Chapter 2
Katia definitely hadn’t heard him correctly.
Blinking up at him, she wondered if his expensive, silk tie was too tight. Or maybe he just didn’t get much oxygen that high up. The man was about a foot taller than she was and underneath the heavy, wool coat and leather gloves, she suspected he had a whole lotta muscles on his intimidatingly tall frame.
“I’m sorry, but…” she blinked again, not sure what to say. Marriage? Was she too terrified to hear properly? “Could you repeat that?”
He glanced around, then faced her with a slight tilt to his firm lips. In any other man, she might have thought the expression was a smile, but not on this man. He was just too scary. Big, tall, muscular, dark…just all around scary. The scar on his left cheek…yeah, that was the stuff of nightmares. Knife fight? Or accident?
She was guessing knife fight. But she’d also wager that this man had won.
There was a strange sparkle in his eyes that she didn’t trust, but then his deep voice distracted her again. “We will wait until the ladies are gone. Then we’ll talk.” He pulled off one of his gloves and she looked down at his hands. They were huge and rough, but clean. Somehow, she’d always thought of a hitman’s hands as being dirty somehow, although why they would be dirty, she wasn’t quite sure. Maybe it was just that a dirty soul should have dirty hands. It didn’t make sense, but then again, not a lot of what her father did made sense to the average, honest person.
“I’ll have a cup of coffee. Black,” he requested and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.
She stared at the money, then up at the man’s oddly pale blue eyes. They were so light, they might be silver in the bright sunlight. But here, in the dimmer light of her coffee shop, the crystal blue color shone through.
He was actually incredibly handsome…for a hitman. More tanned than she would have expected. Perhaps he’d done a great deal of work in the warmer climates. Was it easier to kill someone when one was in paradise? Or in a colder climate? Why she was even wondering about it, Katia wasn’t sure.
“Katia?” He said her name, then waited until she looked up at him. “The coffee?”
Katia jerked, pulling her eyes away from his paradoxical appearance. In another life, this man would be extremely attractive, even with the scar. The tanned skin, broad shoulders, and high cheekbones gave him an intelligent look. One that she would love to find in a board room. So, what had made this man into the killer that he most assuredly was? Maybe the fight that had marred his cheek?
Then again, her father had no scars, other than the black heart that beat inside of his swollen, repugnant body. Her father’s hands had always been soft and deceptively smooth. It hadn’t been his hands that had hurt her when he’d smacked her around. It had been the large, heavy rings he wore that had caused the most damage.
What had made her father into the disgusting human being that sometimes killed to intimidate his competition and sometimes just for amusement?
She didn’t know. It was a mystery and she’d learned long ago not to try to figure things out. Katia had learned the hard way to just go with it and learn to hide from her father.
Turning away, she picked up a cup but her hands trembled so badly she fumbled it three times before she was able to hold it securely. She’d just picked it up again when she felt his presence behind the counter. He took the cup out of her hands and poured his own coffee. With a nod, he lifted the cup of coffee in a salute of sorts and walked back to the other side of the counter. “Keep the change.”
And with that, he walked over to one of the small, marble-topped tables and sat down with a newspaper. Opening it up, he started reading, casually sipping his coffee as if he weren’t contemplating the various ways he was going to kill her as soon as the little ladies left the shop.
A part of her wanted the ladies to stay, to delay her execution for as long as possible. But looking outside, she realized that there were several other men, all of them wearing similar dark coats with dark glasses, looking up and down the streets as if they were anticipating trouble at any moment.
Meanwhile, the tall, dangerous looking man simply sat there and read about the stock market rise, the employment statistics, and the new baby giraffe that had been born at the zoo.
This was surreal, she thought as she filled up the coffee urn for the night shift. She was literally waiting for the ladies to leave so that this man could kill her. She had no idea what the “marry you” issue was, suspecting it was some sort of sick, demented way he probably thought about his victims. Like a serial killer who needed to “free” his victims from their bodies, it only made sense in their own, twisted mind. Perhaps it even justified their violence? Katia didn’t like that thought. No, if she was going to be killed, she wanted the person doing the killing to feel bad. Remorse, anger, resentment at having to accomplish the task. Sort of like in the movie, “Gross Pointe Blank” when John Cusack’s character didn’t want to shoot the woman’s father.
