Authors: Elizabeth Moynihan
“Where would I find Danielle?” Hunter asked.
“She’s on the ice right now and will be for about another hour. Sergei and Chloe are also finishing up their morning workout. I can either show you to your room and let you get settled in, or we can walk you over to the ice rink and introduce you to everyone,” Jordan offered.
“There’s no time like the present. If it’s all the same to the two of you, I’d rather get to speak with Danielle while everything is still fresh in her memory,” Hunter stated.
“I can assure you, Dani’s mind is like a steel trap; she never forgets anything!” Aleksei stated.
“Unlike the rest of us,” Jordan agreed dismally.
“Well then, let’s go see exactly what Danielle’s steel-trap mind remembers,” Hunter suggested.
A wave of cold air, loud music with a heavy Latin beat and a short, high-pitched scream bombarded Hunter as he followed Jordan through the door which Aleksei held open and entered the world of figure skating. There before him, stretched a seemingly endless layer of blue-white ice that reflected the overhead lights as tiny pinpoints of light that shimmered like scattered diamonds. Music vibrated around them, heavy and sensual in its Latin rhythm, as Mark Anthony pleaded ‘
tell me baby girl cause I need to know
’. A blur of motion whizzed by them as Sergei and Chloe skated past them at top speed, preparing for a throw.
“I’ll go find Dani,” Jordan offered and with a quick kiss for her husband, headed for the locker room.
Astonished, amazed and more than a little fearful, Hunter watched the pair intently as Sergei suddenly launched Chloe into the air, his strength and momentum propelling her high into the air and several feet across the ice where she amazingly landed on one foot. One foot! The sudden realization he’d been holding his breath surprised him and with a deep sigh, and shaky laugh, he tried to relax.
“You’ll get used to it,” Aleksei offered, understanding lighting his dark eyes.
Hunter shook his head in disbelief. “How does anyone get used to that?” he asked with a nod toward the ice, watching as the pair executed a perfect death spiral. “Talk about trust. You’re literally placing your life in your partner’s hands. What if he’s having a bad day?” Hunter asked deeply, his eyes never leaving the pair.
“That’s why you’re here; that’s Chloe,” Aleksei stated softly. “Her ex-partner is Andrew Manning. You saw the doctor’s reports, the police reports and the pictures. Tell me Hunter, does that girl on the ice look anything at all like the woman in the pictures?”
Hunter watched Chloe as she skated around the ice. Attired in a form fitting leotard the color of cranberries with a sheer over-skirt and flesh-toned tights, it was perfectly clear to see that the naked woman in the pictures could in no way be confused with the willowy young woman on the ice. And, if the truth be told, even Hunter preferred Chloe’s sleek lines to the paid-for breasts and lipo-suctioned legs of the woman in the photos. “Hardly. Whoever doctored those pictures needs to pay closer attention to details,” Hunter stated flatly.
“Just goes to show you get what you pay for!” Aleksei countered darkly. “You pay for sloppy work, you get sloppy work. I can only hope Manning was stupid enough to leave a paper trail.”
“
Businessmen
like the Manning’s rarely leave tracks. But, trust me, the more they think they’re getting away with things the more likely they are to get lax and sloppy and that’s when they’ll make a major mistake, and lucky for you, I’m patient enough to wait them out.”
“
Businessmen
, huh?” Aleksei snorted in disgust.
“I’d rather not add a slander suit to the list of strikes the Manning’s are directing at you; there are only so many trees in the forest and we’ll be up to our chins in paperwork as it is. So, for the time being, we’ll maintain our integrity and keep the name-calling amongst ourselves,” Hunter stated firmly.
“That’s not going to be easy; you haven’t had the pleasure of dealing with Andrew Manning. After you’ve had a couple of run-ins with him, I’ll be very curious as to your opinion of him.” Aleksei argued.
