Polar Opposites (In Aeternum Book 4) (3 page)

He had no desire to help them but he couldn’t lie and say she hadn’t hit it square. He was beyond intrigued. To put that technology on something smaller for human use. Yes, he knew it had been on smaller things but as far as he knew it had never been directly attached to a person.

His fingertips itched to get to a marker and a whiteboard. Lifting his head, he glanced around before moving to the one he spied in the corner. Sooner than he had registered what he was doing, Ivan stood there and was writing on the board. Not until the chuckles sank in did he realize what he’d begun. Staring at them, he frowned.

“If you want me to work, you need to be quiet. I don’t work well with people muttering about mundane things.”

He faced the board again and got back to work. Ivan worked until his shadow told him it was time to stop and go to dinner. He cast a glance over his board, content no one would be able to understand what he’d put there. Not unless they had Jaydee hidden somewhere.

The mere thought of her sobered him. No longer would she be working beside him, keeping his mind sharp with how she examined problems and their project. No longer would he share a dinner with her, then a bed.

I should be happy for her. She’s happy and she deserves it. So why do I feel so damn miserable about the entire thing? That’s right, because I’m in love with her. Because I asked her to marry me. I wanted to be the one sharing life with her, not that goddamn arrogant pilot.

“Do not keep Mr Hamidov waiting.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said dryly. Irritated, he walked to the door and waited. Neither of them neared him and he glanced back over his shoulder. “Am I allowed to leave now on my own? Or is there some reason you’re trying to keep me late from meeting him?”

Shadowman glared at him and muttered something Ivan didn’t understand. He shouldered him as he went by and Ivan hid his smirk. Following the complaining man, he held his tongue as they finally stepped from the interior halls to the fresh air of outside.

Ivan paused and looked up. The sun shined down upon him, warming him as the rays caressed his skin. Bliss. He had missed this.

“Move.”

At the command, he began walking again, taking in the rich soil beneath his feet and the ocean breeze that flowed around him. They neared a large house and passed armed guards to reach an ornately carved white door. He scanned the area as the door opened and the gun at his back encouraged him inside.

Deserted. He saw no one, not even a maid or any other form of help. Through not so subtle nudges, Ivan soon found himself walking into a richly decorated formal dining room.

At the head of the polished, dark wood table sat Mr Kadyr Hamisov. His white suit had been tailored for him. A smile crossed Kadyr’s face as he dabbed the corners of his mouth then rose.

“Good afternoon, Doctor, I trust you had ample time to think about my proposal.” He waved Ivan closer. “Come, sit. Eat.”

Kadyr was jovial and Ivan approached cautiously to take his seat.

“Leave us.” Kadyr waved a ring-adorned hand.

The man—Ivan’s shadow—vanished without a single word. Reaching for the nearest dish, Ivan waited for Kadyr to speak. Nothing came—Kadyr didn’t say a word until Ivan had put food on his plate and had begun to eat.

“You have seen my lab. I can get you whatever you need.”

The rich quail’s egg got stuck in his throat. Ivan swallowed a few times and took some water. “Surely there are others who would jump at this opportunity. Why me?”

“We have some similarities, you and I.” Kadyr dipped his spoon in his bowl. “Although you are Russian and I Chechen, we do have some.”

He seriously doubted that. “Really?” he asked dryly.

“Yes. We are a proud people. We want what is best for them.”

“And you think dropping dirty bombs on your enemies is what’s best?”

An unsympathetic shrug. “There are always casualties in war.”

“And you’re at war?”

“We are always at war, Doctor, surely you know this.”

“No, I don’t know this. Who exactly are you at war with?”

The door opened and Ivan paused, a forkful of potatoes halfway to his mouth. A woman walked in and made her way to Kadyr’s side. Ivan’s mouth dropped. This woman could have walked off a pin-up poster.

Fuck!

She had short black hair and a large red flower over her left ear. Her mocha skin sparkled as if diamond dust had settled upon it. The red sateen top boasted a plunging V neckline and the attached black skirt hugged each and every one of her curves. The cuffs exposed her forearms and her black peep-toe shoes emphasized her legs.

