Broken Wings (The Broken Series Book 3) (42 page)

“They
love… me?”

“Everyone
is completely enthralled with you. The media is circulating stories about how you
delivered flowers to the children’s hospital, how you attended the fundraiser
and hugged all those cancer kids, and how you’re training our university
students in peacekeeping.”

I
glanced at Shae. “But Shae...”

Maxim
shook his head. “She wasn’t at the fundraiser, and she’s not the one who
captured the prime minister’s affections with her witty foreign policy
remarks.”

Konstantin
nodded. “I’ve heard the dress Maxim purchased for you has completely sold out.
Every woman in Ukraine tried to purchase that dress after seeing your picture
on the front page of the newspaper this morning.”

I
looked at Maxim. “Did you set this all up?”

He
slowly shook his head. “It wasn’t my idea to take the flowers to the children’s
hospital, and you’re the one who decided to hug all of those children last
night. All I did was purchase the dress.”

I
stared at him in disbelief. “The prime minister does realize that I’m an
American?”

Maxim
laughed. “Of course he does. He also knows you worked as a policy advisor for
Senator Rockefeller.”

My
eyes widened. “How does he know that?”

“I
may have mentioned it in passing,” he noted unapologetically. He dug his fork
into a pile of noodles, seemingly unaffected by the developments.

I
shook my head as I tried to piece everything together. “So how would he go
about hiring me? Would he offer me a work visa?”

“He
could offer you a work visa, but he suggested an alternative course of action,”
Maxim responded with a wry smile.

I
bit my lip. I was almost too afraid to ask. “What did he recommend?”

Maxim
pressed his lips to my ear and whispered, “He told me to marry you.”

*
* * * * *

Hundreds
of teddy bears were delivered to my room in every shape, size, and color
imaginable. Ethan and Brady helped me load them into their car so I could take
them to the children’s hospital before we headed over to the university.

Shae
joined us. “You do realize he’s setting you up? He sent these teddy bears
knowing full well you would deliver them to the hospital.”

My
jaw clenched. “Yes, I realize he’s setting me up, but I can’t
not
do
this… not after seeing how those kids responded to the flowers.”

Shae
sighed. “You know, Kri… I’m beginning to think it really does suck to be you.”

I
nodded in complete agreement, although the acknowledgement seemed a bit
misplaced considering we were both crammed into a car with a gazillion teddy
bears.

The
four of us handed out teddy bears for well over an hour. The kids were
ecstatic. I was relieved to find that Maxim hadn’t leaked anything to the
media. I was afraid I might run into them at the hospital. Thankfully, the only
people taking pictures were parents and nurses.

Most
of the students were in class with Sammi and Cory by the time Shae and I
arrived. A young girl named Natasha spoke up the second I entered the room.
“Ms. Stone, is it true you delivered over two hundred teddy bears to the children’s
hospital this morning?”

I
stopped abruptly. I narrowed my eyes at Sammi and Cory. “Did you tell them?”

Cory
and Sammi shook their heads. “No.”

The
guy sitting next to Natasha raised his cell phone. “It’s all over social media.
There are pictures and everything.”

I
sank into the closest chair. A student named Galina was sitting next to me. She
practically swooned. “Is it true that Mr. Markov has asked you to marry him?”

I
buried my face in my hands.

Shae
deflected the remaining questions so Cory could explain the simulation we were
supposed to be modeling for them.

I
spent the next three hours negotiating a settlement agreement between Shae,
Cory, and Sammi, who acted as foreign policy advisors from Ukraine, Azerbaijan,
and Georgia on the expansion of the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline.

Maxim
popped his head inside the room, just as the simulation came to an end. He was
holding a dozen red roses in his hand. “I thought I would take my future bride
to lunch.”

The
entire class cheered and immediately began snapping pictures with their cell
phones.

I
grabbed his arm and tugged him into the hallway. “What are you doing?” I hissed
irritably.

He
pulled me in for a heated kiss. “I believe this is what Americans call a full
court press.”

I
eyed Brady as I pulled away. “Teddy bears?
Really?
You did that on
purpose. You knew I’d feel compelled to take them to the hospital and it would
end up drawing more press. Do you know people are actually pulling for us to
get married? How do they even know that topic came up?”

He
shrugged. “Maybe Prime Minister Azarov leaked it to the media.”

I
punched him in the arm.

He
laughed. “You do realize you’re hitting a member of the Russian mafia?”

I
began pacing in front of him. “Is this all just part of the show? You can’t be
serious, Maxim. You’ve only known me for three and a half days! I can’t do
this. I can’t get involved with another man who proposes on the fourth date.”

Maxim
leaned against the wall. He studied the flowers in his hand. “Who proposed on
the fourth date?” he asked a little too casually.

I
shot him an annoyed look. “Michael!”

Maxim
abandoned the casual facade. His eyes raked over me as he stalked toward me. “Why
did it take him so long?”

I
stumbled backwards as a number of alarms sounded in my head.

He
backed me up against the wall and immediately boxed me in. “I can keep you safe
here. I can give you a life you’ve never even dreamed possible. You are perfect
for me, Kristine. We balance each other…
beautifully
. And I know you
feel something for me.”

He
placed his finger on my lips as I began to protest. He gradually moved his
finger to my temple. He tapped gently. “You’re denying it up here, but your
body doesn’t lie.” His eyes captured and held mine as his lips hovered over my
mouth. Our breath mingled as my pulse quickened. He held us both suspended in
time as he waited for some sign. His eyes gleamed triumphantly when my
composure slipped. I could no longer hide the desire coursing through my blood.
He completely consumed me as his lips collided with mine.

