Nikolai chuckled. “I am afraid you have not seen the last of me. My wife will want to invite you both over for dinner once I have told her about this meeting,” he explained at her questioning look.
Dinner with a member of the Russian Bratva and his wife. When had her life taken such a drastic turn? Oh yes, when Clive Sinclair decided to kidnap and then sell her! Besides, she was curious to meet the woman who had managed to tame and capture this cold Russian. Well…tame was perhaps going too far. There was a feral quality about Nikolai, despite the perfectly tailored clothing and expensive shoes.
She smiled. “I believe I would like that.”
He nodded. “Walk with me to the door, Caleb.”
Caleb’s admiration for Lena had only grown in the past few minutes. She had not only accepted meeting Nikolai but also that it was a member of another Russian Bratva family who was trying to kill her. Most women would have been a hysterical wreck at hearing all that. Instead, Lena had calmly sat and listened as she ate her brunch.
“Are you armed?”
He frowned at Nikolai, the two of them having walked out to the hallway ready for the other man’s departure. “Of course I’m not armed. Put that away,” he added harshly as Nikolai withdrew a gun from his shoulder holster and offered it to him.
The Russian shrugged as he replaced the gun. “Sometimes it is necessary to break a few rules in order to protect ourselves. And those we care about.”
Caleb ignored the last comment. “I don’t need a gun when I know forty different ways to kill a man with my bare hands.”
“You would need to be close enough to use a single one of those methods. And your hands will not stop a bullet.”
“I thought you said as long as we stayed here, we’re not in any danger.”
“Once we have secured Alexei.” Nikolai nodded. “Until then, you should take every precaution to protect Miss Roig.” He gave one of his rare smiles. “She is worthy of you, my friend. You do not want to take the slightest risk of anything happening to her.”
“Did you just pay me a compliment, Nikolai?” he taunted.
“I paid Miss Roig a compliment,” the Russian mocked.
Caleb felt a flash of totally unwarranted jealous. Nikolai was a difficult man to get close to, but no one could ever doubt the deep love he felt for Daisy. Or that the child they were expecting would be adored by both its parents. Caleb hoped for the child’s sake it wasn’t a girl, because either way, Nikolai was already a possessive husband, and Caleb had no doubt he was going to be the most protective father on the planet.
He shrugged. “I think you’re putting too much emphasis on our relationship. I believe Lena likes me.” That was indisputable after last night. “But I doubt it’s any more than that. Once this is over, I believe she intends to return to university to study for a law degree.” Angel had told him the two women had discussed that possibility only yesterday.
Nikolai’s brows rose. “And that precludes your own relationship continuing?”
Caleb shook his head. “Being allowed the time and freedom to forget what happened to her is what precludes that continuing. I would just be a constant reminder.”
The other man sighed. “She will never forget, my friend, whether you are in her life or not.”
As Caleb had never forgotten his own capture and torture… As there were, apparently, some things in Nikolai’s past he couldn’t forget either. “She deserves to be given the chance to at least try,” he insisted.
“Hmm.” Nikolai gave him a searching glance. “In that case, does this university have crèche facilities?”
“Sorry?”
“Miss Roig is pregnant, Caleb. You did not know?” he prompted as Caleb could only stare at him blankly. “There is a certain glow to a pregnant woman. As well as the sickness in the morning, then waking with a ravenous appetite, the healthy glow to her cheeks, the amount of food Lena ate, and wanting to drink tea instead of coffee. Maybe an increased sexual appetite too?” he added dryly. “I know from being with Daisy they are all signs indicative of early pregnancy.”
Pregnant?
Lena was pregnant?
Chapter 14
“Are you okay?” Lena prompted lightly as she cleaned up the mess she had made in the kitchen.
Was Caleb okay?
No, of course, I’m not fucking okay, he wanted to shout. But didn’t.
He was still processing what Nikolai had told him. The possibility Lena was pregnant. And the chances were it was Caleb’s baby. Hell, there was no chance about it. If Lena was pregnant, then the baby was his.
