Gabriel's Regret: Book 1 (The Medlov Men Series 2) (15 page)

“How are you?” Valeriya asked, rubbing through the woman’s hair.  “You look wonderful.”

“I could be better, but it’s so nice to see you,” the woman said, bright with smiles as the men toted in the boxes. 

Valeriya nodded.  “You can tell me all about it, but look, I’ve brought you provisions…food, clothes, hygiene products and lots of bullets.”

“Bless you,” the woman said, following Valeriya inside.  “It’s very hard keeping those trouble makers away from here, especially during nightfall.” 

Gabriel walked into the home and set down a large box in the living room.  The walls were covered in nostalgic dusty wallpaper and nearly hidden in books, board games and recreational toys.  Hardwood floors were covered in mismatched rugs and shoes littered the doorway.  There was no central air or heating, just large air conditioners and fans, even still it was a bit humid for his taste.  On the sofa, piled up playing and laughing, he saw seven children of different ages, all Black or biracial sitting playing cards and watching television.  They looked over at him with a curious stare.

He waved but did not speak. 
Did they speak English?
  

Andriy walked in after him and stopped in the entry way.  “Hello, hello!” he said, dropping to one knee as one of the small girls ran toward him and gave him a hug.

“Andriy,” the girl yelled. “Where have you been?”

“I’ve been busy,
pryntsesa
.”  Kissing her cheek, Andriy picked the little girl up and walked her over to Gabriel. “This is Sasha.  She’s going to be an astronaut when she grows up.  Isn’t that right, Sasha?”

Sasha nodded shyly with a wide grin as she put her little index finger in between her teeth.

“That’s awesome, Sasha,” Gabriel said with a fake smile. 
He guessed that they did speak English.
  “It’s nice to meet you.”  Shaking her little hand, he smiled this time genuinely, despite himself. 

“You are a very
big
man,” Sasha said enamored with him. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

Gabriel laughed.  Her little innocent smile warmed him.  “Yes, I will.” 

Setting her down, Andriy rubbed the top of her curly brown locks before she ran off into the house with her doll in hand. 

“And I thought she was shy,” Gabriel quipped. “But I like her style.”

“You should have met her twin sister,” Andriy said, watching her disappear into the back room.  “She was something else.”

“What happened to her,” Gabriel asked curiously.  “She can’t be any more than five.”

“Six,” Andriy corrected. “Her sister was killed in the bombings last year while they were at the dentists.  Sasha survived and ended up here at the orphanage.  No one wants to take little Black babies here in Ukraine, as you can imagine.”  

Gabriel looked back at the empty hall for the girl and shook his head.  “Their loss.” 

Another five children came down the stairs from the second floor in little black uniforms and dingy white shirts.  They also were Black and also looked at Gabriel strangely as they shot warily past him into the kitchen.

Valeriya was busy by the front door speaking with the woman in Ukrainian while he wandered around the front rooms of the house being nosy.  Pictures of children hung on the walls along with artwork and verses from the Bible.  The house smelled of food and cinnamon with a hint of bleach. 

“There are a lot of kids here,” Nadei said, walking up to Gabriel.  He passed him a bottle of water that Gabriel poured into his gold-plated water bottle.  “Kids make me nervous.  Let’s not stay here long, eh.”

“Not planning on it,” Gabriel said under his breath.  He eyed Valeriya as she hugged the children who came up to her, one by one.  They all seemed to know her, all seemed to love her and looking at her face light up and her smile so bright as she greeted them, he knew why.  She was beautiful not just on the inside but on the outside as well. 

“Guitana, this is Gabriel Medlov and his guard Nadei. They are responsible for all of this good fortune,” Valeriya said, pointing at the boxes.  “There is so much stuff that you needed inside. I brought as much as I could. I will bring more in the next few days.”

“Thank you,” Guitana said, walking up to Gabriel. She made him bend down so that she could kiss his cheek.  “God bless you.”

Gabriel went stiffly, becoming uncomfortable.  “God bless you as well.”

Nadei quickly stepped back, not wanting to be involved in the show of appreciation.  There would be no kisses for him or touches or hugs for that matter.  

“You must stay for lunch,” Guitana insisted of Valeriya as a young girl ran up to her and held on to the bottom of her long linen skirt to look at Gabriel.  “There is so much to catch up on, and we never know when we will see you again.” 

“We don’t want to impose,” Gabriel said, slipping his hand into his pocket. “And we really must be getting back to pick up more products.”

“You must stay for lunch,” Guitana pleaded, looking at Valeriya.   

“Of course we will,” Valeriya said, winking at Gabriel.  She could see the discomfort all over his face and it made her absolutely beside herself.  “It would be an honor.”

