4. Rurik
4
RURIK
T he first week of my recovery passed with every minute ticking by at an excruciatingly slow pace. I’d been idle before. In those carefree days of being a young soldier for the family, when we were all new and not trusted with too many significant assignments, we’d all had our downtime to party and take it easy.
This recovery time was no party. Besides the aches and pains that came with my muscles, tendons, and skin connecting back together from where the bullet pierced me, I was bored out of my damn mind.
“I don’t need to sit around,” I argued with Eva one afternoon when I felt like I’d go insane in the next second. She tossed out another card and I grimaced.
“You need to relax,” she said plainly, matter-of-fact as she beat me—again.
“I am relaxed.”
She shot me a look as she laid down her winning hand. This was the third time she’d beat me in the last half hour. My head, or heart, just wasn’t in the game. They weren’t in anything. This boredom took over. When I wasn’t stressed about this inactivity and expectation to be a slug on the couch, I was busy playing out what-ifs where Kelly was concerned.
It wasn’t just the problem of sitting around. It was the bigger and harder issue of not seeing that short blonde on campus anymore.
“You’re tense,” Eva replied, shuffling the cards.
“I’m bored.” I shook my head at her getting ready to deal another hand. “And cards won’t cut it.”
“I understand that, but taking it easy won’t kill you.”
Not seeing Kelly might. I scowled, reclining in the chair and rubbing my hand over my face.
“What’s got you so antsy?” she asked, putting the deck of cards down. “If it’s just a matter of feeling like you’re missing out, I can promise you’re not. Lev says that after that attack on Uncle Oleg, it’s been quiet.”
“That could be a diversion.”
She nodded. “Sure. In fact, I bet it is. But when things are quiet and there’s no action to plan on taking, sitting back and letting things lie is best.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to bring up Kelly. Eva might understand that I wanted to personally check on her, but she also might think it was a waste of my time. She hadn’t reached out to Kelly over the last couple of months, so maybe their friendship wasn’t as deep as it had first seemed. Or it faded before it could form long enough to be lasting.
“Igor Petrov is ill at the moment, according to rumors. And the Ilyins are dealing with some infighting.”
What’s new there? I rolled my eyes.
“If you truly dislike being this idle, you can always help me plan the wedding.” She plastered on a wide, over-enthusiastic grin intended to aggravate me.
“Funny.” If she really wanted my help, I’d give it. “I don’t know the first thing about planning a wedding.”
“You’ve never thought about it?” she asked.
“Being a wedding planner? No.”
She smirked. “About weddings in general. If you’d ever look for a woman to settle down with when you manage to take a break from work things.”
“I don’t think I’d need to look.”
“Oh?” Her brows shot up high as she peered at me with fresh intrigue. “Already have someone in mind?”
Shit. I hadn’t planned on wording it like that to give her that idea. Kelly had been on my mind, but I wasn’t sure that would stretch as far as wanting to marry her. I’d be grateful for the chance to see her again. To talk to her at all.
“It just means I have a type in mind.” That had to be a loophole that could appease her.
“And what’s this type?”
Blonde. Short. Curvy. Quick to smile. Sarcastic and patient. Someone just like… Kelly Garnet.
“Interesting.”
“How so?”
She crossed her arms and shrugged. “I never would have pegged you for having a type. All you brothers just go for whatever is easiest.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, not fond of this assessment. “How stereotypical of you.”
“Just calling it like it is. Anyway, I suppose we’ll need to keep an eye out for someone who fits your vague ‘type’.”
I laughed. “Keep an eye out? You make it sound as though you’ve got a gaggle of girlfriends to matchmake me with.”
“I met some girls at college…”
Bingo. She’d given me the in I needed. “The only friend I saw you make was Kelly.”
She nodded, frowning a bit. “Yeah, that’s true. I mean, I did see Irina once or twice, but we were never friends then.”
That had changed since Irina helped Eva and Lev escape danger and captivity. Vik had just proposed to Irina, too, so the women would be more like cousins-in-law soon enough.
When she didn’t elaborate, I drew a deep breath. “Have you talked to Kelly lately?”
She shook her head. “She started to pull away from me after her attack. When I had her stay at the apartment with me and Lev, she seemed aloof at times.”
I’d noticed it then, too. “I wonder why.”
“Lev said it was because we were a new couple and she didn’t want to see us all lovey-dovey all the time.” She shrugged.
“Because it reminded her of how single she was?”