Lena had assured him she hadn’t been sexually violated after her kidnapping. Nor, knowing of her history of having had only two lovers, did Caleb believe she would have gone to bed with the man she had dated a couple of times while staying in Spain with her parents. Which meant Caleb had been her only lover in the past five months. Even he knew enough to realize Lena wasn’t over five months pregnant.
He found himself looking at her with fresh eyes. The deeply shining auburn hair. The glowing cheeks. The slightly rounder figure he had put down to her having regained the weight she had lost while on Petros. The morning sickness, followed by a ravenous appetite.
And increased sexual appetite, as Nikolai had also predicted.
God, he hoped he hadn’t been too rough with her when he made love to her last night. He would hate to be the reason anything happened to her or the baby. Maybe he should be gentler with her next time? If there was a next time. Even if there was, he wanted Lena to see a doctor first. Was taking no more chances with her and the baby until she had.
Did Lena know she was pregnant?
Considering all she had gone through the past four and a half months, there was a distinct possibility she had no idea the irregularity of her body was due to pregnancy rather than caused by stress, as she may have assumed it was.
Should he tell her—
Tell her what, exactly?
Oh, by the way, you’re pregnant from that night we spent together on Petros.
Because that first time I was so fucking aroused and desperate to get inside you, I forgot to use a condom!
Smooth, Caleb. Very smooth.
It hadn’t even entered his head to use contraception. And it should have, because Lena wouldn’t have been on any contraception either, having been kept prisoner for three months.
“Caleb?”
Smooth or not, for the moment it was probably better that Lena didn’t know. There would be time enough later, when this was over, for them to discuss what they were going to do about the pregnancy. There was no certainty, considering how and when their baby had been conceived, along with his emotional problems, that Lena would even want to keep the baby—
Then he would take it! No way, absolutely no fucking way, was he going to let her get rid of his baby. Their baby. He wanted it. For its own sake, but also because it was a part of Lena.
Their son or daughter.
Caleb had decided eight years ago he would never become a father. Uncle to his future nephews and nieces, yes, but he would never have a child of his own. His therapist had pooh-poohed that decision, said there was absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t live a normal life, marry, and have children. But Caleb had been adamant he could never inflict his scars, visible and hidden, on a wife and family of his own.
Fickle fate had really fucked with that decision, huh?
“Where have you gone, Caleb?” Lena was becoming really worried by his deep distraction. Maybe he was suffering a flashback? A waking nightmare rather than a sleeping one? “Hey.” She moved to stand in front of him and entwine her arms about her shoulders. “Wanna have sex?” she teased.
“No!” Caleb’s response was volatile rather than eager as he put her firmly away from him. “Um, no,” he answered more calmly at the expression of hurt Lena wasn’t quick enough to hide. “I’m feeling hungry now, if your offer to cook for me is still open?”
“Of course.” Lena hoped t
he brightness of her smile hid the pain she felt inside at Caleb’s rejection of intimacy.
Because last night was last night, and now it was the clear light of day? Besides, it couldn’t have been pleasant witnessing her being ill earlier this morning. She hadn’t thought something like that would bother Caleb, but she didn’t know him well enough to be sure of that. Oh, she knew all the major things about him. He was brave. Fearless, in fact. Loyal, caring, protective. She also knew his taste in foods, TV, books, and movies! But she didn’t know all the minutiae, such as a possible aversion to witnessing people being physically ill in front of him.
“How was Gabriel this morning?” She decided it was best to make light conversation as she prepared the omelet.
“Pissed off.” Caleb grimaced. “He doesn’t like people taking pot shots at his family,” he added ruefully.
Lena wasn’t family, but for the moment, perhaps, it was best to let that statement go. Gabriel was probably worried that Caleb could have been shot instead of her. “Nikolai is…intense, isn’t he?”
“A scary bastard.” Caleb nodded.
“That was my exact thought about him too.” She chuckled.
