Chapter 12
The slowing of the car before it turned pulled Reyna from sleep. Then she heard the repeated squeak. She couldn’t believe that she’d actually slept, but oddly enough, she had. She yawned as she straightened and shifted toward the door.
Her eyes opened to see the rain falling at a steady rate against the windshield, the sky dark. The rapid beat of the windshield wipers let her zero in on the squeak. She yawned again, this time arching her back before leaning her head from side to side to stretch her neck.
Reyna glanced over at Lev’s profile. It felt nice to be fed, rested, and relatively safe. She hadn’t let her guard down like this since before Arthur was killed.
“How long was I out?” she asked.
Lev glanced her way. “About five hours.”
“You shouldn’t have let me sleep that long,” she admonished.
He shrugged and continued driving. “Why not? I was fine, and you needed the rest.”
“And you don’t?”
“I didn’t say that. I figured one of us should be alert. It’s me this time. Next time, it might be you.”
She stared out the window, watching the rain fall in the glow of the headlights. “When did it start raining?”
“About two hours ago. At least there are very few people on the road.”
“Why don’t you let me drive?”
He shook his head. “I’m okay. Thirsty, though. Can you grab a water?”
She twisted in her seat and reached into the back seat and his pack for a bottle. Reyna unscrewed the cap before she handed it to him.
“Thanks,” he mumbled before drinking deeply.
She saw a sign for a village five kilometers out. Reyna turned in her seat, but this time, she dug into her pack for the small flashlight she had, and the map.
Leaning over to look at the dash, she saw that they needed to get gas soon. “We’re only about an hour and a half from the marina in Gdynia.”
“I’m going to have to stop for petrol soon,” he said. “We won’t make it that far.”
“We can refuel in the next town.”
They didn’t speak again until they reached the small city. Lev pulled into the first petrol station he found. Reyna jumped out and found a restroom while he pumped gas. When she finished, she took over the gas while he emptied his bladder and paid the store clerk.
Reyna smiled when she saw that Lev carried a bag of food and two cups of coffee when he returned. She reached for one of the warm cups and sighed. “You read my mind.”
He chuckled and handed her the bag. “Help yourself.”
She was so busy digging through the goodies that she didn’t realize he’d once more gotten behind the wheel until the engine started.
Reyna got in and shot him a flat look. “Let me drive.”
“We don’t have that much farther, and I know nothing about boats. I’d rather you rest until we reach the marina. I’ll sleep then.”
It sounded like a good compromise, so she feasted on the delicious coffee, even if it didn’t have sugar in it, and munched on some cookies as he pulled back onto the road.
“How big is Gdynia?”
She swallowed her cookie and said, “It’s about two hundred and fifty thousand people. The port is good-sized, as is the marina. I chose it because there are so many boats there. It’s easy for someone to lose a vessel that way.”
“We just have to hope the Saints don’t realize you bought a boat.”
She chuckled and offered him a cookie. He took two. “It’s not under my name. I paid cash for it and registered it under an alias. They’d have a difficult time finding that.”
“Paying with cash was smart. The owner could recognize you, however.”
Reyna shook her head. “Not going to happen. I used a wig, appeared twenty pounds heavier, and about ten years older.”
Lev’s gaze met hers. “This just might work then.”
“Don’t get too excited,” she warned. “They’ll probably have guessed we’d head to the sea. They’ll have people at every port. Some obvious, some not.”
“We’ve gotten this far. We’ll make it,” Lev asserted.
She really hoped Lev was right. Reyna wrapped both hands around her coffee cup, letting the warmth settle into her palms. The dampness of the Slavic countries invaded everything. She missed the heat of Florida at times.
“What are you thinking about?” Lev asked, intruding on her thoughts.
“Home.”
“Where is that?”
“Florida,” she said, hearing the wistfulness in her voice. “I’ve been here so long, I think I forgot what it’s like to feel that kind of heat on me. Even before Ukraine, I was either at Langley or stationed near Russia. You’d think I’d be used to the cold by now.”
There was a beat of silence. “I don’t think we ever get used to things we don’t like.”
“There are things about my job I like.”
He quirked a brow at her.
Reyna rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. “Fine. There is nothing I like anymore. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about home more and more often of late. I kept putting it off until I succeeded here, but I think I’ve always known that I wouldn’t meet my goal.”
“I think you’ve done a fantastic job, especially knowing you were on your own. You held it together mentally and emotionally. Few people could’ve done that. Hell. I don’t even think I could have.”
His praise made warmth spread through her. “Thanks, but from what I’ve seen, you could’ve done it. I’m surprised you aren’t in the CIA or some other government agency. If they knew of you, they’d certainly try to recruit you.”
