YURI (Her Russian Protector #3) (37 page)

"Yes. Have you?"

He shook his head. "Not yet but I assume they'll be here soon. Did you call my lawyer?"

"No but Nikolai did. Craig was at the house before the paramedics even had you loaded into the ambulance. He shielded me from the more aggressive questioning."

"Are you sure you want to stick with this story?"

"Yes." I still didn't know where my instinct to protect Nikolai came from but I trusted it. "Everything would come out, Yuri.
Everything.
If Nikolai wants to tell people about the abuse he suffered as a child, that's his business. I won't have that admission forced on him. Regardless of who shot Jake and Katya, there was no other way out of that situation. We were both going to die today, Yuri. Whether I take responsibility or Nikolai does, it doesn't change the reality."

Yuri looked like he wanted to argue. "I don't want you to suffer for more of my mistakes."

"And I didn't want you to suffer for the mistakes of my father and my cousin but you did. You risked so much to save them both, to save the people I love. This is my way of saving someone you love."

His eyes shut briefly. "I wish it wasn't so sordid, so dirty."

"So do I."

He tried to squeeze my hand but winced. "Sorry. They said there isn't any bad nerve damage but it may be a few weeks before my grip and dexterity returns."

"I guess it's a good thing you don't work with your hands."

Yuri grinned and his eyes gleamed impishly. "Oh, I don't know about that. I think I've done some of my best work with these hands."

Thinking of all the ways he'd sensually tormented me with those masterful hands, I blushed. "Yes, you have done some rather amazing things with them."

He chuckled. Eyes shining with love, he murmured, "I want to hold you."

I studied the bed. "Don't move. I'll just squeeze right in here."

After kicking off my shoes, I gently climbed onto the bed and insinuated myself between his side and the safety rail. I made sure not to put any pressure on his chest and watched his face for any signs of discomfort. He draped his bandaged arms around me. "I love you, Yelena."

"I love you, too."

"You realize I'm going to marry you someday."

Smiling up at him, I kissed his cheek. "I figured."

He snorted with amusement. "I suppose that answer will have to do for now."

"For now," I agreed.

"While the doctors were sewing me back together, I decided that we're going on a very long vacation after Dimitri and Benny's wedding."

"Is that so?"

He laughed quietly. "It is. You aren't fighting me on this one. You need some relaxation and rest as much as I do."

"Erin and Vivian just said the same thing to me. Apparently, they all think we're workaholics."

"We are. It's probably why we get along so well but life is about more than work and money and success." His arms tightened around me. "I've waited years to find you, Lena. I intend to enjoy every damn minute we have together."

His sweet vow touched me. "Ditto."

"You pick out the places you want to visit and we'll do them all."

My eyebrows shot up. "All of them?"

"Why not?"

"Maybe the top five," I said, thinking of how long it would take to visit all the places on my bucket list. "We have our whole lives ahead of us to get to the rest of them."

"Then top five," he agreed indulgently. He kissed the top of my head. "And add a stop to Los Angeles to that list."

"Los Angeles?" I scrunched up my face. "Why? Do you have business there?"

"No, but I thought you might like to see your mother."

His words hit me like a speeding truck. Voice shaking, I reminded him, "My mother is dead, Yuri."

He swept his fingers down my hair. "I don't know who told you that but it isn't true. She's alive. Her address was in the dossier that I shredded."

Suddenly nauseated, I bolted upright and off the bed. The awful truth, the one thing in the whole world I'd been willing to lie to him about, had been uncovered.

"I'm sorry." Yuri tried to sit up but fell back when the pain wouldn't let him. He pressed a hand to his shoulder. "I shouldn’t have told you like this. I wasn't thinking about what a shock—"

"I already knew," I said, my voice scratchy and my eyes burning.

Yuri blinked with confusion. "What do you mean? But you told me—"

"I know what I told you. I told you the same thing I tell everyone." Humiliated to admit the truth, I dropped my gaze to the floor. "I found her when I was seventeen. I saved money all summer and bought a bus ticket to Los Angeles the week before my senior year of high school began."

"You rode a bus? All the way to Los Angeles? At seventeen?"

I could hear the distaste in his voice but didn't dare lift my gaze to his. "Yes."

"Why didn't your father give you money for a plane ticket?"

"He didn't know I was going. We never talked about her after she left."

"You went across the country
alone
? Yelena, you could have been killed or kidnapped or—"

I held up my hand. "I know how stupid it was."

Still unable to meet his gaze, I wiped at the tears rushing down my cheeks. Realizing there was no way to keep the awful, ugly truth a secret, I let it all spill out of me. "I was so excited. The whole way there I kept dreaming of all the wonderful things that would happen. I thought we would hug and laugh and stay up all night talking and go to fucking Disneyland."

My painful sob echoed in the quiet hospital room. "But she wasn't happy to see me after all. She looked horrified—
horrified
—to see me standing on the doorstep of her big, beautiful new house."

I managed to force down the bile rising in my throat as the humiliating memories assaulted me. "When her husband asked who I was, she said I was a solicitor selling magazine subscriptions and slammed the door in my face. She had a whole new family. A perfect family," I added. "And she didn't want me poisoning it."

"
Lyubimaya…
"

"I went back to the bus station and bought a ticket home. Dad didn't even realize I'd been gone. He'd been fencing some stuff in New York. Right around Christmas, he found the address and asked me about it. I didn't know how to tell him the truth so I told him she was dead because we were already dead to her."

"
Angel moy
…"

"So I lied to you, too, Yuri." I sobbed into my hands, the broken gulps of air making my lungs burn. "I lied because there's no way you could love me if you knew that my own mother didn’t want me."

