Chapter 9

Victoria

 

 

 

For the first time in a long a time, I found myself sleeping in late the next morning. Normally, I was an early riser, but after the last few nights of getting in extremely late, I was drained.

I got out of bed around noon, but didn’t go downstairs. For one, I didn’t want my twin to see how overflowing with happiness I was. She still thought I was drowning in my unhappiness over the whole Adrian thing after Anya had called her, trying to cause trouble.

It was because of Adrian that I didn’t want to see Papa or Cristiano, either. Neither of them wanted me to be with him, and I wasn’t sure I could put on the façade that I wasn’t madly in love with the enemy. Nor could I hide the fact that I was angry at them for making me have to sneak around to be with the man I was so crazily in love with.

Therefore, I camped out in my room. Calling down to the kitchen to have the cook send me up a tray for lunch, I had a picnic in bed while I flipped through mindless midday television talk shows and news. Nothing could hold my attention for longer than it took for the next commercial, and I flipped through the hundreds of channels several times before muting it and picking up my phone.

I had gotten a text from Adrian when he had gotten home, telling me goodnight and that he couldn’t wait to see me again. Feeling giddy just rereading the message, I curled up against the pillows. I hit connect on his name and lifted the phone to my ear, needing to hear his voice again.

It rang almost a dozen times before it went to voicemail. Biting down on my lip, I hung up and called again. This time it barely rang twice before going to voicemail, so I knew he had sent me there. Disappointed, but figuring he was busy, I shot him a simple text to tell him I missed him and would see him later that night.

I made use of the downtime that afternoon to take care of some emails, most of them from the various charities I contributed to. There were also a few from family members. One from Nona, who with the help of my cousin Allegra, we had taught her how to do basic things on the computer. Emailing was just one of the new skills she had, and she emailed me every few days. Seeing her name pop up in the inbox made me smile, and I read through her message with a lighter heart before returning the email.

There was also one from Allegra and even one from her father, Gio, who was Papa’s younger brother. He was lord and commander over the compound in Sicily, and honestly, he ran a considerably tighter ship than my father did. Poor Allegra was so sheltered I was worried she was never going to get to grow up.

The task took less than half an hour to finish, and then I was left bored. Adrian hadn’t returned my message yet, and I didn’t dare try to call him again in case he was in the middle of something important. My closet was already organized, and if I attempted to do any more work in there, it was going to look like I had OCD.

Deciding I needed to pamper myself, I checked my glucose levels then ran myself a steamy bubble bath. I soaked for over an hour. When I got out, I painted my toenails and made sure my feet were ready to wear my favorite heels later.

I washed my hair then took my time drying and styling it. By the time I was dressed and had my makeup on, it was nearly time to meet Adrian outside the compound. Happy with the way I looked, I swiped another layer of gloss over my lips and left my room.

The thing about getting out of the compound was all about timing. I had spent months as a teenager studying the guards on the night shift—how often it took them to go from point A to point B and back again, how often they took breaks, when they did a shift change. I memorized every single detail, and surprisingly, it hadn’t changed all that dramatically in all the years I had been doing this, or even in the time I had been away.

It wasn’t the guards I really had to worry about, but the dogs. And more importantly, the security monitors that took surveillance over every nook and cranny of the compound. Getting the dogs’ schedule had been pure hell to learn, and in the end, I had decided it wasn’t going to work in the long run.

Instead, I had gone to the kennels and made somewhat friends with them, when actually I was just training them to know my scent and to always assume I had a treat for them. If they smelled me, they wouldn’t bark, but stop and wait for me to give them the little treasures I kept in my purse, along with my insulin and lipstick.

The cameras were state of the art and could change angles from the control room where someone was always watching. I had to learn to keep to the shadows and make myself as invisible as possible. It had been tricky, and I had to try it out during the day several times before I even dared it at night. When I was a teenager, I had gotten caught by my brother a handful of times.

I had lied to him, telling him that I was only exploring the compound, but I wasn’t completely sure he believed me. He had never ratted me out, though, and at times, I had felt guilty for lying to one of the two people in the world I knew would have my back no matter what. But he would have locked me in my room if he knew the truth—that I was sneaking out right under his nose when all he wanted to do was control my freedom.

Scarlett had once joked that the CIA needed to hire me because I could easily get out of the compound without triggering a single alarm or alerting the dogs or men on the grounds or wall. I thought it was a compliment, but I was sure that my father wouldn’t feel the same way. It wasn’t that the security in and around the compound was lax, I was just that good at getting in and out. If given enough time to observe the White House security long enough, I could probably get in and out of there just as easily, if not more so.

As I slipped from the grounds and walked down the street several blocks from the compound, my purse slung over my shoulder, I glanced around for Adrian’s car. There was no sign of him or anyone else. Glancing at my phone, I saw that it was a good ten minutes past the time he had promised to be there to pick me up.

I was immediately concerned that something had happened to him. Maybe he had run into trouble. Lord knew that Papa faced all kinds of dangers just leaving the house each day. But he would have texted me if something had gone wrong, I assured myself.

