We both cracked up.
While the gym itself was fairly crowded, the upper cave, was for the more advanced climbers, like Adrian and me, wasn't.
I quickly attacked the hardest wall, the one that no climber had done to date. As usual, I got halfway through before the one cookie-sized hold screwed with me.
"Nice try," Adrian said appreciatively, trying his hand at another easier, yet still challenging wall.
I clambered back up to the wall, ready to try a still difficult, yet not impossible, one. That one spanned all the way up to the top, and I'd only completed it once, a few weeks ago, after trying my hand at it for months. It started out with a crouching, almost horizontal beginning, which was never easy. But it was the far-apart tiny holds that got you. Sometimes only big enough for a few fingers at a time. As I made my way up, I could feel the adrenaline surging through me.
Yes, it was why I loved climbing when it was nothing but me and the wall. Nothing but one hold after the other.
"So, will you do it?" Adrian said a few feet below me. I hadn't even noticed him there. I cursed.
"Is that a yes?" Adrian said, "I know you can hear me."
I stifled the urge to kick him, and launched my body up and over, catching the hold just barely.
"Are you seriously not going to do this?" Adrian said.
I launched myself forward again, and, at the top, sighed. "Fine. I'll do it. It's a horrifically bad idea. But I'll do it."
"Best friend ever!" Adrian exclaimed, losing his footing and falling down. At the bottom, I heard him curse. But when I looked down, I saw his eyes bulging out; his eyebrows lowered in a worried frown.
"What is it?" I asked.
Even when falling, Adrian was an expert maneuverer. He had never broken or sprained anything to my knowledge. But he only just shook his head and, taking out his phone, hurried out of the room.
7
Sasha
New day, new hope.
Wasn’t that a saying in some language, somewhere?
I couldn't remember, not that it mattered. The point was, all that craziness from yesterday didn't mean that today had to be a loss too. I had a whole bunch of work to do, an impending crazy plan that I wasn't yet desperate enough to consider, and hope.
Ignoring the complaining in my belly, I took one look at the pile of unfinished sewing and realized that I had to go out. At some point, a few days ago, I'd misplaced my last sewing needle. Not to mention that I was in dire need of some fabric to add to the existing pants I was working on.
Hopefully, Mom and Dad wouldn't be protectively lingering around the kitchen.
I crept out to find a note on the table with my dad's distinctive, barely decipherable, scrawl: If you need anything, just tell us. Please try and stay inside for today, Sasha.
I frowned, resisting the urge to ball up the note in my hand. I knew my parents were just trying to help. But didn’t they get that I wasn't a little girl anymore?
I paused. Then again, had they seen something I hadn't?
I crept over to the window and peering out, let out a long sigh of relief. There it was. My unimpressive, boring, and empty street. Yep. There was no Aleksi, or his dodgy friends, in sight. Which meant I was probably safe to run a few errands.
I grabbed a bagel on my way out and bit into it as I set off, out of the apartment, and down the stairs. I opened the door, walked outside, and stopped.
No, no, no.
I’d recognize that horrible square head and leering mouth anywhere. Braun.
He was standing a few stores down, just out of sight.
He took a step forward, and I backed into the building, half choking on my bagel and cursing myself. Why hadn’t I looked better? I paused at the foot of the staircase. As much of an oaf as Braun was, he wouldn't just kill me in the middle of the street, would he?
An involuntary shudder went through me. I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to that question. Especially after I'd seen just what Aleksi and others were capable of that night a few months ago.
Back in the apartment, I flung the bagel on the counter. It ricocheted off the wall and hit a bunch of papers, one falling out.
I only glanced at it, but when I saw its official seal on the top, I gulped and peered in closer.
It read:
Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov,
It has come to our attention that for the second month in a row, you have not paid your rent. If this continues another month, we will be forced to evict you.
I held the paper with shaking hands. My parents were in dire straits, and they hadn't thought to tell Adrian or me?
