11. Adrian
ELEVEN
Even with the distance between us, I felt Nataliya go rigid. “He goes where I go,” she said in a tone that did not invite argument.
“So, you’re going to take him with you to the Hayes headquarters? While you try to do some kind of impossible computer magic and stay a step ahead of armed guards?”
Nataliya’s face went flat. “What would you suggest I do?”
Sam had a plan, I could see it on her face, and I braced for what I knew was coming: “Leave Elias here with me,” she said. “If he’s going to be a part of my clinical trial, he’s going to need a battery of tests, and he’s going to need to stay in the hospital while he’s receiving treatment so we can keep him under observation. He won’t just be safe here; he’ll be getting important medical care. The hospital can handle any flare-ups he might have, and the security is excellent. You can do what you need to do knowing he’s taken care of.”
There was logic in what she was saying. It would be much safer for Elias if we didn’t take him into the hot zone. It would be safer for everyone, actually. We weren’t going into a battlefield, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. It didn’t mean there wouldn’t be the possibility of guns or violence.
“Absolutely not,” Nataliya said in that same unquestioning tone. “Elias doesn’t have to be in the hospital yet. There’s no reason we couldn’t start his treatment after we get back.”
“Nataliya—” I started, and her hazel eyes found mine. They were molten with anger.
“No,” she said. “I’m not leaving my son?—”
“Mama, stop.” We all turned, and Elias had joined the group of adults, frail and small between Owen and Sam. From the sheepish looks on everyone’s faces, it seemed we’d all forgotten he was close enough to hear what we were saying—and old enough to understand it.
“Sakharok,” she admonished. “It’s rude to interrupt when adults are talking.”
“I don’t want to keep moving around,” he said curtly. “I don’t want to keep being chased by scary guys with guns.” He gestured to me. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of us. I don’t want you to get hurt because you’re worrying about me instead of looking after yourself.”
Nataliya wavered. “I’m not going to get hurt, sakharok,” she said.
“You can’t be sure of that,” he told her, quiet and solemn. “Uncle Anton didn’t think he was going to get hurt, either. But the bad man who hurt him is still out there, and he’s going to keep sending more bad men after us until you stop him. It’ll be easier for you to do whatever you have to do if you don’t have to take care of me at the same time, right?” he said, talking over her. “That way, you can stop the bad men and make it so we can stay in one place.”
She looked at me, helpless. “What if Owen stayed to keep an eye on Elias, make sure he was safe?” I suggested. “Gabe, Zach, and I can handle things.”
“You’re sure?” Nataliya asked.
I nodded. “We’re used to adapting,” I said, keeping my eyes locked with hers. We’ve got this, I tried to convey to her silently. After a long pause, she nodded.
“We should call the others,” Owen said, “and fill them in.”
I agreed, and Nataliya grabbed my laptop. “They can’t track you with that, can they?” I asked as she opened up Zoom.
“They’d have to know my network,” she said, and at my blank look, she shook her head. “It’s doubtful.” But then, her confidence seemed to crack, and she tapped out a combination on the keyboard that I couldn’t follow. “We’ll use my backup VPN,” she explained. “Just in case.”
She placed the call, and the other former SEALs answered in tandem. I quickly filled them in on the change of plans. “You think the three of us can get in?” Zach asked.
“Four,” Nataliya objected. “I can help.”
Zach looked like he wanted to argue, but Gabe jumped in, “Four,” he said resolutely. “You’re right. Will the four of us be enough?”
“We’ll make do,” I said. “We’ll do recon and make a solid plan once we can see what we’re up against. Ideally, we’d be able to give Nataliya an hour or more to do what she needs to, but realistically, it’ll be thirty minutes at a stretch.”
Nataliya let out a harsh breath, and I reached over and squeezed her shoulder. It was something that I would do to any of my men who were nervous going into a mission, but I didn’t miss how Owen’s lips twitched into a half smile.
Instead of saying anything, thankfully, Owen pulled up a map on his phone, and we were able to pick out a motel in Georgia where Nataliya and I could meet Zach and Gabe. It was close to Atlanta, but I didn’t want to be seen in the city until we were ready to go. Hayes might not have eyes on us, but he’d be an absolute moron not to think we would head straight for him. We were still dealing with the need to lay low because of the kidnapping charges. There was no telling what other tricks Hayes might have up his sleeve to make things more complicated for us.
The next steps planned out, we ended the call, and Nataliya swept out of the room, grabbing Elias as she went. I wanted to go after her, reassure her, but Sam caught me before I could. “Give her some space,” she said. “That boy is her whole world. Asking her to leave him with strangers is a lot.”
I knew that…but it was still hard to watch her walk away. Though, it wasn’t exactly easy being around her, either. Whenever she was in the room, the only thing I could think about was kissing her again. I shouldn’t have done that. Clouding my mind before a mission was stupid. Moronic. Idiotic.
And I would give just about anything to do it again.
I spent the rest of the day with Owen. We went over the schematics Drake had sent and made a tentative map that we could use of the entrances and exits. Noted where the security would probably be the heaviest in terms of cameras or guards. It helped to have something to do while we waited for go-time.
Around lunchtime, Nataliya and Elias emerged from the guest room. She looked suspiciously puffy-eyed, but the little boy was in good spirits. “Adrian,” he said as Nataliya started picking through the cabinets, obviously intent on cooking again.
“Yeah, bud?”
“You’ll take care of my mama, right?” he asked. “You won’t let anything happen to her?”
“Of course, I won’t,” I said. “She’s safe with me.”
He gave me a look that was hard to decipher. “My uncle Anton,” he said, “you were supposed to protect him too, right?”
