by Amy Brent
“Talk, bitch,” Igor said, pressing her tighter against the car. “Don't make me ask again. If you do, you and I are going to take a little ride, and have a chat someplace more private.”
He clenched a fist, making a silent promise about what their “private chat” would consist of.
“I don't know anything, I swear!” She struggled against his grip, but he was too strong. There was no chance she could possibly escape. Tears started streaming down her face. “Please, let me go. I won't tell anyone anything. I just want to go home. Please...”
“Wrong answer, bitch.”
Igor raised his fist.
A gunshot rang out across the parking lot.
Igor stumbled away from her, clutching at his side. His hand came away red with blood.
Igor raised his bloody hand, staring at it in shock. He looked up and met Nicole's eyes.
Then two more shots rang out. Bullets ripped into Igor's chest and he dropped to the ground. He shuddered for a moment, and then stopped moving.
Horatio appeared out of the darkness, holding a smoking gun in his hand. He rushed over to Nicole. “Nicole, dear, are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
Nicole shuddered, letting out a fierce sob of relief. She fell against Horatio's chest, clinging to him. He held her close and stroked her hair, whispering soothingly to her, and telling her that everything was going to be all right.
13
Horatio hurried Nicole to her car and they both got in. Horatio took the driver's seat, pulling Nicole's keys out of her purse and inserting them into the ignition. They were driving before Nicole could start thinking about what was going on.
“Wait,” she said. “Don't we need to wait for the police?” She looked over her shoulder at the parking lot as Horatio drove away. A crowd was already starting to gather outside, drawn by the sound of the gunshots.
“No,” Horatio said. “I can't risk blowing my cover. I might already be exposed after what happened the other day. But don't worry, I'll get my people on it.”
“Your 'people'?” She frowned at him. “What do you mean? And what are you doing out of bed? You should still be in the hospital recovering.”
“I'm fine,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road. “And I mean the government. They'll take care of this. Make Igor's death look like a mugging. Or possibly gang violence. Depends on what spin they decide to put on it.”
Nicole leaned back against the seat, covering her face with her hands. The situation was more than she could deal with. She had watched someone get shot. She had almost been killed. And now her boyfriend, the father of her child, was talking about a conspiracy to cover it up.
“Is that what you do?” she asked, unable to look at him. “Kill people, and then cover it up?”
“Nicole, that man was a monster. He was about to hurt you. Maybe even kill you. And we know he's been selling secrets to the Russians for a long time. Not just the information the stripper was giving him. We think he's been hacking government servers, bribing public officials, and using all kinds of other means to steal classified information. We never had enough evidence to bring him to trial, but after tonight that won't matter.”
“But you just killed him.” Nicole stared at Horatio in shock.
“Because it was the only way to protect you,” he said. “And to protect our child.”
Nicole looked out the window, unsure what else to say. If Igor was really as bad of a man as Horatio said, then there was no reason to mourn him. But at the same time, she wouldn't have wished for his death. Even knowing that he planned to hurt her, she wouldn't have wanted him dead. In jail, facing charges for his crimes, and able to stand trial, yes. But not dead.
But she knew Horatio was right. She had been in danger. Possibly mortal danger. And even if Igor hadn't planned on killing her, he would have hurt her, and that might have made her lose the baby.
She reached over and put a hand on Horatio's leg. “Thank you.”
“It was nothing,” he said.
“No, it was something. You saved my life.”
He smiled at her, putting a hand over hers. “I couldn't let him hurt you.”
They drove back to Nicole's apartment. When they got there, Nicole had to help Horatio out of the car. He had been ignoring the pain from his injuries when he needed to rush in to save her, but now that the moment had passed and his adrenaline had faded, his injuries were taking their toll on him. Nicole led him straight to her bed and laid him down, and then she took off his shirt so she could check his wounds. She changed the bandages for him, but she was worried that he had pushed himself so hard and had been back on his feet only a few days after being shot.
“You need to go back to the hospital,” she said.
“I'll be fine.” He gave her a forced smile.
“I'm not asking. I'm telling.” She gave him her sternest look, the one she reserved for stubborn patients who didn't want to listen to medical advice.
He let out a long sigh. “All right. But not a public hospital. I'll call my people. It would be better if I went to a private, secure facility.”
“I don't care where you go,” Nicole said. “As long as you go get checked out.”
Horatio made a few phone calls, sending some of his people to take care of the situation with the police back at the club. Not long after, the paramedics arrived to take Horatio to a secure medical facility. Nicole insisted on riding along with him. She ended up pacing in the waiting room of the medical facility while she was waiting for news about Horatio's condition. When the doctor eventually came out to speak with her, he told her that Horatio had torn out some stitches, but they had patched him up again and he was in stable condition, though he would need to remain in bed until the doctor was sure it was safe for him to move around again.
