“Hi, guys!”
Kostya grunted and then cursed. “Gleb, it’s midnight. Turn off this music.”
My brows rose at his rather polite tone, but right then Jake showed up on the screen, his mouth full of chocolate cake as it widened, smiling at me.
Oh, so it was for my son’s sake.
“Mommy!”
Joy rushed through me at hearing my child, along with sadness that I couldn't hug him right then so his smell could calm me down and assure me that everything was right in the world. To feel him safe in my arms, especially after those cruel words John had spat about him in the hotel room.
“Hi, baby!” I blew him a kiss. “How are you?”
He snatched up his shirt with number 17 on it. “Great! Gleb is taking me to the ice rink today to meet with a coach! Then we can check out the Legend Number Seventeen museum.” He then took a big bite of his cake. “Larisa bakes really good food, Mommy. We can stay here forever with her.” His dreamy voice could have been offensive, but since I had no talent for cooking, I shared his sentiment. That woman was the shit!
“I’m glad, honey.” Michael squeezed me tighter. “I hope you’ll have fun.”
Jake nodded, but not before kissing the screen soundly, probably smearing all that chocolate on it. “Love you, Mommy! Tell Daddy I love him too.”
With that, he ran away, as Gleb shouted off screen, “We’ll take care of him, Vi!”
“You better!” I shouted back. He needed a good woman, because his longing glances toward couples were obvious.
At least my baby was happy and well taken care of. Thank God, I didn't listen to Tina, and I’d left him at the headquarters. Just imagining what John could have done to him turned my blood to ice.
Kostya kissed Konstanciya on the lips, a light peck but a kiss nevertheless, snapping me out of my thoughts, as I said, “Are you guys an item now?”
Kostya just shrugged, while Konstanciya blushed and stammered, “What? No… we… it’s just… sex! Yeah, sex. We are having sex.” She then put her hair in a ponytail. “Gotta go.”
She disappeared from view, while Kostya muttered, “Difficult woman.” Then he addressed Michael. “Call me once you have more news.” And without further words, he hung up on us.
“Well, getting laid didn't help them,” Michael said, and then slapped his knee, laughing.
“It’s not funny, Michael.”
“Oh, please. They’ve been screwing each other for months now and she still denies it. She should be careful.”
Blinking in confusion, I wondered aloud, “Why? Kostya would never hurt her.”
“No, but I think his patience has reached its limit. She better claim him, or he’ll—”
“What?” He wouldn't cheat on her, right? She’d skin him alive for that. Even the thought of him cheating was laughable. Konstanciya could be a dangerous woman when mad.
“Come up with a way to make her.” He winked at me. “Let’s sit down on the bench. You must be exhausted from all this pacing.”
“My sister—” I started, but he didn't let me finish.
“The surgery went okay. Alex is with her. No one is gonna hurt her anymore. And what happened is not your fault. So sit your ass down.”
Not used to his commanding tone, I obeyed, and then he joined me and announced, “Let’s learn Polish.”
“Why the hell would we do that?”
He shrugged. “Because I have this app and we have nothing else to do?” He clicked on the language app on his phone. “We have to wait for our men anyway, so let’s not waste any time.” And he proceeded with a lesson, while I wondered what the hell took Radmir so long.
Radmir
“I want him dead.”