I knew they were too proud to ask for money from Adrian, who was doing extremely well. And they were taking a pittance for my rent, but they should have asked for more.
I’d barely escaped Aleksi’s increasing demands to move in with him as it was. In trying to protect myself, I'd unknowingly been hurting my parents. I thought my mom picking up material and items for me had been because they were doing well.
I put the paper down with shaking hands. It was all horribly clear now, what I'd really known from the start. Aleksi wasn't going just to let this go. Even when I'd first met him, even when he had been the man I loved, he had been protective and full of ownership, to the extreme.
Now, he would have the Mob tag my house for as long as it took. I was putting my parents at risk too. As horrible as Adrian's plan was, what else could I do?
I picked up the phone.
8
Pierce
I found Adrian in the locker room, smiling of all things.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Well, there's bad news, and there's good news, and there's more good news."
"Bad news?" I said.
"Bad news, is that the Mob is still waiting outside my family's house. Oh yeah, and my parents are near losing said house." Adrian held up a finger. "Before you lose hope, dear comrade, hear the good news. The good news is that I'm going to be forcing my parents to take my money, their pride be damned. Second good news is that, due to all these unfortunate circumstances, my dear sister has finally acquiesced to fake marry you and get the hell out of Russia forever."
"So she’ll do it," I said dully.
Adrian grinned wide and clapped me on the back. "She'll do it. We’re going tonight!"
"Tonight? Already?" I asked, gaping at him.
Although, it was the thought of Sasha that was most haunting my mind. The pale oval of her face, those full lips. It was a good thing I was wearing my baggier shorts, so Adrian couldn’t see how I was getting a hard-on at the mere thought of his sister. It was a really bad idea. But what was the other option?
"Yeah, tonight," Adrian said. "I bought the tickets last night. Just in case, you know."
He started pacing, mumbling stuff to himself in Russian and nodding all the while. He turned to me with another big grin. "What are we standing here for? We better get packing!"
"I'll just go put on my best suit," I said dryly.
Adrian laughed. "Oh no, you're not getting married over there, of course. I booked that for two days from now."
"You what?"
"Yeah, I thought I would just book everything in advance and then pay the penalty fees if we had to miss it. Better than everything being all booked up."
"It gladdens me greatly that you were so sure of me agreeing," I said monotonously.
Adrian gave me another clap on the shoulder. "Cheer up. You are going to get to see Moscow. For about, five minutes. But then you get to meet my charming sister. You can absolutely, under no circumstances, have anything to do with her other than pretending to be her husband.” He fixed me with a pointed look, and I nodded. “Of course.”
“See?" Adrian said. "What could go wrong?"
9
Sasha
They’re coming tonight.
As I sat on the three-legged kitchen chair, I tried repeating the words to myself to make them stick. "They're coming tonight."
Not in a we
ek, not even a few days. Tonight. So soon, this nightmare would be over.
Which meant I had to get packing!
Rushing to my room, I stared into the entryway and saw the problem immediately. He was still here, everywhere. Aleksi. He’d wormed his way into every part of my life. I guess he figured that if I wouldn't live with him, he’d make damn-sure almost every piece of furniture in my room was his. The gilded-framed picture of us on the wall I instinctively avoided looking at, my closet bursting with clothes that marked me as his.
I took a breath and unclenched my hands. At least it would make things easy. Since I sure-as-hell knew I would leave everything Aleksi had ever bought me where it belonged.
I turned on some Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture to inspire me as I raced around my room, disappointed at how little fit in the duffel bag I had. Sure, I could've brought the roomy metallic luggage that Aleksi had bought me, but I wouldn't. I wanted every trace of him gone from my life. Even if I knew that was impossible, I didn't want anything of his. Anything.
Hours later, after my parents had come home and I'd explain to them about my trip to the States with Adrian, and I finished packing everything I could jam into my suitcase, I flopped onto my bed. One hour to go. The only thing left was to decide what to wear.