“You’re right, I haven’t met him personally, yet. Unfortunately I have had the opportunity to deal with his father and if the son is anything like his father then I’ll take great pleasure in seeing he gets his due. The only thing that could possibly make me happier would be taking Manning Senior down as an accessory. If he knew of his son’s activities, and I can’t believe he didn’t, and still did nothing to stop them, that makes him no better than his son and people like that don’t deserve to be occupying space in the civilized world. It’s our constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and I have a big problem with bullies that pick on those weaker than themselves. It’s going to be great seeing the Manning’s finally fall from their self-installed pedestal! ” Hunter vowed quietly, his tone cold and menacing.
“Any idea how long this might take? I’d rather have all this over sooner than later,” Aleksei stated.
“Wouldn’t we all?” Hunter questioned calmly. “We want it done right, by the letter–every ‘I’ dotted, every ‘t’ crossed–I don’t want to leave them even the slightest crack to slip through so we’re going to be very meticulous about it. Everything will be written down, typed up, signed, dated, notarized, filed in a court of law and assigned a case number.” Hunter declared.
“It sounds like this could take a fair amount of time to put together and execute,” Aleksei offered.
“I’m here for as long as it takes,” Hunter answered.
“I hope Marcus can do without your expertise back home,” Aleksei said.
“Marcus told me to do whatever it takes, not to worry about a time frame and to call if I needed anything, and, after all these years, I’ve learned, it’s always best to listen to Marcus. Besides, he’s got enough lawyers shuffling papers for him to keep the judicial system tied up in knots for the next century.”
“Sounds like some things never change.” Aleksei chuckled softly.
“You’re right, things remain status quo when it comes to Marcus. He’s as steady as a rock.”
“It’s always good to have a rock to lean against when you need it,” Aleksei sighed tiredly.
“Well, now you’ve got yourself another rock to lean against. So sit back, and try to relax,” Hunter suggested seriously.
“Easier said than done. I don’t relinquish power well,” Aleksei stated with a shrug.
“No man does,” Hunter allowed.
“This is my family; I should be able to keep them safe.” Aleksei growled.
“You are keeping them safe and you’re not relinquishing any power to me; you’re simply accepting my help. Between the two of us, we’ll see the Manning’s are made accountable for their actions.”
Aleksei watched Hunter’s gaze return to the ice, saw the intensity with which he watched Sergei and Chloe and could almost see the wheels turning in his head.
This guy’s always thinking
Aleksei realized and suddenly the whole situation with the Manning’s didn’t seem so overwhelming.
The sound of the locker room door banging open and crashing against the wall brought both Aleksei and Hunter’s attention to the two women headed their way and Aleksei smiled as he recognized the stubborn look in his daughter’s furiously flashing green eyes before he even heard her upset tone.
“Mom, lose the ice bag, my hip is fine!”
“Dani, humor me. Ten minutes, that all I’m asking for, ten minutes to ice down your hip. That was a solid fall you took when we came in. The ice will help,” Jordan pleaded, casting her husband a
do something
look.
“Don’t you find it the least bit ironic to want to be putting ice on my hip when it was the ice that put the bruise there in the first place?” Dani growled, refusing to take the ice bag her mother held steadily toward her. “It’s a bruise, Mom, not the first and hardly the last one I’ll ever have!”
“Dani, enough with the martyr bit; ice the hip and quit giving your mother grief,” Aleksei demanded softly, taking the ice from Jordan’s hand and holding it out to his stubborn daughter.
“Honestly, Dad, it’s so small, it can’t even be called a real bruise. Look,” Dani offered, wiggling down the one side of her tight skating pants to display the pale white skin of her left hip and a fair portion of her softly rounded bottom.
“Dani!” Jordan and Aleksei gasped simultaneously.
“Christ,” Hunter’s deep, husky whisper suddenly had Dani’s gaze reaching beyond her father’s body and locking on to a gorgeous pair of eyes the color of deep cognac, and looking directly at her partially bared bottom and hip.