“He’s completely different when he’s with Daisy.”
“Another pussycat?” She referred to Gabriel’s behavior with Angela.
“A viciously feral one at times, but yes, that about describes it.”
Whatever had caused Caleb to be so tense after Nikolai left, he seemed to be slowly relaxing again. Although Lena wasn’t going to make the mistake of initiating sex again any time soon. One rejection in a day was enough for anyone.
She kept up the inane chatter as she made his brunch and then sat at the breakfast table with him to drink her second cup of tea. “So, we’re going to need to find something to do today. Do you play chess?”
“Badly.” He grimaced.
“Draughts?”
“Boring.”
“Card games?”
“Ditto.”
“Then what do you do to keep yourself amused?” she teased.
“Apart from sex?” he teased back.
“Yes.” Lena felt sick again merely thinking of Caleb in bed with any woman that wasn’t her.
He thought for a moment. “I told you last night. I go to the gym. I read. Catch up on TV programs and DVDs I’ve missed.”
All of them solitary entertainments, Lena noted. “Not a team player, hmm?”
His jaw tightened. “No.”
“I could teach you how to play chess.”
“I can play, Lena, I just don’t have the patience for it.” He finished eating his meal and stood to clear away.
Lena stared as the rigidness of his back as he loaded the dishwasher. “We could look through Zander’s DVD collection and see if there’s anything there we both want to watch. I’m sure there must be—” She broke off as the doorbell rang. “Are we expecting anyone else?”
“No.” Caleb wished now he had taken Nikolai up on his offer of a gun.
Or maybe he was just overreacting? It could just be a salesman trying to sell them something. And wouldn’t he look great answering the door with a gun in his hand! He wasn’t going to open the door at all without checking who was outside, and the door itself was made of four-inch steel. Zander was nothing if not thorough. “This place is like a fortress, but I still want you to go back upstairs to the bedroom area—”
“No.” Lena’s expression was stubborn.
“Lena—”
“I said no, Caleb.” She met his gaze steadily. “I told you, those bastards have taken enough of my life already.”
“If you won’t do it for me or yourself, then—” He broke off abruptly. This was neither the right time nor the way in which they should talk about the possibility of her being pregnant. “Damn it!” he ground out as the doorbell rang a second time. “At least stay back, well out of sight of the door.”
She nodded abruptly. “I can do that.”
Caleb glared his frustration for several seconds before pulling her into his arms and kissing her. Hard. Possessively. “You have to be the most stubborn woman I have ever known.”
“I love you too!” she came back teasingly.
He stilled, barely breathing. “You love me…?”
Lena had made the remark as a sarcastic taunt. But having said it, she now realized it was true. She did love Caleb. She felt whole when she was with him. As if the other half of herself had slotted perfectly into place. He understood what she had been through, as she understood what had happened to him eight years ago. Neither of them judged; they just accepted that in each other. She not only loved Caleb, she liked him, admired him. He was everything and more she could ever have wished for in her soul mate.
Happiness exploded in her chest. She loved this man, and whatever happened or didn’t happen between them in the future, she wasn’t about to deny that love. To herself or to him. “Yes,” she told him with an edge of challenge. “I love you, Caleb Knight.”
“Your timing stinks.” He lowered his head and kissed her again, long and deeply, before holding her at arm’s length. “The two of us are going to talk once I get rid of our unwanted visitor. Okay?”
“Okay.” Unshed tears swam in her eyes at the knowledge she had told Caleb she loved him, but he hadn’t returned the sentiment. What did he want to talk to her about? Oh God, please don’t let it be that he was in love with someone else. Some unrequited love he would never get over. That would be too cruel.
Caleb released her, totally focused on dealing with their visitor. “Get yourself a knife from the kitchen, just in case.” He waited until she had done as he asked before nodding. “Don’t be afraid to use it if you have to.”
“I’m not sure I can.”
“You will,” he assured her with certainty. “I’m going to see who’s at the door now.”
