“A lot of people were killed or removed from power so anyone who was searching for us probably either was replaced, gone, or just didn’t care anymore. I mean I was using a different name, but I’m sure there’s a chance to this day that people remember my face. I’m tall, but Slavic people often are, and I’m a bit older, but so far no one has tried anything since, although I’m still very careful as I’ve just explained.”
“Makes sense,” she says.
“As does your desire to find out who your father is even though your mother simply told you, ‘he left.’ ”
“How do you know that?”
“Your Google searches make it apparent. ‘Paternal abandonment’ for one example of many.”
“Okay, you can stop right there. Jeez, Google really does know everything.”
“Everything. So you got good at coding and kept searching and apparently one of your mother’s Russian handlers took notice that you were relentless and getting closer and closer to figuring this out each year.”
“I was still miles away.”
“One breakthrough is all it takes.”
“The handler told your mother to encourage you to attend this event in Moscow. She resisted, but he overruled her. Everything for Mother Russia, right?”
“That’s why she cried when I left. She knew she was sending me to…my death.”
I say nothing because I don’t need to. She’s absolutely right, a shocking revelation for any child to find out such incredibly strange information about both of their parents in a matter of minutes.
“How long have you known this?” she asks.
“Since we pulled over for one of our pit stops on the way here.”
“You figured this all out in your head?”
“Not just me. Mostly thanks to your father.”
She freezes and then suddenly blurts out, “So they weren’t going to let twenty-one years of work go down the tubes if I found my father.”
“And the C.I.A. wasn’t going to let fifteen years of work go down the tubes either.”
“The C.I.A.?”
“They flipped your mother six years into her assignment.”
“My mother’s a…?”
I nod. “…a double agent.”
CHAPTER 22
Willow
We stayed up the whole night, alternating between sex, making love, and Ivan showing me exactly what he did to stalk me.
I’m absolutely fascinated, and terrified, by it at the same time.
I appreciate his honesty and while it certainly did scare the hell out of me I see now that his intentions were good. I’m usually not an ends justify the means kind of person, but in this case we’re talking about my life that he almost certainly saved…and I’m more than happy to take a suggestion.
After seeing everything he did it really knocks me down a peg. I almost feel naive now looking back. I thought I was pretty good with computers, but he shows me I’ve got so much more to learn.
That’s one of the parts about our extremely fast-moving relationship that I really enjoy the most. The fact that we can just geek out all night talking about cyber technology is pretty crazy, and it’s definitely a huge turn on that a man so attractive is so intelligent as well.
It’s like I’m getting a masterclass in my field from one of the best, if not the best, free of charge.
He even admits that he wiped some of his spunk on my face. I thought he was joking but when I realized he wasn’t I slapped him on the arm. He admitted he deserved it, but by this point it was too late…I was already his. He had me and he had me good.
We sleep in late the next morning realizing now it’s a waiting game. My dad has alerted the authorities in the States and they’re sending in SEAL Teams to clean up the mess that my mom is in right now. The C.I.A. can’t have a long-time double agent getting killed or the journalists might be able to put the pieces together. Even worse is if my mom was to be captured and interrogated by the Russian government now that they know she was working for the States.
I can hardly believe it. I definitely never thought something I was involved in would read like a 60 Minutes piece.
If the story ever sees the light of day the SEAL Teams will be the heroes, as they should which is totally fine by me.
But the real hero in my eyes is Ivan. Without him there wouldn’t even need to be a SEAL Team because I’d already be a goner.
Now I’m only a goner when it comes to him. One look in his eyes and I melt. The way he wraps his arms around me makes me feel safer than any man with a weapon ever could.
It’s hard to believe Ivan even had a run in with the C.I.A. while he was stalking me at the hotel bar.
The next few days will be a waiting game. I know this will be hard but I also know and trust that they’ll get my mom to safety right away. The American military doesn’t play around, and I’ve never been more thankful to have them on my side than when it comes to my family.
And speaking of family I’m over the moon at the idea that I’ll finally get to meet my dad.
Ivan says he has a plan, that my dad apparently is aware of, but he doesn’t want to tell me just yet in case it needs to be changed.
It’s such a weird place, this Russia is. And it’s even weirder when Ivan explains to me how this dacha hasn’t been used in so long and when we leave we’ll literally burn it to the ground, the dirt surrounding it acting as a natural firebreak to stop the controlled blaze.
