26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Six
Alyssa
I n the elevator on the way to my room, I set up my accounts in my new phone. Between visits to the lawyer and police station and dropping my phone in the toilet, I’d had a hell of a few days.
Ricky’s interview earlier today was part of the news cycle in the entertainment world.
At some point, I’d have to consider hiring a PR person if my life kept spiraling out of control.
My finger hovered over my favorite social media app.
With Ricky’s lies out in the world, my mentions would be out of control.
Maybe I’d need to abandon these accounts.
As soon as I opened the app, my feed was flooded. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the first mention, and my stomach dropped at the headline.
Mia Malone fires longtime bodyguard .
She fired him? I crouched before my leg gave out. Mia had fired Pasha?
He’d have to go back to Russia. His visa was tied to his job. My stomach rolled, and I clutched my middle as the elevator jolted to a stop at my floor.
As I braced a hand against the wall, bile rose in my throat.
I was going to be sick all over the floor if I didn’t get to my room in a hurry.
If he was sent back to Russia, I’d never see him again.
I swallowed the panic threatening to grip me and dug into my purse for my room key.
God, this was a disaster. What had we done?
“ Alyssa?”
I snapped to attention at the sound of his voice. Pinpricks darted across my skin.
Pasha . He was here.
Tears flooded my eyes, blurring his tall, athletic figure. Oh, God, he’d come to say goodbye. Was the government kicking him out already?
“Pasha.” His name was more of a wail than a word. “She fired you?” My words were a garbled mess, and his confused expression meant he probably hadn’t understood what I’d said.
“Are you okay?” He scanned me, and when I got close enough, his hands traveled my body as though looking for injuries.
“No, I’m not. You’re getting deported?” My heart clenched when our gazes connected. How would I cope if I never got to see him again? Maybe I’d have to move to Russia or visit, at least.
“Did he kick you out of your own house?” He smoothed my hair, and his blue eyes were filled with tenderness and concern.
“Changed the locks with my sister’s help.” He was going to be removed from the country, and he was worried about me. “But I don’t care about that if you’re going back to Russia.”
“I’m not going back to Russia.” His lips grazed the side of my mouth, and my purse dropped to the floor. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sought his lips, pressing my body against his.
“Your letter,” he said between kisses.
“You found it?” My teeth grazed his bottom lip.
“Yes. You meant it?” His voice was gruff.
“Every word.” Our gazes connected.
He stepped back and framed my face with his hands. “I mean this—every word. I love you. ”
My stomach flopped, and I searched his blue eyes, their sincerity stopping my heart. Tears pooled, blurring my vision. “You love me?”
“Yes.” His eyes softened. “Most people get one great love if they’re lucky. These last few months with you, I have realized that sometimes someone gets lucky twice in a lifetime. Turns out my heart is big enough, strong enough to hold another great love—you.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered, my heart pounding in my ears. “You love me that much?”
“I do. I’m sorry I didn’t say it before. I should have. It’s just—I wasn’t sure I could risk my heart again. Once you were gone, I realized, for me, love isn’t a choice. I want to be with you. I’ll do anything to make that happen.”
“Oh, Pasha.” I threw my arms around his neck and tugged him tight. My fingers threaded through his hair, and I breathed him in. He wanted to be with me, just me. Then the reality of that claim slammed into me, and I drew back. “But Mia fired you?”
“It’s not how it seems.” He grimaced. “Yes, she fired me, but that was more for show than out of anger or obligation. I’m still employed by the umbrella company.” His lips twitched with a partial smile.
“Umbrella company?”
“M and T Productions.”
“M and T Productions,” I said slowly, my mind trying to grasp where I’d heard that name before. Wait, wasn’t that… “Is Telling the T in that? Malone and Telling? Are you—are you working for Sarah?”
A grin split his face. “I am on loan for her next tour, which starts rehearsals”—he pretended to check a watch that wasn’t on his wrist—“tomorrow?”
I bounced up and down, excite ment spilling out. “Ahh! We get to be together. Oh my God.” I jumped into his arms, and he lifted me off the floor. Then he dipped me down and planted a quick kiss on my lips. “Wait. What about the contract? Is it—is it the same?”
“This time,” he said, “there is no reason we can’t be together. Sarah doesn’t have that clause in her contracts.”
“Ahhhmazing!” I was giddy with relief.
“We get to be together.” His face turned serious. “But first, we get that asshole out of your house.”
I laughed, my hair sweeping along the floor before he tipped me back onto my feet. “I’m working on it. I have a lawyer. I’ve filed a complaint with the police. But all my paperwork is in the house, and Ricky won’t let me back in unless I say I’m taking him back. Which will never happen.”
“No, no, no. We go today. He leaves today.”
I cocked my head. “How are we going to do that? I’ve been working on getting him kicked out the last two days.”
“You just need a little”—Pasha flexed and tapped his bicep—“muscle.”
