by Kat Mizera
“Even if he gives us the money to replace everything, in cash, it will take months for replacement furniture and supplies to arrive. We can’t survive months without work, especially since summer is when we make the bulk of our money.”
“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Axel looked around. “Damn, they did a number on your place. Little bastards. I’d like to kick their asses again.”
I smiled, despite the dire circumstances. “I’d like to kick a few asses myself.”
His eyes met mine. “Sometimes it feels good to take out a little aggression. You ever do any martial arts?”
I shook my head. “We have nothing like that here in Vinake.”
“Have you always lived here?”
“Yes.”
“Have you been to Hiskale?”
“A few times, for a day or so at a time, but it takes all of us to run the café, so there’s no time to travel.”
“You said you were going to the U.S. this summer. What happened?”
“I had to give them all the money I’d saved for my trip when we were short once last month.”
“Those Brat guys.”
“Yes. But that was all I had and there was nothing to hold them off this time.”
“Sonofabitch.”
“You’re here.” My mother came out of the back, wiping her hands on a towel. “I’d like to see your brother. Can you watch the café?”
“What’s to watch?” I asked her. “There are no customers or anything cooking.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I made stew upstairs in our apartment and Katia baked loaves of bread. This way we can feed the workers at lunch.”
“Mom…” My voice trailed off at her soft smile.
“This is what we do, Solange. If we have nothing for them, what will they eat?”
“What will we eat?” I demanded. “We have nothing left!”
“There’s meat in the freezer and vegetables in the cellar. They’ll pay us for lunch and we’ll figure out what to do for tomorrow. One day at a time, my love.”
There were so many things I wanted to say about that, but there was no point. We’d had this argument many times over the years and she always put the welfare of our friends and neighbors before everything else. Even me sometimes. That was why I’d started saving for a trip to the U.S. One of my friends had met an American soldier in Turkey two years ago and now she was a wife and mother living in some place called Kissimmee, Florida. She said it was close to Disney World and had invited me to come visit.
“I know this isn’t the life you want,” Mom said after a moment, reaching out to cup the side of my face. “And when this is over, when Kostya is healthy and we’ve rebuilt the café, we’re going to give you back the money you lost so you can follow your dreams.”
I smiled sadly, shaking my head. “I don’t have dreams anymore,” I whispered. “A trip to Disney World isn’t going to bring them back to me. Anyway, you go. I’ll handle lunch.”
Axel handed my father his keys back and watched as my parents went out to their pickup.
“What was that about Disney World?” he asked once they were gone.
“That’s where I was going to go when I went on my trip. Mom was saying when we get the café up and running, she’s going to give me back the money I gave the Brat so I can still go.” I turned, looking for an apron.
“Don’t you want to?” Axel followed me to the back.
I shrugged. “It’s become clear that I’m not destined to have a life beyond that of the café and my family, so I’ve given up the fantasies about travel or a career or anything else.” I paused and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Last night shook me up more than I want to admit. Don’t mind me.”
“Last night would have shaken up almost anyone,” he said. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You haven’t had any time to process everything.”
“I don’t want to process anything,” I said, staring out through the broken windows. “I’m tired of the fear, the hunger, the cold… Every time we start to get ahead, like when King Erik took power, something else bad happens. I’m so tired of being tired.” I leaned against the counter. “And I did it again. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I can’t seem to stop complaining today.”
“It’s okay. I’m happy to listen.”
“Why? You don’t even know me.” And more than that, why did my heart beat a little faster every time he looked at me? Too bad it probably wasn’t mutual.
4
Axel
I tried not to smile at the look she was giving me. “Well, I’d say after last night, I know you a little.”
More than anything, I wanted to kiss the scowl off her pretty face, but she was going through something and it didn’t seem like she had anyone else to talk to. Not about this, at least. I knew that life up here in the northern part of the country was hard. It was something we talked about in our security briefings when members of the royal family were planning visits to the area, but I hadn’t understood the extent of it. The isolation that went beyond geographical distance and frigid weather. The people here lived without a lot of hope, I realized. Even the ones who had food and enough money to get through the winters.
“Well, in spite of that, apparently I have to handle feeding the lunch crowd, so talking will have to wait.” She moved towards the back.
“How are you going to serve lunch?” I asked, following her into the kitchen.
“My mother cooked a stew upstairs in our family kitchen and a neighbor baked bread.”
“Then let’s do this.”
The kitchen had fared better than the dining room. The ovens and the counters seemed to be okay, though the stove top had sustained some damage. Aside from some shelves that had probably not been bare before last night, everything else had been cleaned up. There were loaves of fresh bread on the counter, which Solange had started cutting up, and she glanced at me.
“Are you going to watch me work?”
“Can I help?”
“Sure. Grab those baskets over there.” She motioned with her head.
I got them down and set them out in front of her.
“There are napkins we use to line the baskets in that drawer.” She motioned again. “Line each basket with one.”
