Crossroads

by Blake Haugen

  “I’m sorry,” Persephone laughed into his side uncontrollably, “but that is fucking hilarious.”

  “Laugh it up, baby,” Vanya grumbled and tried to conceal a smile. “That little motherfucker was probably counting cards. He took everything. It’s something like over 800,000€”

  “Shut up!”

  “I’m not kidding. People weren’t even mad. They were just happy he was there. He’s probably blowing it all back there right now.”

  “I don’t know. It wouldn’t surprise me if –”

  Persephone halted in her tracks and Vanya looked down to see her swiftly opening her clutch. She pulled out a pen and took its cap off, revealing a sharp edge. She gripped it like a knife and took a step back from him.

  “Babe? What are you –?” Before Vanya could finish his question two hands were grabbing his shoulders and throwing him to the ground. He rolled with the throw, coming to his feet in a squatting position. They had arrived on the street their hotel was on and the assailant was trying to work him into the alley. To Vanya’s dismay, they were succeeding. He briefly saw a hooded man take a dive for Persephone, but couldn’t do anything before yet another man joined his attacker.

  Vanya didn’t waste time. Adrenaline pumped through him as he grabbed the larger of the two guys before him. He shoved the man into his partner and turned to aid Persephone. Doing so was a mistake.

  Persephone was still struggling with her guy, putting up quite the fight. The man was trying haul her away, placing a hand over her mouth. The hand that held her “pen” wiggled free from the grip the assailant had around her waist. She stabbed the hand covering his mouth and twisted. He hunched over, crying out in pain. Wasting no time, she took his head and forced her weapon into his eye. He fell to the ground screaming and Persephone his head slammed against the pavement twice. The man’s screams of pain stopped after the second blow to his head. It seemed Persephone didn’t need Vanya’s help at all. Unfortunately, in the moments Vanya had taken to gawk at her prowess, the larger of his two assailants rose and delivered a right hook to his jaw.

  Vanya concentrated through the pain and put his strength into kicking the man down. He landed on his back out of breath and Vanya was there in an instant, delivering a kick to his temples that left him incapacitated. Vanya turned quickly to confront the third man but he was already getting away. Vanya only caught a glimpse of his back as he scampered down an adjacent alley and disappeared.

  “Persephone,” Vanya spoke softly as he went over to her. She stood over the man she’d just knocked out and remained silent. When Vanya touched her shoulder, she ignored him, crouched by the attacker, and used his shirt to wipe his blood from her hands. Vanya suspected she thought them clean enough when she began pulling at the man’s sleeves and the hem of his shirt, searching for something.

  “Percy, babe, we need to go. Right now.” Vanya tried to touch her again only to have her shirk him off. Her movements became faster.

  “Wait,” Persephone stated. Her voice was emotionless. She paid him no mind until her eyes landed on a tattoo on the man’s right bicep. No sooner had she revealed the mark than she covered it again. She rose and nodded at Vanya to signify her readiness. He took her in his arms at last and looked down at her with desperation. What the fuck just happened?

  “Babe, you okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. Okay.” Vanya grabbed her hand and rushed them to the busy street at the end of the block. He was relatively clean, but the silk skirt of her gown had been ruined with a few splatters of blood and contact with the ground. She wouldn’t be admitted onto a plane that way and their formal getup would draw more than a few stares.

  “Do you have your passport with you?” Vanya asked as he hailed a cab and ushered her inside.

  “Yes.”

  Another monotone answer. Vanya thought he had her back, but Persephone resumed her cool, observant manner, looking out the windows and taking in the traffic situation. Vanya grabbed her hand and squeezed after instructing the cabby to drive to the airport. He called Max to relay directions.

  “Listen. We were mugged on the way back. We’re leaving. Get Yuli and the girls, make arrangements for our things at the hotel, and meet us at Barajas. We’re taking the next flight to England. Meet us at the house if you don’t catch up with us.”

