Chapter Sixteen
In which it is impossible to have a nice evening without assholes and guns.
Dmitri…
Will this fucking night never end?
Ava’s laughing as Roman inflicts his bullshit charm on her. If he bumps her shoulder one more time, I’m going to break his arm.
Adam leans in. “I would like to apologize to you for Will Grand and his hellspawn ending up at your family's table. Rachel was not aware that it's a terrible fit, although I'm not sure where we could have put the Grands and made it a good fit.”
I shrug. “I’m guessing your father insisted you invite the Grands?
My parents can take them.” I'm not concerned, though I do notice that Will is eyeing Ava with too much interest, even if his wife Lorraine is sitting next to him. Given the frequency of her trips to the bathroom, I suspect Lorraine’s been self-medicating and probably hasn’t noticed Will’s leering.
His daughter Lula forces the guest next to Roman to trade seats and slides in, giving him what I'm sure she thinks is an alluring smile.
“Here we go,” Adam grins. “Lula set her sights on Roman. The poor guy is fucked for the rest of the evening. When she sinks her claws in, you’d need a pickaxe to get them back out again.”
Ava is on Roman's other side, trying to hide her amusement. Her smile disappears when Will addresses her and she nods back stiffly. Whatever he asked, it wasn’t respectful.
When Ava and my mother stand up to flee to the ladies’ room, Lula follows them, which surprises me. I expected her to spend the time digging into Roman.
Will does not attempt to talk with my father, and in fact, leans into a conversation at the neighboring table to avoid him.
It takes more than billions to approach my father, It takes balls of steel and I'm quite certain Will doesn't have them.
He's just a greedy bastard with privilege and enough acumen to take over his father's real estate empire.
I've gone up against him, bidding projects before and won enough to infuriate him. I intend to get the Newton Creek project from Mayor Warner. Ideally, that’ll give Will a stroke and keep the greedy fuck out of my way for good.
The ‘seafood medley’ is cleared from the table and, thank god, my speech should just be minutes away.
Checking my watch, I notice Ava and my mother have been gone for around fifteen minutes.
Mother is not one to linger in a public bathroom, even one is a place as grand as the Ritz Carlton.
Pulling out my phone under the table, I check who’s on her security duty today.
Frowning, I text back.
Melor and his team are good. Some of our best, which is why they’re assigned to my mother.
The cursor blinks at me mockingly. It should take Melor less than thirty seconds to answer.
Sixty seconds.
“Excuse me,” I say to Adam, rising from the table.
“No problem,” he says, slapping my shoulder. “Just be back for your best man’s speech.”
Father catches my movement and rises abruptly, leaving his conversation with the deputy Mayor mid-sentence.
We meet at the exit. “Mother’s team hasn’t checked in for nearly five minutes,” I say as we stride down the hall. Servers press themselves up against the wall to avoid us.
Father taps his phone. “Report.”
Silence.
Footsteps echo behind us as Roman and Alexsey catch up.
Melor's voice crackles across Father’s speaker. “Situation compromised. Daniil and Ivan are missing. Entering the bathroom.”
I hear the splinter of wood as he kicks in the door.
“Sweeping the bathroom. Mrs. Morozova is here, she’s uninjured. Two other females are bound and gagged.”
I break into a run, rounding a corner so fast that a couple in front of me let out a shriek as I race past them.
“Checking the stalls.” Melor’s emotionless voice continues. “No sign of Miss Blue.”
No. Fuck!
The splintered door is hanging by one hinge.
The ladies’ room has a blue velvet couch where Lorraine and Lula Grand are seated, zip tied, eyes wide over the duct tape covering their mouths.
My mother is against the wall by the row of gold and silver sinks.
The window above her is shoved open. It's high up so they had to have dragged Ava through it.
Father pushes past me, working the tape off Mother's mouth and she draws in a deep breath. “Two men,” she gasps. “They were hiding in the supply closet.” She nods at another open door. “Daniil cleared the bathroom, but that door was locked. They took Ava out the window.”
I take her hands, “How long ago?”
“Less than three minutes,” she says.
