Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
~IVIE~
“ Y ou have to talk to me,” I inform Curt as we sit in the barn, out of breath from sparring.
Shane being gone doesn’t mean I get to be lazy. No, Curt informed me right away that we’d be working out most of the morning, which I don’t mind. It keeps my mind occupied and off the scarier things.
Like men trying to kill me.
“About what?” he asks and takes a sip of water.
“Everything. I don’t know anything about you, and I’ve been beating you up for days. ”
“I don’t think you’ve beaten me up,” he says with a frown. “I’ve let you get some punches in. To teach you.”
“Right.” I smirk and take a sip of water and then square my shoulders, determined to crack through his hard shell. “Let me just ask ten questions.”
“That’s a lot of questions,” he says. “A lot.”
“I have a hundred, so it’s not really that much. Deal?”
He sighs and stares at me with guarded eyes. “I reserve the right to say, ‘ no comment .’”
“Of course, I’m not a monster.” I toss a sweatshirt over my shoulders to keep from getting chilled. “Okay, first question. What’s your favorite meal to eat for dinner?”
He blinks, surprised. I want to laugh, but I don’t. Does he think I’m going to start with the hard questions first? This isn’t my first rodeo.
“Spaghetti, I guess. Because it’s easy to make. I heat up a jar of sauce and cook some noodles.”
I scrunch up my nose. “Ew. If that’s your favorite, I will blow your mind with my spaghetti. I’ll make it this week. Okay, question two. How old are you?”
“Thirty-four.”
“Wow, you don’t look thirty-four. I would have said late twenties.”
“I feel eighty,” he mutters, only intensifying my curiosity.
“What’s your dream car?”
He grins, a full-on grin, and I’m struck by how handsome he is. I mean, he’s not hotter than Shane, but he’s a good-looking guy.
“1964 ⒈／⒉ Mustang convertible in cherry red.”
I blink at him. “That’s pretty specific. And… old. ”
“They’re harder to find than they used to be, but it’s a honey of a car. Purrs like a kitten.”
“I’m going to take your word for it. I was never really a car person. I don’t like to drive.”
He frowns over at me. “You don’t like to drive? Why not?”
“Well, because I’m super clumsy for one. I trip over my own feet. I warned Shane that I wouldn’t be good with a loaded weapon or with sparring because I’d end up killing someone.”
“You just need some confidence,” Curt insists, and it makes me smile because it’s exactly what Shane said. “When you have the confidence in your weapon, and it’s an extension of you , you won’t be clumsy with it.”
“I’m getting better,” I admit with a nod, wanting to keep the conversation moving. This is the most I’ve heard Curt speak since I got here. “But driving unnerves me because what if I don’t see something that I should, or…I don’t know? Anything could happen. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I have a car, but I only drive to work and back home. That’s really it.”
“At least in Denver, there’s a public transpo system.”
“Exactly.” I smile at him. “Are you originally from the city?”
“No. Small town in North Carolina, near the ocean.”
“Oh, nice. I haven’t been to either of the Carolinas, but I hear they’re beautiful.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice over there.”
I nod. “Is your family still there?”
“Some of them, yeah.”
“Cool. That’s something I always missed, you know? I just had my dad when I was little, and he was no prize, as you know. No siblings or extended family to speak of, at least in the US. I don’t know if there was or is family in Bulgaria. He never spoke of it. So, I always felt like I didn’t have roots.”
“You’ve set down roots in Denver,” he points out. “You have Annika and Nadia and their family.”
“That’s true.” I smile as I think about it. “You’re right. I guess family doesn’t always mean being tied by blood.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“What did you do before you came to the ranch?”
He clams up now and shakes his head. “I think we should get over to the shooting range for some practice.”
“You said I could ask ten questions. That was only, like, six.”
He pushes his hand through his hair in agitation. “I worked with Shane in the military.”
“Oh, wow. Thank you for your service.”
He just gives me a stiff nod, and I decide to change course. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No.” He snorts and shakes his head, his shoulders loosen. “Do you see any women out here? Besides you?”