Several weeks passed before Horatio was given a completely clean bill of health. He was allowed to leave the medical facility at the end of the first week, and Nicole did everything she could to care for him at home, in between regular checkups with his doctor. They spent a lot of the time making plans for the baby that would be on its way in a few months. And while Nicole was happy now that Horatio was healing and safe, and she was overjoyed that they had a baby on the way, there was still one last looming issue that weighed on her mind.
She fought with herself for days about how to bring it up. She didn't even know what to say. But she knew that if things between her and Horatio were going to work out, she needed to speak her mind.
One morning, when she couldn't keep it in any longer, she looked at him across the breakfast table and said, “Horatio...we need to talk.”
14
Horatio set down his knife and fork. He folded his hands on the table and looked her in the eye. “All right,” he said. “What do we need to talk about?”
Nicole took a deep breath. Now that she had worked up the courage to talk about this, she didn't know where to begin. “Our lives have changed a lot in the last few months. My life has changed a lot.”
“For the better, I hope?” Horatio smiled at her, his eyes filled with his love and adoration for her.
“Yes,” Nicole said. “Of course. I love you, and I want us to raise this child together. But that means being together.”
Horatio lowered his eyes. “I think I know where this is going.”
“If it was just that you travel a lot, I'd be okay with it. I mean, lots of people have jobs where their work takes them overseas for weeks at a time. And I'd be fine with that, because I know you'd be coming home to me at the end. But I need to know that you are coming home.”
“Coming home alive, you mean,” he said, giving her a grave look.
She pressed her lips together in a thin line. It took her a few moments to sort through her thoughts so she could talk about this rationally, instead of letting her emotions take over. “You were shot, Horatio. You almost died. I saw it. You don't know what that was like. Seeing you there, covered in blood. And I don't think I could live like that.
Seeing you off at the airport, knowing you were going off into danger. Knowing that you might not come back.”
“People married to soldiers in the military, or to police officers or firefighters, face that risk all the time,” Horatio said. “But it's for a good cause. It's to save lives. I made a decision a long time ago that I would be willing to risk my life, if it meant saving others.”
“That was before you became a father.”
He looked away, toying nervously with his napkin. “I know. I know that changes things. But I don't know if...”
“If you could give up that life?” She reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing it tight. “For me? For us, and our child? I know it might seem like a lot to ask. But you can't ask me to face the possibility of your death, not when I'd be left here alone, raising our child without you. Haven't you done enough already? Protected enough people?”
“Is this what you want?” he asked, his tone quiet and serious. “Is this what you need? For me to give up that life?”
“We don't need the money. You've got more than enough to take care of our baby without risking your life to earn a living. And while I know you believe in what you do, I have to hope you can believe in something else, too. In a life with me. In our family. You have to believe that we're worth it.”
“This is really important to you, isn't it?”
“More important than almost anything else,” Nicole said.
Horatio looked off into the distance for a moment. Then he sighed. “Very well. If this is what you need, if this is the best path for our family, I'll do it. I'll quit.”
“You really mean that?”
“Of course, I do.”
He got up and circled around the table. He took her hands in his. She rose to her feet, looking into his eyes. “You, and our child,” he said, “are my biggest priorities. Nothing else matters. I'll do whatever it takes to give you the best life possible. And to make sure that our child grows up strong, healthy, and loved.”
Nicole stepped into Horatio's arms and held him tight. The tension that had filled her for days started to fade away. He rubbed her back, offering her silent comfort and support. He kissed her cheek, then her neck, sending little shivers running through her skin. His lips found hers, and they kissed deeply and passionately. They hadn't made love in weeks while Horatio was recovering. But he was fully healed now, and Nicole felt a deep need for him building up inside of her.
She took his hands, smiling coyly at him, and led him towards the bedroom. She pushed him down onto the bed, and then she stood over him, slowly unbuttoning her blouse, taking her time and teasing him with little glimpses of flesh. She wanted to take her time, to work him up real good, and to savor every moment of the experience, especially considering how long it had been.
Horatio took off his clothes while he watched her, then he reached down and started touching himself, his eyes locked on her the entire time. She licked her lips, feeling the heat rising in her body. Her clothes dropped to the floor, she ran her hands slowly, and sensually along her curves, her eyes locked on Horatio's. Then she slowly stepped forward, crawling onto the bed and climbing on top of him.
He held her by her hips as she mounted him. Her back arched and she started riding him slowly, rocking her hips back and forth while he thrust up into her. He sat up and she pulled his face close to her chest, holding him tight while she rode him. He kissed her soft skin and moaned in pleasure as they made love long into the afternoon.
Afterward, she laid in bed with Horatio, her head cradled against his shoulder, holding him close. She put a hand down over her belly, smiling in contentment. She hadn't expected her life to turn out like this, and she was sure there were still more things she needed to learn about the man she had fallen in love with. But she knew now that they were sharing the same path together, and it was a path she was grateful to be on. She didn't know what twists and turns life would bring her in the coming months, but she knew that she had found a great man, a man who would give anything for her and do whatever it took to protect her and keep their child safe. And who would provide a wonderful life for them.