“I didn’t say I hadn’t been recruited.”
Her mouth fell open. “You turned them down?”
“I owe everything to Sergei. And I am happy with him. Why would I want to leave that?”
“For an adventure.”
He chuckled, the sound making her grin. “I get all the adventures I could want with Sergei.”
“And when he passes? Will you take over?”
The smile dropped from his face. “I never wanted the strain of running such things. There are those who will fight to take Sergei’s place, but I won’t be one of them.”
“I’m pretty sure no one would fight you if you stepped in. You think Sergei will name you to take his place?”
“He knows I don’t want it.”
“What if he wants you to have it?” Reyna couldn’t believe that she was pushing someone to take over a mafia operation, but it was because she knew Lev. He’d be fair.
Or as fair as a mafia boss could be.
Lev’s shoulders lifted as he took in a deep breath. “All of Sergei’s family is gone. I’m as much a son to him as he is a father to me.”
“Then it should go to you.”
“I’m better suited for other things.”
She shifted to lean her back half on the door and half on the seat. “Being the muscle, you mean? You’re forgetting your intelligence. It takes both physical and mental strength for Sergei to do what he’s done. Seems like he’s been preparing you for a while now.”
Lev’s head snapped in her direction. His brow furrowed, and confusion was clear in his eyes before he returned his attention back to the road. “He asked me long ago if I would take over one day. I said no. He never brought it up again.”
“Things change. Our world has changed. I would rather you take Sergei’s place instead of a Saint.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel so that his knuckles went white. “The Saints will never get close enough to Sergei to do any harm.”
Reyna didn’t bother to point out that Lev wasn’t with Sergei now. Lev was aware of that. There wasn’t any need to remind him. She wondered how long the Saints would search for them before they went after Lev’s family and friends—including Sergei.
Lev’s thoughts must have gone down the same track because his foot pressed the accelerator and their speed climbed. She didn’t admonish him. She would be doing the same thing in his place.
“Do you have family?” he asked suddenly.
She looked down at the cup in her hands. “Both my parents are dead. I have an older sister I’ve not spoken with in seventeen years. I don’t even know where she lives.”
“So, the Saints won’t go after her?”
“I distanced myself from everyone when I joined the CIA. When I became an operative, the only people I interacted with were in the agency, but I was never close to anyone except Arthur. I did the same when I joined the Saints. I made sure there was no one anyone could use against me.” She swallowed and lifted her gaze to him.
She wondered if Lev had a woman waiting for him back in Maryland.
“What about you? Anyone other than Sergei?”
He gave a single shake of his head. “I didn’t cultivate friendships with the men under me. I wanted their respect, not their camaraderie. As for anything romantic...the women I dated didn’t last long. They couldn’t handle coming in second to Sergei.”
The knowledge that he didn’t have anyone made her heart leap. Reyna turned her head away while she tried to digest that bit of information. No one had even come close to making her take a second look at them after Arthur.
Until Lev.
Was it his smooth voice? His penetrating eyes? His calm, steady nature that held a violent streak at bay that excited her?
“What about you?” he asked, glancing her way. “You have anyone here? It has been five years.”
She smiled sadly. “My anger and hatred drove me at first. I mistrusted everyone, and the deeper I got into the Saints, the more I retreated into myself. They liked that. They wanted operatives to perform a function, and believed that there should be absolutely no attachments.”
“That made things easier for you.”
“It was a lonely life. I don’t think I was fully aware of that until this moment,” she confessed, shocked by her admission. “Even when I was around a roomful of others, I was still alone. I didn’t write down my thoughts or tell them to anyone.”
Lev covered her hand with his. “That kind of solitude can drive a person crazy.”
“There were times it felt like I was going mad.” She fiddled with the lid of the coffee cup with her free hand.
“But then I’d remember why I set aside my life.
Yes, I wanted revenge for Arthur’s murder, but it became more than that.
When I realized how deep the Saints had infected the governments, I realized I couldn’t waver from my mission. ”
He squeezed her hand. “No matter how good you are—and you are very good—even you can’t do something like this alone. You need people who have your back. People you can trust.”
She looked at his profile, glad that he had to focus on the road instead of looking at her. Because if he turned those bright blue eyes on her, she might tell him that he was the one she trusted.
It was a peculiar feeling to realize she trusted, especially when she believed she would never again feel that kind of connection to anyone. Fear, relief, anxiety, and excitement all churned within her.
Her eyes lowered to Lev’s hand on hers. She turned her hand around so their palms faced each other. Without hesitation, he twined his fingers with hers.