She turned her head and stared at him briefly before dismissing him. Her hair was longer, just pulled back in a bun. She walked to Kadyr and bent to kiss his cheek. He patted her ass and smirked at Ivan.

“She is beautiful, no?”

“Very.”

“She is unlike any other I have seen before. My woman.”

There was no denying the proprietary claim he laid down. Ivan nodded, not needing to poach the woman belonging to the man who held his life in his hands.

He held her nearly golden gaze. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

She sat in a chair beside Kadyr and popped a piece of fruit in her mouth. “And who are you?”

“This is Dr Vinokourov. He is going to help me build a few things.”

Boredom crossed her features. “I see.” She ate another piece of fruit and Ivan couldn’t tear his eyes from the way her tongue ran along her lips after she chewed and swallowed. Not until she met his gaze and arched an eyebrow.

He cleared his throat and looked away. This was insane—in no world should he be thinking of another man’s woman. He wasn’t that kind of man. Even when it came to Jaydee, he’d backed off the moment he heard it from her mouth that she was in love with Gio.

He scowled. Gio.

Bastard.

Focusing back on his food, Ivan ate a few more bites while the pin-up chatted with his captor. As they spoke, he plotted. How the hell was he going to get out of here? He had no intention of helping this madman. However, he also had no wish to die.

He lifted his focus and found himself staring at the woman who was bending over, pulling something from a low cupboard. His cock stirred as he stared at the black material that was smoothed over her ass.

Ivan looked down at his food. He didn’t need to exacerbate his situation by lusting after this woman. He didn’t even know her name. There were a few that came to mind, however.

Lauren. Ava. Betty. Rita. Barbara. And of course, Josephine—for the ‘Black Pearl’ or ‘Bronze Venus’ and to some the ‘Creole Goddess’.

He shifted in his seat, a meager attempt to calm his increasing lust for this woman. If she knew he ogled her, she didn’t let on. Not even if it bothered her.

Kadyr cleared his throat and Ivan slashed his gaze over to him. Those eyes were dead.

“I’ll have your decision.”

“Not really giving me any choice.”

“Sure I am. You have two options. Work or die.”

The door opened and the armed men re-entered.

Some option.

Ivan placed his fork, tines down, on his plate and wiped his mouth. “Put me to work then.”

Kadyr’s sadistic grin didn’t settle his gut or his mind. Ivan made his way to his shadow and allowed him to propel him out of the room. He could work slow and hopefully discover a way out of this conundrum he found himself in. At the door, he glanced back and found the vixen watching him with her golden eyes. It may have been his imagination or it could have been his own desire but he swore he saw one corner of her full red-gold lips tip up slightly.

The door slammed on his vision and he regretfully faced forward and continued on his way.

* * * *

Bailey propped her hip against the counter. Damn, he was handsome. Way more so in person than on paper. Ivan Vinokourov wasn’t how she pictured scientists—pale, skinny and bespectacled. Sure, the photo had prepared her. Not.

No image did this man justice. Even having read his stats, she hadn’t been equipped for the raw sexuality that rolled off him. If she had been into sleeping with random men, she would definitely have been all over this one.

She poured Kadyr his vodka then left him alone, trailing her hand along his neck as she left. Her heels clacked along the tile floor as she walked to the stairs and ascended to her room.

Once there, she propped up on one foot and removed her shoes. First one then the other. Holding them by the heels, she padded to the bed and tossed them down on the king-sized mattress. She rubbed the nape of her neck then went to the large window and stared out over the landscape.

She knew where Kadyr was keeping Ivan. At the right moment this week, she would take him and begin the extraction. This project had taken her much longer than she’d anticipated, but Kadyr was more suspicious than she’d figured him to be. She wanted to get home. All this being on a mission with a different aim as to what she’d been trained to do bothered her.

This was why she did what she did—being around people all the time wasn’t her idea of fun. Give her the bush any day of the week over this. She blew out a breath and unzipped her dress as she turned from the view. Within moments, she stood beneath the pounding spray of the steamy shower.

