reached for Jase’s hand. “It’s good to see you again, man. Have you had an opportunity to inspect the office?”
“Just the lobby,” Jase replied. “We need to do something about that door and install a silent alarm under the receptionist’s desk.”
I reached for Jase’s arm. “Alright. That’s enough. You’re scaring Alyssa. I’ll take you guys back to meet Paul so you can figure out how best to resolve your security concerns.”
“I’m going to hang out here,” Chance interjected. “One of us should be monitoring the lobby at all times.” He glanced at Alyssa. “Is this the only entrance into your office suite?”
Alyssa sank into the chair behind the desk. “Yes.”
Shae huffed out a breath. “Please, make him stay in the lobby, Jase. He’s driving me insane!”
“I think she likes me,” Chance surmised with a wink.
Shae stalked toward her office. “Do not.”
“Do too,” he argued. Chance was cute. He was muscular but lean with sandy blond hair and light blue eyes. I suspected he was right, although I wasn’t sure how well that was going to work out for him with Konstantin still in the picture.
“You,” Shae pointed at me. “Your boyfriend said he was going to assign someone to watch over me for a couple of days. That was over two months ago. When is this going to stop?”
I tried not to smile. I was secretly thrilled that Shae’s feisty attitude was back. “Let me take Jase back to meet Paul. Then we’ll talk.”
Sammi burst out of the break room. “It is you!” She pulled Shae and me in for a group hug. “I was so worried about you,” she blurted through her tears.
Cory wrapped his arms around the three of us. “Welcome back.”
Paul walked out of his office. He smiled when he saw the five of us standing in the hallway. “I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, so I didn’t tell the staff you two were returning today,” Paul explained. He gave Shae and me a hug.
“This is Paul Scott, our executive director,” I informed Jase. I glanced at Paul. “This is Jase Adkins, the bodyguard I was telling you about.”
The two men shook hands. “Why don’t we grab a cup of coffee and head back to my office?” Paul suggested. “I’d like to hear your thoughts on how we can improve office and staff security.”
Jase smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“We’re having a team meeting in the conference room in one hour,” Paul advised the rest of us. “We’re going to debrief on Ukraine. I want to discuss Kri’s recent proposal to incorporate a security detail into our conflict resolution trainings, and then we’re going out
to lunch to celebrate their return.”
“Sounds good,” Cory responded.
Sammi linked her arm in mine. “Let’s grab some coffee,” she said, nudging me toward the break room.
“I still need to talk to you about Chance,” Shae reminded me. “Drop by my office once you’ve secured your fix.” She turned toward her office. “Coffee junkies,” she muttered under her breath.
I was sitting in her office within a matter of minutes. “What’s your beef with Chance?” I asked after sampling my steaming cup of freshly ground, freshly brewed French roast coffee.
Shae looked thoroughly annoyed. “He’s always there.”
I bit my bottom lip so I wouldn’t smile. “So he’s doing his job?”
She frowned. “When I say ‘always,’ I mean always, as in night and day.”
It was my turn to frown. “I thought Rafael assigned Brogan to watch your place in the evenings. How can Chance work twenty-four seven? The guy’s gotta sleep sometime.”
“Chance thought Brogan was more interested in sleeping with me than he was in protecting me. He had him reassigned,” Shae replied.
Interesting. I took another sip of coffee. “But the guy’s still got to sleep. Who’s watching your place when he sleeps?”
“He thinks he is,” she replied in a snarky tone.
I set my coffee cup on the corner of her desk. “Explain, because I’m not getting this.”
Shae huffed out a breath. “Chance got rid of the other guy. Then he started pulling all-nighters, camping out in the hallway just outside my door.”
“Ouch,” I replied. Shae lived in a historic building in Old Town Alexandria, a house where each floor had been converted into its own apartment. She lived on the third floor. There was no elevator and no central air-conditioning. The stairs and flooring were constructed of hard wood, and the hallway was cramped.
Shae folded her arms across her chest. “I felt sorry for him, so I dragged a chair out into the hallway so he would at least have something to sit on.”
I bit my lip again. I could picture Shae dragging a chair out into the hallway while still pretending not to be nice. “That was thoughtful,” I murmured, still trying not to laugh.
She scowled. “I still felt sorry for him, sitting in that chair all night, then following me around all day, so I told him he could sleep on my couch. Now, he’s sleeping on the couch and snoring, I might add. He’s using my shower, stocking my refrigerator full of groceries, and keeping a duffel bag full of clothes at my house. He put his toothbrush in my toothbrush holder!” she exclaimed.
I started giggling. I tried to rein it in, but it only made it worse. I finally burst out laughing. I had to wipe tears from my eyes by the time the laughter subsided. “Does he have any redeeming qualities?”
“He likes to play Scrabble,” she admitted, “but he wins… a lot.”
I started laughing all over again. “Does he cook?” I finally managed to ask.
“Yes. The guy cooks, and he does the dishes, but he gives me this disapproving look every time Konstantin calls, and he’s happy like ninety-nine percent of the time. He whistles a lot, and he sings in the shower.”
I tugged my poker face back into place. “Wow. That’s… awful,” I replied. “I… I don’t know how you can live like that. Do you want me to talk to Rafael? I can try to get him fired.”
Shae suddenly looked alarmed. “No! I don’t want him to lose his job.”
I bolted upright. “Ah-ha! You do like him. You like Chance!”
“No. I like Konstantin. I tolerate Chance,” she protested, thoroughly shaking her head.
“Konstantin lives nearly five thousand miles away. You should give Chance a chance,” I persisted. Like a buffoon, I started giggling at my own joke.
