Chapter 26

TWENTY-SIX

Natalia

The security briefing the next morning is frustrating.

“As for the man we caught yesterday afternoon,” Joe says, shaking his head. “We brought in an Arabic translator, but the guy isn’t giving us anything. He’s not in any terrorist database, here in Limaj or anywhere in the world that we have access to so far. Ace is reaching out to some CIA contacts to see if they can tell us who he is.”

“Most of our issues are domestic,” Sandor says thoughtfully. “And the Bojovnik Brat , who comes from Russia and Georgia. I don’t know what this could be about, but we’re digging in. Until then, we’ll let him simmer in a prison up north for a few weeks. See if he changes his tune after he spends some time cold, dirty, and hungry.”

“It’s June,” Cooper says. “Is it still cold enough to be a deterrent?”

“Up in the mountains where we have our nastiest prison? Yes. It’s not well insulated, plumbing is rudimentary, and electricity is hit and miss. It’s June, as you say, so it’s not cold enough for anyone to actually freeze, but hopefully, he’ll be miserable enough to talk.”

“What would you think about a little road trip?” Joe asks me.

“I’m game. What’s the mission?”

“Escorting our prisoner to the hell he’s going to be living for the next few weeks.”

I frown. “I’m happy to do anything you ask, but why me?”

“Well, you haven’t been home in a while. I thought maybe you’d like to stop and see your parents.”

“Oh.” I don’t know what to say. I have an okay relationship with my mom, as long as she’s not trying to marry me off, but my dad and I butt heads and my grandmother is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s so it’s almost impossible to communicate with her. I’d like to see my sisters, though. “Whatever you need,” is all I say.

“Sandor and I were talking about the logistics of the trip up north a little while ago and agreed it’s a good time for you to see the prison. Both you and Cooper, since it’s a good opportunity for him to see that part of the country. Marcus is going too, for that very reason.”

“Won’t we be short-staffed here?” I ask.

He shrugs. “We’ll make do. Marcus will head back as soon as you drop off the prisoner, but if you want to go see family for a day or two over the weekend, we can handle it since no one has to be at the school. That was our thought process in the timing. But you’d have to leave tomorrow.”

A road trip and change of scenery sounds good, even if we’re just escorting a prisoner. But I’m not sure about going to visit my family. My parents won’t be happy about me having an American boyfriend, since I denied it when I spoke to my mother, but I’m not sure what to say or do about that. I’m sure she knows I was lying.

Anyone who isn’t one of us, at least in their minds, is unacceptable. Plus, we’re sleeping together. Another big sin from their perspective. And living together? My father will probably stroke out on the spot.

It’s a lot to think about, especially since I still don’t know if Cooper is going to stay.

If he’d made up his mind, it would be different, but the way things are now, I’m not sure it’s a good idea.

“I think we’ll just head home,” I say out loud. “I’d love to see my family at some point, but the timing isn’t good and I’m not ready for the questions that will arise if I bring home a boyfriend.”

“I don’t have to go with you,” Cooper says quietly. “I can head back with Marcus.”

“No. I honestly don’t have the time or mental bandwidth for a visit right now. I’m happy to make the drive—I do want to see the prison—but I don’t need any time with my family right now.”

I feel a twinge of guilt, because I genuinely love my family, but this is about timing and protecting my mental health.

I know a visit with Cooper won’t go well, and even if I go alone, it’ll just be a lot of questions about my life, why I’m not married, why I want to work at a job where I can get shot… nope. I’ll figure out another time when I can visit.

* * *

Cooper doesn’t say anything about me not wanting to visit my family, and I feel like I should bring it up, but I don’t know how. We leave early the next morning, heading to the northernmost town in Limaj, Braksa, which is where the prison is located. The prisoner is in an armored van, which Marcus is driving, and Cooper and I are behind them in an SUV. It’s a long drive, close to eight hours, so we’ll get there late in the afternoon, get him settled in the prison, and then drive approximately two-and-a-half more hours, back in the direction from which we came, to Vinake, which is the area I’m from. We have two rooms booked at the local inn. They’re booked in Marcus and Cooper’s names, so I hope to avoid being recognized.

