Every second in the car throbbed with unspoken questions. Claudia’s gaze burned on him, her skin hot in his grip. The ride was peppered with polite conversation, strained questions from her father that told Boris he was cautious but open-minded. When the car finally slowed to a stop in front of the townhouse, some of the tension broke. When Claudia pushed open her door, it seemed the earth itself took a sigh of relief.
“This is our home,” Claudia explained, pulling him through a stout wrought iron gateway, into a neatly manicured tiny lawn. The brick façade of the townhouse was stately and prim—exactly what he’d expect from the house of a King in exile in D.C. “We moved here after my mom died. It’s been about ten years.”
Boris nodded, taking it all in, feeling almost delirious from the clashing desires and goals, like he’d had one too many drinks at the bar. He’d done his part to ensure Claudia and her father were safe—for now. But his fingers itched, waiting to receive a follow-up call. It was coming any minute now. News traveled fast in his underworld.
Claudia led him through the white-paneled doorway into a sprawling great room, flanked by an open kitchen and hallways leading to other parts of the house. Once Stjepan and Claudia were inside, they seemed to relax a bit; like the outside world had bunched them up like a drawstring.
“Now tell me, Boris.” Stjepan loosed his tie, eyes narrowed. “How did you happen to be at the square today? It seemed Claudia had no idea you’d be coming.”
“It’s true,” Claudia said, eager eyes swinging his way. “I was so surprised to see you.”
“It was a surprise.” A grin crested his face, one he couldn’t fight if he tried. He reached out for her hand and she took it eagerly, bringing it up to her lips. “I had some work to finish up in Europe before I flew out. I had envisioned our meet-up going a bit differently than being accosted for assault at her press conference, but here we are.”
She giggled, then sent an apologetic look to her father. “I was going to tell you, Dad, I was. I just got caught up in the whirlwind of all the press.” She paused, looking back at him. “Besides, I wanted you to meet him first.”
Stjepan sighed, lifting his hands into the air like a supplication to the gods. “I knew this day would come eventually. I just didn’t think you’d find someone in the midst of being kidnapped abroad.”
Claudia wrapped an arm around his waist, looking up at him with a devilish gleam in her eye. “I didn’t think so either.”
Stjepan’s phone rang and he picked it up, signaling to Claudia that he was heading down the hallway. Once they were alone, Claudia turned to him, grabbing his face in her hands.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Her voice came out somewhere between overjoyed and angry—like the emotion were too much to contain anymore. Before he could answer she pressed her lips to his, coaxing a desperate, fast kiss from him. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against him, relishing the feel of her curves again. God, Claudia, I missed you.
“I had to wrap up loose ends,” he said, his voice coming out a croak. “I took care of Pavlichenko. I knew he was coming today to do my job. I couldn’t let him do it.”
Claudia’s gaze seared through him, the emotion welling in her green eyes like a spear to his gut. “But now what? You just killed your boss.” She blinked; a tear slid down her cheek. “That’s not going to go over well, Boris.”
Anxiety sprang to life—this was the exact topic he’d been trying to avoid thinking about too much. “It was my only option. I’ll find out how the chips fall soon.”
“What do you mean ‘how the chips fall’?” Her voice came out a hiss. “Are you going to be in danger? Do you need to defect like Filitov?”
He let a tense sigh. “I don’t know, doll. I can’t say.” A knot appeared in his belly—an iron fist. “All I can do is wait and see how it plays out.”
“And now you’re a fugitive in my dad’s house?” Her words were sharp, but her face was soft. She squeezed his hand, leading him toward the hallway on the other side of the house. “Come on. Let’s go to my room.”
“I had to see you,” he said, tears clogging his throat. He hadn’t expected to get so emotional about it; and maybe the urgency of his mission had blinded him to the consequences. He’d been so focused on saving her father and seeing her again that whatever followed it barely mattered.
The pristine quarters of the King’s house was a pretty good reminder that maybe he’d acted too fast. Thought with his heart instead of his head, which was a rarity for him.
“If you’d have been there without coming to find me, I’d have been pissed,” Claudia said, pulling him into a room. She shut the door behind them; daffodil-yellow walls surrounded him, white carpet, a wooden four-poster bed decked out with a teal comforter and too many pillows to count. This had to be Claudia’s room.
The corner of his mouth turned up. “So this is your childhood bedroom? I have to say, doll—today’s risks were worth seeing this.”
She laughed, sitting on the bed, pulling him beside her. “I might agree. But just tell me one thing—when will you know what happens to you?”
He covered her hands with his, gnawing at the inside of his lip. “If I don’t get a call within the hour, I’d be surprised.”
“Then let’s make this the best hour we’ve ever had.”