“I’m sure there are single girls in town somewhere. Or maybe a long-distance relationship. There are options.”
“I’m kind of a loner, Ivie.”
“Yeah, Shane mentioned that. Why is that?”
“Because I’m an introvert.” He swallows hard. “And I’m not good with people.”
“Well, I think you’re just fine. But I get it. People can suck. You should see some of the patients that come into our clinic. Annika and I run a medi-spa. She’s the doctor, and I’m the office manager. There are days that my eyes hurt from all the eye-rolls behind patients’ backs.”
His lips twitch. “Do you guys do nose jobs and stuff?”
“She can, but mostly we do botox, fillers, peels, that sort of thing. Annika is an amazing doctor. I think she should work in a reconstructive surgery practice. Help women who have lost their breasts to cancer or burn victims. She’s really good. But her family was old-fashioned and didn’t think she should do that.”
“So, they’re misogynistic, then.”
I blink rapidly, thinking it over. “I guess so, actually. Her father and her uncle love her to distraction, but she’s in a mafia family, and what they say goes. Not to mention, she’s sometimes on call to help them out when someone’s been hurt, and they don’t want to involve a hospital.”
Curt nods. “Yeah, the Martinellis have that, too. It’s an…interesting way of life.”
“I hate it,” I admit. “And I’m on the outside, looking in. Even though Annika’s family treats me like I’m one of theirs, I don’t have the same responsibilities that she does because I’m not blood. And I’m relieved. I had to do a lot for my father when I was young that no person should have to do. He wasn’t technically part of any mafia organization, but he was dangerous and mean. And I always swore that I’d never get involved with anyone like that again.”
“What happened?”
I glance at him, suddenly wondering how we turned the tables to questions about me.
“I met Annika in college. We didn’t know anything about each other at all. But one night, we got drunk in our dorm room. And Annika started telling me about how her uncle was a boss and detailing the whole damn family tree. I was so surprised because she is just a normal girl, with an abnormal family. So, I felt comfortable telling her about me. And when we were done and had sobered up a bit, we knew that we would be friends for life. Because of shared experiences, and because we can trust each other.”
“Honestly, that’s very similar to my friendship with Shane,” Curt says, surprising me. “We have shared experiences that most don’t have. The trust is rock solid, and I would do anything for him.”
I smile over at him. “See, this isn’t hard.”
“What?”
“Talking.”
“I’m not used to it. It’s outside my comfort zone.”
“Usually, the best things in life are those outside our comfort zones.”
Curt smirks and then glances down at his buzzing phone. “That’s Shane. He’s on his way back. Should be here in a couple of hours, at the most.”
“Cool. Okay, let’s go shoot some targets. I’m going to pretend they’re that asshole from yesterday and teach him a lesson.”
“You’re a little scary sometimes. You know that, right?”
“Me?” I laugh as we lock up the barn and get in the ATV to drive over to the shooting range. “Nah. I’m a pussy cat. But that guy pissed me off. He could have hurt one of you. Or killed you.”
“He didn’t.” Curt parks in front of the door in the side of the mountain, and we jump out. He places his hand on the palm plate, and once we’re inside, he locks us in as I open the vault.
“I want to use something bigger today.”
Curt arches a brow. “Feeling brave, are you?”
“I’ve been using this small 9mm. Shane upgraded me to it a few days ago. And I’m sure it’s appropriate for me, but I want to try something a little…beefier.”
“The sidearm that Shane assigned to you is perfect for you, and I’ll tell you why. It’s slim and perfect for the size of your hands. It’s easy for you to manipulated and control. But it’s a 9mm so the bullets are lethal. You have a lot of power in that weapon. If you start shooting something bigger, you run the risk of hurting yourself because it’ll be more difficult to handle. And if you were ever confronted, it could be easier for the assailant to get it away from you.
“So, this is what you should master. Personally, I think you should carry two of them. One at the small of your back, and a clutch piece on your ankle.”
“Wow. You really know this stuff.”
“It was my job for a long time. And, no, I’m not going to talk about it.”
“Killjoy.”
He laughs at that and hangs a target for me, then sends it down the lane.