“A little, huh?” I raised my eyebrows in amusement. “He’s not easily intimidated.”
“Intimidation is my job. Don’t worry. If he isn’t gone when we get there, he will leave as soon as he can.” Pasha pulled me into his side. “He won’t like me when I’m angry.”
An image of the Hulk flashed before me. Though the green guy had never been my favorite superhero, picturing Pasha in his place definitely had my interest. I glanced up at him, fluttering my eyelashes. “Might as well get my money out of the room today. No need to hurry over to kic k him out.”
His smile started in the corner of his lips before widening to its full wattage. “I like your thinking.”
“I thought you might.” I scooped my purse off the floor, tugged him down the hall, and slipping my keycard into the lock on my room door.
Ricky could wait. Right now, I wanted to enjoy my reunion.
When we arrived back at the house, the front door was wide open. What now? I rushed toward the door, but Pasha grabbed my arm and held me back.
“I’ll check the house. You stay here. In the car, just to be safe.”
Even from the driveway, I could tell he’d cleaned out the house again. All the furniture was gone. In a rage after Pasha’s visit, he’d probably ripped the TV right off the wall. I couldn’t even remember what attributes I’d seen in Ricky.
Before Pasha, my instinct would have been to rail against all men. But Ricky wasn’t all men. He was simply representative of the poor choices I’d made in the past. Let him have the furniture. I would have the better life.
A deep sigh preceded Pasha out of the house. “He’s taken everything of any value.”
“Sounds about right,” I said. “This isn’t the first time he’s been a total shit. But it’s the last time he’ll be a total shit to me.” I tapped the roof of the car. “How’d you get his car?”
“I can be persuasive.” His playful smile morphed into a grimace. “I can help you get your stuff back. He shouldn’t have taken it.”
No, he shouldn’t have, but Ricky’s issues weren’t mine anymore, and the sooner I could be rid of him, the better I’d feel. The last three days had been stressful and emotional. I wanted to enjoy my last day before rehearsals started. “Did he leave me anything?”
He scratched the back of his head and looked toward the bay window. “A mattress on the floor.”
At least he’d left that. “Do we really need more?” I pinched his shirt and tugged him closer.
“He robbed you again.” Pasha let out a frustrated noise.
“Last time I cared, a lot. All those things felt important to hang onto.” I barked out a laugh. “He felt important to hang onto. But none of that is as important as the time I get to spend with you.”
With his hands on my upper arms, he searched my face. “The debt. You could sell those things to pay off your debt.”
Color flooded my cheeks. The debt had been Ricky’s, but for some reason, admitting Ricky had paid it off when he returned didn’t sit well.
It was true the debt was gone, but when I’d tried to find out who’d paid for it, to be completely sure Ricky had been the one to do it, I’d been told the payer wished to remain anonymous.
I’d wondered if Pasha had done it. Apparently not.
“Ricky said he paid the debt off.”
Pasha’s eyes narrowed, and a frown pinched between his brows. “Ricky paid it?”
“That’s what he said. When I went to the bank, I was told the payer wished to remain anonymous.”
The clouds building across Pasha’s face cleared. “Ah,” he said with a smile. “Not Ricky, then.”
“ No, I don’t think so. I thought—well, I’d wondered if it was you. Silly, I know, but—”
“Mia.” He nodded and leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “All her goodwill donations are anonymous.”
“Goodwill donations?” My mind immediately went to the large chain, and my blush deepened. I wasn’t a charity case.
“Yes. When she pays off layaways, or a year’s supply of baby materials, or meals at restaurants—”
“Or thousands of dollars in credit card debt?” Was I happy Mia had been the one to do it? The mystery was solved. But to be treated like a charity project? A ding to my pride.
He smoothed my hair and crouched so we were eye to eye.
“You choreographed an amazing routine. You spent countless hours with me and Mia working on the routine. You hurt yourself, and you didn’t back down from the responsibility.
Never doubt you earned whatever she paid.
It’s not charity so much as what you deserve. ”
“How did you know?” Most of the time, his ability to read me was uncanny.
“It’s how I would have felt.”
I stared deep into his eyes, the familiar tide of emotion rushing in. “I love you, you know that? I love you so much.”
He grinned. “I never thought I would get this again. I love you too. I can’t wait to start this next adventure with you.”
A few months ago, I’d been miserable. On the verge of bankruptcy, dumped by my lousy boyfriend, and taking bets in clubs for a little extra cash. Now look at me. Happy, no longer financially strapped, with a boyfriend who could read my emotional cues like a book written just for hi m.
I rose onto my toes and hugged him tight. In his ear, I whispered, “I think all my best adventures are going to be with you.” Taking his hand, I led him into the house. “And the first adventure is right in here.”
“Oh, yes?”
I gave him a sly smile. “Oh,” I breathed. “Yes.” Then I shut the door, gave him a gentle push onto the mattress, and proceeded to show him just how adventurous I could be.