“We forgot the condom,” Sacha said.
“It’s okay. I’m on the pill.”
He let out a sigh, but he didn’t sound all that relieved.
“I hope you don’t think I forgot the condom on purpose,” she said, body tensing.
He rubbed her back. “No, I don’t, Kendra. I trust you. I don’t think you’d trick me into anything.”
She let out a breath. Good. Because she hadn’t been trying to. She’d just forgotten it. “Since I’m on the pill, we can forget about the condoms. I haven’t been with anyone since I’ve been with you.”
“I’m clean. I always get checked.”
“Good. Then it’s settled. No condoms.”
He chuckled. “Good. I like feeling you.”
She rolled off him onto her back. He took her hand in his, then kissed it. There he was again. Being sweet and soft. Maybe he was doing it because of her mother, but he was making her heart melt. She was in danger of falling in love with him.
That would be bad. She’d take a long time to recover. Cliff needed her. Her job needed her. She couldn’t be holed up eating ice cream right from the pint. Sacha rubbed a spot between her brows.
“You’re thinking too much,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“Yes. Just enjoy it all today. Reality will hit soon enough.”
She knew that, sadly. His reality wasn’t as bad as her reality. He had no idea what she was thinking. That her heart wanted to hear those words from him. If she could have left right now, she would have. She couldn’t.
She wasn’t safe, but then again, she wasn’t safe in here, either. She was going to fall in love with this handsome Russian man. If she hadn’t already. She hoped that when this was all over, that she’d forget about Sacha. And his sweet words and hot body.
Who the heck was she kidding?
***
Sacha was in New Jersey again. His lawyer had made some progress on finding his son. He glanced out the front window of Tom Fleischer’s office. The man was on the phone, so Sacha waited in what looked like a lobby in the store front office.
He puzzled over what Kendra had been like after her mother’s funeral. He hadn’t known what that was all about. Was she just grieving? She’d seemed mad, almost. She stayed with him that night, but she was up before him in the morning, which was odd.
She acted like nothing had happened, but he sensed a distance between them. Had he crossed a line? He reviewed what he’d done and said. He’d been romantic. Could that have been the problem?
He didn’t think so. Most women liked romance. Even if they weren’t interested in a long term commitment, a little romance went a long way. Made everyone happy, but Kendra’s reaction had not been what he had expected.
Even this morning she wasn’t herself. Hopefully, she would be back to normal, or at least closer to normal, when he returned. He wanted to give her some slack since she had just buried her mother.
“He’ll see you now.”
Sacha went into the lawyer’s office with trepidation. He hoped for good news, but wasn’t sure he should be optimistic. This may be one of those situations where throwing money at it didn’t solve the problem. He hadn’t encountered many of those in his life.
Still, he would be prepared to grease palms if necessary.
“Have a seat, Sacha.”
Even though he spent more of his life here in America, Sacha sometimes was taken aback with how easily Americans started using your first name. Even in business. There was no small talk. Americans—they got right to the point.
Sometimes Sacha preferred that. Like now, when he wanted to know if the man had made any progress in finding his son.
“So?”
“I have some good news for you. I’ve tracked down Ethan.”
“Good.”
“You can see him. I’ve arranged it. I’ve also arranged to have a nurse come with us to draw blood for a paternity test.”
“Good. That’s a lot of good news.”
“I’ll take us there.”
Sacha climbed into the lawyer’s S Class Mercedes. Nice ride, but Sacha wasn’t into luxury, and Mercedes was known for that. Which was why he had his Aston Martin. Power. Speed. Sport.
Tom drove out into the countryside of Hunterdon County. Sacha liked the area, but it wasn’t close enough to Manhattan to settle down. He saw a winery for sale. Hmm. Might be fun to buy that and have another place in the country.
The lawyer pulled into the driveway of a house that was set back from the road. It had a brick front and Sacha had a much better feeling about this house than Berman’s residence. A woman in scrubs climbed out of a car parked in front.
“Sacha, this is Ellie, the nurse I hired to get blood samples. We can do yours back at the office or here.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not afraid of needles,” he said.
“Let’s go inside. The foster family is waiting for us,” Tom said.
The inside was as neat and attractive as the outside. They entered into a two-story foyer with wood flooring. A woman in jeans and blouse greeted them.
“Cathy Tully, nice to meet you,” she said.
“I’m Sacha Kozlov.”
“Ethan is playing a video game in the living room. Shall we go in there? He’s a little nervous about all of this,” Cathy said.
Tom introduced himself to the nurse before they all trooped into the living room. A boy sat with a controller in his hand. He eyed the adults entering the room. Cathy sat down next to him.
The boy had Sacha’s eyes. The shape and the color were what he saw in the mirror every morning.
“Ethan, this is Mr. Kozlov.”
“Hi,” Ethan said. He held out his hand.
Sacha shook it. “Nice to meet you, Ethan.”
“You’re the man who might be my father?” Ethan said.
So they had told him the story. Sacha sat down next to him. “I might be.”
“What if I’m not?”
“Then I’ll be disappointed and have to keep looking,” Sacha said.