Clapping her hands together, Guitana headed toward the kitchen.  “I’ve made borscht.  We’ll all sit out on the picnic benches in the back and enjoy the weather.”

“I thought we were on a tight schedule,” Gabriel said to Valeriya when they were alone in the common area. 

Valeriya smacked her lips together and fluttered her eyes. “You said that you wanted to be with me every minute until you left.  Well, some of those minutes will be here having lunch with the children and Guitana.” 

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Gabriel asked.

“Very much,” she said, going into the kitchen to help Guitana.

Hearing his phone buzzing in his pocket, he opened it and stepped outside on the porch. “I was just about to check in,” Gabriel explained as he looked next door at what appeared to be teenage skinheads coming onto the porch.  They watched him as he spoke and pointed, trying to get his attention. 

“I hope you’re close to closing the deal,” Anatoly said, standing outside of his bedroom door to keep from waking his wife.

“Why is that?” Gabriel eyed Nadei as he stepped out on the porch and stood in the line of sight between the skinheads and Gabriel’s view. 

“Because we’re picking you up day after tomorrow at 10:00.”

“In the morning?” Gabriel asked.

“The morning,” Anatoly huffed. “Don’t be late.  Someone will be by the hotel to pick you and Nadei up and get you to an airfield where you will be brought back to Memphis straight away.” 

“And what if I need more time,” Gabriel asked, not ready to leave Valeriya just yet. 

“Look, I’ve spoken to Papa.  You’re out of time,” Anatoly said, hanging up the phone. 

Gabriel stuffed his phone back down in his back pocket and looked over at the boys as they huddled on the porch staring at them. 

“I guess we figured out why they need more bullets,” Nadei said, throwing a finger sign at the boys.               

“Tell me about it.  An all-Black orphanage right beside a Nazi stronghold.  That’s gotta be a bad mix,” Gabriel said, feeling himself get angry.  If there was one thing he hated, it was a bully. 

“Fuck you!” one of the boys shouted to Nadei. 

Gabriel stood at the end of the porch where they could see his guns.  “You want some trouble today?” he yelled.  “Because we’ve got plenty of time and plenty of fucking bullets.” His guns gleamed in the sunlight. 

Nadei stepped beside him and pulled one of his guns out of the holster.  Suddenly, the young men didn’t seem so eager to antagonize the giant men. Pushing each other back into the front door of the house, they quickly disappeared.

“Maybe I come by and give them a house warming later,” Nadei said, sucking his teeth.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Gabriel said as Valeriya walked to the front door.  He lowered his voice. “But just make sure you spray for bugs first.” 

“Will do, Boss,” Nadei said, happy to see some action finally.

“What are you doing out here?” Valeriya said, wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing. “The food is out back.” 

“We’re on the way,” Gabriel said, opening the screen door. 

Chapter Eleven

Unexpected Delays…

On the way back to the hotel at the end of the grueling day, Gabriel allowed Nadei to sit up front with the driver while he sat beside Valeriya in the back.  Of course, he had presented the change as a need to stretch out his long legs a little more, but the truth of the matter was that he was actually enjoying being around her and would find any reason on God’s green earth to be near her.  Even though they were genuinely cramped, he used the opportunity to sit much closer than he needed, and as a result, she was forced to nudge her body into his, especially with Andriy taking up so much space on his side. 
Thank God for small favors.
 

Even though they all were exceedingly sweaty, she could smell his deodorant mixing with his fragrant cologne and feel the natural heat from his body as it absorbed right into hers.  It was hard not to just tilt her head over into his wide chest after such a long day and take a nap herself.  His large arm was already stretched behind her across the seat and for some unspeakable reason; she felt that if she had laid her head on him, he would have welcomed it.  It was like his position was an open invitation and all she had to do was accept it…accept him.  But how could she when he never uttered a word. 

A news talk show was on the radio, and everyone was too tired to carry on a conversation.  Instead, the small crew reflected on the day in silence as the sun set on the horizon and gave way to night fall. 

Nadei texted liked a madman on his cell phone and in between listening to the radio. 

Sam ate leftovers from the orphanage with one hand and steered with the other. 

Andriy fell asleep five minutes into the drive.  With his head angled down and his hoodie covering his face, he snored lightly and drooled heavily. 

But Valeriya was tense and only grew tenser every time Gabriel shifted beside her.  His long legs were splayed out, showing the sheer size of his enormous thighs and the relaxed bulge in the center of his jeans.  She had expected him to talk her to death, but he simply stared out of the window with his elbow propped on the side of the door and his hand under his perfect chin, completely oblivious as to what he was doing to her by just sitting there.   

The silence of the car did little to keep her thoughts from trailing back to the night before when he had kissed her not once but twice. Her mouth still felt bruised from his five o’clock shadow and the force in which he took her up against that wall.  But at this moment, one would have thought that the moment had never existed. 

