Chapter 54

Chapter Fifty-Four

" Y ou need to go to Kulik's. Can you do that without killing him?" Freya's question was deadly serious.

Rand gave it the consideration it deserved. She was right. His character would show up at Kulik's and demand to see Kira, having no idea that she'd a) been abducted, and b) seen video of him kissing Nadia. But he did see blood and broken glass and had met her supercilious "fiancé." Hostility was warranted.

"Sixty-forty chance I won't hurt him. Depends on what the prick tells me."

"Sixty-forty isn't good enough, Fallon."

Again, she was right.

He closed his eyes and saw the blood on the floor. He remembered how Kira had looked in December when he'd turned her over and saw the cut on her forehead and bruises from multiple blows to her face.

His fault then. His fault now.

There was a click on the line, and he realized Freya had dropped NSWC from their connection. This was now a private conversation. "I love her too, Rand. In a lot of ways, she's the only family I have left. From before."

He heard the tears in her voice and felt his own eyes burn.

His feelings for Kira couldn't be conveyed with words. She was, quite simply, everything.

And he'd left her vulnerable to that prick.

He cleared his throat. "I can do it. But if he even hints that he's hurt her, it's open season. It's what Reece Foresman would do."

And that was who he'd been playing today. The thriller writer who killed with words— "Sweetheart, I'm also deadly with paper" —and bodybuilder who knew how to throw a punch.

"Fair." Freya let out a shuddering breath. "We'll get her back. He can't risk killing her, not when his father was expecting to see her. She's alive somewhere, waiting until he needs her again. He's hidden every move he's made against Kira from his father. He won't blow it now."

Rand believed that. It was the only reason he wasn't charging in with a team of SEALs already.

He dressed carefully for his visit to the Kulik villa. A man confused about why his girlfriend left without a word. Worried because someone had clearly been hurt when an expensive piece of artwork broke.

He drove to the estate, and the gate opened without him even having to slow the vehicle. He parked by the fountain and marched up the path to the ornate doors.

Reuben met him in the entryway. "What do you want?"

"Kira."

His brow furrowed. "Why? Did you lose her somewhere?"

Rand's right hand curled into a fist. He took a deep breath. "I was told she left Laskin's estate on the helicopter with you." He was told no such thing, but the lie was reasonable.

"Who said that? The maid you kissed? Kira saw the video, you know."

"She came on to me. I humored her because it was the only way to get rid of her."

"Right. I hope your fiction is better than that or you'll starve."

Rand took a step closer to Reuben, entering his personal space and spreading his shoulders in a posture sure to intimidate the smaller man.

This guy had hurt Kira. Rand didn't know what he'd done—Freya said the locket had gone into a pocket after the initial blows—but he'd heard Kira's groans and Reuben's nasty words.

"Where. Is. Kira?"

"I have no idea."

Footsteps sounded on the staircase, and Rand looked up to see Luka Kulik descending the wide, curved steps to the right of the entry hall.

"You again," Luka said. "Where is my daughter? She said she was coming to see her mother's paintings."

Rand had noticed the man's yellowish skin yesterday. Was it more pronounced today or was it the lighting? Could be hepatitis, but also, there were several poisons that triggered jaundice. He wouldn't put it past Reuben to be slowly poisoning his father. If the man already had a chronic hepatitis B diagnosis, it could be assumed to be a flare-up.

If he was dying—or believed he was dying—it could explain his desire to see Kira to the point of luring her to Malta. Even the July third deadline made sense. He couldn't let her put off the trip, not when he didn't have much time left.

No wonder Reuben was scared. He'd been so close to having it all. His father's fortune, a political ally in Laskin, and a strike on the US military that would secure his political position.

Kira could help, or she could hinder.

Reuben had admitted earlier that Benny was supposed to set Kira up to take at least part of the blame for whatever it was they were planning. For Reuben, that would've been the ultimate win. He'd even framed Aleksandr for making that call. Perhaps because he knew how volatile Benny could be, and he wanted cover if the man went off-script.

Aleksandr's supposed mistake would put Reuben in a position above Laskin when it came time to choose presidents. Laskin's son was a liability.

"I came here to find her, Mr. Kulik. She left Laskin's estate with Reuben."

The little dictator's eyes narrowed. "He doesn't know how or when she left because she was avoiding him . He wasted no time and was caught fooling around with a maid."

"Mr. Kulik, I'm concerned about Kira. There was blood on the floor and a shattered work of art in the room that has her…mother's portrait."

Luka turned to his son. "You didn't mention blood."

"How am I to know what happens in Grigory's household? It was probably Aleksandr and another of his tantrums. Kira was fine when she told me to take the helicopter back." He smirked at Rand. "She decided to stay so she could have it out with this gold digger after seeing the video with the maid."

Rand was boxed in neatly. The video was real. A copy could even be provided to Kulik to back this version of events. It was reasonable that Kira, after agreeing to see her father, might watch it and then choose to stay and tell her lover off.

Rand pulled out his card and handed it to Luka. "I'm looking for Kira. I care about her and I'm worried. Call me if you hear from her or find out where she is. She's desperate to see her mother's paintings. She wouldn't miss that for anything. Not even to tell me off."

K ira should probably resume searching. Do something to fight the fear that came with being trapped in a pitch-black crypt.

She had no sense of time, and the stench of death didn't exactly offer hope.

Rand must be going feral at this point. He'd said more than once that he blamed himself for last December. She had little doubt he'd blame himself again today, even though she was the one who'd goaded Reuben into snapping, hoping he'd reveal something.

And he had.

He'd confirmed the attack was tomorrow. Even explained that Benny was supposed to quietly snatch her. It would have worked if he had. No one would have known she was missing. Everyone would have assumed she'd caught her early flight to Malta.

She hoped that was enough to give the team at NSWC what they needed. It would be bad if she'd done this for nothing, but worse if she'd revealed too much to Reuben, making it harder to stop whatever he and Grigory were plotting.

It didn't matter if her eyes were open or closed, so she closed them and imagined the spider drone making a trek across the rocky ground in an attempt to make a cellular connection and ping her location. First, the spider had to find the exit for the caverns or crypt or whatever she was in. It only needed a tiny crack to slip through, like that narrow gap under the door. But it could take hours just to find a chink to the outside world, then hours more to reach a cellular signal.

The drone was different from the ones Diana used in Kira's rescue last December. Those had been larger, had cameras, and were meant to be used in areas where cellular was expected. These drones were only for use as a tracking beacon, but one that could leave the person being tracked to seek a signal. It recorded the distance and direction traveled, so even if it had to traverse several miles, it would transmit Kira's last known location. It had a tiny solar charger and was programmed to seek sunlight.

Kira could die of dehydration before the tiny spider pinged FMV, but it was her best hope for being found. When her thirst got bad, she'd explore again, seeking moisture. There were those stairs leading downward. Who knows what she'd find below?

With her eyes closed, she began to drift. Sleep would kill time, but it remained elusive. So she thought of Rand and the look on his face when she'd touched his bare chest for the first time. When she moved in for their first kiss.

He was so utterly beautiful. Smart and strong. He'd made it clear he wanted her, but he'd waited for her to make those first important moves.

He'd told her he loved her and hadn't balked when she didn't say the words back.

Yesterday, she didn't trust her emotions. Not after her world had been upended. But deep down, she figured she'd been head over heels for him since she came to her senses in a hospital in December and was told he was the one who'd saved her.

Just like she'd asked him to.

He would save her again. She knew it. He'd traveled five thousand miles to be by her side because he'd believed she was in danger.

He had to save her one more time because she needed to tell him she loved him too.