I got up and looked at the two outfits I had on the bed. It didn't matter. Not really.
It wasn't like I was going to really marry this hot Pierce guy, but, it was my first outfit of freedom.
The only question was, how was I going to greet the world? With the shapeless shirt and pants I’d chosen, the same kind of clothes I’d been wearing lately. The type for fitting in, disappearing? Or would I wear the other outfit? The one I used to wear all the time. The pink dress that Aleksi said was too short and tight. The dress that I felt smoking hot in.
And Pierce thinking I looked good wouldn’t hurt either, right? I had seen the way he’d been looking at me. Even now, my body buzzed with it.
I wanted his gray eyes to become hooded like they had the first time they saw me. A crease of surprise had appeared between his brows. I wanted him to want me. Maybe it was a stupid idea. Maybe I was being stupid and was just genuinely attention starved. But I picked up the pink dress and smiled.
The doorbell rang.
I froze, my heart throttling against my chest. It was way too early still for Adrian and Pierce. But, what about Aleksi - he couldn’t have found out somehow already, could he? Would he have come for me?
10
Pierce
While Adrian had perfected the art of drinking and sleeping on planes, I, on the other hand, had perfected neither. Drinking just made me more motion sick, while sleeping didn't usually happen. At least not for very long.
I sat there, eyes staring ahead, wondering what in the hell we’d have to deal with once we landed in Moscow and went to get Adrian’s sister. Adrian had glossed over it with his usual cheeky grin and laugh, but I knew better. He was scared, and right to be. It was the Russian mob we were talking about. You didn't mess with those guys and get away with it.
Even if we did somehow manage that, there was the whole problem of Adrian’s smoking-hot sister that I was supposed to marry. Nothing could happen, obviously.
And yet, if I were completely honest with myself, my thoughts drifted away to tempting what-if's.
What if she hadn't been Adrian’s sister and we had just met, and we just found ourselves in bed together, my fingers stroking her pert breasts and…
Fuck.
I shook myself out of it.
Screw it. I was going to take one of those sleeping pills Adrian had so generously gifted me. Popping it in my mouth, I swallowed it down with some ginger ale and closed my eyes.
I woke at the climbing gym filled with the Russian mob, their guns drawn. They shot at Adrian and me, but we climbed up barstools that appeared just-in-time. Inside the climbing gym, through a window. Down below, Adrian's parents were cheering us on.
His sister Sasha waited at the top. Adrian gave me a beating pat on the back, saying, "Go on, there buddy. You earned it."
So I climbed all the way up to the top, where Sasha was waiting. Naked, on her knees she beckoned to me, saying, "Come on. Winner." Just as her hands opened my pants and her lips lowered to my cock….
My eyes snapped open. I squinted against the light.
"You okay bro?" Adrian asked, munching on some peanuts.
"Yeah, why?"
"You were, like, groaning in your sleep or something."
Oh right. My dream. I forced my face to remain neutral and said, "Fuck off."
Adrian snickered. "Seriously though," he continued. "Under no circumstances can you tell my parents. They’d flip out. And then kill me. And then probably kill me again."
"No parents," I said, "Got it. No telling my dad either, obviously."
Adrian threw the back of his hand to his forehead. "Such a shame. Mr. Rowlings and I are still very close."
Now it was my turn to snort. Adrian and my dad's meeting hadn’t gone well at all. Not that I'd expected it to.
"And you think we’re gonna be able to get in and out of your house okay?" I asked.
"Hopefully," he said." Apparently, one of the guys is stationed a few buildings down from my parent’s apartment building, so it's not like they'll be blocking the front door or anything. But we’ll have to be careful and fast."
Careful and fast weren't exactly Adrian's best qualities. He often got to work late, and as for careful, I lost track of how many dishes he'd broken while at my place. Still, by the sounds of it, there was no room for screwing up this plan.