Over dinner, she set her plans, all the while carrying on a conversation with Kadyr. The man truly was a charmer, for being the bastard he was. Finished, she rose from her chair.

“Another walk?”

“I like my nightly walks,” she replied.

He gestured for some more drink and while a servant filled his glass, she walked to the door and slipped through. Outside, the warm air surrounded her. She nodded at the guards she passed. They barely looked at her.
Fools.
It worked to her advantage.

She stuck to her normal path, well aware that cameras followed her. To her, it didn’t matter. She merely wanted to enjoy her nightly ritual. Back at the house, she went straight for her room and curled up in the corner chair with a book.

* * * *

Over the next few days, she got down the schedule of Ivan’s guard. Mac was his shadow and rarely left his side, if ever. The day arrived and Bailey held to her schedule. In the evening, Kadyr left to tend to something—she didn’t know what and it wasn’t her concern—on the other side of the island. Using the opportunity, she got going. Tossing her purse in her car, she blew on her nails and strode back inside.

“Everything okay?” the maid asked.

“Fine, Tula. I forgot something.” She made her way through the spacious house and went out of a side door. Immediately she headed for the lab. She entered and hugged the wall as she gazed around for Ivan.

He lingered in the back of the room, whiteboards on three sides of him. Blue letters and numbers broke apart the shiny white. His shirt hung, not tucked into his jeans.

I wonder if he slept here.

Aware of her limited window, she wasted no time in approaching him. He muttered to himself as he stared at the boards.

“Dr Vinokourov.”

He held up a finger without glancing at her then wrote with his left hand on the board nearest. She ground her jaw. Another reason she didn’t go after people. Patience with others wasn’t her strong suit.

“Actually,
now
is preferable, Doctor.”

His pale blue eyes met hers—heat surged through his gaze and her body. Ivan wore his scruff well and she had this insane desire to reach out and discover what it was like moving on his skin.

“What are you doing here?” He gazed past her.

“Getting you out. Let’s go.”

“You’re Kadyr’s woman.”

“I’m a lot of things and I’m nothing. We need to move.” She grabbed his arm—his nicely muscled arm—and drew him away.

“Who are you?”

“We don’t have time for twenty questions. Walk beside me and keep your head down. At the car, get in.”

“My stuff—”

“Is immaterial and not worth your life, Doctor.” She opened the door and gazed around.

Clear.

He moved at her side, his loose-limbed gait something she would have enjoyed watching were the situation different. She slid behind the wheel as he joined her. Engine running, she shifted into gear and drove away. In her periphery, she watched him.

Ivan was a presence one couldn’t ignore. He didn’t speak, just sat there.

“Did you give them anything?” Bailey nudged more speed from the car.

“If I say yes are you going to kill me?”

“No.”

An explosion rocked the area—she spied smoke and flames in her rear-view mirror. Ivan jerked around, staring out of the back before returning his focus to her.

“Who do you work for?” His demand fell. “Better yet, who
are
you?”

“Theta Corps.”

“I told him no. Sending you—no matter how hot you are—isn’t going to get me to change my mind.”

Her curiosity got the best of her. Ignoring the fact he thought she was hot, she asked the question. “He? He who?”

“Kevin McNeal.”

She whipped them into a run-down lot and parked the car. After getting out, she gestured for him to follow. “Come on. I know nothing about whatever you and Kevin discussed. I’m here to get you out. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

They crept around to a small speedboat and she gestured him in. Bailey knew most people wouldn’t dare touch something belonging to Kadyr Hamisov, which was why it sat mostly unprotected. She wasn’t most people.

With no hesitation, she turned the key, bringing the engine to life. Once they were untied, she guided them out to sea. Behind her, loud shots pelted the water.

“What happens now?” he cried over the wind streaming past them.

“We get you home.”

She checked her coordinates and held them on course. The shroud of darkness covered them and did so right on target. Thankfully some things were predictable, unlike the men at the dock—she’d underestimated their response time. She continually monitored around them. Assuming their ride was on time, the approaching crafts of his men would be too late.

“Get ready.”

“We’re in the ocean. What exactly are we waiting for?”