Chapter 10
Naomi
I held Gavril’s hand all the way to the mansion, feeling the pull of exhaustion on my body and my mind. The meeting with Roman had been intense, and it sucked that we had walked out of that compound without his help. I had really hoped that since Roman had asked me for help all those months ago, he would be willing to repay the favor.
Or at least that Ilsa would speak up and throw something our way. She knew better than anyone what we were up against and what I personally had on the line.
We had gotten neither, and while I wanted to be mad at my friend, I couldn’t be. Just as I had my future, my family on the line, she had the same thing, and if I had been in her shoes, I might have made the same decision myself.
Gavril didn’t seem too upset about it either, which had all sorts of thoughts running through my mind. Had he already been aware that Roman wasn’t going to help him? I knew they were enemies, but was it because it had always been that way or was there true history between them that had both of them wanting to come armed to the teeth with their weapons?
One thing was for sure. They wouldn’t be very good at holidays or birthday parties in the future. I mean, honestly, Ilsa was my family, my sister, and the men were going to have to figure it out for the future.
If we got out of this mess we found ourselves in.
Could we do this? I wanted to be confident that we could, but every bone in my body told me that it wasn’t going to happen. We were up against impossible odds. Not only the Krasnaya but also the Feds, who wouldn’t give up on having Gavril behind bars. He would be a hot commodity, and if they were truly in cahoots, I doubted they would want him dead.
Not that it made me feel any better. Having him be arrested and placed in prison wouldn’t help me at all. Jon would swoop in, and my life would be over. Nothing that Gavril would do could stop him from taking me.
We weren’t going to win, not unless we played the game well, and I had a plan, even if Gavril didn’t like it.
When we arrived back at the mansion, I let Gavril’s hand go and climbed out, giving Ivan a smile. “Mrs. Kirilenko,” he acknowledged. “It’s good to have you home.”
“It’s good to be home,” I admitted. This was my home. I considered wherever Gavril was my home.
Gavril came around and placed his hand on my lower back, propelling me toward the front door, as if he couldn’t wait to get inside. I couldn’t either, wanting to be alone with him so we could process what had happened over the last twenty four hours. The last time I had been here, it had been a tearful goodbye.
Now it was a tearful reunion, no matter how short it was going to be.
The door opened nearly immediately, and Vera stood in the doorway. “Master,” she replied. “Mrs. Kirilenko.”
“Vera,” I replied, giving her a small smile. I didn’t think there would be a time I would be glad to see her pinched face, but clearly after my ordeal, I was glad to see her.
“Please bring food up to my suite,” Gavril stated, moving us toward his bedroom instead of mine. “My wife is hungry.”
My stomach chose to growl at that particular moment, and Vera smirked as we moved past her. “Of course. I will see to it immediately.”
I let Gavril steer me to his suite, and once the door was shut behind us, I let out a pent-up breath. “Well.”
“Well,” he echoed, stripping off his vest and placing it on his table before methodically removing the rest of the weapons he had on him.
“What were you planning on facing?” I asked dryly, pulling my hair down out of the knot on top of my head and finger combing the strands.
He removed yet another gun. “I didn’t know, honestly, but you were in there, and I wasn’t going in unprepared.”
Now that the adrenaline had worn off, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of his talk was just that, talk. He had sent me away the first time, and before that, he had been nearly indifferent that I was even around.
He was acting like he cared far more than I would have ever thought he could.
Was it just my imagination, or was this really something between us?
“Why are you looking at me, Naomi?”
Realizing that I was staring, I stepped out of my shoes, my bare feet digging into the plush carpeting. There was no way I was going to tell him what I had been thinking, mainly because I was too afraid of the way he would handle it. Between the meeting with Roman and the war looming over our heads, it probably wasn’t the time to confront his feelings about me anyway.
Gavril had enough to deal with. “I didn’t think I would see you again, that’s all.”
His expression darkened. “It was my fucking fault that you were in that position to begin with.”