I nuzzle his neck and lick his jaw.
He pauses to kiss me, then he whispers in my ear, “I love you.”
My entire body flushes with warmth and pleasure, and I decide two things quite suddenly. First, that my brother-in-law Sasha did me a very great favor by telling me where I could get a kitten costume. And second, that I will buy two more in the other colors I liked.
* * *
Natalia
Another thing I enjoy about being in the hotel is that each day when I see the maids’ carts in the hallways, I take a stack of money and pass it out to each woman I see as a tip. I remember how much even five or ten dollars meant to me when I was cleaning, so when I give them twenty-dollar bills, it’s like being a good fairy.
When Alexei asks where all the gambling money went, I tell him the truth, expecting him to give me a lecture. I brace myself, but instead of chastising me, he says we can buy some small things like gum to break the hundreds in his wallet, so I’ll have more twenties to give away. It’s as good a gift as my beautiful necklace.
When Alexei and I are in the hallways, the cleaning ladies wink and smile at me. He pretends not to notice until we get into the elevator where he can chuckle and shake his head.
Five days pass in the blink of an eye, leaving us with only two left. I hate for it to end, so I’m trying to savor every minute.
After we come back from the swimming pool and have sex for the third time in one day, Alexei falls asleep. I’m convinced no one has a happier marriage than we do.
After a video phone chat with Rachel and Irina, I go downstairs to get bills from the bank machine. It dispenses hundred-dollar bills, and I buy candy to break them into twenties. The ladies are working, so I start on the first floor and visit each one on my way to our penthouse suite.
On the eleventh floor, when I go around the hall corner, there’s a man waiting. One look is enough to tell me he’s Russian Mafia. I immediately turn and dart in the other direction. I can’t understand this. Alexei found and destroyed the tracker on his car, and we don’t even have that car with us.
We were sure that Egorov wouldn’t try to get to us in Nevada, especially if he heard we were already married. Alexei made sure the news reached him.
Apparently our belief that Egorov would give up was wrong.
The man catches me, and I shriek for help until he cuts off my voice and breath with his forearm clenched tight over my throat. I feel a sharp prick in my left shoulder as he injects something into my arm.
The purple and gold diamond carpet turns dark, and the pattern writhing like serpents is the last thing I see of my honeymoon hotel.
* * *
Alexei
Hunger must be what wakes me because the room is dark and silent. I check my phone and find it’s seven at night. I’ve been asleep for almost four hours. Dragging myself from the bed, I try to shake off the last dregs of sleep.
“Kiska, where are you?”
I flick on the lights and stalk through the suite, which I find empty. I send Natalia a text, but don’t wait for an answer before calling her. I go straight to voicemail, which is strange. I leave my message in Russian, asking where she is and saying it’s time to go out to dinner.
Stopping in front of the clock, I frown. It’s too late for her to be wandering the halls giving cleaning women fairy godmother money. When I check my wallet, I see my ATM card’s gone. That’s good, since it means she probably went down to get money and might be playing blackjack or the slot machines and talking to random people. For someone who claims she doesn’t know how to engage in small talk, she’s made an impressive number of contacts in the past five days.
I pull on a shirt and pair of jeans, then pocket my wallet and the room key. I’m out the door within five minutes of waking up. I ride down the suite’s private elevator and spot the room’s personal concierge.
“Good evening, Mr. Vesenina,” he says as I walk over to his white lacquer desk.
“Hey, nice to see you. Have you seen my girlfriend Natalia?” After a beat, I correct myself. “I mean my wife.” I rub my ring with my thumb.
The young guy’s brows furrow. “No, sir.”
“When did you come on shift?”
“Six.”
I look around, my frown deepening. “She’s not answering her phone.”
“Let me call the main desk,” he says.
