She smiled and cried and rested her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as if she would float away. A simple hug, and she never felt such peace. His arms were massive and though it reminded her of her brother, it brought with it so many more emotions than she knew how to handle. Luerna clung to him, something she’s never done with anyone in her life. She was at peace. She was safe.
“I have a plan,” he began, combing a hand through her long tresses. “But it might take a few months. I was going to wait till I set everything up and come ready to take you, but seeing you again, I couldn’t live another day with you hating me.”
Luerna squeezed him, adoring him. All this time she thought he had forgotten her, and he hadn’t. He was instead planning a life with her.
“What about your girlfriend?”
“I’m using her,” he admitted. “We’re using each other, I should say, to keep our parents off our backs. Our parents want us to marry, but I’m in love with you, and she’s in love with a girl down the street.” He chuckled into her. “Luerna.” He pulled her back and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “Listen closely. There are things we have to go over so we don’t get caught. By the time we get out, we’ll be halfway around the world before they even notice we’re gone. But it only works if we follow everything the way I’ve set it up. And it will only work if you want it to.”
“I do,” she shouted so quickly that she laughed against him, and he smiled wide. “I do. I’ll go anywhere with you.”
Levka rested his forehead on hers. “I’ve been dying to hear you say that.” Holding onto him, she had no walls to protect her. Nothing to stop any of her vulnerabilities from escaping. “I’m scared.” The words were so odd to hear out loud. She had never said them to anyone.
“If you follow everything I say, he’ll never suspect a thing. But we have to work together.”
A beep on his watch took his attention. Levka clenched his teeth. “We’re out of time here. I’ll text you again with another address in a week. Remember to delete everything I send you right after you read it. Does he go through your phone?”
“No. Rurik thinks I’m too depressed to cheat on him.”
Levka nodded, but the answer didn’t sit well with him. “Are you taking medications?”
She scoffed. “I tell him I am.”
“Why aren’t you?”
Luerna caught his gaze with a bit of defiance in her face. “Because I’m fine.”
His look of doubt annoyed her. But before she could pull away, Levka gripped her arms. “Hey, don’t push me away. I don’t know how you are. Be real with me, Luerna. You’re a grown woman, you know yourself. Are you fine?”
It was the first time someone truly asked her that. Everyone else just believed her.
She struggled to answer honestly, but she didn’t think she could get away with lying. Levka would see it when no one else would. “I’ll take the fucking medicine,” she bit bitterly, hating how he smiled and chuckled.
With a knock on the door, Levka opened it, allowing in the old woman who worked there and a second co-worker. “We’re ready,” he said and pointed to the curtain in the corner. “Go undress.”
Luerna didn’t question it. She came back here for a bikini wax, it would be too obvious if she came out without one. After dressing in a medical gown, she pulled the curtain back to find Levka lying on the gurney with a sheet over him. “What are you doing?”
“My balls were overdo.”
A silly smile spread on her lips. “You wax your balls?”
His brows knit confused. “You think I’m a Ken doll? I grow hair like everybody else.”
“Everybody else leaves it alone.”
Disgust twisted his face, and she laughed at him as she lay on the table. The old woman maneuvered a screen around her, covering her from the waist down. Levka got one as well, denying her the ability to actually see his privates. Perhaps it was a good thing. She still wasn’t sure what she felt down there so many years ago. It came up in her dreams in the middle of the night, leaving her hot and bothered in the morning.
Levka reached out his hand, and she gripped it. She stared at him as he stared at her. Then he smirked. “This isn’t exactly what I thought about when I imagined spreading your legs for the first time.”
She slapped a hand over her face as she giggled.
Chapter thirteen
Expose
WaitingforLevka’stextmessage was painful, but nothing Luerna couldn’t handle. Like for the previous twelve years, moving forward was a thoughtless progress, something she did without realizing she was doing it because, with kids, there was no stopping. She had to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She had to get them ready every morning so they were presentable for the tutor. Every other Saturday, she took them to the skating rink and the arcade, and then they ended up at their favorite restaurant. On the opposite Saturdays, RJ or Sofia would have a horse tournaments, which always reminded her of the days her father would take her. She didn't know it at the time that he was illegally gambling, but it didn't mar the memories.
And Sundays were Church. There wasn’t a moment in her life that was unaccounted for. It was why Rurik ignored her movements. For too many years, it was the same routine without interruption. She had built his trust.