The boy nodded as if he understood disappointment. Sacha felt a pang of guilt in his heart.
“This woman is a nurse and she’s going to take blood from us to see if our DNA matches. If it does, I will know that you’re my son.”
“What if I am your son?”
“Well, I’ll go about adopting you. I signed away my rights when I was young, but I’m hoping I can make up for that,” Sacha said.
“Okay.”
“Let’s do this at the kitchen table,” the nurse said.
Sacha sat down. Ethan sat across from him, watching him. Could Sacha truly see a lot of himself in the boy or was it wishful thinking? The nurse took her vials of blood, then left. Sacha turned to Cathy. “Is it okay if we hang out for a few minutes? I’d like to talk to Ethan.”
Cathy nodded. “Go out on the deck. I’ll get you some lemonade.”
Tom came with them, but was off at the other end of the deck.
“What do you do?” Ethan asked.
“I do real estate development and I’m opening up a nightclub,” Sacha said.
“Do you make money doing that?”
Sacha laughed. “I do and I could afford a little boy around, if that’s what you’re worried about. You wouldn’t have to worry about food or clothing.”
“Good. Why did you give me up?”
Sacha had expected this question. He had mulled over his answer. “Because I was young and not in love with your mother. It seemed like the right thing to do. I think if I had met you, I might have changed my mind.”
“Do I have any brothers or sisters?”
“Not yet.”
Chapter13
Kendra knew the sound of Sacha’s car. This wasn’t it. She glanced out the bedroom window to see two cars pull up in front of the house. She didn’t recognize any of them.
She texted Sacha.
“People here. Going to get out.”
He didn’t text ba
ck, but that was okay. He’d told her what to do. She tiptoed down the back staircase. Next, she went down the steps to the wine cellar, locking doors behind her as she went. Her heart beat out a frantic staccato.
She’d put her phone on vibrate, not wanting to alert the men to her location. She didn’t have her purse, but she had no time to retrieve it from the table by the door. Not thinking that she would ever have to leave in a hurry, she didn’t put it in a more central location.
Nik had mentioned the last time they talked that he’d found out that Lopez had spent time in prison. He’d become part of the Mexican Mafia. That was how he had all of these connections. That’s why he’d been so elusive.
And that’s why there were four Hispanic men were breaking into Sacha’s house.
Damn.
She liked it out here. Her breathing came out ragged as she traversed the tunnel that led out to the woods, well past the house, but close to the road. She had no idea how long she’d have to be out here.
Looking around, she was scared. She was a city girl and now she was hiding in the woods. She didn’t even know how to do that. Nor did she know what kind of animals were around.
Then she heard the car.
She stayed behind a tree until she was sure of who it was. Her phone buzzed at the same time.
“Almost there,” Sacha’s text said.
She looked up as his car rounded the bend. She went to the side of the road to wave her arms. He stopped. She hopped in.
“I was worried I was going to have to be in the woods for hours.”
“City girl,” he jested. “Did you get a look at any of them?”
“No, but they are probably Mexican Mafia like Nik had mentioned,” Kendra said.
Sacha made a U-turn. “Okay. We need to store this car somewhere. It’s too visible.”
“Where are we going to get another one?”
“Relax Kendra. I’m a billionaire, remember? I have more than one vehicle.”
An hour later, south of where they had been, Sacha pulled in front of a garage on a farm.
“What is this place?”
“An old farm. I rent the barn for a garage. We can dump the Aston Martin here.”
“You have something else?” she asked as she climbed out of the sports car.
“Of course.”
He unlocked the door then pushed it aside. He turned on a light to reveal an SUV. A big freaking SUV. No, that wouldn’t stand out.
“You think this is less visible?”
“Out here in the suburbs it is. We’re not going back to Manhattan.”
“Why do you have it stashed out here?” Kendra said.
“Because I use it out this way sometimes. I don’t always like to take the sports car into the country,” he said.
Made sense. An SUV would be better out here. He started it on the first try, then pulled it out into the street. Then he parked his sports car inside the barn. He locked it back up.
“Now we just have to buy some clothing.”
“Where are we going?”
“Viktor has a place in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. I’ll send him a text that we’re heading that way. I have a key.”
“We’ll be safe?”
“For now; I think we’re going to have to keep moving, but we might have a day.”
“How do you know so much about running?”
He chuckled. “Because I grew up in Russia and we had to run from the police.”
The idea chilled Kendra. It was bad enough that Lopez was a crooked politician. And that he had a Mafia behind him. She couldn’t imagine having to worry about the cops also.
Not that she hadn’t dealt with crooked cops, but as a whole, they weren’t a bad lot.
Kendra climbed into the truck then Sacha drove away.
“If you’re hungry, there might be snacks in the back. Nothing fancy. Jerky probably.”
“You keep jerky in your truck?”
Sacha shrugged. “I’m prepared.”
Kendra turned in her seat, fishing in the bag that was behind her. Sure enough, there was jerky.
“You want some?”
“Yes.”
She handed him an opened stick of beef jerky, then opened her own. “I can’t remember the last time I ate jerky.”