Eva nodded. “Maybe. But she hasn’t really ever returned my calls or texts. Emails. Anything. She knows I’m engaged to Lev, but she didn’t reply about being in the wedding.”
“Maybe she’s cautious to really get involved with the Family.” I hoped that wouldn’t be an obstacle. “Because she’s a civilian and would rather not get tied up in all of our drama and danger.”
“I can see that. Because when we looked into her and brought her under our protection, she was hesitant to ever open up about her past. Her past that had a lot of gaps in it, gaps she never would’ve talked to even me about.”
“Because she was in the foster system,” I reminded her, well informed about the limited file the family had on Kelly. Of course, we’d looked into her. She was an outsider befriending the Baranov Mafia princess. She had to be vetted, at least to know she wasn’t spying on her or us.
“But Kelly was always so guarded and quiet.”
I shrugged. “Some people just are.” I liked that about Kelly. She wasn’t overly eager to be the center of attention but preferred to observe and watch, to witness the world happening around her instead of making it the other way.
“Did you see her when you were on campus last?” She perked up, scooting to the edge of her chair. “I know Lev had you continuing some of the checks there, along with a few other men.”
I nodded. “I saw her from a distance here and there, but she was busy.”
“With whom?”
I shook my head. “No one. Just busy with what looked like a full load of classes and working.”
Eva nodded, frowning. “Yeah. That adds up. She’s a hard worker.”
“Not just working on her degree. She got a job in an office and at a bar.”
She furrowed her brow. “What? Why? That wouldn’t give her a lot of time to study.”
“I imagine it’s because she moved out of the dorms and has to pay rent for her apartment.” A really shitty one.
“Damn.” She sighed and lowered her head. “I bet she didn’t want to live in the dorms after she was drugged and was found in the shower room like that one day.”
I’d never forget how helpless I’d felt to see her like that, but I’d let Eva and Lev take charge. It wouldn’t have helped anyone if they suspected I was attracted to Kelly. I was supposed to be fully on task with keeping Eva safe.
“Hey.” She furrowed her brow again, pensive, as she sat up. “What if you go check on her?”
Please. I’d fucking love to.
“I mean, you do need to take it easy, but walking around campus and checking in on her wouldn’t be that taxing on you.”
I shot to my feet, demonstrating how ready I was to move around. “I can handle that,” I said, trying not to give away how excited I was at the prospect of being moved out of light duty. “The doctor said to limit my range of motion still and to avoid picking up too many things with this arm, but I can do light surveillance work. I can do a courtesy check on her.”
Eva nodded, standing as well. “I know others are still on campus since Vik’s cover was blown there, but it’s not like any of them are specifically looking out for Kelly.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
She smiled. “Well, go on, then. I’ll tell Lev. He won’t mind.” As she started to leave the room with me, she pointed at me and gave me a stern look. “Just no overdoing it. No fighting. Nothing strenuous. Just watching—from afar.”
I saluted her. “Understood. Thanks for the idea, Eva.”
She studied me for a long moment, long enough that I worried she was seeing right through me and knew how eager I was for an excuse to see her former friend.
I wouldn’t risk questioning her about it. Too thrilled to have something to do and a reason to be near the young blonde I couldn’t stop thinking about, I headed toward the side door to exit the mansion.
Before I stepped out, Oleg’s angry voice reached my ears.
“I don’t care, Boris. I don’t care if I’m stirring up old grudges. If Sonya is alive, I will do everything we can to find her.”
I slowed, listening in even though it was never wise to eavesdrop on the Boss. This sounded like a bickering moment between Oleg and his younger drunk brother, Boris, though, and that was a commonplace occurrence around here.
Sonya Baranov disappeared years ago, and it seemed like Oleg cared more about locating his niece than Boris could care about finding his daughter. Boris had never been much of a father around here. Eva dismissed him all the time, deferring to Oleg as the true father figure in her life. Oleg was the Boss, though, the father to us all in the organization. So, of course, as a brother under his leadership, I had to wonder what had him so impassioned about telling his younger brother that he would persist in looking for Sonya.
What old grudges?
Vik had recently gone to Moscow on a tip. It had led nowhere, supporting what most of the family suspected—that Sonya and her mother died long ago.
I shook my head, tucking this curiosity away for later.
Right now, I had a reason to stop this idleness from dragging on. I was now free to mix business with pleasure, and I would get right to it. I had a request to check on Kelly, and I couldn’t wait until I’d see her gorgeous face again.