  Luckily, they passed through a weird section of town and were able to buy dumb t-shirts, bags for the soiled clothes, and pants for Persephone at a novelty shop. When they made it to the airport, it was half past two o’clock in the morning. Their flight left in four hours and Vanya thought it couldn’t come soon enough. Max was behind. Finding Yulian and Eva had taken some time and then the girls slowed him down at the hotel. They didn’t make it to the airport until shortly before Vanya and Persephone’s flight took off and resolved to catch the next flight.

  Persephone wasn’t as aloof as before on the short plane ride, but Vanya could tell she was still somewhere else. She wouldn’t elaborate on any answer to any question he asked. She sat dully beside him as he held her close. Persephone’s quietness scared him and Vanya willed for a faster landing.

  When they arrived in London, Vanya rented the first car available with GPS – a sports utility vehicle that he’d barely gave the kid at the counter time to ring up. He punched in the address of his father’s house in the countryside and sped as much as he was able, making a few mistakes when adjusting to driving on the left side of the road. They stopped for nothing and made it to South Downs National Park in a little over an hour.

  Rather than express surprise at their arrival, the middle-aged man tending the horses just walked up to them and waved once he realized it was Vanya. Vanya simply nodded and marched past the stables to the main house with Persephone in hand. He was not surprised to find the door unlocked and let himself in.

  A woman on the wooden staircase shrieked when Vanya slammed the door. He’d interrupted her mopping of the parquet floor on the staircase’s first landing. The middle-aged woman tightened her bandana around her head and held her chest with a latex gloved hand.

  “Oh, my lord, little Mr. Pravdin,” the plump woman spoke in Russian. “I didn’t know it was you. Anton never comes to the main house this early. Forgive me. Should I turn down the sheets for you and your guest?”

  “No, Rada, thank you. We’ll handle it. We’re staying in the master, but Maksim, Yulian, and the Novikova girls will be arriving in a couple of hours. Will you fix up rooms for them and make lunch?” Vanya answered, not stopping as he dragged Persephone up the stairs.

  “Of course. Would you like some breakfast now? Does your guest like eggs? I can have something ready in a half hour if you like,” Rada called up the stairwell after they passed her. She had read Vanya’s urgency. He sensed her curiosity about Persephone, but didn’t pause for pleasantries.

  “No, Rada, we’ll come down for lunch. Have Maksim leave our bags outside our door. We’ll sleep until they get here. Thank you!”

  With that, Vanya enclosed them in the master bedroom with a weighty click of the lock. He threw their bag of soiled clothes to the floor and moved across the room to switch on one of the bedside lamps. It was a foggy, overcast morning. The vast room needed all the light it could get. He began turning down the bed and looked back at Persephone who just watched him idly from the doorway.

  “Will you start the shower, please?” Vanya requested as he rearranged sheets and pillows.

  “Sure,” Persephone answered. She slipped out of her shoes and left them by the door. Her attitude was beginning to scare him. It was the same plain and focused stare she had after seeing Ryan Trask at Lina’s wedding. Was he connected to this?

  He heard the water running after a few moments and joined her in the shower. Vanya immediately took her hands, making sure the blood was gone from underneath her fingernails. Persephone just let him have his way, not contesting to one action or another. She let him wash her body and waited patiently as he bathed himself. Towels and t
oilet paper being their only toiletries at present, they dried off and slipped into bed nude. Vanya briefly considered giving her one of his father’s old shirts to wear, but the mere thought sickened him. Their own clothes would arrive soon enough and he’d damned if he put her in another man’s garments. He reached over her, turned off the lamp, and held her, spooning her from behind.

  Vanya was too hyped up to sleep. Eight hours ago men had tried to hurt them. Their goal was unclear. No words were exchanged. No items were taken. The vision of one of the men lunging at Persephone and attempting to abduct her made him want to vomit. But hell, she had handled him with impressive efficiency, something said in the back of Vanya’s mind. The guy hadn’t tried to punch her out the way the other two had done with him. Unconsciously, Vanya hugged her tighter to his chest. Did they want her? What the hell?

  As if she sensed his revelation, she chose that moment to speak. “Is that lady your housekeeper?”