That’s really the only option unless we want to spend the night at the prison.

And I don’t.

Accommodations, even for the guards, are rudimentary and uncomfortable. Better than what the prisoners have, but nothing to write home about.

“We have to talk about what I said,” I blurt.

Cooper’s driving, and he glances over at me. “Okay.”

His voice holds a question and I’m not sure how to explain what I’m feeling.

“I don’t want you to meet my family because they’re going to be mean to you.”

I don’t know how I expected him to react, but I’m caught by surprise when he bursts out laughing. “Yeah, babe, you’ve told me that. Like twenty times.”

“Yes, but before it was all theoretical. If we go there, it’s going to be real.”

“What are you afraid of? Do you think your father will shoot me or something?”

“Oh. No. Nothing like that. But they’ll be rude and inhospitable. I’ll get lectured for being a woman with no morals and my father will ask you when you’re going to marry me.”

He shrugs. “I’ll tell them it’s too soon.”

“You don’t understand the culture here.”

“Maybe not, but I can hold my own with your parents, Natalia. I’m not afraid.”

“But I am.”

“Why? You’ve told me so many times how they make you feel bad about leaving even though you basically support them in the winter. Do you truly give a shit what they think?”

I sigh.

He has a point, and I know I have an unhealthy obsession with my family being what I wish they were as opposed to what they are.

“I guess I just want them to like you.”

“I think you really want them to like you .”

Ouch.

That hits a little too close to home.

“You’re probably right. Don’t get me wrong, I know they love me, but they struggle to show it, and it doesn’t make sense. I take care of them. I work hard. I work for our royal family, and while they don’t approve of everything Erik is doing, they do have strong feelings of tradition and nationalism. They’re proud to be Limaji, and I’m part of our country. How am I the bad guy?”

“You’re a girl, you know? That can be tricky in countries like this. Old-fashioned, traditional countries.”

“Well, it sucks.”

“Agreed. But you’re working to change that, right? For your youngest sister and all the young girls growing up now. You’re part of the change. You should be proud. And your parents will either come around or they won’t. You can’t control what they do, only how you react to it. You’re living your life the way you want to, the way that makes sense for you. If they can’t accept that, your choices are to continue the way you have been—avoiding them but dealing with guilt. Or you cut them off.”

“Somewhere deep down I know that. I just keep hoping it will change.”

“Did they know about Logan?”

“No.”

“What about other boyfriends?”

“I dated a nice boy from my town in high school, and they were okay with that, although they didn’t know we were sleeping together. He was my first. But he wanted me to stay home and get married, start making babies. He didn’t want me to join the military. I suggested he join too, so we could both get out of there, but he wouldn’t. And that was the end of that. I dated a few guys when I was in the military and college, but I was doing both at the same time, so I was tired. I didn’t have time for men.”

“So, what you’re saying is, you haven’t actually given them a chance.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“Other than your high school boyfriend, you haven’t introduced them to a man you’ve dated as an adult, as a woman . Maybe they’ll surprise you. You’re almost twenty-seven, Natalia. You’re not a kid anymore.”

“When I got shot, my mother got to the hospital within hours. Sandor sent for her, and she was making all the appropriate actions with regard to hoping I survive, sitting at my bedside, things like that. But it turns out she thought this was the nudge I needed to leave my job and move home, do what I should have been doing all along. Because this job is dangerous and inappropriate for a woman.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure deep down my mother hoped the same thing, but she knows I’m going to do what I need to do, whether she’s scared or not. She accepts it. I’ve set those boundaries, although to be fair, it was never really a question. She would never try to stop me from living my life.”

“Right, but my parents would. They tried to physically stop me from leaving when I joined the military. Military police had to come get me and take me from the house when I didn’t show up for basic training. My father tried to say he didn’t give permission, but luckily, I was an adult and once you sign the papers, you’re committed. Thank god.”