And, if she was lucky, she might just get a chance to visit all of the wonderful places around the world that Horatio could take her, knowing they were there simply on vacation, and not as part of a crazy international espionage scheme.
SCANDALOUS
Megan
Megan Brown found herself faced with yet another dilemma. She could pay all of her bills and not have enough money to feed herself, or she could pay some of the bills and lose something equally important like… power. She put her head in her hands once more, sighing as she glanced over the pile of bills on the table in front of her. She worked too hard to have nothing to show for it. Every single day at the diner she put in hour after hour to try and make it all come together, but she was failing miserably, with no light in the trees.
As usual, she grimaced when she heard the loud clank of tires outside her apartment building. She wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods, but she could afford it and it was home. There had to be more to life than this, had to be more she could do than to wait tables in a shabby bar where all she seemed to be in place for but to be hit on by men, who assumed she was an easy option since she just so happened to be a big girl.
Being a big girl didn’t define her, in fact being big and beautiful was part of what she loved about herself. Sure, she could focus on losing the weight eventually, but in order to do that she had to love who she was now. She walked now, over towards the one window in her efficiency apartment, looking down over the riff raff in the parking lot. Yes, she loved herself, and one day she would be out from under this mess once and for all.
She walked carefully to the bathroom, looking closely at her reflection. Her skin was a shade of honey and chocolate. Not dark, but not light. Her skin was flawless, something she got from a long line of women in the family. She took care of herself, her make up light, never really enjoying the weight of it on her face. Her body wasn’t like the typical women most men would find attractive, no instead she was curvy and full. Her hips were very clearly defined in her outfit, but she loved it.
Sadly, everyone couldn’t hang. That was obvious when her boyfriend Raymond had been caught red-handed with one of her friends. There was something about having a friend that was model thin, and a blonde to boot, that made men act stupid. Her friend Leslie had been around for years, but she was swayed by Raymond, and the two of them had been caught red handed the day she came home early from work. The reality of the situation is that he probably had cheated on her more than once, and this was simply the straw that had pushed her over the edge, once and for all.
Sadly, she had lost a friend as well, but no real friend would sleep with her man. Of course, when she had confronted him, all the while calmly waiting for him to get the rest of his things out of her apartment, he had blamed her weight. Vaguely she remembered him telling her something about how she didn’t take care of herself enough etc. But deep down, though it had stung for a moment she knew that wasn’t true at all.
Sitting down once more she glanced over at the newspaper, hoping to see something new and exciting she may be able to do to earn some extra money. An ad caught her eye, and she had to smile slightly as she read it.
Do you have free time on your hands? If so, we may be able to pay you
For your precious time. Fun and exotic locations, meeting, fun and new people.
Seeking women for dating site, all sizes, ethnicity and ages.
Whatever they were selling, it certainly was worth a shot. After all it did say all sizes. She dialed the number, and was given a time to come in and meet with someone. All she could do now was see what this was all about.
Nicolai
There were days when he thought his responsibilities would never end. To make matters worse, he was stuck in the United States looking for his brother, who would manage to get the family name drug through the mud in more ways than one
. He glanced down at his watch, frowning. The flight was delayed, undoubtedly giving cause for concern from his mother. Everything about this plan, she had helped him concoct felt wrong, and it would likely backfire on all of them.
Roman, his brother was the heir to the family fortune, to the inheritance, well… to damn near everything. He was 2 minutes older than him, and about 10 years younger in his maturity level. On more than once occasion Nicolai had to step in for a function and pretend to be Roman. Serving on the board for the business, escorting one lovely lady after another to functions. Even once he had met an ambassador from the Ukraine, presenting business options on how to strengthen the supply of their family holdings. All the while he did his work, he received no recognition for any of it.
He loved his brother, there was never any doubt about that. He simply wanted him to stand up and lead the way the family expected him to. Instead, he left a trail of wounded widows, and debts behind him as he enjoyed the luxuries the family name allowed him.
Soon, he would let it all go, especially if this plan worked. Then Roman would be firmly settled down with a wife, and Nicolai could set out to figure out his own life. Fortunately for Roman they were identical, in almost every way. A full head of wavy honey brown hair and deep brown eyes, they were both tall and muscular. Genetics played a part in that, it wasn’t from working hard at it, at least in Romans case. They both had an easy smile, and at the moment they both sported a full beard. He had adapted it from his brother, and even now the blasted thing was driving him crazy.
He made his way down the walkway towards the plane, finally boarding. He had more than a couple meetings, and then there was the wife hunting to take care of. Surely he could pull this off, perhaps she would be a sweet girl. He frowned, it was doubtful. Money did the talking, and she would do whatever they told her to fit a particular fit for the family. Nothing more, nothing less. He had two days to find a woman, and give her the part. Surely that was plenty of time in a city like Washington D.C.