Unless he was hurt or …

… dead.

No, I refused to think that. Nothing like that had happened. It wouldn’t. Adrian was a law all unto himself. There wasn’t anyone sane enough to fuck with him. There was another reason. There fucking had to be.

I stood there for another ten minutes, hoping he had just hit traffic or something and wasn’t just standing me up.

With each minute that ticked by, I felt let down and hurt. I hadn’t expected this from Adrian. Maybe I had only met him a few days before, but I had thought I knew him. Had thought he would have more respect for me than to just leave me hanging.

Disappointed that he wasn’t there, that he wasn’t nearly as excited to see me again as I was to see him, I debated what I should do next.

I could have easily just gone back to my room and fallen into bed. I probably could have used an early night. But I looked good. My hair was glossy and flowing down my back, my dress fit perfectly over every one of my curves, and just thinking of going to bed without seeing Adrian left me almost depressed.

Unsure of where to go, I called for a cab and continued to stand there, impatiently waiting.

It was nearly fifteen minutes later when the cab showed up, but as I opened the back door and started to get in, a familiar car growled to a stop behind it.

A mixture of emotions swam inside my chest as I just stood there, staring at the black car as Adrian practically jumped out of the driver’s seat and stormed toward me. Relief was the first emotion I could put a name to. He had shown up. He was okay, safe, healthy.

He was there for me.

The next was hurt. He hadn’t texted me all day. Not once. Not even to tell me he was going to be late. I could have understood if he had been busy. Could have respected that if he had simply told me he had business or other things to take care. I wouldn’t have held it against him. I was used to it, for fuck’s sake. The men in my life always seemed to have something more important come up, so I was used to taking a backseat to work or whatever else needed their attention. Still, he could have at least taken two seconds to tell me he was going to be running late.

“Where are you going?”

I attempted to pull my hand free when he grabbed it, but he only tightened his hold. “I hadn’t decided yet. I thought you weren’t going to show up, and I didn’t want to waste all this by going back to bed.” My tone was cool, neutral, as I waved a hand down my body, drawing his eyes.

Even in the dim lighting provided by his car’s headlights and the single streetlamp at the end of the block, I could see the way his eyes darkened with hunger. He licked his lips, and it was as if he didn’t even realize he was doing it.

“Yo, lady!” the cab driver called from the front seat. “You going or not?”

“Not,” Adrian growled at him without taking his eyes from my body. Pulling a money clip from his pocket, he pulled two fifties free then tossed them into the backseat. “Thank you for your troubles, but the lady has a ride.”

Muttering something to himself, the driver drove away no sooner than Adrian had shut the door I was still holding. Long after his taillights had faded into the night, we were still standing there, staring at each other.

I wanted to be angry with him, wanted to yell and demand he tell me why he had ignored me all day and why he was late. At the same time, I knew if I spoke even a word right then, it wasn’t going to convey what I was feeling. I doubted the maelstrom of emotions swarming inside me could have found an outlet that didn’t make me seem mentally ill right then.

Mostly, I was just so glad to see him. That he was there, breathing and whole. Too many things could have gone wrong. He could have been dead.

A shudder ran through me at the thought, and I had to fight back tears.

Adrian blew out a frustrated breath, thrusting his free hand into his pants pocket and giving me a grim smile. “I’m sorry I am so late. Work got away from me.”

He lowered his head until our lips were less than an inch away. I could actually taste his breath, a mixture of coffee and something sweet, but he didn’t try to kiss me.

“I know I should have called, but I was in such a hurry to get to you, kotyonok, that I didn’t want to waste another second.”

My lips met his as I melted against him. “I was worried about you,” I moaned against his lips, my chin trembling before I could stop it.

“Victoria—”

“There is always time for a text, Adrian. Always. I need to know that you’re okay. I need …” My voice broke, and I buried my face in his chest. “I need you.”

I felt his lips on my cheek, then my ear. His exhale was rough, full of emotions that I was scared to put a name to. I felt him wrap his arms around me, his hands cupping my ass and pressing me closer. He didn’t speak, just let me breathe him in and reassure myself that he was there, as if he knew that was exactly what I needed.

And it was.

Minutes passed, neither of us speaking or so much as moving. My heart was finally starting to calm down and I felt kind of exhausted from all the emotional turmoil I had gone through over the last half an hour. I could see now that loving this man was a job all of its own, but I welcomed it.

He pulled back just enough so he could look down at me. “I’m sorry, kotyonok.”

“I’m just glad you’re here now. That you’re okay.” I ran my eyes over his face, wishing we were somewhere private so I could do the same to the rest of his body, needing to see all of him so I knew he was all right.

“Do you still want to go out? I don’t want to ruin our time together.” There was sincere remorse in his voice that eased the hurt that had been churning in my chest, along with the worry and fear for him. “The only thing that has kept me sane all day was the thought of getting to see you tonight.”

I gave him a flirty little smile and rubbed a hand down my body. “Well, I would hate to let all of this go to waste.”

He made a growling noise deep in his throat. “Yes, that would definitely be a shame.”