Page 25 of Her Russian Master
He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked over his shoulder at her.“Mostly crazy, yes.”
She walked over to him and threaded her arms under his, hugging him from behind.
With tremendous effort, he eased them off and stepped away.“Please.Don’t.Or Yuri will be nailing you hard against that wall when your brother comes.”
A shockedsheeshsound escaped her lips.She shook her head.“You’re speaking about yourself in third person again.”
“Da.Crazy fucking Russian.”
He made the mistake of meeting her eyes when she smiled and got caught in her gaze, the bittersweet pleasure of being the one who’d made her smile bowling him over.
The crunch of gravel sounded outside and he pulled back the curtain.“He’s here.Leave quickly.If I see him, I’ll smash his fucking nose for leaving you hanging last night.”
She didn’t move.“Yuri?”
He faced the window, didn’t respond.
“Have a nice life.Okay?”
“Da.”
She took a step, he sensed it was toward him, rather than away.
He tensed, but she seemed to change her mind.“Right.Thanks, Yuri.For protecting me.Even if it was your job.”
His hands balled into fists and he wanted to shout at her, to correct that notion that he’d done it because it was his job, but somehow he managed to glue his lips shut.“Goodbye,” he choked.
“Yeah.Bye.”
He waited for the door to close and watched her walk down the sidewalk and throw her arms around her brother in a tight embrace the fucker didn’t deserve.But when she drew away, she hit him with her purse three times.
The corners of his lips twitched.His girl had spunk, but he’d known that.
Except she wasn’t his girl.And she never would be.
The sooner he got that through his thick skull, the better.
Chapter 8
Two weeks since she’d been kidnapped and she hadn’t seen Yuri.
Lucy clomped into the DJ booth and set down her crate of records.It was Friday night and a decent crowd was gathered at the Blue Turtle, even though it was only 10 p.m.Jake still had his club—Yuri had destroyed the papers Jake had signed giving it to Don Diego’s designee.She’d returned to work, but had felt like a fish out of water.
She’d told Yurigoodbye foreverwhen they parted, but she realized she hadn’t expected him to comply.Or maybe she wished he wouldn’t.Every day that went by amped up the underlying anxiety she’d been carrying since she’d been kidnapped.And it wasn’t PTSD.It was over Yuri.She was starting to realize she’d made a mistake.
What would have happened if she’d taken him up on his offer?Quit everything to travel the world with Yuri, or moved in with him and opened a yoga studio?Or applied for grad school?It was all so ludicrous, so impossible to imagine, and yet she’d returned to her old life completely changed.What had been fulfilling before now seemed empty.
The Blue Turtle had been forever tainted.She resented Jake and his addiction, and no longer felt safe.Her old joy in playing music had evaporated.She had no desire to lift the crowd or create a wave for them to ride together.
She’d demanded Jake check into rehab and while he hadn’t refused, he hadn’t done it, either.But he had also remained stone cold sober, so that was a good thing.When she’d asked him where in the hell he’d been while she’d been tied up in a hotel room, he’d said he’d been trying to get the money together, begging every associate he had for a loan.It made sense, but she still hadn’t forgiven him.Couldn’t he have called first and told them he was getting the money together?If Yuri hadn’t been there, bad things could have happened to her.Things that kept her from sleeping at night.
All those thoughts put a cloud over her old life—the one she told Yuri had no place for him.When she tried to figure out how to fix it, all she came back to was Yuri.Those intense blue eyes that showed her everything.The way he never held back—laid his passion and desire right out for her.It seemed an unusual trait for such an alpha male—to carry such a depth of emotion.
And yet she’d made all that disappear.He’d been a robot when she’d left him.
The first week after the kidnapping, she tried to tell herself she’d done the right thing.She’d been honest.What Yuri had asked of her was completely out of line.Way too much.Which, with Yuri, was the norm.She’d pictured how he might fit into her life, and she just couldn’t make it work.He wasn’t exactly the kind of guy she could bring to a party or to hang out with her friends.Or home to meet her parents.He had heaps of baggage and was quite possibly dangerous.
Except she didn’t believe that.Lethal, yes, but not dangerous.Not to her, anyway.