Dani’s breath caught briefly in her chest as she took in the masculine good looks, the chiseled features, the full, soft looking lips parted slightly in surprise and found herself wondering what they would feel like against her own. A feeling of giddiness filled her and she pushed it away, unsure how to deal with the strange sensation. Slowly, somewhat tauntingly, she pulled her pants back into place, lifted one eyebrow in an expression that her father had perfected, and stated in a thoroughly bored tone, “You must be the barracuda.”
T
o say Aleksei and Jordan were astonished at their daughter’s less than cordial greeting to Hunter was a huge understatement and for the span of a few heartbeats a tense silence reigned in the high-ceilinged building.
“Danielle,” Aleksei’s deep voice called softly, his tone of warning perfectly clear in the single word of her name.
“Dani, I’d like you to meet Hunter James, attorney at law. Hunter, our daughter, Dani,” Jordan made the formal introduction.
Hunter extended his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Danielle. Marcus speaks very highly of you.” Despite Hunter’s polite words, Dani had the feeling he was speaking the words more from habit than actually meaning them and that in itself had her bristling at his cynical attitude.
“Welcome to our home and please, call me Dani,” she replied, her voice fairly dripping honey, a
stage
smile curving her full lips yet not reaching her green eyes that grew darker as her agitation increased.
Hunter’s hand remained outstretched as he waited to see if she would reciprocate and shake his hand. His gaze dared her to ignore him and against her better judgment, she slipped her hand into his, her eyes widening in surprise at the sudden jolt of electricity that seemed to run up her arm as they touched. Her attempt to withdraw her hand had him closing his fingers around hers tightly, warmly, refusing to release her hand. “Thank you for the warm welcome, Danielle. I look forward to my stay; I only wish it was due to a more pleasant circumstance.” Hunter’s deep and mellow tone of voice washed over her like a warm wave of water, making her feel languorous and slightly giddy, while his touch made her blood rush through her veins heatedly.
She wasn’t sure she liked the sensation at all! With a small shake of her head, she pulled her hand from his, lifted her chin in defiance at his challenging look stated coldly, “We can only hope, in your expertise, you can rectify the situation quickly and be on your way.”
“Dani,” Jordan interrupted, “Hunter’s only just arrived and you’re already talking about his departure?”
“Mom, I’m merely suggesting that with all of Mr. James’ obvious outward signs of success, it shouldn’t take him long to get the Manning’s in line. When that’s done, then we can all get on with the business of living our normal lives again,” Dani stated nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders at her mother’s questioning look and returning the gaze with a deceptively innocent smile.
Hunter wasn’t fooled with by her innocent expression or explanation, and with a small nod, acknowledged her somewhat backhanded compliment. “I thank you for your vote of confidence, I think. I’ll endeavor to
get the Manning’s in line as soon as possible
so you can get on with things; I’d hate to be a disruption, or imposition, in your life,” Hunter said.
“Let me assure you, you’ll be neither. You–and Marcus–are resolving the very issue that is disrupting this family. How anyone could view that as an imposition is beyond me,” Aleksei stated firmly, casting Dani another warning look.
“Now that that’s settled. Where would you like to start Hunter?” Jordan asked, glancing from Hunter to Dani, a small crease tracing a fine line across her forehead as she watched their interaction and sensed a less than friendly tension between the two.
“Everyone keeps telling me of your amazing memory, Danielle. I’d like to talk to you about some of the incidences between Chloe and Andrew,” Hunter stated.
“Unfortunately, now is not a good time. I’ve got another forty-five minutes to go on the ice yet. I’ll talk to you after lunch,” Dani stated dismissively, handing her mother the ice bag and limping her way toward the ice, leaving her mother, father and Hunter all staring after her; her parent’s expressions filled with amazement at her behavior, Hunter’s one of sardonic amusement.
“I have to apologize for my daughter; she’s not usually so rude,” Aleksei murmured an apology, running one hand through his hair in confusion as he watched his usually gracious daughter limp about the ice.
“Today’s not been one of her better days on the ice, as you can tell,” Jordan offered, holding up the ice bag as a reminder. “It was her scream we heard when we came in.”