Yuri's strong, loving voice cut through my sobs. "Come here, Lena. I would come get you myself but I can't. Now come here, Kitten."

I forced my feet to move even though I wanted to run out of the room in embarrassment. Yuri grasped my hand and tugged me closer. "Onto the bed. Now."

I did as he commanded, sliding back into the small space I'd earlier occupied. Yuri shifted enough to gaze down at me. It wasn't pity or disgust reflected in those warm hazel eyes of his. No, it was love, the brightest, fiercest love.

"You listen to me, Yelena. That woman is a fool and there's no help for a person like that." He kissed me tenderly. "I'm no fool and I see what's right here in front of me. You are loved by so many people—by your father, by your friends and by me." He claimed my lips with such love. "I will never abandon you, Lena. You are precious to me."

Yuri's words started to fill that raw, gaping hole inside of me. For the first time in so long, I actually began to feel a glimmer of wholeness.

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you're loved." With a teasing smile, he added, "And I'm going to take you to Disneyland."

Still crying, I laughed at his playful remark. Though it was said teasingly, I had no doubt we'd both be sporting mouse ears in goofy pictures someday soon.

After Yuri wiped my face with his hospital gown, he urged me to snuggle closer. Huddled close to the man I loved, I relished the flare of hope burning so brightly within me. If any man in the world had the audacity to be everything he promised, it was my Yuri.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Four Weeks Later

"I've got to hand it to you, Erin. This is one hell of a wedding!" Champagne in hand, I took the open seat next to her.

Grinning, she looked rather pleased with herself "It was fun to plan. Of course, having full access to Yuri's yacht and all the secret handshakes from Nikolai and Ivan's business relationships around town helped." She leaned closer. "You wouldn't believe how affordable this bash was. Like—seriously."

"I've seen you haggle when we go thrifting," I reminded her with a laugh. "I'm not at all surprised you got all this for less."

And it was a beautiful wedding. It was a mid-sized gathering of Dimitri and Benny's friends and family. Ivan had taken the role of best man and Benny had asked me to be her maid of honor. Johnny looked fantastic in his tux and watching him give away his sister had been a bittersweet moment to watch.

Because Ivan hated speaking in public, Yuri had given the best man's speech—and he didn't disappoint. We'd all been rolling with laughter and smiling as he delivered a poignant but witty speech, but it was Dimitri who had us wiping our eyes and cheering when he finished his heartfelt speech with an announcement of Benny's pregnancy.

I watched the happily married couple as they swayed on the dance floor. Safely out of her first trimester, Benny seemed to be over the worst of the morning sickness and the exhaustion. The cut of her wedding gown, an empire sheath, made it possible for her to keep their secret through the ceremony, but out on that dance floor, the fabric twisted just enough to show the rounded curve to her belly. Without even realizing it, Dimitri had been placing his hand across her tummy in a protective, shielding way all night.

"We should start a pool," Erin said with a giggle. "Due date. Boy or girl. Weight. All that."

"I'm so in."

"Maybe we should start a pool on that," Erin suggested with a slight gesture of her head.

Following the subtle lift of her chin, I spotted Vivian dancing with Kelly Connolly. The sight of the two laughing and swaying surprised me. Out of habit, I searched the crowd for Nikolai. He stood with Yuri and a couple of men I didn't recognize. His dark gaze was fixed on the dancing couple.

As if he could sense me watching him, his attention flicked my way. Our gazes clashed but I didn't look away. After the harrowing experience I'd shared with him, I no longer felt as nervous or scared around him. We would never be friendly—I wasn't sure he was capable of being friendly with any woman other than Vivian—but we were warm acquaintances.

Turning his back on Vivian and Kelly, Nikolai signaled that he was okay with whatever she wanted. But as I watched Vivian and Kelly dancing, I got the feeling that the two weren't attracted to each other in the least. There were no lingering touches or intense flirty looks exchanged between the pair.

I sipped my champagne. "I don't think that's going anywhere. It's just a dance."

"Pity," Erin said with a little frown. "They make a hot couple."

"I don't think Vivian wants anyone but the one man she can't have."

"I don't know about
can't
. I think if she went after him, he'd be defenseless against her." Erin drummed her fingers on the table. "What's the story with Kelly? I thought he'd given up his bodyguard post."

"He's not doing long-term jobs anymore. Apparently he told Dimitri that he worried he would become too attached to his clients. He's lost enough people that mattered to him while he was in the Marine Corps so he doesn't want to do that in civilian life. The last I heard he's doing short private security jobs. You know, a weekend here or there."

"I was so worried that Dimitri's new venture was going to take a hit after that mess with Jake but I guess it's turned out okay."

"Ty and I worked overtime to spin the hell out of that situation. Honestly, Dimitri has dozens of bouncers and bodyguards working for him and only one turned out to be rotten. It's very clear that he's super careful about vetting the men he hires. I think Jake was basically a great guy who got taken in by a beautiful psychopath with a sob story."

"At least that's all over now."

A few days earlier, I'd been cleared of any charges. I suspected the DA and the detectives on the case didn't fully believe my version of events. There were inconsistencies in some of the forensics, after all, but nothing to prove that Nikolai had ever been in that house. As far as I could tell, no one but the three of us knew that secret—and it would stay that way.

"Has Vivian decided what she's going to do once you totally move in with Yuri?"

"She's looking into a smaller apartment at the same complex." A quiver of guilt pierced my chest. "I still feel torn about moving out but she says she's happy for me."