But one thing is for sure. The fire I have that burns inside for him, and the same he has for me, can never be put out.
Our relationship is starting out hot and only promises to get hotter, especially when he promises me he’s going to make me his with a ring on my finger as soon as he can.
When I ask him about the baby he says it’s already there, we don’t even need the confirmation. He knows.
And I know I’ve finally found the man of my dreams…right where I least expected.
CHAPTER 23
Willow
One week later
Our taxi slowly ascends the cobblestone streets of Kotor, Montenegro as I look out the back windshield taking in the picturesque view of the Kotor Bay at the bottom of the limestone mountain we’ve ascended.
The harbor down below is nearly empty, the yachts spending the day out in the Adriatic and the early season tourists filling the coffee shops of the cobblestone streets that run along the castle and through the town. We saw them as we drove in. There weren’t many but the ones there looked like they were more than content lounging the day away in a place that was picture postcard worthy any way you could point a camera in.
We landed at sunset this morning in nearby Tivat from Russia, departing on a small plane from a grass runway in the middle of nowhere. It sure pays to have money, and the right friends.
“This will be fine,” Ivan says and pays the cab driver and takes my luggage from the trunk.
We just stand by the side of the road taking in the view, as he wraps his other arm around me, holding me tight.
As the cab driver heads back down the mountain, Ivan takes my hand and leads me up some small steps, around a little pass and through a tunnel.
“Where in the world are we?” I laugh.
“Home, for the summer.”
“Really?” I say getting excited. This place couldn’t be more perfect nor could my company.
A few minutes later we approach an incredible home that can be more accurately described as a lair. It’s built into the side of the mountain and uses the surrounding nature so well, including the numerous evergreen trees, that you can barely see it.
It’s crazy to think such a big structure is so…invisible, but it’s exactly that.
Ivan leads us around to the side entrance and up the stairs to the main floor.
“If you were going to let yourself in, you could have at least made some coffee.” Ivan says.
Huh?
“I could have been anyone,” a voice says, echoing throughout th
e house that it’s impossible to pinpoint its location.
“But you’re not. You’re the only one.”
From behind a wooden beam steps a man who I immediately recognize, although I’ve never seen him before.
He has my eyes, or more appropriately I have his…and he also has me at, “Come to me my little one.”
I slowly move across the room, a tear running down my cheek until my head finds his chest, his lips the top of my head, his arms wrap around my back and he hugs me tight for the first time.
“Dad,” I say.
“Yes. Finally, yes.”
Suddenly there’s a loud explosion behind me out in the bay. I jump at the noise and my father just laughs.
“Nice touch,” Ivan says.
“I knew you’d like it.”
“Did I miss something?” my mother says stepping out from another room.
“Oh my god. Who’s next?” I say and my mother joins us in a hug.
We cry. We laugh. We share stories on the balcony for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, taking in the panoramic view of the bay.
Amidst all the excitement somehow I’d forgotten about the blast from earlier. “What was that?”
“That,” Ivan says, “was your father being an absolute genius.”
“How so?”
My dad smirks while Ivan explains how my father bought a boat with clean tags in Tel Aviv and then captained it here into the harbor where he left it before swimming ashore. I wouldn’t have believed it earlier, but after watching multiple men swim the entire bay today, and knowing some of the worlds’ best water polo players and teams come from this region, it makes sense now. My dad said it only took about twenty-five minutes, plus another ten to rig all the explosives, and maybe five to get the mannequin all dressed up and with a beer in his hand on the deck.
Apparently he dropped a beacon right when he pulled in, which gave the Russians, who own a tremendous amount of the property along the coast a head’s up that he was here.
It was only a matter of time until they called it in and a sleeper cell came to take him out, only for the cell and my dad, or at least the mannequin that they’d identified him to be, to meet their maker.
So case closed for my dad. He’s out of the woods.
But my mom?
Well, the Americans offered her witness protection, but she passed once she was informed where I was and who I was with. She raised a glass to the my father and my man saying, “Nothing can protect you better than two alpha male Russians…and a few billion dollars.” Very true.
She got a fresh passport and a new name and was on her way over. And the C.I.A. was kind enough to feed the local press a story about a woman who was killed in her home earlier in the day…my mom.
