by Amy Deason
The courtyard was beautiful. And peaceful. Down here she was able to breathe. Until she looked up to the balcony, when her breath stopped even as her heart began to race.
Perched high against the side of the monastery, Nikolas looked more like an angel to her than ever before. A dark, cold, guardian angel. She knew he would find her. He always did. This time was no different.
She had a decision to make and not much time to make it. Once Nikolas reached her, he would demand answers. And the letter.
The question was, was she going to give it to him? Did she trust him enough to go against her dad’s wishes and tell him about the key to the formula? Or did she do her best to lie and face Nikolas’s wrath?
Her head pounded with confusion.
Never before had she wanted her mom or dad so much. If either of them were here, they would be able to tell her what to do. But then again, if they were here, she wouldn’t be. This was something she would have to decide on her own.
“But what if I make the wrong decision?” Voicing her concerns out loud usually helped but not this time. This time the only thing she felt was abject frustration.
Turning, she grasped the locket, the key, in the palm of her hand. Feeling the familiar shape press into her skin, she closed her eyes and began to pray like she had never prayed before.
The scrape of leather on brick made her open her eyes and against her better judgement, she peeped upward through her eyelashes.
Nikolas stood directly in front of her, his eyes, black and totally unreadable. But she didn’t need to read his eyes to know what he was thinking.
Giving him a weak smile, she shrugged her shoulders. “Well, you found me.” The understatement of the year.
“I guess I did.”
The silence stretched. Birds chirped in the trees. A soft breeze blew, ruffling the strands of her hair, tickling her cheek but she didn’t raise her hand to brush it away. Fearful that any movement might start the ball rolling down a hill she wasn’t prepared to encounter yet. Obviously, Nikolas had no such fear.
“Where’s the letter?”
The lump in her throat threatened to choke her but she managed to swallow past it. It was decision time. Only she still didn’t know what she was going to do.
Stall!
“I . . . I don’t have it,” she whispered, automatically glancing down.
“You. Don’t. Have. It.” His voice grew colder with each word.
Don’t look up, don’t look up.
Not trusting her voice, she shook her head, watching the pattern in the red brick swing back and forth between her feet.
Nikolas crouched down in front of her, his hands hanging loosely between his thighs.
Cadence fought the urge to raise her head. She could feel his eyes on her, demanding she meet his gaze. When she refused to give in, he reached out, slipped his fingers underneath her chin, and yanked her face up.
His eyes were darker than she remembered. Colder, harder. He wasn’t messing around.
“Cadence, give me the letter.” This was no request. It was a demand. No big surprise there.
“I . . . I told you, I don’t have it.” The words tripped over her tongue, stumbling like water over rocks in a stream.
The fingers holding her chin in place, tightened, stopping just short of pain. “You’re a horrible liar, Cadence. Now, I am not going to ask again.”
Pulling her face from his hand, she looked away. “I can’t give it to you.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t understand,” she said between clenched teeth.
“Then tell me.” Rising from his position in front of her, Nikolas settled beside her on the bench, the warmth of his thigh brushing against hers.
Releasing a harsh breath through her lips, Cadence turned around, lifting her eyes to meet his. How could she possibly make him understand?
Here goes nothing.
Intertwining her fingers, she dropped her eyes as she twisted them nervously. “After my mom died, my dad . . . he was the only one I had. He was there for me when no one else was. He took care of me. It was me and him against the world. But now . . . he’s gone. And he’s never coming back.”
Nikolas’s hand was warm as it settled onto hers. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Then how can you ask me to go against his wishes?” She heard the pleading quality in her voice and hated it. “He told me not to trust anyone. Except Henry.”
“Your father’s best friend?”
“You know about Henry?” There was no reason for her to be surprised. This guy seemed to know everything. Even things he shouldn’t.
“I know all about Phillip’s research, including those he worked with. I know Henry was the closest thing to family you had after your father disappeared. And I would never ask you to go against his wishes if it were vitally important. Cadence.” Nikolas paused, his grip tightening on her hand. “Thousands of lives depend on your father’s formula. If Dmitry gets his hands on it before we do, then there will be no help for them. Or us. I am asking you to trust me.”
With teeth sinking into her bottom lip, Cadence removed her hands from underneath his. Slipping one hand into her pocket, her fingers crushed the thin sheets of paper and withdrew them slowly.
I’m sorry, Dad. Please forgive me.
Her hand shook as she handed the ripped letter to Nikolas, careful not to touch him.
“What happened to it?”
“I, uh, I was going to flush it.” The idea had sounded good at the time but now that she was saying it out loud, she was left feeling slightly embarrassed.
“Flush it? Down the toilet?”
“Of course down the toilet. Where else would I flush it?” Tension gnawed at her, making her tone much sharper than she intended.
Nikolas held the two halves together and began to read silently.
