“No problem,” she says with a bright American smile as she takes them.
The temptation to be her friend is hard to resist. I glance at her fiancé who stands with his friends, Trick and Alexei’s brother Sasha. Except for the big muscles, I wouldn’t guess this Connor is dangerous as he laughs at something Trick says.
These beautiful men are all so capable of doing terrible things, and no one would ever guess it from looking at them.
Alexei joins us, putting his hand on the small of my back. He wishes Zoe a good morning in English, then tells me in Russian it’s time to go back to the room. He mentions I should check to see whether my phone is back on because he called last night to reactivate it and paid for the year.
The thought of having a phone again is exciting, but the bigger incentive to go straight to the room is I need a few moments to compose myself. I say goodbye to Zoe and let Alexei guide me out to the hall and the elevator.
Alexei gives me a small kiss while we wait. There’s no question anymore of my withholding a kiss from him. I wouldn’t dare defy him publicly and risk another punishment so soon.
The elevator car comes, and I step inside. His gaze rakes over me as the door closes.
As I ascend, I’m torn between wanting to run away from him and wishing it was nighttime to see what will happen between us next.
Natalia, you are insane. Get control of yourself!
I let myself into the hotel room, and, as soon as I’m closed inside, I lean back against the door, taking a few deep breaths to steady myself. Being with Alexei is like being on a roller coaster, scary and exciting and thrilling all at the same time. Knowing I have an entire month to go frightens me.
“Calm down,” I whisper.
The erratic beat of my heart finally slows to normal, and I wipe my damp forehead. I take a moment to go into the bathroom to wash my face with cool water. It never fails to help when I feel stressed. I hold the cloth under the cool water again, wring it out and lay it against the back of my neck for a few moments until I’m composed.
That’s better.
I go back to the room and turn on my phone. When its screen lights, I find it does have a connection signal.Thank God!
I sit on the edge of the bed and start to check it. There are no voicemails or text messages, so I guess they couldn’t be delivered when the phone service was turned off. But when I get into the app that my friends and I use for international messaging, I find lots of lines of text.
I read the messages from oldest to newest and learn that the man who found me for Polasky and Egorov called my friends and told them there was another person looking for me. The messenger wants me to contact him. He says the first person who asked him to find me didn’t tell the whole truth about why he wanted me. I know this of course. Egorov, liar. Polasky, liar.
According to the Russian messenger, I’m in danger. He claims it’s important for me to talk to him right away.Hmm.I’m skeptical of the man’s motives, but I will at least listen to what he has to say.
Because I didn’t respond, my friends sent several frantic messages, which are dated from before Alexei won me in the fight. They must be so worried by now. I type several quick messages saying hello and explaining that I didn’t answer because my phone was temporarily shut down. I ask how they are, and if they’ve heard any more from the messenger.
A knock on the door causes my head to jerk and stare in its direction. I don’t know whether to open the door when I’m alone in the room. What if Egorov’s found me? I think about what Alexei did earlier when Callahan came, so I call out, asking who it is.
“It’s Zoe, Natalia.”
I hurry over to the door, but put the chain in place before I open it partway. I look out to confirm she’s alone. Then I close the door and take the chain off before reopening it.
Her surprised expression makes me a little embarrassed for showing my suspiciousness.
“Are you worried about something?” she asks. “The crue rented the whole castle until tomorrow, you know. No one outside our group is staying here right now.”
“I did not know. This is very good.”
She nods with an encouraging smile. “I heard you’re staying in New York City. It must be a lot louder and feel a lot more dangerous than the towns where you’re from.”
“Russia has dangerous people, too. This is my reason to be cautious.”
Because she is American, she continues to smile when there’s no reason to. I don’t mind. Now that I’m used to it, I enjoy how cheerful and hopeful American people are.
“I’m going to town to do some antiquing. I wanted to see if you want to come with me?”
“Hmm. What is antiki? This costs money?”
She chuckles. “No, it’s free unless you buy things. Antiquing is short for antique shopping. It’s just shopping for things that have been previously owned. They’re old and valuable because they’ve got some history to them. Furniture, books, clothes, that kind of thing.” She looks past me into the hotel room. “You should come. What else are you going to do? Alexei’s working. You don’t want to stay inside all day when it’s so nice out.”