Claudia climbed into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. He squeezed his arms tight around her, letting his eyes drift shut, remembering all the beautiful arcs and sighs of her, the tight muscles of her body, the sweet scent that blanketed him like a drug. One week apart and this reunion felt visceral, like every cell in his body had suffered for the lack of her.
Minutes later—how many, he wasn’t sure—his phone vibrated in his pocket. Claudia straightened, her eyes worried on him. He fished it out and the familiar Unknown caller greeted him. With her still in his arms, he answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Boris.” The lightly-accented voice sounded distant, like coming from around the world. “Would you care to explain what happened today?”
His thighs tensed and he debated whether or not to excuse himself. Maybe Claudia shouldn’t overhear this. “Yes.”
Claudia clutched at him and he pressed his forehead to hers. At the very least, the skin-to-skin contact would calm him. Allow him to confront whatever the next wave of surprises might be.
“I went to the target location as planned,” he said in a low voice, pinching his eyes shut. “But I had Pavlichenko in my scope. Not the King. I’m responsible for his death.” Better to admit it now than to face backlash after lying about it. “I wanted to protect the King, and the Princess.”
Silence stretched for an eternity on the other end of the phone. “And do you have any idea why he was targeting the King?”
Boris’s eyebrows crashed together. “He told me it was because the King was a traitor to the Russian Federation”
There was another stretch of silence, followed by a cough. “That was never the case.”
“What?”
“Pavlichenko had gone rogue some time ago.” A slight sigh followed. “We weren’t able to assess the full extent of his misalignment with official state policy until recently. But it seems you’ve inadvertently taken care of our problem.”
Boris’s mouth dried up. “Are you serious?”
“A fortunate mistake for you, it seems.”
He locked eyes with Claudia. The surprise in her eyes told him she was catching some of the hopefulness too. “And what about the King? Will he be safe?”
“He is no threat. His claims are of no concern to the Kremlin. We have no need to remove him. Better he remain a convenient opposition voice to rally the people around than become an international incident. We can turn the page on this, but this will be the only time.”
Boris jerked his head into a nod, even though the other end couldn’t see. “Of course. I understand.”
“We’ll reach out soon for an assignment. Until t
hen, enjoy your visit to Washington.”
The line went dead and Claudia’s face was drawn with excitement before he even had a chance to say anything.
“Doll, we’re gonna be just fine.”
Claudia squealed and attacked him with a hug. They fell back on the bed together laughing, and soon they were drowning in kisses.
One for every hour they’d spent apart, and one for every hour that was yet to come in each other’s arms.
Chapter Nineteen
ONE MONTH LATER
Claudia draw a long breath, wiping at the sweat on her brow. She’d specifically purchased a small backpack for their trip, but even a tiny tote would weigh on her during this long haul through the Croatian countryside.
In fact, the only way it might have been slightly more bearable is if she’d been completely without possessions, like the first time she made the trip.
“You okay?” Boris grinned down at her, reaching over to lift the bottom of her backpack. He did it occasionally—a sweet way to ease her burden temporarily.
“Yeah. I’ll survive.” She tugged at her tank top, fanning it against her body. The breeze that met her drenched skin was warm, and not as refreshing as she craved. “I survived it once before.”
She and Boris had returned to Croatia a week and a half prior as a way to properly end her unfinished backpacking trip, pre-kidnapping. A way to heal the wounds of their traumatic adventure. And also, it served as a romantic getaway of sorts for the two of them. Where they could travel freely without fear of being pursued or hounded. No sex cruises—no ominous Pavlichenko. Just the open road, their backpacks, and plenty of frisky fun.
Some days, it felt like a honeymoon. Which was absurd, since they still weren’t legally married. Even though they acted the part in every way.
Once Boris had been cleared by the CIA, they’d fallen into a quick routine at her father’s townhouse in D.C. Even though Boris had insisted on not overstaying his welcome, Claudia encouraged him to stay—which meant their relationship went into overdrive. Missing each other gave way to making up for lost time, which gave way to tenderness, which gave way to giddiness and glee.
Boris agreed to stay indefinitely. Her father didn’t mind the addition of a son-in-law, and before the two did any planning for the proper stateside wedding, she insisted on the trip abroad. Her dad accused her of ‘doing it all backwards’ and was hesitant at first, as any father would be in seeing his daughter go from Innocent to Married in the span of a press conference. But by the time their departure date rolled around, her dad had been as sad to see him go as he was her. Boris was good with parents—another surprising facet of the man she’d fallen for.
Never expected my hit-man boyfriend to woo my dad. She grinned, taking in the familiar Croatian countryside again. Up ahead, Filitov’s former cottage was a charred mark on the earth. Newly-erected wood beams formed a shell of a structure, right where the old cottage had been. They waved as they neared, several workers turning to face them.