  Housekeeper!? She wanted to know about the fucking housekeeper? Vanya took in a deep breath and tried to remain calm. He needed to maintain his cool if he wanted her to open up to him on this. “Um, yeah, her name is Rada. Her husband Anton was the guy we saw on our way in. This is our family home in England. She keeps the house and the guest cottage and he maintains the stables and wrangles the horses. They live in the cottage near the woods on the other end of the horses’ pasture.”

  “Remind me to tell her sorry for stepping all over her mopping later on, okay?”

  Vanya looked up and wiped his face with his free hand. How could she think about his housekeeper and her mopping on a day like this? “Um, yeah. Listen, Persephone, I know you might not want to talk to right now, but I just need some help processing what just happened.”

  “Alright,” she replied. Persephone shifted in his arms, and he felt her tense in his arms and immediately revert back to her zombie-like state. The sudden change was almost imperceptible.

  “How did you know those guys were coming, and how did you fend that one off like that?”

  “I just felt them coming. They were all doing something else before we got close to them, and then suddenly it was ‘all eyes on us.’ They had no business being where they were. They didn’t look Spanish either. As for me fending them off, I told you about my Dad and all those stupid martial arts and history lessons. It was all I did in high school. I hated it, but it came in handy.”

  “But you were getting mugged one of the first times I spoke to you. Why didn’t you kick that guy’s ass?”

  “Because he was a kid. I thought he was just going to give up, and then he had a gun in my face and I could tell he was scared – which was dangerous. I panicked. I was out of practice.”

  “So what, you’re in practice now?”

  “No, I’m just more aware; especially since Lina’s wedding.”

  Vanya sighed. More mysteries. “Do you have any idea who they were? What they wanted?”

  “No, that’s what I was looking for. I was hoping I might find something, but all I figured was that they weren’t Spanish.”

  “How did you get that knife in the country? Hell, how did you get it here?”

  “It just looks likes a pen. I put it in the carry-on stuff I shipped before we left. I dumped it at the store were we got the shirts.”

  “You don’t have any idea who they could have been? Why they would want you? You know that, don’t you? That they wanted you!”

  “Yes, I get that. I mean, I think so. I don’t know who they are though. I just don’t know why they would come now. Of all times, when everything was so perfect.” Persephone sucked in a deep shuddering breath. Vanya felt her tremble as she tried to hold back tears.

  “Sweetpea, sweetpea,” Vanya whispered and turned her body to settle beneath him. He shushed her and kissed her while trying to stay calm himself. He felt as if the adrenaline from the fight was still running through him. There was a war within him; one side compelled him to hold the person he loved more than anything even tighter and the other side demanded that he wage war against those who dared to take what was his. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. You’re safe here. This is a safe place.”

  “No,” Persephone cut him off, trying to swallow a sob, “your birthday. This stupid shit completely ruined it. We were supposed to be in Europe for another week and –” The rest of her words dissolved into the mess of snivels and hiccups she fell into. The dam finally broke and she wept, unable to be consoled for several minutes. He whispered soothing words as he caressed her.

  “Babe, you’re joking, right?” Vanya scoffed playfully. The hiccups subsided some fifteen minutes later and she calmed in his arms. His touches became more sensual, and he moved his dick to part her pussy lips.

  “I have you, right here, right where you belong. We could be poor as paupers. You could have given me a fucking cupcake for my birthday, but as long as I have you like this, I’ll be the happiest man alive.”

  Persephone wasted no time opening herself to him. She was slick and warm and waiting for him, ready to bear his weight. Their lovemaking began as a slow, seductive coupling, but soon turned rough and aggressive, reflecting Vanya’s feelings of helplessness and fear of losing her. His eyes filled with tears as he vigorously fucked her.

  “I love you more than anything. No one is going to take you from me, babe. No one!” he gritted into her ear through clenched teeth.

  “Vanya, oh, I love you. I don’t ever wanna leave you, not for anything. I love you. Oh, my god, I love you. I love – Vanya!”

