CHAPTER 32
Naomi
I rubbed my stomach as the car rode along the highway out of the city, watching the ocean in the distance. I had barely said two words to Anatoly since his last statement, waiting for the shoe to drop, so to speak, and for him to pull the car over to kill me.
It seemed, though, that he was truly going to drive me somewhere safe. Either that or we weren’t to the kill location just yet.
At this point, I really didn’t know.
Still, there had been a hole in my heart from the moment we pulled away from Gavril. I didn’t like that I was leaving him to fight his war by himself. I didn’t like that he had felt the need to send me away, as if he wasn’t going to make it through this fight and that was potentially the last time I would see him. Touch him.
God, I couldn’t believe how my entire feelings had taken a turn in the last day toward him! I both loved and hated him, loving the part that was the good in him and hating the bad part that made him consider himself a monster. In order to love him fully, I would have to accept his good and bad parts.
I wasn’t sure if I was ready to do that, but I knew I didn’t want to live this life, raise our child without him.
So maybe I was willing to compromise while I worked on his bad parts. Wasn’t that what couples did anyway?
Given the way I was feeling right now, being separated from him like this, I wasn’t going to just leave Gavril willingly. He did hold a vital piece of my heart, and despite all my discussions with myself, I wanted to be with him.
I wanted to be his wife, the mother of his child, and if the time spent in that bed before all of this was of any indication, I felt like Gavril wanted the same with me.
I had begged for him to stay with me, to not let me go, yet he had. What if this was his way of getting rid of me?
Shaking my head, I forced the thought away. The way he had kissed me, clung to me, I felt like he would come after me once this was all over with. He wasn’t ready to let me go either, and I had to hold on to that hope for as long as I could.
I turned my attention to the driver, catching his eye in the mirror. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course, Mrs. Kirilenko.”
“Naomi, please,” I corrected. The least he could do was address me by my name.
“Naomi then,” Anatoly replied. “What can I do for you?”
“You know Gavril well?” In the brief moments I had been in their presence, I’d felt like Gavril leaned on Anatoly, meaning that he trusted him above all the others.
“Well enough,” he chuckled.
“Did you know him with Katya?” I blurted out.
Anatoly arched a brow. “Why do you ask?”
I twisted my hands in my lap, feeling stupid for even asking. I wanted to know if things were different between us than they had been back then, if I was making him different. I wanted to know if he thought Gavril had placed me in the same bucket as his murderous ex-girlfriend, and while I knew this man wouldn’t betray anything that his boss didn’t want me to know, I had to take a shot while I could. “I’m not her.”
He laughed. “No, you aren’t. You are far better than that bitch ever was. I did know Gavril in the latter stages of his relationship with her.” He cleared his throat. “I helped track down the fact that she was an assassin. I just wish I would have found out a hell of a lot sooner so she didn’t have the chance to inflict so much pain on him.”
“He said she tried to kill him,” I pressed. I didn’t know how long this trip was or when we would get there, but I doubted I would have this opportunity again.
Anatoly’s eyes widened in the rear-view mirror. “He told you about that?”
I nodded. “I don’t want to hurt him, Anatoly. I want to care for him.”
“But you are wondering what sort of an uphill battle you are fighting?” he added lightly, a small grin on his face.
“Yes.”
“He’s not the easiest person to get along with,” he finally said after a moment. “He’s been raised to guard himself. His upbringing wasn’t the best, as I’m sure you have learned, and then that bitch nearly destroyed him. He’s come a long way to being the man he is, but I can see small changes in him since you’ve been here.”
That placated me somewhat. It wasn’t a hopeless cause, after all, to fall in love with someone like Gavril. If I was already making small changes, then I could continue to make big ones. “Are you taking me to kill me and get rid of my body?” I asked, needing to know.
Anatoly barked out a laugh. “Is that what you really think?” He caught my serious expression in the mirror and quickly shook his head. “No. I’m really taking you somewhere safe. The boss demanded it, and I think you will like where we are going.”
“I need for him to join me there,” I said urgently. “I need for you to make sure he does, Anatoly.” I couldn’t raise this child by myself. I didn’t want to be a single parent, nor did I want to experience the gut-wrenching heartbreak of never seeing him again.
“I will do my best,” he answered with a grim smile. “He can be a fucking stubborn ass when he wants.”
I giggled. “You do know him well.”
We shared a smile, and I opened my mouth to say more before the car lurched to the left, causing Anatoly to turn the steering wheel hard to keep us from hitting the oncoming truck in the other lane. “What the fuck?” I heard him mutter.
I clutched the door handle as he pulled the car over to the shoulder of the highway. “What happened?”
“It feels like we lost a tire,” he said, throwing the car into park. “I’m going to check it out. Stay here.”
I watched with bated breath as he climbed out of the car, my heart racing just a tad. Hopefully it wasn’t the tire, and we could get back on the road soon. I was anxious to get to my destination and in fact see that it wasn’t some shallow grave in the middle of the woods.
That, and I had to pee really badly, too embarrassed to tell Anatoly to stop when we were going out of the city. Pregnancy in general was embarrassing.
Anatoly stuck his head in the driver’s side door. “It’s a flat. I’m going to change it really quickly, and we will be on our way.”
“Do you need any help?” I offered. “I don’t know much about tires, but I can at least keep you company and stretch my legs.”
The burly Russian shrugged his shoulders and I opened the door, stepping out into the California sunshine. The sun warmed my face and I sighed happily, glad to be out of the car for a few minutes. Coupled with the fact that Anatoly had given me hope for the future, this wasn’t going to be such a bad day after all.
If only Gavril had come with me. If only he had let his own men fight his war. I could understand his need to be there, but it didn’t make me feel better about being separated from him like this. I didn’t like it, mainly because I had my own demons in Jon to worry about.
If he found me.
Shaking my head, I walked to the other side of the car, nearest to the woods, watching as Anatoly stripped off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, preparing to jack up the car so he could remove the tire. “Are you sure you don’t need anything?” I asked.
He turned and grinned at me, opening his mouth to reply before his body jerked forward and his smile died from his lips. I watched in horror as blood started to stain the front of his white dress shirt, and he let out a guttural sound that sent chills down my spine. “Run!” he choked out, blood rolling out of the corner of his mouth. “Run!”
I didn’t hesitate, turning away from the horrifying scene and running down the side of the highway, my heart jammed in my throat. Someone had just injured, if not killed, Anatoly.
My sneakers slapped the pavement as I ran, tears streaming down my face. I didn’t know who was targeting us, but I wasn’t about to hang around and find out.
I couldn’t be caught.