When the ladies crumpled up their scone wrappers, stuffing them into their empty coffee cups, she swallowed past the lump in her throat, feeling resigned to her death.
She could fight him, she thought. She’d been practicing martial arts over the years, wanting to be prepared…Katia thought about all of the other ways she’d tried to stay ahead of her father. She had her own money, a new identity, owned real estate under a fake corporate entity, no credit cards…she always kept a stash of money close by for just this sort of emergency, several stashes in fact. She kept cash in different places all over the country – in lockers, in hiding places, in banks under different names...she always had her car filled with gas, ignoring the gas station attendant’s curious expression when she filled up only a quarter tank of gas, she had disguises in her car, non-perishable food, a sleeping bag, water, extra gas, toiletries, flashlight…even a camping tent, in case she needed to head into the mountains.
And all of that planning…it came down to this: a man in a dark suit with a scar across his handsome face. All because she’d wanted to check on Arianna.
Could she outrun him? Maybe, if she was fast enough, she could make it out the back door.
But the man sitting at the small table looked more than capable of anticipating anything she came up with.
Sergei watched the lovely woman behind the counter, thinking she was more beautiful in person than in her pictures. When his team of investigators had finally found Katia Valissi, everything he’d been planning for the past several years finally clicked into place. It was as if fate had decided to bestow a gift upon him. The beautiful, skittish Katia was going to be the centerpiece of his takedown of her father.
He wondered why she was here, in the middle of nowhere. Did she have any loyalty towards her father? Was she hiding here at his bequest? Or was she, like so many other people, another one of her father’s victims?
Her mother had passed away last year. Did the lovely Katia know that? Was she even aware that her mother had passed away from cancer that had gone untreated? Her father hadn’t even bothered to take the woman to a doctor to ease the pain, much less try to battle the disease. The disgusting man had allowed his wife of thirty years to shrivel up and die a painful, unnecessary death.
Just as Sosta Valissi had done to Sergei’s mother.
And now it was time for revenge.
There was a certain amount of beauty to his plan. Taking down Sosta with his own daughter…it would be the perfect revenge, destroying Sosta with his own family. Since Sosta had destroyed Sergei’s family, it was fitting to return the favor in kind.
And if the woman behind the counter giving him furtive glances was in any way aligned with her father, she would be destroyed right along with him. If she was innocent, then he would help her find a place to hide, give her enough money to live for the rest of her life once this was all over.
The elderly ladies that had been sitting by the window finally left and he looked up, ready to put his plan into action, to find his prey. Time to talk, he thought with relish. Time to put his plans into motion. The daughter was the key. She’d always been the key. Even for Sosta, the daughter had disappeared and, as long as she was gone, Sosta could wreak his revenge on the world.
Now that the daughter was found…
Looking around, he realized that she was no longer working behind the counter. Oh hell no! Where had she gone?
He pressed a button on his cell phone and both of his body guards burst into the coffee shop. “Find her!” he snapped.
He quickly moved to the storage room located through the only other door in the shop and looked around. She wasn’t there. The emergency exit door to the back was locked but…
Sergei froze.
Something told him to slow down, he stood silently for a long moment. Something, maybe a breath or a sigh, turned his head to the right. Opening the door to the storage area, he found her.
Their eyes clashed, hers angry and his determined. Neither of them moved for a long moment, the two of them just stared at one other. It was almost as if they were assessing the other’s skills and intent.
Then both of them sprang into action. Unfortunately, she had some great moves and an unexpected gut kick to the stomach had him doubled over.
But the woman didn’t wait around for him to recover. She’d done some damage and was halfway out the door. Thankfully, boxes of coffee supplies were stacked up on both sides of the office doorway, slowing her down just enough for him to grab her around the waist. With one arm, he held her still and, with his other arm, he grabbed her hands, pinning them to her chest so the beautiful viper couldn’t do any additional damage.