Hunter remembered the high-pitched scream that had sent a chill through his body, but when he’d spotted Chloe and Sergei on their feet, skating, he pushed the thought aside as nothing more than an excited scream from one of their throws. Now, to realize that it had been Dani’s scream of pain and to see her limping around the ice, obviously favoring that hip, he found himself respecting her courage to keep going when she was obviously in pain. “Shouldn’t she be taking a break?”
“She’s trying to keep her hip from stiffening up too much. Trust me, she’s going to have one walloping bruise tomorrow and really be cranky. So, I would suggest you talk to her today, after lunch, because tomorrow she’s really going to be miserable to deal with!” Aleksei suggested, casting a knowing glance toward his daughter who skated around the ice, in obvious discomfort.
“Isn’t she risking a more serious injury by continuing to skate?” Hunter asked in concern, his deep brown eyes watching her intently as she moved sluggishly around the ice and then in a sudden burst of movement took off at full speed, circling the ice as if she had never taken the nasty spill.
Jordan and Aleksei watched their daughter skate, caught the barely perceptible wobbles in her long strokes across the ice as she pushed herself through the pain and sought the endorphins that would put her in the
zone
where nothing reached her. Not pain, or fear, or the memory of the way Hunter’s touch made her feel; free from everything. Jordan recognized the look in her daughter’s eyes, could almost feel the pain Dani was experiencing with each stroke across the ice and intuitively knew that as long as Hunter was watching their daughter, she would never leave the ice. Dani would view it as a failure and, like the rest of the Rocmanov’s; failure was not an option.
Sergei and Chloe made their final cool-down circles at the end of their training session. Chloe headed toward the exit off the ice and watched as Sergei caught up with his sister and easily match her stroke for stroke, despite the fact he and Chloe had been on the ice for over three hours. Sergei’s comments to Dani went unheard, but Sergei’s loudly called “Idiot!” came through loud and clear as he watched his sister skate away from him.
“She’s so damn stubborn!” Sergei growled as he came off the ice, casting a dark look toward the figure that zipped past them. “Remember whose fault it is when you feel like crap tomorrow and can’t move!” he bellowed angrily after Dani’s retreating form.
“Your father will take care of Dani,” Jordan offered, then made quick introductions all around and suggested they head back to the house for lunch.
All readily agreed and in moments skates were removed, blades dried and covered in protective guards and Jordan had the small group making their way through the double doors and out into the garden that was beginning to show signs of fall’s approach.
Aleksei leaned patiently on the short wall that surrounded the ice rink and watched his daughter stubbornly circle the ice; her attention focused solely on the ice before her, oblivious to everything around her. He recognized her slightly glazed expression; the endorphins had kicked in and at this moment she was probably flying in a world without pain or gravity. A world where nothing but the blood pounding through your heart and air filling your lungs existed; a state of euphoria in its purest, simplest form.
“Dani…Dani…Dani,” Aleksei called over and over before his voice finally penetrated the wall she’d erected to keep the pain away. Like a sledgehammer shattering glass, his voice broke through her reverie and pain enveloped her like fire, her bruised hip refusing to hold her any longer.
She couldn’t even stop herself as she felt her leg give way, knew she was going to fall on the same hip and was powerless to do anything to stop it. In slow motion she felt herself falling, and cursed herself for her stupidity and stubbornness. Pain exploded through her body as she hit the solid surface, lights flashing in blinding brightness before her eyes, in strobe-light like fashion, making her nauseous and dizzy.
“It’s okay, pumpkin, I’m here. Just lay back and relax a minute,” Aleksei’s deep voice offered soothingly.
“Daddy?” Dani called tiredly, a small smile curving her lips as she felt her father’s hand brush over her cheek.
“You’re okay, Dani. Just relax and breathe.”
Obediently, she did as instructed, and within moments, the nausea disappeared and her breathing smoothed, the familiar, welcome smell of the ice soothed her raw nerves. “I’m an idiot,” she stated in a small, shaky voice.