Brady
cleared his throat as Maxim pressed me into the wall.

I
tried to catch my breath as Maxim pulled away. My brain was hazy. I felt
intoxicated, deeply unsettled, and confused. I reached for the wall as I began
to shake. “I… I can’t go to lunch. I’m working through lunch.”

Maxim
pressed the flowers into my hand. “Dinner then. I’ll pick you up at seven
o’clock.” He walked away before I could even respond.

Brady
lunged for me as I slid down the wall.

*
* * * * *

I
pushed through the rest of the afternoon. We guided our students through three
small group simulations. I was thrilled to see how quickly they were picking up
on the negotiation strategies. The four of us stayed inside the classroom to
debrief after the students left.

I
decided it was time to offer my friends an apology. “I’m really sorry about the
disruption this afternoon… and for all of the other distractions. This thing
with Maxim has taken on a life of its own. I don’t know if he’s doing this
because he thinks the press will keep us safe or if he’s actually serious about
me moving here.” I threw myself into one of the chairs. “This is insane.”

Cory
cleared his throat. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re distracting the
students. I think they’re bonding with you. Your relationship with Maxim
represents some sort of modern day fairytale. They like the idea that you could
come here from America and fall in love with their country.”

Sammi
nodded. “Look at how many Russian and Ukrainian women flee this region. Look at
how many come to the United States as mail order brides. What kind of message
does that send? Now you come along and send an entirely different message.
You’re the American woman who travels to Ukraine and falls in love with a
Russian man. You offer evidence that their country and their people are
desirable. Why wouldn’t they want you to stay and marry Maxim?”

I
sighed. “I don’t need an entire country pressuring me to move here. I don’t
want to live in Ukraine. I want to live in the United States… and I’m not in
love with Maxim. I’m in love with Rafael.”

Sammi
shrugged. “That’s not the message they’re being fed by the media.”

I
glanced pleadingly at Shae. “What should I do?”

Shae
looked thoughtful. “I don’t think you have much of a choice, Kri. I think you
need to ride this out until Rafael gets here. Maybe things will calm down once
we get to Sevastopol. Just give it a few more days.”

I
rolled my eyes. “At the rate this is going, I’ll be married and pregnant with
Maxim’s child by the end of the week.”

*
* * * * *

The
rest of the week continued in much the same way. The training at the university
went remarkably well, but my relationship with Maxim grew more complicated with
each passing day. I could no longer write off his interest as a passing fancy
or a publicity stunt, although we did make the news every single day.

I
tried to keep Rafael apprised as best I could without sounding off too many
alarms. He was receiving regular reports from Ethan and Brady, so I always had
some explaining to do. We spoke every night, once I was settled in at the
hotel. The lengthy phone calls seemed to help both of us cope with the
separation and the chaos surrounding me.

The
media started camping out in front of our hotel once they got wind of the teddy
bears. They snapped pictures and pleaded for interviews when Maxim picked me up
for dinner and when he escorted me back inside the hotel after our dates.

They
went nuts every time they captured me carting out the gifts that Maxim had delivered
to my room. They would snap off a couple of pictures while I loaded the car.
Then they’d jump into their cars and race to the hospital so they could take
more pictures of me unloading the car.

I
threw them for a loop Thursday morning when I drove the gifts to a local orphanage
instead. I was wrecked by the time I finished distributing the music boxes. I
was heart sick over the conditions and had been sorely tempted to gather up
every last dime that Michael had given me so I could personally adopt those
kids. Shae had to talk me down from that one. I vowed to make a donation
instead.

Sammi
and Cory decided to join us at the orphanage Friday morning when I delivered
the
Matryoshka
nesting dolls that Maxim had delivered to me. They were
equally shaken by the experience.

Friday
marked the end of our training for the Tavrida National Vernadsky University.
We spent the first half of the morning quizzing our students. Then we asked
them to share their thoughts about the training. The students offered
testimonies about the conflicts they had endured and the conflicts they hoped
to resolve with their new skills.

We
broke for lunch. Then we invited the dean and a number of faculty to observe
the students as they ran through a simulation. I was surprised when Maxim
showed up for the event. The press pushed their way into the classroom near the
end of the day. We tried to ignore the cameramen and reporters as we awarded
our students with certificates of achievement. We gave each student a gift bag containing
Ghirardelli chocolates, our business cards, and magnets sporting the peace
sign. A number of students cried, and everyone hugged as we parted ways. I was
humbled by the transformation the students had made in five short days.

The
students weren’t the only ones transformed by the experience. Word got out
about the changes we had made to the classroom. A number of faculty had stopped
by the classroom to observe our teaching style earlier in the week, and the
dean had indicated they would be adopting a number of these techniques.

As
our award ceremony drew to an end, the dean offered all four of us permanent teaching
positions at the university… in front of the media. We thanked him profusely
and agreed to consider his offer while we were working in Sevastopol.

Maxim
pulled me aside to let me know that he had something special planned for the
evening, since it was our last night together in Simferopol. He told me that Konstantin
was planning to take Shae out to dinner, but they would not be joining us. He
was a bit evasive about where we were going but asked that I be ready by six
o’clock. He garnered all kinds of attention when he kissed me goodbye.

I
found a large gift box sitting on my bed when Shae and I returned to the hotel.
 

Shae
laughed. “What did he send this time?”

I
kicked my shoes off and sank onto the bed. I reached for the box, tugged the
ribbon aside, and removed the wrapping paper. I melted when I saw the lavender
dress. I stood as I lifted it out of the box.