Caleb took the opportunity during the walk to the hallway to speed-dial his brothers and press in the “danger” code they had agreed on last night. His cell phone was immediately pinged back with three acknowledgments. Wherever his brothers were, whatever they were doing, they would be here within minutes. It might just be a false alarm, but he wasn’t taking any risks with Lena’s life. Or that of their baby.
Nikolai was wrong about his bare hands not being any defense against a gun. Where Lena’s life was concerned, they were the only weapon Caleb needed.
His movements were stealthy as he looked through the peephole in the door. A man stood outside, the baseball cap pulled low over his face, making it difficult to discern his features. The fact he was wearing the baseball cap at all was enough to set off alarms inside Caleb.
He pressed the intercom. “Yes?”
The head came up slightly, but still not high enough for Caleb to see any more than a shaven chin. “Delivery for Zander Buchanan.”
“Leave it outside,” Caleb instructed, unable to tell if he recognized the voice. The intercom distorted voices, and the man had spoken so abruptly. Deliberately so?
“Has to be signed for.”
Yes, the clipped voice was deliberate, and Caleb could now see several wisps of blond hair beneath the baseball cap. Alexei Fedorov blond? Caleb was ashamed to say he hadn’t taken a lot of notice of the other man on Petros. Had dismissed him as just being Dukakis’s boyfriend. A lightweight. That had been a mistake on his part. As had underestimating Fedorov’s ability to find them here.
He pressed the intercom again. “Mr. Buchanan isn’t here right now. Come back later.” Caleb continued to play for the time necessary for his brothers to arrive. If he had been alone, he wouldn’t have hesitated to take on Fedorov by himself, but he couldn’t risk Lena.
“I have a schedule to meet,” the man whined. “Boss docks my pay if I don’t meet the schedule.”
“That’s too bad. I told you, Mr. Buchanan isn’t here.”
“You could sign for it.”
“I’m not Mr. Buchanan.”
“My boss doesn’t know that
.”
“He does if I tell him.”
“Why would you do that?”
Having lulled the other man into a false sense of security, Caleb went in for the kill. “Possibly because the Fedorovs don’t own a parcel delivery company.”
As he’d hoped, the head snapped up in surprise, giving Caleb a clear view of the man’s face. As he’d suspected, it was Trevor/Alexei Fedorov.
The younger man’s anger transformed the almost pretty face into an ugly mask. Alexei’s arctic-blue eyes snapped with anger, his lips drawn back in a snarl. “So you now know who I am.” He pulled a gun from the back of the waistband of his jeans.
“Ivan Fedorov’s nephew,” Caleb taunted, still playing for time, when what he really wanted to do was open the door and pummel the man for even daring to use that gun to attempt to shoot Lena last night. “Does your uncle have any idea what a fuckup you are at the tasks he’s given you?” he taunted.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Alexei scoffed.
“On the wrong side of the door, yes.”
“That will not be true for much longer.”
“I admire your confidence—even if it has no basis in truth,” Caleb taunted.
“What are you doing?” Lena hissed from behind him.
His head whipped round to find she was standing only a couple of feet behind him, the kitchen knife held loosely in her hand.
“I was worried, you were taking such a long time,” she explained as he glared at her. “Now I discover you’re trying to talk the man to death!”
Caleb’s mouth tightened. “You’re going over my knee when this is over!”
“Promise?” she taunted.
“Oh yes,” he confirmed grimly. “Now move the hell away from the door, like you were told to. When this is over I intend to bare your ass and give it a sound spanking.”
“You and who’s army?”
Caleb gave a slow, confident smile. “Love, I am an army.”
She huffed. “Do you intend to play this Mexican standoff game all day?”
Caleb counted to ten in an effort to hold back his temper. Then he counted to ten again, just to make sure. “I intend to keep him talking until the cavalry arrives, yes.” He checked to make sure Fedorov was still outside the door. He was.
Capturing Caleb (Knight Security 3) Page 14