Ouch. Somehow, the question coming from Elias hit especially hard. “Last time, there were a lot of factors involved that I couldn’t control,” I said. It was difficult to explain the complexity of military operations in a way an eight-year-old could understand, but I had to try. “The biggest one was that someone leaked the details to the bad guys ahead of time so they could plan out how to attack us. But this time, me and my guys are the only ones who know what’s going to happen, so we can stay in control. We”re going to do whatever we have to do. Understand?”
He didn’t; no eight-year-old could, really. But Elias nodded like he did anyway. “I trust you.”
Having his trust was nearly as much of a headrush as it was to have Nataliya’s. I wanted the boy to see me as someone worthy of his trust, of his belief that I could make everything okay again. Maybe I just wanted him to look at me like I really was a superhero. If Elias believed it, then maybe I could convince myself of the same.
For lunch, Nataliya showed Owen how to make patty melts, another recipe from the diner, and after everyone had eaten, I jumped up to clean again. It felt like the very least I could do. “Thank you,” Nataliya murmured as she put her and Elias’s plates in the sink.
“Anytime,” I said and nudged her shoulder with my own. “It’s going to be okay, you know?”
Nataliya didn’t look convinced. “I’ve never been away from him,” she said. “Not for his whole life, not even for a night, and now I’m just going to…to leave him with strangers.” She looked at me. “Nice strangers,” she amended.
“But strangers nonetheless,” I filled in, and she nodded. “I know this is hard, and I can’t thank you enough?—”
Nataliya waved her hand, smattering my shirt with water droplets. “Oops,” she murmured, and I saw the beginning of a grin on her lips.
“No harm, no foul,” I said.
The rest of the day was tense; our coming departure was on everyone’s mind, but Nataliya remained steadfast. She never stopped smiling at her son, never let him see her nerves. Elias asked for me at bedtime, and she sat on the opposite side of the bed as I told him more “hero stories.” When the boy finally closed his eyes, Nataliya and I slipped out of the room.
“Do you want to watch some TV?” I asked, nodding toward the living room. “Sam and Owen will take a while putting Myles down.”
Nataliya considered it, but ultimately, she shook her head. “I want—” She swallowed hard, like the words were caught in her throat. “I need to not think about tomorrow, or I’m going to talk myself out of going, and I don’t think television is going to be that distracting.”
My mouth was suddenly dry. “Can I…help?”
She studied me. “How?”
I held out my hand to her. “Come with me.” Cautiously, Nataliya slid her hand into mine, and I led her down the hall to the guest room I was staying in. “Nothing has to happen,” I said. “We could just talk.”
“But?” she asked, already a step ahead of me.
“But I could distract you,” I offered. “If you want.”
Nataliya’s eyes flicked between me and the bed. “How?”
“Let me hold you,” I suggested. “I get the feeling you haven’t been held in a really long time.”
She let out a shuddery breath. “You’re right. I haven’t. Could you?—?”
“Of course.” I closed the distance between us, wound my arms around her, and pulled her against me. For a second, she was stiff, arms held down by her sides, but when I didn’t let go, her body melted into mine. She brought her arms up and twined them around my neck, burrowing her nose into my collar and inhaling hard. I rubbed at her back, trying to soothe her. “It’s going to be all right. I’ll bring you straight back to him,” I promised. “Owen would never let anything happen to him. Elias will stay and start his treatment, and it is going to be fine.”
She inhaled and exhaled slowly, over and over, and I knew she was trying to stop herself from crying. “I’m scared.”
“I know,” I said. “I’ll never be able to tell you how grateful I am that you pushed past that fear and agreed to help. Truly.”
She shrugged, not moving her face from where it was pressed against me. “It’s not like I’m being altruistic. I don’t want to live my life on the run anymore. I want to stop the man who killed my brother. And I want to help you and the rest of your teammates who are putting so much on the line to protect me.”
I snorted. “After putting you and Elias in danger by bringing Ian Hayes right to you.”
She tipped her head up. “If they’d found us without you there, it would have been a lot worse.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t want to imagine that possibility. Once Hayes got what he wanted, whatever that was, from her, I had no doubt she would disappear, permanently. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone…but especially not Nataliya or Elias. In a shockingly short amount of time, they’d become more important to me than anyone other than my teammates had been in a long, long time.
It’s the mission, I told myself. It was the possibility of finally getting justice for Cuddy and Roger and solving this mystery that’s been building for over a year.
“Adrian.”
“Yeah?”
“Kiss me? Please?”
The whispered request sent a jolt through me…but wasn’t that why I brought her in here to begin with? Don’t play coy now. I leaned down and pressed my mouth to hers, soft and sweet, like the kiss we’d shared the night before. She allowed it for a moment, but then her mouth opened against mine, and the wet softness of her tongue brushed against my lower lip.
With a groan, I deepened the kiss, tasting her. Sunshine. It didn’t seem possible, but that was exactly how she tasted. I cupped her face, brushed the apple of her cheek with the pad of my thumb.
When breathing became an issue, I pulled back a fraction. Her hazel eyes were hazy with want. I didn’t think she could look any more gorgeous, but here she was. “You’re an incredible woman, Nataliya Koza,” I murmured. “Incredible and beautiful.”
She replied by kissing me again. Her fingers tracked into my hair, holding me against her. As if I wanted to be anywhere else. My mind drifted to the bed three steps away—I could lay her down on it, make her feel good, but I held myself back. She wanted comfort, no matter what distraction she was asking for, and I wasn’t going to press the advantage.
Instead, we stood there, trading kisses, for a long time. Somehow, it was the most naked I’d ever felt. I liked it a lot more than I would have thought.