Page 59 of The Tsar's Obsession
“Yes.I like being driver.” Again, Yuri gave me nothing.
Third time was a charm. “Is it dangerous?” I inquired once more as I took in the sights of the island.
“No,” he answered right away. “Kirill keep safe. Always.” Like me, Yuri found the conversation comical, both of us chuckling at the awkwardness. A gold ring sparkled on his right hand, and I was surprised to find out he was married. The rest of the way, we mostly kept quiet.
"What store you want go?" This time he initiated the question on his broken English.
I thought about what I wanted while we stopped at a red light beside a small square. Without paying attention to anything in particular, I stared out the window, but then my eyes zoned in on a tall man with brown locks, and my thoughts immediately halted. On the other side of the square, I saw Kirill getting into the backseat of a car, a large man climbing in right behind him.
“Yuri, who is that?!” I asked loudly, my eyes popping out of my sockets from the surprise of randomly seeing Kirill on the street. Kirill’s facial expression was neutral, but the way that man jumped in the car right after him didn’t look innocent at all.
Yuri turned to look but didn’t respond right away. Kirill’s car pulled away, and finally, Yuri spoke, "I don't know, but…put seat-belt, please."
The way he said it, so serious, so absolute, sent my mind spiraling. Yuri didn’t like what he saw, and that was a bad thing. A bad, bad thing.
My heart raced and my blood pumped through me a mile a minute, but I followed his instructions without question. He made a turn away from where Kirill was headed, but in a few minutes, another sharp turn into an alleyway brought us a few cars behind the one driving Kirill. Clearly, this wasn’t Yuri’s first day here.
"Yuri, what's happening?" I asked, my voice shaking and my legs numb from fear of the unknown. Kirill’s approach to the Bahamas was clear—he liked security here. And the way that carpulled away, just by itself, with no other cars in tow, was a big red flag, even to me.
Concentrated and quiet, Yuri followed Kirill’s car like a bloodhound, but the vibes inourcar were worried. Very worried. "I don't know." He somehow sounded calm and genuine. "But not look good. Kirill have no security. He alone. That no good."
Holy shit.
My heart plummeted. In a mere moment, I was flooded with fear and confusion. Yuri’s apprehensive attitude about taking me beyond Kirill’s property was now making perfect sense, and I should’ve fucking listened! At this point in our short relationship, I was confident in the knowledge that nobody,nobody, could dare touch Kirill.
So then what the hell was happening?
Our clandestine pursuit ended in a few minutes when the black vehicle pulled up to a grand property surrounded by a high stone fence with cameras on every corner and a thick iron gate.
From the outside, it looked like a tropical paradise. The villa was designed in a Spanish style, and lush vegetation surrounded the house. The tall fence met a sidewalk that led to a small marina only a few feet away, with all kinds of small boats and yachts bopping on the waves.
The car Kirill was in stopped right in front of the gate, and three huge men exited, followed by Kirill who was led into the open gate. And then everyone disappeared. Both Yuri and I sat in silence, our eyes glued to the event unfolding in front of us.
A loud ringing broke the tense atmosphere, and I jumped right when Polina’s name showed up on the screen.
“Da?!” Yuri picked up within a second, and Polina’s deep and worried voice spoke loudly and quickly, firing off instructions about something in Russian. This was turning into a real disaster, and I was smack dab in the middle of it. The man I loved was behind a closed gate, and a fucking AK-47 hung off the guard’s shoulder.
The call ended, and Yuri quickly turned to me. "You hold gun before?" he asked so nonchalantly.
"No...why, why doIneed a gun?" This…this felt unreal. How did this escalate from a shopping trip to me needing a gun? “What did Polina say?”
“She say there no time to wait. I go now,” Yuri stated calmly and passed me a black handgun that looked awfully large when not on a TV screen. "Here is gun, you press here to shoot, it ready, don't try, it will shoot. Only shoot if need to. Wait here. When you see us, start car and pull up.” And then, without adding any more words, Yuri simply opened the door and walked out!
"Wait, what?! No way am I staying here by myself! What’s your plan?! Yuri!" I was firing off questions in disbelief, but Yuri had already departed and calmly strolled down the sidewalk toward the house.
Fucking fuck!
Breathless, I watched Yuri easily scale the stone fence on the side of the marina and disappear.
Every second stretched. It felt like hours had passed as I sat motionless in the car, waiting for the unknown and trying to process that,just five minutes ago, I had been on my way to a fun shopping trip.
A few deep breaths later, I finally gathered enough strength to climb into the driver’s seat, and after eyeing it, I picked up the gun that Yuri left me in the cupholder.
Holy hell, I had to put extra effort into merely lifting this thing up. It was heavy and intimidating, the power to end someone’s life at my fingertips. I’d never touched a weapon before, never been interested, never even came across one! But evidently…it would have to become part of my life now—if I would still have my life after today.
Oh God, I thought back to what I did for a living and who I was and how incredibly unprepared and lost I was in this lifestyle. This wasn’t my lifestyle! What the fuck was I doing?!
The gun clunked loudly as I dropped it gently back into the cup holder and continued my watch, but right as I lifted my eyes,a loud pop resonated inside the car, as if something bounced off the windshield. The sound of my own yelp startled me, but then I heard it again and again, right against the glass, causing no damage whatsoever.