“Okay, using the weapon assigned to you, let’s see what you’ve got.”
“I can admit when I’m wrong,” I say as I finish reloading my weapon and tuck it into the small of my back. “You’re right, this is the right size for me.”
“It’s good that we had you try a couple of others. You never know when you might have to pick up a discarded weapon and use it.”
“I don’t plan to go to war.”
“No one does.” He smiles thinly. “You’ll be prepared for anything. That’s not a bad thing.”
“No, I suppose not.”
We’ve just started to shut down the range when sirens start.
“Fuck,” Curt says sharply and opens his phone. “We’ve been breached again.”
“Oh, my God. Maybe it’s Shane.”
“Not Shane.” His face is grim as he looks up at me. “There are several men, all in military gear. I’m not going to lie to you, Ivie. This isn’t good. I want you to go through that door and take the tunnel to the bunker.”
“I can help you.”
“No.” He shakes his head in frustration as he hurries back into the vault. I’m on his heels as he takes weapons out of cases, loads them, and stuffs his pockets with ammo. He tucks a knife into his pants, a small pistol at his ankle. He looks like Rambo. “You absolutely cannot. You’re trained to protect yourself, not infiltrate. So, listen to me very carefully. You take that tunnel to the bunker, and you sit tight. You do not come out until someone comes for you.”
“But—”
He’s looking down at his phone as he types furiously. “I’ve just alerted Shane. I hope he’s not out there in this mess. I mean it, Ivie. Stay in the bunker until someone comes to you. If it’s a bad guy, you shoot them. Do you understand? Don’t hesitate.”
“I won’t.” I hurry to him and hug him hard. Curt stiffens. “Be smart out there.”
“Get to the bunker,” he says again, and then he’s gone. The door locks behind him, and I take a second to breathe long and deep.
Curt’s out there, but he’s armed to the gills.
I have two sidearms on me, and I open the vault to get more ammo, lock it behind me, and then do as I’m told and hurry through the tunnel.
Shane was smart enough to show me a map of the tunnel system down here and insisted I study it.
I’m so glad he did because it’s not just one tunnel. I remember him telling me that there are tunnels to the main house, Curt’s cabin, and the barn.
But I stay to the right, remembering the map, and am suddenly at a door. I open it, lights automatically come on, and I’m in the bunker.
I lock the door behind me and check the locks to the outside, and then I immediately look around for monitors.
Shane wouldn’t hole up down here without being able to see what’s happening above. I find a bathroom, the two bedrooms, and then stare at a small door that looks like it goes to a tiny closet.
“You disguised it.” My heart is hammering when I open the narrow door and grin. I flip the lights on and sigh in relief.
It’s a smaller version of the 007 room. I flip on computers and monitors and sigh in relief when the same cameras come to life.
“Oh, fuck.” I lean in, watching in horror as at least a dozen men walk through the property, all on different monitors. “They’ve spread out. My God, it looks like an army.”
It’s not. A dozen men do not make an army, but it looks damn scary to me.
“There’s Curt.” I cover my mouth with my hand and watch as Curt sneaks up behind a man dressed in all black. With the swipe of an arm, he cuts the man’s throat wide-open as if he’s cutting through warm butter. I gasp and watch as the dead man falls at Curt’s feet, and then Curt narrows his eyes and looks to his right.
Another man with an automatic weapon makes his way toward Curt, but Curt’s too fast. He raises his hand and throws the knife, hitting the man square in the forehead.
“Christ.” I have to turn away, unable to watch it. Curt’s a trained killer. It’s obvious in every move he makes that this is what he was taught to do. I don’t know how to reconcile the man I was chatting with in the barn with this assassin.
I check the time. Shane should be back anytime. I hope Curt’s message reached him, and he doesn’t walk into this without being warned.
My God, they could kill him.
And it would all be my fault.
Why did he bring me here? Why did he put himself and Curt at risk?
Sure, we flirted a lot over the past few months, but it’s not like he owes me anything. And now his property and his friend are at risk.
He is at risk.
Because of me.
If something happens to him, I’ll never forgive myself.