It was his infinite cool calm that made her uncomfortable.  His fingertips gently touched the side of her arm, causing goosebumps to shoot over her body, but he looked out of the window like she wasn’t even there.  Maybe for him, she wasn’t, but every time that he did bother to look at her or talk to her, she felt like she was the only person in the room.  He made her feel that way.  Gabriel made her feel right in a world that for so long, she had felt out of place in and what disturbed her the most was that he didn’t even know that he did it. 

Fifteen minutes into the bumpy drive, her back started to ache from sitting so rigid.   Deciding that her reasoning for being so uncomfortable around him might very well be all in her mind, she finally slumped her shoulders and rested into him.

Gabriel slowly dragged his eyes from the window and looked over at her with an expression of inevitability.  Pulling her into his embrace, he offered his body as her personal pillow.  Seeing that the slightest movement had not acquired the attention of Sam or Andriy, she let her guard completely down and snuggled into him. 

Gabriel smiled and caressed the soft silk-like skin of her capped shoulder.  Inhaling the strawberry scent from her hair, he tried to remember not to get aroused.  That’s how badly he wanted her, to the point of public embarrassment.  He ached to have her, ached to be close to her, inside of her.  But the sweet small gesture of just trusting him in her private space was enough for now. 

Gabriel had a completely different attitude about what the Donetsk Revolution was about after a day in the city, and it wasn’t just because he wanted to bed its leader.  This wasn’t the over-politicized farce that some in the international media had made the situation out to be.  It was real people being exposed to the real threat of deadly violence every day.  It was about people saving other people, instead of profiting from their demise – a concept lost to him up
until now
. 

After working all day, he understood why small businesses needed guns to protect themselves against looters and why senior citizens needed food and medicine after their buildings had been shelled.  He understood why single mothers needed an AK-47 to protect their young, beautiful daughters and sons, especially when so many of the men had been injured or killed.  He understood how the neo-Nazis during the divide of the country, had become tyrants over anyone who didn’t look like them or believe like them, why people of color didn’t come out past dark and were afraid to travel alone, why those who were from other religious backgrounds worried about their temples and mosques being vandalized.  But more than anything, he better understood Valeriya.  And that shook his very foundation, because he didn’t seek to better understand any woman
until now
. 

However, he wasn’t the only one with a different idea by the end of the day.   

Unable to help herself, Valeriya had watched Gabriel out of the corner of her eye, spying on him and Nadei as they worked without hesitation or complaint.  He had caught her gawking at him when he spoke and dipping her head whenever they made eye contact. 
He made her nervous.
  It didn’t take a genius to see that maybe she was starting to see him as more than just the rich boy.  The veiled hope that that prospect brought him only made him work harder and for once in his life since he had decided to work for his uncle’s organization, he could really say that he had done an honest day’s hard labor for someone other than himself. 

***

As the truck pulled up to the back of the hotel, Valeriya woke from her sleep, head pressed against Gabriel’s chest and popped up before Andriy and Sam could see her.  Shaking him awake, she smiled. “Andriy, we’re here,” she said, maternal and kind. 

Gabriel opened his door and stepped out on one side.  Valeriya and her brother stepped out on the other side. 

“Did you enjoy your day?” Nadei asked facetiously.  It was odd to him to see his boss behave like such a normal person with this very abnormal woman, but he mildly enjoyed it. 

Gabriel smirked at what he had in mind for Nadei. “Yes, I did, but I don’t think you’re going to enjoy your evening much.”  He closed the door behind him. “I want you to take care of those little shits in that house beside that orphanage tonight.”  Looking around to make sure that Valeriya wasn’t rounding the corner; he stepped closer to Nadei and spoke in his ear.  “Burn it down.  Get rid of those pests.” 

Nadei nodded.  He had done worse in shorter time.  What was being asked of him now was no big deal for a man of his skillset.   “I’ll need someone to get me back over there.”

Gabriel twisted up his lip.  “Valeriya trusts Sam.  Take him.
Pay him.
  I don’t care. Just get it done.” 

“Sure boss,” Nadei said, following Gabriel to the door by the dock. 

Valeriya pulled open the door for Gabriel and Nadei and stood the side as they passed. “Dinner will be ready soon.  Why don’t you go and freshen up, and I’ll send Andriy up to get you when it’s time.

Gabriel was sticky with sweat, covered in dirt and soot and exhausted, but he didn’t want to leave her yet.  Plus, he needed to keep her attention while Nadei arranged something with Sam.  “Are you cooking?” he asked as Nadei walked up to Sam and whispered something in his ear.   

Valeriya looked toward the women already gathered in the kitchen peeling potatoes and cutting up carrots.  “I always cook,” she said, closing the large door behind her and locking it.  The sound echoed throughout the small, neat kitchen.  “Why?”