So now we just sit and wait a few months in a heaven on earth until more pressing things come to the attention of those who are playing the global power game.
Ivan and my dad handed over the control of their company to their board of directors and cashed out their stock, never to be heard from again.
Ivan says he doesn’t need it anymore. Life is too short and he wants to spend every waking minute of the rest of his life focusing on the only thing that matters…family.
And not only does that include our kids, but it includes my career. I can code and program from anywhere and in hacker communities all you need is a username and a reputation. I’m ready to get my career started…after the summer of course.
I am a college graduate after all. I may not receive the diploma in the mail or walk down the aisle to get it, but I’m looking forward to walking down the only aisle that matters to me now…the one where we become husband and wife.
I don’t want to put any pressure on him, but we talked about it in the dacha and I know he wants it just as much as I do.
I’m sure it will be sooner rather than later.
CHAPTER 24
Ivan
I pick up the box for one Mr. Aleksandr Sokolov, make the payment, and I’m quickly back in the cab and back up the mountainside. It will only seem like a very extended bathroom break, thanks to the free flowing wine from the local vineyards, although my woman is barely drinking, but the result will be so much more.
I laugh at the fake name I used for the purchase all the way into the house.
Once inside, my heart is beating hard, but not from hurrying…from the moment I’ve waited my whole life for, even though I never expected it to come.
And now, just like that, everything changes in an instant. A chance encounter between the two of us and I’m not taking a chance that she ever gets away.
I step into the main room, seeing my inked princess, her mother, and her father sitting on the balcony. The sight couldn’t be better.
I pull the GoPro from one box and quickly insert the battery and set it on the table, pressing record.
The other box I take with me.
I come up from behind, putting my hands on her shoulders and gently massaging them. Leaning my head forward so I can see she’s smirking. “I bet I know who that is,” she says.
“But I bet you don’t know what I brought.”
“More wine?” she says, even though she’s barely sipped a single glass. I have a strong feeling she’s pregnant and we both want our baby to be perfect.
“I’ve got something that I think is going to make you feel even more intoxicated, but in a different way.”
“Good, because I think I need a break. I’ve barely had but a few sips all day. I think my taste buds are off...so a break would be perfect.”
“From drinking…yes. From what we have…never,” I say, keeping my arm on her shoulder and walking around the side of her chair, taking a knee and opening the box.
“I never thought love would find me, and it didn’t…until we found each other. This is happening fast, I know, but that’s how life comes at you. And I don’t want to spend one minute of it without you by my side. Marry me,” I say.
She goes to set down her glass, the sound of the base wobbling against the table as her hand shakes. Her father takes the glass from her hand and it quickly comes to my face, which she takes in her hand.
“Yes!” she says. “I don’t ever want to miss a moment with you.”
I slide the ring on her finger and we kiss with the promise that we’re engaged to be married…the best kind of promise in the world.
And I promise to keep her safe, because she’s mine and only mine…forever.
EPILOGUE
Willow
One month later
It’s hard to believe it’s been an entire month.
My parents just sailed out of the harbor this morning, off to who knows where…which is exactly the plan.
They’re going to just disappear for a while and then dad will check in with Ivan when he feels it’s time.
I was kind of surprised how calmly my dad took the whole thing with his daughter getting engaged to his best friend. Maybe since he didn’t even know he had a daughter, and he’s been best friends with Ivan for so long, that it played out in such a relaxed fashion. When he met me for the first time I was already an adult so he doesn’t immediately see me as a child who can’t make decisions on my own.
I think my dad was still in shock of finding out I even existed, that he gave me life.
What an incredible life it’s been. We’ve been making so many jokes about all of us being “dead,” which is kind of ironic considering I’ve never felt more alive in my life.
Ivan and I are also in the harbor and we guide our separate boat out into the Adriatic and set the controls to a slow autopilot for the rest of the afternoon.
Sure, we’ll have to monitor it, but there’s something else I have to monitor in the meantime.
“What is up with this, captain?” I say, grabbing his cock through his board shorts.
“That, would be yours my co-captain. Yours and all yours.”
“Well if it’s mine then, I guess I don’t have to ask permi
ssion to do this,” I say dropping to my knees, squeezing his cock through the fabric and then jerking his shorts down to his ankles.
“You’re already hard.”
Jealous Russian Stalker (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 92) Page 10