Sacha chuckled then became serious. “Can you tell me anything about the men at the house? Nik is going to ask.”
“Let me think. I didn’t spend a lot of time looking at them. I just got out.”
“Which is what I told you to do,” Sacha said.
He’d made it very clear when he showed her the tunnel that she should get out. If she could gather information, fine, but not to put herself in danger getting that information.
She frowned. “I heard them speaking Spanish. That’s all I know.”
“Did you get license plates?”
“No, sorry. Couldn’t see from that angle.”
He put a hand on her thigh. “It’s okay. Maybe Nik will know to ask the right questions. I’m glad you’re safe.”
He squeezed her hand then brought it to his mouth. The kiss was sweet and soft on her fingers. He was acting more and more like a boyfriend. Why? She’d tried to put some distance between them and been happy when he had told her he was driving to New Jersey that day. He’d been gone for hours giving her time to think.
If she hadn’t been in danger, she would have left him. She would have written a note and gone her own way. This was getting too much like a relationship and that’s not what she signed up for. Sacha had made it clear early on that he didn’t want emotions involved. What had changed?
She didn’t want to fall in love with him. That would be dangerous to her heart.
***
Kendra had been quiet most of the trip to Viktor’s house. Sacha hoped all was okay with her. She’d been different lately. Had he said something to her when he had amnesia?
She didn’t get out of the car. “When does it stop? When have you had enough, Sacha?”
“What do you mean?”
They sat in the driveway of another house in the woods. For being city boys, the Kozlovs liked their remote houses. Sacha understood the irony in that. Most of their houses were in metropolitan areas, but they both had one house each in the wilderness.
Odd. He hadn’t thought too much about that until lately when he’d needed them.
Viktor’s house was just as big as his was, but more modern. It didn’t look like a traditional house in the woods. It had sleeker lines, but that was Viktor. His house in the suburbs reminded Sacha of this one.
She leaned her head on the seat rest as if she couldn’t hold it up any longer. “Your life is basically on hold until this is all over. Until Lopez is caught, which doesn’t look likely.”
“Okay. Your life is on hold also.”
“But I’m involved. You had the bad luck to run into me outside of your building. If our paths had never crossed that day, you would have gone on with your life. No worries. No disruption. I might have been a crime statistic.”
What was she saying? What was she getting at? He didn’t want her gone. He didn’t want her to die. “Okay. I get it. This has been hard on you.”
She waved her hand a frown creasing her face. “That’s not what I’m saying. This isn’t a contest. I’m just trying to figure out at what point you’re going to dump me.”
Dump her? “I don’t have any plans of dumping you. I’m here to protect you. It’s what I have to do. It was how I was raised.”
She rubbed a hand down her face. “But where is the line? You didn’t know me before this. Is the promise of sex enough to keep me being too much of a burden?”
He tried to sort out what she was asking. “You think at some point that I’m going to get sick of you?”
“Yes, basically. I’ve brought a lot of trouble to you family.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “There is no point at which I’m done.” He reached out and took her hand. “I’m seeing this through
to the end.”
“Why?”
That was a loaded question that he didn’t have an answer. He hadn’t wanted to examine his motives. His early motives were simple. Protect a woman. Now, he wasn’t so sure it was that simple. He didn’t want to go there, but she was sitting her, staring at him. Waiting for an answer.
What could he tell her? At some point, things had changed for him, but he wasn’t ready to identify exactly what had changed. “Maybe I don’t know. I’m here. I just am. Maybe you shouldn’t question it.”
She sighed then looked down at their intertwined fingers. “I think I should figure out how to protect myself. I’ll go to the cops. They can take care of me.”
“No.”
He couldn’t get the word out fast enough. If she did that, he might not see her again. Ever. That idea hurt his heart. He wasn’t going to question why, but it did. He wasn’t a guy to fall in love, so that couldn’t be it.
“No?”
“No, Kendra. We’re in this together. I have great people to run my businesses. They keep in touch for the big decisions. It’s okay.”
He kissed her hand. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Let’s get inside. I’m hungry,” he said.
She nodded. He held her hand as they walked up to the house. He unlocked it. “Are you cooking or am I?”
He smiled. “Let’s cook together. We’ll see what Viktor has this place stocked with. I can’t imagine too much fresh stuff at this point, but we’ll make do.”
She smiled. Her first one all day. It warmed him to see that. Her eyes twinkled with it. “We’ve never cooked together.”
He kissed her forehead. “Always a first.”
They scoured the cupboards and came up with a meal. They divided the tasks, and then set about making a meal. Sitting at the island, next to each other, Sacha decided he liked the domesticity of the situation. He also thought that, for a little while, Kendra had forgotten that she was in danger.
Mission accomplished. The smile had stayed on her face. For the whole meal. Sacha felt like a real man and lucky to be here. She was such a beautiful woman. They cleaned up. Kendra did the dishes while he dried them.
When she drained the sink, he pushed her hair out of the way, and then kissed the back of her neck. She shivered. He did it again.
Her Russian Billionaires - The Complete Billionaire Romance Collection Page 35