  They came together, but when they were done Vanya remained awake and watched Persephone as she slept. His chest still stirred with anxiety. There was something in the way she’d spoken all morning; he couldn’t help but think that she was slipping away from him.

  ☐

  Vanya sat behind his desk in his father’s downtown offices. He tapped his pen against the desk’s surface and stared through the window at his side, watching the busy street below. In all his searching and in all of Max’s searching, he had not been able to find out who attacked him in Madrid. In the two weeks since they had returned to the States, all inquiries had turned up nothing. Not one single clue. There were no hospital reports for the men that he and Persephone had incapacitated. That gave him even more pause; it was as if there was a gag order on any movement against the Pravdins, as if the event didn’t happen.

  Persephone was no help. Although she tried to hide it, she’d been more withdrawn. The playful banter Vanya so enjoyed with her had been lost since the incident. Last night, he’d confronted her about it.

  “What’s going on, babe? You love biking in the park. It’s the end of summer; we’re not going to be able to do this again for a while. School starts in nine days.”

  “I know,” she’d replied with an indulgent frown, “I’m just being a bum. You should go without me.” Persephone had maintained her stare at her laptop. Her focus on the thing in the past couple of days had been unreal. It was as if she’d needed no sleep, only taking an hour here or there. She was constantly typing and texting and at the most odd times to boot.

  Vanya had reached his limit. He’d given her the space and privacy she’d needed, but this was the final straw. He’d walked right up to her as she sat on the edge of the bed, moved her hands, and shut the laptop with a resounding snap.

  “Vanya!” She’d looked up at him with confusion and anger. Like so many times before, he’d wondered how she could ignore his frustration until it peaked.

  “So, now I have your attention?”

  “Oh, my gosh! I’ll go biking, just let me finish this real quick!”

  Vanya had crouched down before her so that they were eye to eye. “It doesn’t have to be biking. I want you to go out with me. It’s like you’re afraid to go out. It’s safe here. I need you to trust me again. I need you to talk me. I can protect you; I just can’t stand you like this. You’re… quiet. I’m the quiet one. I know I sound like a woman here, but we’re not right and I
need to know how to fix it.”

  Persephone had hung her head and then tilted it to face him. “First of all, ‘sounding like a woman’ is such a sexist thing to say –”

  “See, that’s the Percy that’s been missing for the past two weeks.”

  “And secondly,” she’d pressed on, “I’m sorry. I mean, you’re right, about staying in. When the enemy is unknown I want to control all the variables I can, you know?”

  “The enemy? You mean the men who attacked us? Does that mean you know who those guys are?”

  “No, it means I know this building. It’s my terrain.”

  “Okay… well, that’s a very militant approach. I was thinking more along the lines of trauma, but that’s one way to look at it.”

  “I told you, man, my dad was a crazy SEAL. I swear; we even had a zombie apocalypse evacuation plan. All those crazy lessons.”

  “Yeah, I want you to tell me more about those. I know your Dad is a sore subject for you. Do you want to – ugh, ahem – talk about it?”

  “Wow, I am so touched that you asked me that, I’m willing to overlook how lame the delivery was.”

  “Hey, give a man a break. I’m trying to be sensitive here.”

  “You’re always sensitive and attentive and I appreciate that. Speaking of attentive, I just remembered something I forgot to tell you.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “Nothing bad. Peter Benson is in town this week for a visit. He wants to take us all out for dinner before he leaves. Can you make time before Sunday?”

  “Yes, of course, although I think it would be better if we just did dinner. Emma almost killed Margie for talking through the entire show last time. Good god, that woman has a motor mouth if I ever heard one.”

  “Not to worry; it’s just Peter. Margie couldn’t make it. She’s at home with Zenovia.”

  “Is Zenovia okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s just fine. They just stayed at home this time around.”

  “Oh, okay. Just tell me when and I’ll make time.”

  “Thanks, Gigantor, for everything. For caring about me and being the most wonderful person on the planet. I love you so much.” Persephone took in a shuddering breath and turned her head. Vanya just pulled her closer.