Unable to sit still while he read her dad’s last words, Cadence stood up, turning her back to him. Cupping her elbows in the palm of her hands, she walked away, along the brick path winding underneath the leafy tree branches.
The grass was blue, the grass was green, and the flowers were in bloom. An artist’s dream. And yet, Cadence couldn’t help but feel that her nightmare had just begun.
Chapter 22
Running a hand over his face, Dmitry leaned back in his leather chair, putting his Italian loafer-clad feet on the desk.
Thank God that meeting was over.
Stretching a full thirty minutes past the hour and a half he’d set aside for it, Dmitry had thought he was going to pull his hair out by the time he showed the last man out of the board room. Liu Xiang, a Chinese diplomat, was one of his newest investors and had more questions for him than the whole room put together. And the man knew his stuff. Something Dmitry both liked and appreciated. It kept him on his toes. But still, he was glad when the Brioni suit wearing fool was gone.
His stomach grumbled, reminding him he had not eaten. His breakfast had been held up by various phone calls. It seemed everyone needed him this morning. The lab, the office. Even the people looking after his vacation home in Seychelles. Now that was a place he loved.
Nestled on a private island, his tropical condo was his home for the better part of the winter, usually with a woman of his choosing. Sometimes two. Or three.
Maybe after he got things settled here, he would take an extended stay to the sunbaked beach. Have a few drinks, soak up the rays, and bask in his success.
Tipping his chair forward, he stabbed the intercom button on his desk. “Nadia, I need lunch.”
“Yes, of course, sir. What would you like?” The blond-haired secretary was prompt and polite. Two things he liked in his staff. She wasn’t hard on the eyes either. Maybe if she played her cards right, she could accompany him
to Seychelles . . .
Bad idea, mixing business and pleasure. Especially with his particular . . . tastes. He supposed he could always fire her afterward but competent employees who could keep their mouths shut were hard to find. No, it was best to keep her at arm’s length. There were plenty of other available women for him to choose from.
“Percorso’s. The Vitellino Alla Milanese with a side order of Formaggi. And a bottle of their best white wine.”
“Yes, sir, right away.”
With lunch was on its way, it was time to touch base with Sergei and Ivan. Those two were supposed to be searching Cadence’s background for any information suggesting she might have more weaknesses he could use once she was brought back to him.
He needed the girl to crack faster than an egg being used for an omelet. There was more than just money and power riding on making the girl talk. His whole empire was at stake. Promising powerful people powerful results was not a smart thing if he didn’t deliver. But he could. And he would. Just as soon as he had Phillip’s little girl.
There was a chance she didn’t know anything but he didn’t believe it. Not for a minute. If she was headed to Valaam, the last place her father went, then there was something going on. Something big. And nothing would keep him from finding out what it was.
~ ~ ~
Nikolas lowered the letter, staring straight ahead, quickly processing the information he’d just read.
The locket was the key. Of course it was. What better way to keep something from being found than to hide it in plain sight? A brilliant move. Except for one little detail.
Cadence.
Knowing how stubborn and hardheaded his daughter was, Phillip should have never left the information with her. There had to have been a million other places to hide it. So why choose the one that put his only child into the worst possible danger imaginable? Perhaps he never thought things would turn out like this. And maybe once they had, it was too late to turn back. Either way, Cadence was in a whole lot of trouble. And now it was up to him to save her.
For the first time since he got his hands on the letter, he noticed Cadence was nowhere near him. Standing abruptly, Nikolas shoved the ripped paper into his pocket.
Oh no, not again . . .
“Cadence!” She couldn’t have gone far. He’d only been reading for a few minutes. Following the path, he found her standing with her back to him at the edge of a large goldfish pond. Beams of sunlight rained down, dancing off of each ripple in the water.
“Cadence, you’ve had the key the whole time.”
“I suppose you’ll be wanting my locket now.” Cadence’s voice sounded strange, hollow.
Totally unlike her. With her back to him, it was impossible to see her face. He resisted the urge to grab her shoulders and spin her around.
“You know I need it. At least for a while.” He hated to take it from her but what other choice did he have? Maybe once they were able to covert the information from the music notes, he could give it back.
“And if I don’t give it to you?”
Her tone was all wrong. This was not the Cadence he knew. Unable to stop himself, he spun her around to face him. The challenging blue eyes he was used to were now flat and deadpanned as they stared up at him. The effect was like a sucker punch to his gut.
“You don’t have a choice. You know that, don’t you?”
Her lips puffed out as she released a breath. “I’ve never had a choice. So what else is new?” Dropping her eyes to the ground, she stepped out of his grasp. Slowly she reached behind her neck and unfastened the clasp on the locket. Bringing it around, she took one final look at it before slipping it into one hand.
“Here,” she muttered, holding her hand out.
The locket sat in the palm of her hand, the chain nestled around it like a golden pool.
For a moment, he hesitated, wishing there was another way. But there wasn’t. He knew it. And so did she.