“Get out!” Shae yelled. She yanked a number of tissues out of her tissue box and threw them at me.
I pulled a soggy tissue out of my coffee cup, set it on her desk, and walked to the door. “You know, tissues don’t really hurt. With everything we’ve been through, I would have thought you could have come up with something better than that.”
I was still smiling when I walked into my office. I’d made the right decision, returning to work. I could feel all the bits and pieces of my shattered life sliding back into place… and that felt really, really good.
* * * * *
I gazed out over the river, unrolled my yoga mat, and smoothed it over the grass. I had made it through the first week of fall semester and my return to work relatively unscathed, but Rafael was right. I needed to establish a routine that would help me relax and cope with my anxieties. Yoga seemed like the perfect place to start on this crisp Saturday morning, and while I was stretching out just a few yards away from Rafael’s house, I was savoring the fact that he had encouraged me to do this sans bodyguard. Baby steps, I thought. I kicked my flip flops off and stepped onto the mat. I curled my toes into the soft rubber, took a deep cleansing breath, closed my eyes, and swung my arms open as I lifted them toward the sky.
Mountain pose, chair pose, warrior one and two… each pose welcomed me like an old friend. I stretched my limbs, moved slowly, held every pose, and forced myself to breathe. Had I forgotten how to breathe? I transitioned into downward facing dog before moving into my first plank. I held the position until my arms began to tremble. I slid into the cobra pose as I finished my first vinyasa.
I took another deep breath before moving back into downward facing dog. I pressed my heels toward the earth and stretched my hips toward the sky as I stretched my spine. My eyes widened when I noticed a very nice pair of men’s dress shoes and black slacks behind me.
“Khorosho, Kotyonok.”
My elbows and knees buckled. A well-muscled arm hooked around my waist and pulled me upright. My back was plastered against an incredibly broad chest. “Maxim?” I breathed.
Dobroye utro,” he murmured while nuzzling my ear.
I turned to face him. “What… what… what are you doing here?”
He inhaled deeply as he pressed his forehead to mine. “I had to see you.”
I glanced nervously toward the house. “Does Rafael know you’re here?”
“Yes. I called him in advance of coming,” Maxim replied. Storm clouds rolled through his eyes. “I wasn’t seeking permission. It was… a courtesy.”
I smoothed my hands over his chest as I attempted to back away. His arms flexed as he held me in place. “You cut your hair,” I noted awkwardly.
“I thought it would help,” he replied in a voice steeped with concern.
My eyebrows knit with confusion. “Help what?”
“I thought it would make it easier for you to look at me,” he clarified.
“Oh,” I responded numbly.
His fingers skimmed the top of my ear as he brushed the hair from my face. “I didn’t want you to see Michael when you looked into my eyes.”
Tears pooled in my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his back and squeezed tight. “Thank you,” I replied.
He propped his chin on top of my head as he relaxed into my embrace. “I’ve missed this… and you.”
“I’ve been worried about you,” I confessed, “and Konstantin, Lev, Igor, and Oni.” I reached for his hand and tugged him toward the bench.
“Lev and Igor are fine. Igor works for me now,” he explained, sinking onto the bench. “Konstantin is here. He’s visiting Shae.”
Maxim wrapped his arm around me as I slid next to him on the bench. “How long will you be here?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m looking into some business opportunities.”
I glanced at him in surprise. “Are you leaving the mafia?”
Maxim’s eyes captured and held mine. “Do you want me to leave the mafia?” he inquired softly.
My heart stalled. His eyes were asking a far more difficult question... Would you marry me if I did? I couldn’t possibly respond.
“I’m keeping my options open,” he finally replied.
“Konstantin is thinking of transferring to the United States.”
“Transferring?” I asked distractedly. I was still pondering the previous question.
“Konstantin is considering a position with the organization that oversees this area so he can live closer to Shae,” Maxim explained.
“Oh,” I responded dumbly. “I didn’t realize the Russian mafia was still operating in the United States.”
Maxim gazed out over the river. “The Russian mafia operates anywhere there is money to be made. Arms trafficking, drug trafficking, and cyber espionage generate a lot of money in the United States.”
I blew out a breath. “I don’t suppose all that money is being used to fight corrupt governments and fund humanitarian objectives...”
“Every organization has its own objectives,” he noted. “Not all of the pakhan value the same things I do.”
“How are things in Ukraine?” I asked.
Maxim shook his head. “Not good. The Russian government has planted people in nearly every political office. The few honest politicians that are left are too scared to implement policies that are contrary to the demands of the Russian government. The SVR is growing in numbers and strength. More and more Ukrainians are being tortured, disappearing, suffering mysterious deaths, or being imprisoned in mental institutions for speaking out against Mother Russia.” He spit out the last two words as if they had left a terrible taste in his mouth.
I reached for his hand. “I’m so sorry.”
His eyes softened. “I know I am fighting a losing battle, but I’m finding it difficult to walk away from a war I’ve been fighting my entire life.”
I tucked my feet under my legs as I settled in under his arm. “I know how that feels,” I noted empathetically.
He turned my hand in the sunlight. “I see you are still wearing my ring.”
I stared at the fiery green and purple stone. Heart shaped diamonds flanked the striking alexandrite on either side. Maxim deemed it a promise ring when he presented the gift in Ukraine. He released me from that promise when he helped me escape from the SVR. I wasn’t sure what the ring stood for anymore. It reminded me of so many broken dreams, but it was so beautiful, I couldn’t bear to take it off.