For a brief, powerful moment, he was stunned by how perfectly she fit against his body. Her adorable, tight butt was nestled against his groin while his hands holding hers pressed against the soft pillows of her breasts. Full, lush breasts, he realized. She was a bit on the short side, but with the way her body fit against him…
Beauty, guts and a lushness that his body was already reacting to. A dangerous combination, he thought.
But this was business. He never allowed personal feelings to interfere with business.
Unfortunately, her efforts to escape his arms, although ineffective, were causing his body to react in ways that were infuriating to his self-discipline.
“Prekrashcheniye!” Sergei commanded in a low growl. “Cease!” he repeated in English, just in case she had forgotten her native language in the few years in which she’d lived in the United States.
Thankfully, she stopped moving, but her body remained tense, ready to fight if he showed even the slightest hesitation or weakness. “Ya ne sobirayus' prichinyat' tebe bol',” he told her.
“I don’t know what you’re saying,” she lied with a perfect American accent, shifting her head ever so slightly in an effort to glare at him over her shoulder.
“I said that I’m not going to hurt you,” he explained.
She jerked her arms slightly, indicating that she didn’t believe him. Smart woman. “Then why are you holding me like this? Why are you stalking me?”
“If I let you go, will you behave?”
“No.”
He laughed softly, impressed with both her spunk and her honesty. “Then I will continue to hold you like this. I don’t mind.” He shifted slightly so that he had a better grip on her hands. “Why are you running from me?”
She blew a breath of air, displacing the wisps of hair that had fallen out of her hair band during their struggle. “Why are you chasing me?”
Another laugh. “Good point. But you ran from me first.”
She shrugged and he spun her around, carefully maintaining his hold on her hands and not allowing her the use of her legs either. “You don’t look like a very nice man.”
“I assure you, we have some very important issues to discuss.”
“Such as?” she asked, her tone clear that she doubted there was anything at all she might discuss with him that would be of any import.
“Such as your father,” he replied, carefully watching her reaction. If there had been any doubt that she wasn’t Katia Valissi, her jerk of fear at the mention of her father put those concerns to rest. Before she could stop herself, those beautiful eyes widened, her body stiffened, and her full lips pressed together, almost as if she were trying not to spit at the mere mention of her father.
“I don’t have a father,” she told him. “He died when I was a baby.”
He wanted to laugh, but her fear was real. That, more than anything else, told him that she wasn’t on her father’s side. “I’m going to release you. And we’re going to talk. Understood?” She didn’t answer and he chuckled, impressed with her daring and resistance. “I promise, I mean you no harm.”
Despite his assurances, the lovely, dark-haired minx looked like she was going to bolt. He was just about to call his guards when she said, “Fine. I won’t run away.”
He released her wrists slowly, not sure he believed her. When she jerked out of his arms and moved across the room, he straightened, but watched her carefully.
“My father is dead,” she repeated, glaring at him through the dim light of the stock room. She rubbed her wrists and he felt a slight twinge of guilt at hurting her. Then he moved, cringing slightly at the pain in his stomach. The woman had a pointy shoes and knew how to use them effectively!
Brushing aside the pain, he shook his head at her claim and leaned against the metal desk that took up more than half of the office. “Your father, unfortunately, is alive and well. And I have a proposal for you. If you hate him even a fraction as much as I do, then we might be able to help each other.”
He watched as she relaxed at the first part of his sentence, but stiffened, obviously unwilling to trust strangers. Smart woman, he thought with increasing admiration. Her wariness was probably what had helped her stay alive all these years since she’d snuck away from her father’s home.
A jerk of her head had those long, dark tresses shifting, causing them to sparkle. “You’re talking to the wrong person. I don’t have a father.”
Sergei tilted his head to the side, acknowledging her words. “I understand that you might feel that way. He’s definitely a bastard of the first order. But in order to defeat him, to stop his depraved machinations, I need you to listen to me. Are you willing to do that?”
Katia thought about it for a long moment, not sure who this man was or what his intentions might be towards her. Her father was a wily devil. She wouldn’t put it past him to send someone in with a story like this.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but if you will stop holding me prisoner, we can talk.” He watched her for a long moment and she used every ounce of her willpower to remain passive. “We can talk, but I doubt I can do anything to help you, other than giving you a refill on your coffee.”
