Chapter 16

Emma

After Viktor left me to myself in the dark again, I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable enough to drop back to sleep. I hadn’t been about to tell him, but the dream that had sent him in to wake me up had only been half nightmare. The rest had been enough to make me dwell on it for a long time after Viktor had left.

I was scared, but more than the fear the nightmare had awakened, it was the want. The need as the nightmare had morphed into a dream so vivid I woke up wet and horny. I wanted Viktor to fuck me as he had in my dream. But damn him, so far, he seems to be all talk in the sex department. I had seen the fire in his dark blue eyes when he looked at me. The way they swept over every inch of my exposed skin, and traced my curves in a way that made me almost feel it physically. He wanted me too.

And that only makes it worse for me.

Finally, I was able to relax again—but not before I heard a telltale sound through my bedroom walls. A hoarse noise, like a groan, and the shower water running.

My ears strained to hear more, curiosity getting the better of me. A softer sound, almost melodic, followed up, a moan, soft but with something so graphic in it that my toes curled.

I smiled into my pillow, it was clear I wasn’t the only one wrestling with my feelings. But I couldn’t work up the nerve to go join him. Not yet. I had far too much to worry about besides that. But someday, sometime soon, I was going to spend a night in his arms.

I just hoped that doing that wouldn’t end up being the biggest mistake of my life.

I closed my eyes.

***

When I woke again, the room was filling with the cold, gray light of dawn. A glance through the curtains showed me the rainstorm hadn’t let up yet. It was like LA switched weathers with Seattle.

Not that I was complaining. I had never had an easier time breathing Los Angeles air. All that rain was washing the pollution out of the air and into the storm drains. It would make the sunsets duller for a while, but that was a small price to pay for avoiding smog for a few days. This time of year, the smog was normally so thick that it almost felt like you needed to chew the air before inhaling.

I lay there, wondering if I should try sleeping a bit longer while I could. The penthouse was quiet. Not so much as a single footstep broke the soft monotony of rain on windows.

I don’t want to be the first one up,I thought. It wasn’t laziness; I was exhausted. Nightmares always made my energy levels go to hell the next morning. It was almost like I had sleepwalked all night, though I had never discovered myself anywhere but safe under my blankets.

Then, unexpectedly, my door opened.

I looked up and saw Nick creep in, closing the door behind him. His face was sleepy, and his hair was all up in cowlicks, and he had that odd little frown on his face that he got when he was really thinking hard about something. He looked at me, and hesitated.

I smiled at him sleepily. “Hey.”

“Can I cuddle a while?”

“Okay.” I let him get under the blankets and he curled against my side, propping his head on my arm.

He was quiet for a while, and then said softly, “Why did Uncle Charles leave us?”

Oh God.

I had expected him to come to me looking for explanations for all this insanity, but I hadn’t figured out how to answer all his potential questions yet. My mind drew a blank for a few moments, but finally I started stroking his hair.

“I don’t know sweetheart. Maybe he had something important to do.” Nick would learn the truth one day, but he wasn’t ready for the complexities of the situation. All he needed to know was that he was safe with me. Even if I wasn’t entirely sure that was true.

“I don’t get it.”

I peered down at his little face and then lay back against the pillows with a sigh. “I don’t really get it either.”

I wanted to slap his jowly face for stealing from me, for running when we needed him. I wanted to put a boot up his ass. He hadn’t murdered any of my loved ones, but he was a thief, a liar, and a coward.

He lied to us all these years. I wondered what my sister would say if she knew.

But I already knew. She had been delicate. Fragile. She had trusted Uncle Charles more than I had, because she’d had to rely on him more. Lucia would have been absolutely crushed, just like she had been when Nick’s father had vanished without a trace.

“Is Uncle Charles ever coming back?” Nick sounded far more worried, than hopeful.

“I don’t know, honey.”

“Do you think he went to the moon?”

I laughed. “I think he would if he could. But he can’t. No, he’s hiding somewhere on Earth. Viktor wants to find him too.”

“What happens if Viktor finds him? Will he punish Uncle Charles?”

Definitely. “Uncle Charles did something very bad to his younger brother, so yes. He’s very angry at Uncle Charles.”

“Me too. He made you cry,” Nick said firmly, and I smiled.

But his follow-up wiped the smile off my face entirely.

“But why did Mr. Viktor make us stay in that room? And why do we have to stay here now? I want to go back to school. I miss my friends.”

“It was to help him find Uncle Charles,” I said as vaguely as I thought I could get away with. “And as for your going back to school, I’m going to ask him about it. He doesn’t need you here to help find things out about Uncle Charles, only me.”

“Okay,” he said cheerfully, perking up a bit, and I was reminded once more how resilient kids can be.

“Yeah, I understand. I want to go back to my job. Hopefully we can both go back soon.”

I had no idea what my clients or practice partners were thinking about me right now. I’d told them I needed to take some time off to deal with a family emergency, but they would still be asking questions once I returned.

I’ll have to find a way. I can’t exactly tell them that I was kidnapped.

“I’ll talk to Viktor after breakfast.”

***

I cooked breakfast this time, steak, eggs, and home fries. Heavy, but I was starving, and neither Nick nor Viktor complained one bit. Once that was done, Nick went to play with his Legos in his room while Viktor and I sat on the couch with more coffee.

“We need to talk about some things,” I said quietly.

He looked up at me sharply. “What is it?”