Filitov set down a hammer and approached them, wiping a rag over his forehead.
“So you’re back to help, I see.” He grinned as Boris approached and the two men embraced tightly.
“Wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Boris said, clapping him on the back. Claudia gave him a quick hug, and he waved them over to the construction site.
“We have a lot of work to get through. But with how hot it’s been, you probably won’t mind sleeping under the stars, will you?” Filitov winked at the two of them.
“I brought my human blanket with me,” Claudia quipped, nodding toward Boris. “So no problems here.”
Boris cinched an arm around her waist. “So if I’m the blanket, does that make you the pillow?”
Leaning into him, she lowered her voice. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be, babe.”
He arched a brow and Filitov cleared his throats. “Worse lovebirds than the first time around. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Put your stuff over there to the side and let’s get to work.”
Boris took their bags over to a safe area away from the buzzing and sawing and Filitov assigned them tasks. Claudia’s job included all of the light tasks—moving scrap wood, assisting in lining up planks, and eyeballing things from afar. Some of the tasks she was pretty sure Boris invented just so he could include her, but she liked it anyway—purposefulness on their trip was far more welcome than aimless drifting.
Besides, this little corner of Croatia felt so familiar to her now. Almost like a home, especially now that they were helping Filitov rebuild his own.
They worked through the early evening, pausing only for water and sandwiches, which Filitov provided. By the time the sky turned a rich goldenrod threatening crimson, Filitov relieved the work crew and the three of them sat back on the grass in satisfied silence. The product of a hard day’s work.
“With you two on the crew, we’ll finish sooner,” Filitov said, reaching into a cooler for some beers. He cracked open three, offering two of them to her and Boris.
“We can stay up to a week,” Boris said. “After that, we should push off. Got some other places to visit on the trip, before we head back to the States.”
Filitov sipped thoughtfully at his beer. “You staying over there now?”
Claudia tilted her head, watching as he answered. They’d danced around this topic many times, without ever outright addressing it. “Yeah, I think I am.” He glanced at Claudia, a smile cresting his face. “Doesn’t mean I won’t be traveling for work, still. But looks like that’ll be my home base.”
“My father and I live in D.C.,” Claudia offered. “I was looking for my own place before I started the backpacking trip. And, well, that got put on hold temporarily, as we all know.”
Boris nudged her. “What sort of place you lookin’ for?”
She grinned at him. Talking about this sort of stuff felt right—way right. In a way she hadn’t imagined could be possible for meeting someone so recently. But it had just been like that with Boris, despite all the twists and turns. Something about him sated her on a fundamental level. Differences of lifestyle be damned.
“Something simple,” she said. “Not too big. Maybe even just a studio for now. Until I get my own career off the ground.” She took a pull at her beer, rolling her feet back and forth on the grass. “I was going to resume the hunt when we got back from this trip. Maybe you can help me.”
His boyish smile told her everything she needed to know. Of course he’d be involved. They might have spent a month suspended in dreamy bliss, post-reunion, but if this month under her father’s roof was any indicator, they were meant to be together for the long haul.
If they could survive the sex cruise, tight quarters in extended travel and living with her father; they could withstand anything.
Filitov snorted. “So when’s the wedding?”
Claudia laughed. “We’re figuring that out, actually.”
“It started in D.C., during her press conference,” Boris explained, scratching at the back of his neck. “It was part of the cover when they tried to arrest me, after I hit Pavlichenko. They thought I was a guy she’d ID’d as a potential threat.”
“Well, you are a potential trouble,” Claudia cracked.
Boris laughed. “Sure. So they handcuffed me and brought me over to her. And what do you know, she thanks the guard for finding her fiancé.” He shook his head, taking another swig of his beer. “Never been married so fast in my life.”
Filitov hooted with laughter. Claudia flushed, turning to him. “How else was I supposed to get you out of their custody?”
Boris grinned. “No other way. You did what you had to do—what we would have done anyway.”
She lifted a brow, narrowing her eyes at him. “So you don’t regret being fake-eloped to me?”
“I wouldn’t change it for the world.” He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her lips. She liked it when he razzed her, and the more time they spent together, the better he got at it. �
�And soon we’ll be real eloped.”
“Ah, yeah?” Filitov took another pull at his beer, eyes sparkling. “Who’s gonna do that for you?”
Claudia shrugged, leaning against Boris. “We have to figure that out once we’re back, I guess.”
“Or you could do it here,” Filitov said, smiling mysteriously.
Boris scoffed. “Where? There’s not exactly a chapel around.”
“Right here.” Filitov gestured in front of them. “Boris, my boy, I am an ordained minister. Before the KGB closed down the churches.”
Claudia laughed, eyes lighting up. “Really? You’re a minister?”
Vicious: Steel Jockeys MC Page 44