“Okay.” I did what I was told and she placed slices of the thick brown bread in each one. “How many people do you think you’ll feed?”
“She said there’s enough for the men who come from the factories, so about forty.”
“What are you going to feed them in?” I asked, looking around. “All your plates and bowls were broken.”
“I have no idea.” She shrugged. “My mother made it sound like it was handled. I just do what I’m told.”
“Somehow, I don’t believe that,” I murmured.
She met my gaze and smiled. “Well, most of the time. Once in a while I get a rebellious streak.”
“I think your rebellious streak is always there, simmering just below the surface. And right about now, it’s about to explode out in every direction.”
She laughed. “You’re a bit of a romantic, Axel.”
“Maybe.” I looked down at the mischief in her eyes, and the desire to kiss her was almost overwhelming. But before I could decide whether or not I dared to actually do it, there was a noise that came from the dining room of the café.
A deep booming voice called out in Limaji. “Show yourself, asshole!”
“Did he say what I think he said?” I grumbled under my breath.
She nodded and I handed her my phone. “Call Xander, and tell him there might be trouble.” Then I turned and walked out of the kitchen.
The guys waiting for me in the dining room were amateurs. Probably not a day over twenty-one and full of more bravado than brain or brawn.
I let them think I was intimidated by their guns, but I wasn’t particularly worried. I arched a brow as one of the men attempted to interrogate me in Limaji. I knew more Limaji than I let on, though I cer
tainly wasn’t fluent. I got the gist of the man’s threats, noting that they were speaking Turkish among themselves, and patiently waited for the guy who seemed to be in charge to finish his diatribe.
“…You think you can come into our town, hurt our men, go against the Brat, you don’t know who you’re messing with…” The one in charge was going on and on, to the point that I was getting bored.
“You speak English, dickhead?” I asked. “How about French? Spanish? Russian, maybe?”
“Shut the fuck up!” More Limaji.
I spotted Xander and Sandor pull up, and Xander headed toward me while Sandor disappeared around back. Hopefully, he wouldn’t scare the shit out of poor Solange.
“Hey, what’s everyone up to?” Xander came strolling in like it was any other day.
The guy in charge swung his gun around to point it at Xander and I jumped into action, taking out both of the other guys. Had they really only sent three? They knew I’d taken out four on my own last night, so did they think three would be sufficient to get the jump on me today? I shook my head as Xander held the leader in a headlock.
“What do you want to do?” Xander asked me.
“Let’s tie them up and see what Sandor thinks.”
The one guy took a swing at me and I caught his fist in my hand, giving him a look. “Knock it off.”
We made sure they were secured and headed towards the kitchen.
“I hope there’s lunch,” Xander said, following me.
“What happened?” Solange demanded.
Sandor was calmly eating a piece of bread as he waited for us to update him.
“Looks like they’re not pleased there’s a new crew in town moving in on their turf,” Xander said with a grin.
“They don’t know it’s us?” Sandor asked, arching his brows.
“Apparently not.”
“They think we’re new in town.” I picked up a piece of bread and took a bite. “This isn’t as good as your mom’s,” I told Solange.
“Did they say what they want?” Sandor asked.
“It sounds like things are escalating,” I replied. “We need to figure out who’s in charge and nip the whole organization in the bud.”
“Do we know where they’re from?”
“Turkey, I think,” I said. “They were speaking Turkish among themselves before they started talking to me in Limaji.”
“I thought you don’t speak Limaji,” Solange said dryly, hands on her hips.
“I know enough to fake it, but once too many people start talking or they’re talking too fast, I get lost. I caught enough to know the big man is in Ankara. No name, though. The good news is that they’re tied up and we can take them somewhere a little more private to find out what we need to know.”
Sandor sighed and looked at Xander. “Get them out of here. I don’t want this to blow back on Solange or her family.”
“The compound up in Braksa,” I suggested quietly. “Get them up there and see what you can find out.”
“I’m on it.” Xander grabbed a slice of bread on his way out the door.
“I’m going wait until tonight when I can talk to the townspeople,” Sandor said. “I think I’ve got a little surprise for them too.” He looked like a kid in a candy store. I was used to his bombshells, though, so I left him to it and looked over at Solange.
She was getting ready for the lunch crowd and had dug out several serving spoons for the stew. It was going to be interesting to see what her mother had put into motion for lunch since they had limited supplies.
Sandor was on the phone now and I watched Solange rummage around in the refrigerator, pulling out butter for the bread. She cut it up into little pats and dropped a few into each basket of bread.
“Sounds like the lunch crowd is arriving,” she said as voices started filtering in from the dining room, and she grabbed the baskets of bread. “Let’s see who’s hungry.”
To my surprise, when we got into the dining room, people from the neighboring shops had arrived and set up folding chairs and tables. There was a stack of paper plates, plastic cups and plastic cutlery on the counter.
“Solange! Is lunch ready?” I recognized Mrs. Freela, who owned a bakery down the street, and she was smiling as she waved to us.