She waited several heartbeats, watching his face. But the man didn’t reveal anything. His startling blue eyes were blank and she wondered if the man ever felt anything. He looked so cold and hard. Almost a robot. Did he feel? Did he bleed? Had the wound on his left cheek hurt? Those questions echoed through her mind and she forced her muscles to relax, hoping to fool him into thinking he had the wrong woman.
“A refill would be appreciated,” he told her.
With that, he stepped back, giving her space to walk through the storage room and into the coffee shop again, still rubbing her wrists. Katia conceded that he was strong, but he hadn’t really hurt her. There was just a tingling sensation where he’d been touching her that she didn’t like.
He stood up and she was once again shocked by his height. He was at least as tall as Hayden and Natalie’s husbands. Maybe even slightly taller, she thought. And that was saying a lot!
“After you, my dear.”
She glared up at him, irritated that he was displaying charm and consideration now when only moments before, he’d been holding her against her will. But instead of arguing with him, she stepped around him, ensuring that she didn’t touch any part of him or his heavy coat as she stepped through the doorway.
When they stepped into the main area of the coffee shop, she breathed a sigh of relief to note that no other customers were in the shop. It was early in the week, so it was a slow time for business, but she still didn’t want anyone to get hurt. There had been too much of that where her father was concerned.
She grabbed another cup and filled it with coffee, making sure it was the fully caffeinated brew. If the man was going to disturb her day, she was going to make sure that his night was just as disrupted. She grabbed another cup and filled it with hot water, then dropped an herbal tea bag in the water.
“Lead the way,” she told him, refusing to look up at him again.
He moved over to the table where he’d been sitting earlier and even pulled out a chair for her. How many men did that? Still, even as she sat down, she glanced over her shoulder, wondering if he was going to shoot her with her back turned.
When he simply sat down across from her, she breathed a sigh of temporary relief.
“You’re more beautiful in person, Katia.”
She stiffened, her fingers wrapping around the warmth of her coffee cup. She didn’t like the warm tingles that hit her with his words. They meant nothing. This man was either a killer or he was up to some other nefarious purpose. And his presence here meant that she’d been found. She’d been here in Lisdeer, Virginia for two years. That was much too long, she realized. She should have moved on over a year ago.
It was just that…well, she’d found friends here. She’d allowed herself to get sucked into the community and she liked it. She loved Hayden and Natalie. They were like sisters. And now Arianna was part of their group. Katia wanted to be there for the woman who most likely going through something bad.
This man’s presence meant that she would have to leave as soon as she could, leaving behind her friends. Leaving Arianna to face whatever had caused her to call in sick to work for the first time…ever. Leaving Hayden just as she had found happiness with Viktor and…the pain at the realization that she’d never see Alejandro again, Natalie’s son, was like a stab to her heart. The little guy was precocious and adorable, the sweetest toddler she’d ever met. He was so full of energy and life, it was exhausting whenever she watched over him.
But Natalie had moved to Spain to be with her new husband. And Hayden…she was so madly in love with her husband, she spent most of her time in Washington, D.C. with him. Yes, she still worked here in Lisdeer at her thriving garden center during the days…but things weren’t the same anymore.
Nothing was the same.
Except for the threat to her life now that she had been found. The panic that hit her as she stared into the man’s strange, blue eyes was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Not even during her mad rush from her father’s house that night so long ago had felt this…strange and horrible. Sensations she didn’t recognize and couldn’t define were coming at her from all sides and she wanted to hide.
“What do you want?” she demanded, needing to get this conversation over with so she could figure out how to get away from him. Mentally, she was already packing her car, ready to run again. She’d done it so many times over the years, this would just be normal for her. Everything was ready, her computers were the main hindrance, but she couldn’t leave without them. If her father ever found her computer equipment, he’d know what she’d been doing and his fury would be even greater. So that would be her number one priority. Glancing at her watch, she calculated the hours until dark. She’d leave in the dead of night, pack up her small car, and simply drive out of town. She’d leave behind most of her clothes since her computer equipment would take up most of the space, but that was fine. She had money and a steady income now. She’d find a way.
And this time, she’d figure out how to get her mother out of that monster’s house!
“I need your help.”
