Chapter 25 - Katie

I had everything all packed up and had given the director over at the Hiring Hopefuls charity a head's up that I'd be arriving. She was thrilled and told me they were doing a presentation later that afternoon and that I was welcome to join if I wanted. I was delighted to have something else to keep my mind off of the tension with Aleks and told her to sign me up.

As difficult as it was to go without hearing his voice, I had decided I wasn't going to make the first move. I hadn't done anything wrong, and it was up to him to apologize, not me. He had to come home eventually, and I hoped it would be sooner rather than later. I missed him so much I wasn't even going to make him grovel.

Much.

I put on a sophisticated, jade green suit, with flowing pants and a fitted jacket, then wondered if I looked too much like a ‘lady who lunches' instead of the lady who brings the lunches. When I asked Sergei, he only rolled his eyes.

"Are you going somewhere?" he asked in his blunt, gravelly voice.

I'd seen him smile a few times, and that was how I knew he wasn't nearly as cold as he had pretended to be. I'd even seen him smother a laugh once. He was on my side, and I wasn't scared of him at all, even if he would have preferred it that way, so I'd stop asking his opinions on things like my daily outfits.

After I told him where we were heading that day, he shook his head. "I thought you were staying in."

"That was the plan until I had all these extra meals about to go to waste," I said. "And I already told them I was coming."

He scowled and instantly called his boss. I snuck up behind him, trying to hear even the merest sound of Aleks's voice on the other line. Yes, I was pathetic and already rethinking my stance on not calling first. But I didn't want to waste what time I had left with him on some argument over him having a bad day.

Yes, he took it out on me, but I knew him well enough by now that he was certainly riddled with regret over it. Whatever kept him out all night had kept him from making amends yet, but he would.

Sergei ended his call. "There are no new instructions, so you can go about your day normally."

He seemed unhappy about it, but that was his default mode. I tried asking him about the swarm of guards out last night, and he repeated the other guy's answer that it was routine.

We got stopped at the gate, and the man there had to call Aleks again, putting a dark look in Sergei's eyes that I wouldn't want aimed at me. We were finally let through and pulled off the property.

"That part of the routine?" I asked.

"Yes," he grunted, then half turned to give me a commiserating look. "Your husband is more powerful than you know. Way richer than you can imagine."

"I get it," I sighed. "Corporate espionage can be a real bitch."

"Something like that."

I let him off the hook and didn't try to make any more conversation as we drove toward the charity, which was fairly close to downtown. It made me think about Aleks's high-rise apartment where we'd first started our wild journey. Then I was reliving our first night together, shaking my head at the memory of how appalled I was that he'd straight out demanded that I marry him. The fake kidnapping—well, I supposed it was real, but deep down, I had enjoyed every second of it, even back then.

After Jenna and I were forced to fend for ourselves, I had to put aside my childish fantasies about Aleks. We lived on the other side of town, and as much as Nataliye continued to try to include me in her parties, or tried to meet up with me to hang out, I had to juggle my part-time jobs and never had time. I had to accept I might never see her father again.

Was it fate that put us back together, sending me to his club to dance away the humiliation of begging for my job back and the sting of being demoted?

No, I wasn't going to waste any more time, and was determined to put Aleks in a better mood. As soon as I dropped off the lunches, I was going to skip the presentation and head straight to his apartment. Surely, he wouldn't turn down a request to meet me there for an afternoon quickie. Or, not so quick. As busy as he was, hopefully, he wouldn't be able to resist. Then, we could get things back to the way they were. The way they should be.

We were still a few miles from the charity and traffic had slowed to a crawl. I was lost in spicy thoughts about the rendezvous with Aleks when an unknown number popped up on my phone. Since I occasionally got special orders that I'd send onto the delivery guys, I didn't think twice about answering.

It was a chipper-sounding woman, saying she was from one of the investment firms that I normally delivered to.

"We were really looking forward to them coming today," she said. "It's our secretary's birthday, and she loves your lunches. I know we probably should have ordered them ahead of time, but the guy's been coming every day, so I just assumed there'd be no problem."

I apologized profusely, glancing at the insulated container on the seat beside me, another one in the trunk. She said they only needed a dozen meals and was all but pleading for it to be possible. I didn't want anyone to get in trouble for the fact my employee was a no show, and I hated to think someone's birthday party might not have food. There would still be plenty to take to the charity, and the building was on the way, so I agreed.

Sergei didn't like the change in plans at all. "Did you recognize the number?"

I shrugged. "No, but why would I? I can't put every random person who calls for an order into my contacts, can I?" When he didn't see the obvious sense in this, I told him I'd been delivering to that firm for years.

With his eyes still on the road, he snapped his fingers. "Hand it over."

There was no use in rebelling and having him pull over until I complied, so I rolled my eyes and gave him my phone. We were traveling at a snail's pace as he found the last number that had called and pressed it, putting it on speaker.

"Andrews and Waterhouse Investments," the same sunny voice I'd just spoken to rang out.

Sergei ended the call and handed my phone back, his scowl never once wavering.

"It's barely six blocks away," I said. "We're not moving on this road, anyway."

"Fine," he said after a long moment, narrowing his eyes at me in the rearview mirror.

I couldn't help giving him a smug look in return, sick and tired of all the cloak-and-dagger nonsense. I shouldn't have had to jump through so many hoops to make a simple delivery.

Instead of returning my triumphant look with his signature glare, he only stared at me solemnly for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. There was real concern in his eyes that I'd never seen before, and it wiped my smug smile right off my face.

I couldn't wait to get Aleks alone. Not just for the reconciliation I was longing for, but I needed him to explain to me what the sudden level of paranoia was about once and for all.