Someone must have gotten the tape off Lula's mouth, because she lets out a scream that rattles the window. "Oh, my god we could have died! We could be raped and murdered-"
Hoisting myself up, I swing my legs over the sill. The alley is empty in both directions. Cursing, I drop, landing on the ground in a crouch. Roman follows me and then Alexsey.
“You two go right,” I say. “I'll go left.” We all take off, racing through the darkened alley. I have a gun in a concealed holster that my jacket covers, and my knife strapped to my calf. They’ll be enough.
This being the Ritz Carlton, it isn't the typical dismal Manhattan alleyway, populated with dumpsters and rats. It’s well-maintained with tubs of ornamental trees and a clean, paved driveway. There’s a valet stepping out of a Porsche and I slide over the car hood and grab him by the jacket.
“Two men and a woman, have they passed by you?”
He points to the left. “They went into the hotel’s private garden,” he stutters.
“Is there a public exit out of there?”
“Y- yes, but it should be locked-”
I'm racing down the pathway before the last word leaves his mouth. I can hear them now, someone growling muffled threats as I push past a series of lilac trellises and jump over a couple of ornamental boxes filled with brightly colored roses. Ava’s fighting, I can hear it, her heels loudly scraping against the brick pathway.
“If you don’t stop dragging your fucking feet I will crack this gun over your head and finish off what Roger should've done.” The voice is ugly, low, and coarse with a slight accent.
Rounding a bank of tulips, I see them; one man with a gun to Ava's head, her mouth is taped and her wrists zip-tied and bloody from fighting against the plastic binding.
The other man is breaking the lock to get the street access door open.
I shoot him in the head, dropping him instantly and the other man holding Ava turns, his eyes wide as I shoot his hand holding the gun to her head.
He grunts, dropping the gun, knocked backwards from the force of the bullet, dragging Ava with him.
He gets his arm around her throat and her hands go up, clawing at him as I shoot his shoulder. This time, he screams.
“You fucking pussy,” I snarl. “Two bullets and you’re screaming like a little bitch?”
I lift Ava with one arm, holding my gun on him with the other. “Are you hurt?” It's a stupid question. She was abducted, dragged through the window, and her mouth is covered with duct tape.
Ava gets her bound hands up and rips the tape off her mouth herself. “I'm okay. Is your mother all right? Did they hurt her? One of them pulled me out the window before I could see what happened.”
“She's fine,” I say, kissing her forehead.
Kidnapped and dragged away and she's thinking about my mother.
“Can you take my phone out of my pocket?” I ask calmly. “The top button in my contacts list will be Roman, push one.” I want to kiss her forehead again, her cheekbones, her mouth. I focus on the bleeding fuck who’s holding his shoulder, rocking back and forth.
Her hands are shaking so violently that I'm concerned she'll drop the phone, but she gets it out and presses the right button.
Roman’s voice rings out. “Do you have them?”
“Yes,” I say. We’re by the public entrance to the Rose Garden near the front of the hotel.”
“There in less than three minutes,” he says, but it's even less before I hear their footsteps racing through the pathway.
There's a muffled curse from Alexsey and a growl. “Fucking roses!”
Ava giggles, high and a little hysterical and then covers her mouth as if shocked that she could find anything funny. Roman and Alexsey take in the scene instantly.
"Thank you for leaving me at least one of these assholes to question," Roman says, giving him a smile that can only be described as avaricious. Alexsey is quietly contacting Father and our backup security.
I check my watch. “Fuck! I have a best man’s speech to give.
” Still holding Ava, I holster my gun and hit the bleeding man across the face, grabbing his cheeks and digging in my fingernails.
“I'll be seeing you later,” I say slowly, precisely.
He tries to spit on me, but I kick him backwards and into a tub of snapdragons.
“Ava darling,” I give into the urge and kiss her forehead again. “Alexsey is going to take you home.”
“Can you untie me?” she asks.
Fuck!
"Of course." I pull out my knife, getting her zip ties off.
Then, she says something unexpected. “Are your mother and father staying?”