“I’m just saying we should give them a chance,” he says quietly. “It doesn’t have to be now, or this trip, I’m saying in general. If the time comes for me to meet them, let’s go into it with an open mind.”

“You’re right. And if I even hint that we want kids in the future, my mother will lose her mind if she thinks there are going to be babies she won’t get to know.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m sorry. It just feels like it’s too soon for this considering we don’t know where we’re going as a couple or what your plans are going to be.”

“True, but is your parents’ opinion of me going to change how you feel about me?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then who cares? We’re good. Let’s just focus on the mission, getting this asshole to the prison, and we can think about the future after we take care of that.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry so much.” He reaches across the center console and takes my hand.

“I’ll try.” I glance in the rearview mirror and note a van of some kind coming up fast behind us.

“You see the motorcycle that just came out of the woods?” Cooper asks me, reaching for the walkie-talkie we’re using to communicate with Marcus since we can’t count on internet out here. It’s one of the things Erik is working on.

“I see it.” I look back and realize there are two motorcycles and a van approaching us much faster than is warranted on these roads.

“Marcus, I think we have trouble,” Cooper barks into the walkie-talkie.

“I don’t like it,” Marcus responds.

“I’m going to try and cut off the second bike,” Cooper says, tossing the walkie to me and then yanking the wheel hard to the left, effectively cutting off the motorcycle. The driver weaves right and drops behind the van as the bike on the right tries to make a move.

Cooper makes the same move, but they’re on to us now and they both come up at the same time.

“Fuck, I can’t hold them both off,” he yells.

“I’m going right,” Marcus says. He yanks the van to the right, and Cooper goes to the left, blocking them once again, but now the van is accelerating, pulling up right behind us and bumping the back of the SUV.

“Is there protocol for this?” he asks me. “Because I’m going to take one of them out.”

“If there’s imminent danger, and a blatant threat like them bumping us, you absolutely can.” I pull my gun out of my holster and twist in my seat, opening my window. I fire at the guy on the bike, and he swerves, dropping back again.

“This is going to be bad, Marcus!” Cooper yells. “They have an RPG. Can you turn into the woods?”

“There’s no turn-off!” he yells back.

I take off my seat belt and turn all the way in the seat, leaning out the window and using both hands to steady the gun. I watch the driver of the motorcycle on my side for a moment, getting a feel for his movements. Then I fire.

“Got him!” I’m gratified to see him clutch his chest and the motorcycle drive into a ditch.

“That’s my girl!” Cooper grins at me, but we have bigger problems.

There’s a guy hanging out of the van with the RPG, ready to fire.

“Who are they after?” I mutter. “Us or our prisoner?”

“Potentially both,” Cooper mutters, yanking the wheel again.

We’re all over the road, trying to avoid both the motorcycle and the van.

“I need to take out the other bike,” I say, crawling into the back seat.

“Be careful, Nat.”

“I’m good.” I open the window on the driver’s side and look out. The motorcycle is right there, but he drops back when he sees me.

Good.

I’m glad they’re intimidated.

I lift my gun but the SUV swerves, and I fall back into the seat.

“Cooper, if you can keep her steady for about five seconds, that’s all I need to take this guy out.”

“I’m trying, baby.”

I squint into the bright sunlight and focus.

Shooting is something I excel at. The only person who’s a better shot than me in the Royal Protectors is Sandor, and I’m determined to beat him someday. Today, however, all I care about is survival.

With Cooper keeping our vehicle steady, and the guy with the RPG setting up, I know I’ll only have one chance at this. Whatever this is, I’d rather us go up against one vehicle than three, and the road ahead is even rougher than the one we’re on, which will slow us down.

I wait for the right moment and then fire.

Bam .

The second motorcycle spins off the road but the van is on us again.

Shit.

“He’s going to fire,” I yell to Marcus. “Pivot!”

Marcus jerks the wheel of the van just as the RPG fires.

“Marcus!” I scream his name as the road right next to the van explodes.