“Your brother made that same comment not five minutes ago. I agreed with him then, and I’m afraid I have to agree with you now,” Aleksei answered quietly, his hands running gently over her hip as he checked her for injury. “I’ve never seen you act so rashly after taking a fall that hard. There was no reason for you to get back on the ice and risk making it worse.” Efficiently he began removing her skates.
“You think I don’t know that?” she asked and then struggled a sitting position. “ Daddy, help me up, please, my butt’s starting to freeze.”
In less than two minutes, she was scooped up off the ice and snuggled comfortably in her father’s arms, her skates in her lap. “So why the sudden show of stupidity? We raised you to be smarter on the ice than you were today and we certainly raised you to be more polite than you were to Hunter. What on earth has gotten in to you today?” Aleksei talked as he carried her off the ice, then through the doors and into the garden as they headed toward the house.
Good question. What had gotten into her today? Now if she only had an answer for both herself and her father. The day had started off like any other; wake up, eat a small breakfast, and hit the ice (unfortunately she hadn’t meant to do that literally). She acknowledged seeing that fancy black Mercedes pull up had shaken her a bit and despite her displayed blasé reaction to the supposed pictures of Sergei and Chloe, the feelings the pictures inspired in her were anything but blasé! Any fool could see the bodies in the pictures weren’t those of Sergei and Chloe, yet the expressions of sensual bliss were and Dani found herself jealous–yes jealous–of the fact that they had shared such a moment. Yet, at the same time, she didn’t deny they deserved to find such happiness with each other. But, couldn’t she have just a little taste of the same happiness? Then, enter Hunter James, and wouldn’t you know, the first time they actually met face to face, she had to go and make a fool of herself by pulling her pants down and nearly mooning the man. What on earth had she been thinking? What was worse, the sexual fire that filled his eyes as he’d gazed at her pale, bruised skin was anything but blasé and the very feelings she had wished she could experience, had suddenly coursed heatedly through her body and scared the hell out of her. And when she was scared, her course of action had always been a false show of bravado or boredom, two things guaranteed to stop a boy in his tracks. Maybe that was the problem, Hunter wasn’t a boy and the feelings he was suddenly inspiring in her were anything but childlike. She felt like she was suddenly playing in a game where she didn’t know the rules and she didn’t like the sensation at all!
“Daddy, how long is Mr. James going to be here?” Dani’s question broke through the gentle scolding her father was directing her way and left him gazing at her questioningly.
“I really don’t know. I suppose, as long as it takes to see Sergei and Chloe safe from the Manning’s. Why?” Aleksei’s gentle shrug had Dani going up and down in her father’s arms.
Dani’s own little shrug and shaking of her head had her father pondering her evasive answer. “Dani?” his voice was a gentle plea, his dark eyes filled with concern.
“I just wish this was all over, and that we didn’t have a barracuda in the house.”
Aleksei had to smile at his daughter’s description of a lawyer. He couldn’t very well chide her for using the word since it was the word he had always used for them. Obviously, his daughter had picked up more of his traits and idiosyncrasies than he realized. Jordan had warned him their daughter had big ears-another point for his wife. “I would really appreciate it if you could manage to maintain some degree of decorum and not call Hunter a
barracuda
to his face. Law is a noble profession and we are presently in need of a lawyer. If the lawyer just happens to be a
barracuda
also, then all the better for us!”
“I can only promise you I’ll try–I mean it–I’ll try very hard to be polite to the barra…uh, barrister. Okay?” Dani offered with a little smile.
“Why doesn’t that give me any comfort?” her father asked sardonically.
“Mom’s refusing to feed us until we’re all here, so if the two of you could pick up the pace just a notch, we might be able to eat before it’s dinnertime,” Sergei complained, holding the door open as his father walked up the three steps to the low porch.
Dani’s feet kicked mildly and she struggled in her father’s grasp, “Daddy, put me down. I don’t want the barracuda to see me like this.”
Sergei and Aleksei’s expressions were identical; total confusion, as Aleksei put her gently on her feet and watched as she limped painfully through the door and took her spot at the kitchen table.