“Yes, everything is ready.” Solange smiled back. “I’ll bring the pots of stew down here and the men can line up.”
“Excellent.”
I followed Solange upstairs, watching her lift one of the massive pots of stew that had been warming on the stove.
“I’ve got it.” I took it from her carefully, surprised at how heavy it was. “Where do you want it?”
“I’ll show you.”
She grabbed several heavy-duty pot holders and went back down to the dining room to put them on the counter. I set the first pot on one and turned in time to see Sandor carrying out the second pot and settling it on the second pot holder.
“Thank you.” Solange smiled at him.
“No problem.” He nodded.
There was a squeal from Mrs. Freela as she turned, her gaze landed on Sandor, and recognition dawned. She appeared to be trying to talk, but nothing came out. And then she fainted.
5
Solange
By the time we revived Mrs. Freela, introduced everyone to Prince Sandor, fed the lunch crowd and cleaned up, I was ready for a nap. I was operating on autopilot at this point, putting one foot in front of the other until I was in a position to process everything that had happened. I needed to check on Kostya and my parents, see what the plan was for dinner, and take a shower, but I was suddenly exhausted.
“What can I do?” Axel asked me. “You look ready to drop.”
“I’m so tired.” I sank onto a stool and absently ran a hand through my hair. How long had it been since I’d washed it? Yesterday? The day before? I honestly couldn’t remember. I was starting to crash emotionally and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
I’d hidden in a closet last night, but I was so tired of fear, of being a victim.
“Solange?” Axel was watching me intently.
“I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”
“Why don’t you go take a nap and I’ll keep an eye on things around here?” he suggested gently. “I’ll talk to your parents to find out what the plan is for dinner and get an update on your brother. If anything comes up, I’ll wake you. Go rest, honey. You’ll feel better.”
“You’re…” My voice trailed off as I looked into his rugged face. He wasn’t handsome. Not in a traditional way. His eyes were dark and deep-set beneath what seemed like a perpetually furrowed brow. He had far more beard than I normally found attractive, but somehow it worked on him. “You’re very kind,” I said when I finally stopped staring. “Truly. Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome.” He looked like he might say something else, but he didn’t and I slowly headed upstairs.
I really wanted a bath but the water heater was old and there wouldn’t be enough to fill it, so I stepped under the warm spray and let it wash away a day’s worth of grime. I squeezed my eyes shut and let the tears that had been threatening all day find their way out. I was so damn tired and scared. Still. Even with a member of the royal family helping us and a badass member of the Royal Protectors keeping an eye on everything.
I’d tried for the last five years to get my parents to sell the shop and move to a bigger city, either Hiskale or at least Ferdinbrag, which was the southernmost city in the northern half of the country. But my parents had refused, determined to hold on to the family legacy that had been passed on for several generations. They were devoted to the town, their neighbors, our extended family. It infuriated me because it felt like they were devoted to everything except Kostya and me. We had no future here—neither of us wanted to run a café that barely supported us—but we were stuck because we couldn’t abandon our parents.
I’d thought about leaving a thousand times but I couldn’t walk away from my family.
We all worked so hard, seven days a week, and without Kostya and me, they couldn’t manage. If we moved to a big city like Hiskale, we’d have enough business to hire enough help so we could all have some semblance of a life, but that would never happen, and in the last year I’d begun to get bitter. After last night, I was angry now too.
I slept soundly and the next thing I knew my mother was waking me.
“Solange, Prince Sandor’s meeting will start in half an hour. You should get dressed.”
“It’s evening?” I asked in surprise, sitting up.
“It’s all right. You were tired. I’ll see you downstairs.”
“Okay.” I got up and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I washed my face, put on a quick layer of mascara, dabbed some gloss on my lips and tried to decide what to do with my hair. I’d fallen asleep with it wet so it was a little frizzy and I brushed it out. There wasn’t a lot I could do without starting over, so I pulled it back in a loose ponytail and headed downstairs.
Several of our friends and neighbors were gathered in the dining room, sitting on the same folding chairs they’d brought at lunch. Mrs. Freela was talking Prince Sandor’s ear off and my father was deep in conversation with several of the men. My mother was playing hostess, serving people coffee in Styrofoam cups.
I unconsciously scanned the room for Axel and when I saw him, my heart did a weird fluttery thing that made me smile. He smiled back and slowly walked towards me.
“You look rested,” he said softly.
“Thank you for keeping an eye on things this afternoon,” I said. “I needed the sleep. Of course, I’ll probably be up half the night now, but it’s okay.”
“I’ll keep you company,” he said.
For some reason, that made me happy. “How’s Kostya?”
“He’s doing better. He’ll be in the hospital a few days, but Sandor has arranged for his care so he’s going to be okay.”
“Thank god.” I sighed in relief.
“You should keep an eye on Mrs. Freela,” Axel whispered in my ear.