“I figured I could help.”  Gabriel looked back at Nadei. “I’ll be fine.  You go on up and get some rest,
buddy
. I know you’re tired.”  His eyes, however, gave another directive. 

Nadei didn’t take but a second to catch on.  “Thanks, boss.  I’m going to take shower,” Nadei said, wiping his forehead.  “Then I’ll find that girl from last night.  I won’t be back down until much later tonight.”

Gabriel nodded and turned back to Valeriya. 

“What girl?” Valeriya asked curiously, looking past Gabriel at Nadei as he and Sam disappeared through the doors to the common area. “When did they get so chummy?”

“While you were asleep, I guess.”  He was not about to get into that.  Walking over to the prep station by the oven, he looked at the large pile of fresh vegetables on the island.  “Where did these come from?”

“We still have farmer friends nearby,” Valeriya said, throwing him a potato.  “Do you know anything about the kitchen?  If not, please leave it to the professionals.”

Gabriel heard the other women giggling.  He grinned sheepishly, a deep dimple exploding in his suntanned cheek.  “I know a lot more than just how to cook.  You should let me show you sometime.”  Picking up a peeler, he looked for a garbage can.  In truth, he’d never peeled anything a day in his life, but he had seen the maids do it and watching the other women who laughed and talked in their native language, would be enough of a tutorial to figure it out.

Valeriya went over to the sink and washed her hands first, then returned to the island.  “I’ll do it with you.”  Picking up a potato, she slowly peeled the first one to show him how to do it.  When she was done, she twisted it in her hand.  “See.  No skin.”

Gabriel winked at her.  “I’m good. I can handle it.  Really.” He ran the peeler over the potato with such force that the little instrument flew across the room onto the counter. 

Even Valeriya laughed.  Shaking her head, she stopped him.  “No.”  Pushing him toward the door, she insisted he find something else to do. 

Gabriel laughed as he felt her nimble hands nudging at his lower back. “What?” he asked, pretending to try to stop her. 

“The old saying is true.  Too many cooks spoil the broth,” Valeriya said, pushing him out of the door into the common area where the children were sitting around.   She stood only an inch from him, looking up at him for the first time with brightest smile he had ever seen and in that moment, he could see his entire future reflected in her eyes.  

His voice was softer now.  “I’ve never heard that saying,” Gabriel said, looking down at her.  He wanted to kiss her again so badly until it hurt. 

She swallowed hard.  “Find something else to do.  Entertain the children. Take a shower.  Take a nap,” she pointed a finger at him, “but no cooking for you.” 

“Alright, alright.”  Gabriel took her pointed finger and pulled her hand into his chest. 

Suddenly, Valeriya went stiff with the overt display of affection.  Too fast, too soon, too complicated.  She stepped back, gaining her composure with inch that she pulled away from his magnetic hold. “I’ll come for you when dinner is ready,” she said, smoothing her hair behind her ear.

“I’ll be waiting,” Gabriel said, watching her walk away.  He turned to find the children staring.  Cracking a smile, he clasped his hands together.  “Who wants to see a movie?”

***

Olek had been out the entire day, later than normal, later than ever.  Making himself push through the heavy emotions on his heart, he had made all of his stops with a few of their men, getting soap, tents and munitions to as many people as he could.   When he pulled up to the hotel in a beat up Toyota tundra, he saw Sam and Nadei pulling off in one of their other cars.  It was odd to him to see them together, but he was far too tired to go snooping.  

Slamming the truck door closed, he leaned against it in the dark and rested his tired body while the rest of the men went inside for dinner.  All of the men knew that something was wrong, though he wouldn’t say what, so they had left him alone outside of work during the entire day. 

And Olek was happy for it.  The only emotion he could muster was guilt and the only physical reaction that he could understand was sickness.  He felt nauseated for the secret he held and scared for the woman he loved. 

But one idea had kept him going all day.  Maybe it didn’t have to be this way?  If he could just talk Valeriya out of leading their group without telling her what the men were planning, then who would really be at a loss?  He just had to find a way to get through to her, but it would not be easy with Gabriel in the way. 

Hearing the back door open and close, he looked up to find Valeriya throwing out a bag of trash.  She looked his way casually and smiled.  “Exhausted?” she asked, oddly upbeat.

“Very,” he huffed.  Standing up from his kneeled position, he walked over to the edge of the dock and leaned against the concrete.  “Valeriya, we need to talk.”

She rolled her eyes, but entertained him for the moment.  “Is this about Gabriel again?”

“No,” he said, slapping his hand on the surface. “Damn it, there are other things, larger, more important things going on right now. And I feel that you would be able to see them if your judgment wasn’t so clouded.”