The Moscow airport was crowded but efficient. In fact, by the time we got a taxi, we noticed that we were a good bit early.
“Hell yeah,” Adrian said expressively. "We're gonna nail it. We're already ahead of schedule."
"Did you tell your sister?" I asked.
Adrian waved his hands. "She’ll probably be packed and ready at the building’s front door for us."
But she wasn't. In fact, the only thing we found once we got to the door was a shifty looking man positioned a few doors down.
"Quick," Adrian hissed as we walked through the battered looking wooden front door as if I needed any other encouragement.
Inside the building, the wallpaper was peeling, and the carpet was stained and faded red. But when we got to the second floor where Adrian's parent’s apartment was, their door showed a fresh coat of black paint, and a nice welcome mat in front.
Adrian rapped on the door. "Your beloved prodigal son has returned!"
The door opened to a plump woman with a delighted face, and a short, balding man, both of whom threw their arms around Adrian.
They said a bunch of things to him in Russian, and Adrian said a bunch of stuff back, then frowned. After both of his parents had vigorously shaken my hands and said, in very broken English, "Nice meet you,” I glanced to Adrian.
Adrian fiddled with the zipper on his hoodie. "Well, she's not quite ready yet. But she will be soon!"
I frowned but said nothing. Adrian had always been the overly optimistic one, usually with no major issue. Hopefully, that would be the case here.
Although, our encounter with his parents had made me think. Sasha had seemed to have fluent English over the phone, but…
"She does speak English, right? I mean like decent English?"
Although maybe that would make things easier if we could only communicate a few easy sentences to each other.
Adrian burst out laughing, then said, "The Sasha you saw over the phone was reading a script. I'm sorry I have to break this to you now." He shook his head. "No, no. Sasha has perfect English. Like me. Our parents bullied us into taking English classes and bettering ourselves despite our incessant want to spend the day at the local pool instead."
I said nothing to this, annoyed at the relief flooding through me. Sasha was Adrian’s sister. Nothing was going to happen with her. Then why was I happy that she could speak E
nglish?
Just then, a commotion started. Adrian's parents had a thick book they were trying to wrestle out of his hands, as he made severe protestations in Russian.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said anxiously. "Nothing to see here."
In the end, his parents won and opened the large, leather-bound book, while Adrian moaned and excused himself.
His parents didn't have to say the broken English "BABBY," to me. One look at the fat baby with the bushy brows and I would've known Adrian instantly. As his parents oohed and aahed over the pictures they showed me, Adrian finally, grudgingly, returned after raiding the fridge and handed me a bunch of cookies he claimed were called tea cakes.
Later on in the album, a school-age Adrian was joined by a girl with a bright smile and eager eyes. It was odd. It was Sasha, but it wasn't. Sasha almost looked like a different person. She looked fearless.
Finally, we heard the creak of a door and Sasha came out, loaded down with a big duffel bag and a hulking backpack.
"Sasha!" Adrian hurried over and threw his arms around her. They hugged tightly, and when they separated, Sasha’s eyes went to me.
“Hi," she said carefully.
"Hi," I said. I swallowed.
She was even hotter in person.
She even dropped her bags to the ground gracefully. I hustled over. "Want help?"
"I'm fine," she said, "Thanks."
"Wonderful, wonderful," Adrian declared. "But we have to be going. Time is of the essence."
He and Sasha exchanged a tense look. Hopefully, that man we'd seen hanging around wouldn’t have stayed put all this time or called for back-up. We’d have to see.
Sasha and her parents made their teary goodbyes, her parents shook my hand once more, and then we were off.
"So, all we have to do is get on the plane," Adrian said. "We have our taxi driver waiting just outside and-"
He stopped dead in his tracks after having opened the front door of the building. The taxi driver was gone.
Men in Charge: A Contemporary Romance Box Set Page 75