Frowning, I nod. “Well, yes. Alexsey and Roman will clean this up. Melor’s looking for our other bodyguards. My parents will stay to show that the Morozovs are invincible.”
She raises her chin stubbornly. “Invincible? Then I want to go sit with them and listen to your speech.”
I’m feeling a conflicting mix of admiration and frustration. “Malen'kaya soroka, my little magpie, you don't have to do that, you're hurt. Let Alexsey take you home and get your wrists looked at.”
Ava shakes her head, pulling her long sleeves down. “See? The abrasions are covered,” she says. “I still have my shoes on, which is a miracle with these heels.”
Looking down at her stubborn little face, I shake my head “Why do you want to do this?” I ask.
“Because,” she says, lips tight. “I'm betting the bastards who sent these men are still inside. I want to show them…”
She pauses for a minute, trying to find the words. “That I'm invincible, too.”
Roman grins. “Nu, chert voz'mi, well, damn. I like this woman.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I bark at him and scoop her up in my arms. “All right,” I say, checking my watch. “We've got two minutes to get back. Hang on, honey.”
Improbably, she’s laughing, clinging to me as I race back through the garden, past the stunned valet who is still standing there, holding the keys to the Porsche, and through the side entrance, making our way back to the ballroom.
Just outside the door, she wiggles. "Let me down.
" Craning her neck back far enough that I can hear a little crack, she examines me.
“You've got some blood here,” she says, using her sleeve to wipe it off my cheekbone. “And on your hand.” I pull out my pocket square and wipe the blood off my knuckles rapidly.
“What about you?” I cup her face in my hands, looking at her carefully. She looks a bit unhinged, still grinning, but other than her poor wrists, she appears unharmed.
“I’m just fine,” she says, straightening my lapel.
“Let's do this.” Slipping her arm in mine, she walks back in with me smiling shyly, as if we’d just had a quickie in the linen closet, which would explain the hair that neither one of us could fix.
Her updo is listing toward the left and curls are escaping in all directions. I doubt my hair looks much better.
Father meets us by the dais. “Ava, will you join Ella and me?” She nods, giving me a double thumbs up, which looks ridiculous but oddly endearing.
Adam is glaring at me as his bride's sister is just finishing her speech. Ava’s sitting with my parents, who look completely unaffected by what just happened. Mother scoots her chair closer to Ava's and puts her arm around her protectively as I make my way back to the head table.
There's a round of sentimental “ooo’s” and “aah’s” and then applause as Rachel’s sister finishes her speech, handing the mic to me with a little flirtatious smile.
I take the mic and notice there's a smear of blood on my sleeve.
Adjusting my cuffs so my jacket hides it, I smile at the crowd, bringing up the mic.
“There's a dozen stories that Adam has expressly forbidden for me to tell you,” I say pleasantly, causing a little ripple of laughter through the ballroom.
“But the one he neglected to refuse me was an unfortunate night we had back in London. We met at Cambridge University as undergrads…” I launch into the story which involved an extremely drunken night, three equally soused classmates, and a stolen llama.
“I'm just assuring you, Rachel," I smile at his bride.
“That Adam may look innocent, like a solid, stable family man.
However, when required, he can be a wild-eyed lunatic, and then the smoothest charmer you've ever met… which is why the university police chose not to arrest us. You're in good hands.” I raise my glass of champagne. “To the happy couple. May your love be as enduring as Adam’s legendary hangovers.”
Adam drinks to the toast before giving a shaky sigh of relief and turning to Rachel, giving her a kiss. “It's all true,” he says earnestly, staring into her eyes. “Especially that last part where we didn't get arrested.”
She pinches his chin fondly. “I knew you had it in you,” she says, “and somehow, the whole stolen llama thing just makes you hotter.” They kiss to another round of “Awws” and I hand the mic back, smiling urbanely.
Looking at our table, I see that Will is gone, no doubt comforting his hysterical wife and daughter. Ava is sitting tall, clapping for me with an unhinged grin on her face as she shoots me a wink. This stubborn, courageous woman…
My stubborn, courageous woman.