“Nick wants to go back to school. And I’ve got to at least let my coworkers and clients know I’m alive and well and will be coming back to work.” I tensed inside. I knew it was a big request—especially letting Nick go to school.

“What will the boy say to his friends about where he has been?”

“I was thinking maybe I had a family emergency,” I ventured, watching his face carefully. His eyes were intent on mine, his expression thoughtful. “It’s not a lie, it was something I had to take care of.”

“That’s an interesting idea. But will Nick stick to the story?”

I looked down the hall at the open doorway to Nick’s room. “It’s close enough to the truth, we say there was a problem with his Uncle Charles and his mommy had to deal with it. If I tell him it’s important to do so, he will.”

“Good.” He considered the matter for what felt like a long time, then sat back and took a sip of his coffee. “Come up with a story, run it by me. If it’s plausible enough, I’ll give my permission.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded distractedly. “I have one of my men looking through your uncle’s laptop and that thumb drive we found. The physical books and papers we’ll need to deal with ourselves.”

“Have they found anything?”

“I’ll get a call when they do.” He lifted an eyebrow. “You seem nervous.”

“I’m just wondering what craziness I’m going to learn about my uncle next.” I let out a high, nervous laugh. “I used to think he was the kindest man I knew. But then again, back then I had to depend on him for everything.”

“He may have felt guilty for stealing from you. Or, he may simply have been covering his own ass.”

My throat tightened. There was part of me that still ached from the betrayal. “Probably the second one, if he’s done all the things we think.”

“Mm. Good guess.” His face softened slightly at my expression. “Does it sadden you so much?”

“I’m a psychiatrist,” I sighed. “I’m supposed to be an expert at figuring out other people. But I never saw this coming.”

“You had a bias. He is family.” He hesitated, then reached over and took my free hand gently. I looked from my hand to him, but didn’t pull away or complain. My skin started to tingle a little. “And apparently, a quite accomplished liar.”

“I guess I just keep thinking I should have been able to tell something was off somehow.” My voice shook a little. “I mean, if anything, he was overprotective of Lucia and I.”

Uncle Charles’s mind remained a mystery to me. In some ways, so did Viktor’s. My uncle pretended to be noble but had apparently always been a monster. While Viktor pretended to be a monster, and yet…

The man kidnapped me. He is still technically holding me captive. So why did I feel so safe around him?

I couldn’t trust my own mind anymore. I took a mouthful of my coffee, then set it down and rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Maybe that was guilt as well.”

“Guilt and control.” He rubbed his chin. “Though I wonder why sorting out his motives is so important to you.”

“Closure, I suppose, and from a professional point of view I would like to know why. The workings of the human psyche fascinate me, even if in this case, it’s a bit too close to home.” I paused, “And also, if I can sort out his mindset, it might provide a clue to where he went.”

His face lit up. “Hmm. That’s an interesting thought. Let’s see what my man gets out of your uncle’s electronics, and then I’ll let you have a look at it and see if you can figure out anything.”

I nodded, feeling a little better. This conversation was going better than I’d expected, by a lot. This was the third time he’d surprised me that way. I just hoped it wasn’t an act to get what he wanted. It was, apparently, easier to trick me than I thought.

“Tomorrow I shall have the genetic testing materials. The boy will need to do a cheek swab. No blood, no needles.”

I nodded. “That’s a relief. He’s really not a fan of needles.”

“Nor was I, until I got my first tattoo. Once you’ve had one dig into your skin enough you either get used to it or flee from it forever. And I am not a man to run.”

“Do you have a lot of them?” Of course, none of them showed, with his suit on.

“Most men of the Bratva do. Especially those who have been inside a Russian prison. They each have certain significances. Though a few of mine are pretty much just for fun.” He gave me a slightly smoky-eyed look, the corner of his mouth curling up teasingly. “I could show you, if you wish.”

I blushed furiously and glanced away. “Um. Well. Maybe later…” I managed to meet his eyes again. “Once Nick is in bed.”

His smile deepened, and so did the smolder in his eyes. “Very well.” He ran his thumb over the back of my hand, and I shivered.

He let the silence thicken between us for a bit while I felt my skin prickle with heat. Then he said, “I must go attend to business for most of this afternoon and evening. Do what you can to work on that story of yours to tell your colleagues and the school. If need be, we can say you were hospitalized, and I can have discharge papers made up for you.”

“All right.” I took up my coffee again and swallowed down as much as I could, my mouth suddenly desert dry. “Creative, but I’m not sure if my colleagues at the clinic would buy it.”

Viktor’s lips quirked up into a smirk.

“Look, Nick’s a five-year-old boy, everything with him is drama and excitement, even on a trip to the grocery store he’ll pretend he’s searching for some weird creature behind the shelves. I’ll tell his teacher we had a family emergency with my uncle. Even if he said we’d been kidnapped in our sleep by a Russian mobster, they’re just going to think it’s his overactive imagination.”

Viktor stared at me for a long moment, and then suddenly broke into laughter. “Of course you are correct.”

“Seriously, the more elaborate the lie, the easier it is to get caught out. We just keep it simple.”

His amused look lingered. But then he stood, letting go of my hand. I felt the absence of it like a sudden chill. “Good. I will see you tonight. Let the boy know that he may return to school next Monday.”

He turned to walk into the foyer and gather his things. I watched him, stomach clenched with craving for his touch.

Tonight. I’ll see him tonight.

And then what would happen? I knew what I wanted to, but what did he have planned?

There was only one way to find out…