Chapter 13 #2
Millie clasped her hands hand in her lap.
“My name is Milena Ivanov Sullivan. My father is Sergey Ivanov. He is a Russian Pakhan in the Bratva in New York City. I ran from my father’s home because he arranged my marriage to a vicious and cruel man, Ricard Sokolov.
Ricard planned to marry me, get me with child, deposit me in some villa in Italy and go back to his mistress.
I knew that Ricard was cruel by the beatings he gave his mistress.
Why she stayed, I’ll never know. He hit me once and that was all it took for me to run. ”
She leaned forward in her chair and clasped her hands on the table in front of her.
“I ran to Steamboat Springs, Colorado hoping the location was far enough from New York and I could lose myself there.
But Ricard found me. I saw one of his Malchik, his soldiers, there and was preparing to run again, when I ran into Adam Sullivan, literally.
We came to an agreement. He needed a wife and I needed a safe place to stay.
So we married, and he took me to his ranch outside of Steamboat.
He raises cattle with his six brothers and runs Sullivan Security and Sullivan Technologies, as well as other companies from there.
Millie sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Eventually, Ricard found me and kidnapped me from the ranch. Adam and his brothers followed. At one point Adam was shot, but he had a bullet proof vest on, so it didn’t kill him.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Finally, Adam managed to extricate me from Ricard and Ricard was arrested. That’s why I’m giving this statement of my own free will.”
When she was done, Agent Aubrey stood. “Thank you for your cooperation, Mrs. Sullivan.”
Millie stood. “You’re welcome. I assume I can go now.”
“Yes. I’ll show you out.”
“No need. My husband is waiting for me in the waiting room.”
“Very good.” He extended his arm to shake her hand. “Thank you again.”
Millie gave him a quick nod, shook his hand, and headed out of the room.
Adam stood as Millie entered the waiting room. “How did it go?”
“Fine. Same old thing. I told them exactly what happened. They recorded it this time. I told him I didn’t want to come in again.”
Adam wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
She leaned into him and circled his waist with her arms. “I’m ready to go home. Let’s head to the truck.”
He held the door open for her.
“Me, too, though I’m not looking forward to the drive. Sullivan Security has a suite at the Adam’s Mark for when clients come in, and it should be empty. Would you like to spend the night there? We can get a great meal and some sleep without worrying about the brothers. They’ll be fine.”
“I’d like that. The stay will be like a mini vacation.”
“I might even take you dancing.”
She looked down at her jeans and button-up shirt, then back at him. “Not in these clothes you won’t.”
“Then before we go to dinner, we’ll go shopping for some new ones…for both of us.”
She leaned into his side. “That sounds great.”
He placed an arm around her. “Whew!” He swiped his free hand across his forehead. “You had me scared for a minute there.”
Millie elbowed him.
“Uff. Wrong answer?”
“Yes, that’s the wrong answer. You have to go with me though, not only to pay for the new clothes, but to tell me how they look. I don’t have any girlfriends here, so you have to step up.”
He lifted her chin with the right index finger’s knuckle. “I’m only teasing you. It will be my pleasure to accompany you when you go shopping. Maybe we can even look at baby things. We need everything and you have to tell me what all that is besides the crib. That I can figure out.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist again. “I would love to do that.”
They had finally reached his truck, and Adam walked around to the passenger side with Millie, opened the door and then helped her in. He’d picked up a step so she could get into the truck easily.
Once she was in and her seatbelt buckled, he folded the step and placed it on the floor of the backseat before he walked to the driver’s side and climbed in.
“Where to first?” He started the truck and waited for a minute for the heat to kick in. Then he headed out of the parking lot.
“Why don’t we check into the Adam’s Mark? I’m hot and kind of tired. I’d like to refresh myself. Then we can find a Walmart somewhere.”
Adam headed for the hotel.
He snorted. “When did you ever buy your clothes at Walmart? The house you ran from had a servants entrance.”
She shrugged. “When I was on the run, I discovered I could get everything I needed at Walmart.”
“Ah, I should have thought of that. For tonight though, there are a couple of boutiques on the Sixteenth Street Mall. We’ll go and check those out. We can probably get recommendations from them about where to find maternity clothes and baby stuff, if they don’t have anything there.”
She gazed over at him. Her heart was so happy. Adam loved her and was willing to show her how much, just by getting excited about having a baby. “Are you sure?”
Adam placed his right hand on her left leg and gave it a little squeeze. “I’m absolutely sure, and you don’t have to buy everything all at once. We can come back, after you’ve checked out the offerings in Steamboat.”
“That’s a good idea. With Ricard in custody, I don’t have to worry about going into town.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Freedom feels good.”
“You know we’ll have to come back for the hearing and then again for the trial. Are you worried?”
“No. I want him put away where he can’t hurt anyone else. I’ll do what I have to in order to see justice served.”
“That’s my girl.”
Adam took her to the Adam’s Mark Hotel. He checked them into the penthouse and they took the private elevator to the top floor.
When the elevator stopped it opened onto what was a small lobby with two doors off of it.
He walked to the one on the right, passed the key in front of the code reader and opened one side of the double doors. Then he waved his hand out in front of him.
“What do you think?”
Millie looked around the open living room, dining room and kitchen. “It’s fabulous and you keep this just for potential clients?”
“And for the rare times that we have to stay in the city.” He brought in the lone suitcase they had packed…just in case they had to stay overnight.
Millie walked to the floor to ceiling windows and peered out. “The view is amazing. I bet with the lights on tonight it will be even more spectacular.”
“You’re right the view is one in a million.”