A tingle surged through his fingers as he removed the locket from her hand. Instead of taking the locket, he wanted to take her hand and pull her to him. Explain that he didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to hurt her anymore.
“We should get back inside. I don’t think we were followed here but until I know for sure, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Whatever you say, Mr. Kozlov,” Cadence replied, brushing past him.
Nikolas watched as she walked away, her hips swinging in an easy rhythm. He waited until she disappeared from sight before starting after her. Once again, he wished she had never gotten involved in this. It would have been safer to stay in the U.S. For her. And for him.
~ ~ ~
Cadence bit back a sob. Everything was gone. Her dad. The letter. And now the locket. She had nothing left. The best thing she could do was to call Henry and go home. Go back to where things were normal and safe. Where bad guys weren’t trying to kill her at every turn and the men she was attracted to weren’t hired guns or vigilantes or whatever the hell Nikolas was.
The small space inside the hotel room seemed to have shrunken in the last couple of hours. She had never been claustrophobic but right now, everything felt like it was closing in on her. Especially Nikolas and his impenetrable eyes. She needed to get out of here. But how was she going to manage that with Nikolas guarding her like a prisoner?
Rising from the bed, she crossed the room to the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Turning, she faced Nikolas, determined to leave at all costs. “I’m going to the bathroom if that’s okay,” she replied brusquely.
Nikolas stood. “I’ll go with you.”
“No,” she exclaimed, raising her hand. “I’m pretty sure I can manage to use the restroom on my own. I don’t need you to hold my hand.”
Before he could open his mouth, she continued. “And don’t worry about me taking off. Where am I going to go? We’re on an island, for God’s sake.”
For a moment, she was sure he was going to follow her anyway. She began to ready herself for a fight when he abruptly sat down, retrieving his cell phone from his pocket. “Fine. But if you’re not back in ten minutes, I will come looking for you. And you won’t like it when I do.”
With the threat still ringing in her ears, she left the room. But she didn’t go to the bathroom. Instead, she went in search of Brother Garagin. She found him in the main hall, a stack of papers and folders in his arms.
“Excuse me but is there a phone I can use?”
“Is everything all right, Miss Montgomery?” the monk asked, his face full of friendly concern.
“Oh yes. I, uh, I was just hoping I could use the phone.”
“There’s one in the lobby. Behind the reservation desk. Would you like me to go with you?”
“No. But thank you.” Turning away, Cadence hurried to the lobby. She had a good idea how Nikolas would feel if he knew she what she was doing but at this point she really didn’t care. She needed to get out of here and there was only one person she could trust to help her do it.
Dialing the number from memory, she listened to it ring on the other end. Once, twice, three times.
Pick up, pick up, pick up.
“Hello?”
Cadence had never been so glad to hear Henry’s voice. Instantly she remembered every time he came to visit. Thanksgivings, Christmases, birthdays. Her dad had been right. Henry had always been there for her.
“Henry? It’s Cadence.”
“Oh my God. Are you all right? I’ve been trying to reach you for days. Where are you?”
Gripping the handset tighter, Cadence smiled. “I’m sorry you were worried but I’m fine. Henry, I’m in Russia.”
“Russia?” he exclaimed. “What on Earth are you doing there?”
“
I came to look for my dad.”
“Cadence, are you crazy? What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Oh my God, if your father knew, he’d kill me.”
“I know. I know. But I had to try and find him. Henry.” She paused, not sure how to break the news to him. Her dad had been like a brother to Henry. Not just his partner and not just his best friend. Henry had been, was, family. “Dad, he . . .” She paused again, swallowing the large lump in her throat. “He’s dead.”
The intake of breath from the other side was sharp in her ear. “How do you know?”
The sexy vigilante that saved my life from the murdering Russian thugs told me.
“Dad left me a letter. It explains everything. Even where the key to his formula is.”
“Formula? You mean the one we had been working on before he left? Good God, Cadence, do you still have the letter?”
“No. But I don’t need it.”
“What did it say?”
“I’ll tell you all about it when you get here. Henry, in the letter my dad told me to call you. He said if anyone could get me out of Russia safely, it would be you. Please, can you come get me?”
“Of course. Where are you at?”
“Valaam. I have a room in the monastery.”
“Okay. I’ll be on the next flight out. Just stay where you are. Don’t talk to anyone and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Henry.”
Hanging up the phone, Cadence felt a weight lift from her shoulders. It would be all right now. Henry was coming. Before she knew it, she would be back home in sunny Texas. In an empty house. Her heart clenched at the thought but she shoved it aside. It would be devastating. Probably the worst pain she would ever know but she would get through it. She had to.
Chapter 23
“That’s right. Montgomery hid the formula with his daughter. Apparently he transcribed the final components into music notes, etched them into a locket, and put them around her neck.” The moment Cadence had left the room, Nikolas had dialed the all-too-familiar number, connecting with his boss thousands of miles away.