Katia shifted on the chair, looking into those blue eyes. “With what?”
“Your father, Sosta Valissi, kidnapped my mother and forced her to be his mistress for several years.”
Katia’s mental cataloging ceased with his words. The hardness in his eyes, the scar…all the pain was there, well-hidden but Katia knew the signs. “Your mother?”
She noticed his fingers flex against the cup of his coffee, but not by a flicker of his eyes did the man betray any other emotion. “Yes. I was young when it happened and I didn’t completely understand. He killed my father when he tried to get her back.”
The wound in her heart ached in pity. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, bowing her head. This man might be lying to her, but the story sounded like something her father would do. The man had no morals, no scruples. He was scum and hurt people for his own amusement. “How old was your mother?”
“She was twenty-eight when your father saw her and kidnapped her. She was thirty when he killed her and tossed her into a shallow grave.”
Katia closed her eyes. “That’s horrible.”
“I grew up scavenging on the streets, hiding from the man, and I didn’t understand until I was older.”
She opened her eyes, looking at him carefully. The warm coat was cashmere, and not the cheap stuff either. She could tell that this man had money. Lots of it! “You’ve come a long way from the gutters then.”
He shook his head. “As soon as I figured out who killed my parents, my whole life became about revenge. I changed my name, taught myself to read and write, and learned how to build a business. Every monetary move that your father…”
“Stop calling him that!” she snapped. When she realized how much emotion she’d just revealed, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. “That man isn’t my father. He might have donated sperm to create me, but he’s simply a monster. He is not my father.”
“Fair enough,” he replied and her words seemed to change him somehow. She wasn’t sure she understood, but she reacted to it by relaxing her shoulders slightly.
“Sosta Valissi discarded my mother when she didn’t hold his interest any longer. He killed her so that there would be no one to accuse him of his crimes. But I grew up and have competed with him on every business deal he has ventured into, except for the illegal ones. I’ve won every battle and ruined his reputation. He has no more legitimate businesses and that’s making it hard for him to launder his money. There are only a few companies that he still has control off and he’s focusing more and more of his money on those, expanding in those arenas so that he has more power.”
Katia felt an odd thrill at that news. Her father was losing power? How…wonderful!
Trying to hide her exaltation, she looked out the window. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked. “I don’t care about my father’s businesses,” she lied. She cared. Very much. She cared since she had begun trying to undermine his business empire with her computer programs two years ago. It was a slow process, but she was finally finding weaknesses in his systems.
“You should care,” he said softly.
Katia shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “Why?”
His smile was actually a bit lethal, she thought. “Because it is actually your company,” he told her.
That news hit her hard. Her company? Was he crazy?
With a disbelieving lift of her brows, she stared back at him. “Sosta Valissi’s company is actually my company?” She chuckled and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms under her breasts. “That’s an interesting statement. How does that work exactly?”
He chuckled and Katia shifted in her seat, not sure why the sound of his amusement made her feel…warm. This man was very strange. And big. And good looking. And…well, enough said. She wasn’t interested in him, just in what he was telling her about the man who’d sired her.
“About four years ago, your father ran into a bit of a financial problem. In order to protect his assets, he gave all of his stocks and businesses to his wife, your mother. With that move, his enemies couldn’t gain possession of his companies and the threat passed. Sosta thought that he’d won. In the event of your mother’s death, you inherited all of the stocks and businesses, but because he is a cautious man, and definitely wasn’t going to allow you that kind of power over him or his financial assets, he took measures through a legal loophole to ensure that all of your stocks would revert to your husband upon your marriage.”
Katia’s heart pounded in her chest. Her mother owned all of his companies? That meant…she was in even more danger than she’d thought! Fear pounded through her body, her heart stuttering as her mind worked through all of the repercussions. There was only one thing on her mind now, Katia had to get her mother out of her father’s house! Fast!
“I have to go!” she gasped, feeling numb as she thought about all of the complications. She’d have to work quickly, use some of the favors she’d built up over the years. Reeling, she stood up, ignoring her chair, which tipped over. All she could think about was getting to her mother and saving her!
“Where are you going?” he demanded, standing up and putting himself directly in her pathway. Again!
Katia no longer cared who he was. She was in a panic now. Not good, but she couldn’t seem to slow down and think.
“I have to get my mother out of Russia!” she blurted, trying to control the rush of panic. Her father would hurt her mother. Sosta Valissi would crush her delicate mother! Elaina had been a prisoner for so long! Katia’s mother had risked her life to get Katia out of Russia, accepting that she would stay and bear the wrath of Sosta on her own. Katia had fought her mother for months, but in the end, her mother had explained that getting Katia out of Russia was the only way to survive.
“Katia, wait,” he cautioned softly, taking her hands. She tried to pull them away, but he held her firmly.
She was having trouble breathing, mind racing to figure out how to save her mother. “I can’t wait! I have to get to my mother! I have to save her! If she owns all of that wealth, my father will kill her! He’ll hurt her first and then kill her! Let me go!” She could barely form words, her lips numb from the fear that was making her feet stumble.
“Katia!” he yelled.
Something in his voice broke through her panic and she looked up into his eyes. Then she saw it. Those eyes were no longer blank, but glowing with…compassion. Pity!
She froze, her mind trying to make sense of that look. She didn’t like it and couldn’t understand it. The only reason…!
“No!” she whispered, through lips that had gone numb with the pain of what she saw in his eyes. Shaking her head, she backed up. “No!” But his eyes didn’t change. Didn’t waver. “She’s not!” she gasped, her hands clutching at her sweater right over her chest. The pain slashing through her with his silence…it knocked her down. But strong hands lifted her up. Warm arms carried her out into the cold as sobs wracked her body.
There was a sudden warmth, but she couldn’t focus on anything beyond the pain as she realized what he was telling her.
“I’m sorry,” his deep voice said as his large hand smoothed over her back, her shoulders, tangling in her hair as she buried her face against the warmth of his neck. “I thought you knew.”
Katia cried for a long time, sobbing out her anger and confusion, her desolation at the loss of her mother. For so long, Katia had tried to find a way to defeat her father, thinking to weaken him enough that he would let his wife go. But now…all of her plans were gone. None of it mattered any longer.
She cried until her voice was hoarse. Until she didn’t have anything left. And still, this stranger, this man held onto her. Protected her.
They were driving, but she had no idea where. It didn’t matter anymore.
When the sobs finally subsided and there was only a hollow place in her chest, she tried to pull back but he only tightened his arms around her. Katia was too exhausted to fight him now. And what did it matter? Her mother was gone. Everything she’d been fighting to put into place was pointless now.
“How?” she demanded, her voice barely above a whisper and the question hurt her sore throat. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Cancer. She died of cancer last year.”
With that news, fresh tears poured out of her, her fingers gripping the lapels of his coat in her fists as she sobbed in pain of her mother’s passing. She hadn’t seen her mother in five years, but there had been no word from her mother for too long. Katia had known that something was wrong. The secret messages that they’d established before she’d left had stopped so many months before.
It didn’t matter. Until this moment, she’d held out hope that her mother was okay, but that she hadn’t been able to get a message to her. The messages were always slow in coming, sometimes she didn’t hear anything for months. And then she’d get several messages all at once.
No more. Her mother was gone and there would be no more messages. No more reassurance that they would one day be together. No more hope of just one more hug. One more song as her mother held her hand as she drifted off to sleep. Katia’s body shuddered with the pain as all of her hopes died. Her mother would never see her married. Would never hold Katia’s son or daughter, her grandchildren.
Katia had failed. From the moment she’d left that prison of her father’s house, Katia had tried to find a way to sneak her mother out of Russia. The three attempts had failed and now there would be no more attempts. Her mother was gone.
At least the gentle woman was free of her husband’s prison, his rage and beatings. At least Katia’s mother would no longer have to cower when the demented man came to her bedroom in a futile attempt to conceive a legitimate son. Katia shuddered, thinking about everything her mother had gone through over the years. The pain and humiliation her father had put her poor mother through had been horrific.
Katia felt herself being carried somewhere, but she didn’t care where. She didn’t care if this man carried her back to her father’s house or if he dumped her in a ditch somewhere. Her mother was gone. All hope was gone. She didn’t care anymore.