by Grady, D. R.
When Tia arrived to fix their wells, Rurikstan had been in dire straits. Too many sick people, all their water had to be boiled, a few deaths, a prince in utter turmoil; it had not been Rurikstan’s finest hour. But everything worked out perfectly. Tia figured out the problem, fixed the wells, fell in love with their prince, was engaged to him now, and would eventually provide their future prince or princess. The new leader for their nation. [Bad Nerd Rising – Book 7 – The Morrison Family Series]
Beau started playing the piece so she shifted in order to see the notes in front of him. She entered the piece, playing each chord, blending with his as the music rose. It swelled the room, marking it a magical place for the time they sent the notes out into the night. Each chord she played matched his as their playing styles blended together perfectly.
She could tell immediately that he wasn’t in as much pain. His left hand didn’t lag as it did sometimes. She also knew not to get too optimistic. While his hand was improving, he had good and bad days. His playing tonight meant that he was having a good day. Although of late he was having far more of those.
His right hand had no trouble with the notes as the music swelled and beat at them with the intensity of a hurricane. It was exhilarating to be making music with a master like Beau. Her guitar skill didn’t match his piano skill, but she managed to mostly stay with him throughout the composition. Her fingers flew over the strings as they reached the crescendo.
The notes seemed to shimmer around them. Beau’s left hand continued through the piece, nearly in sync with his right. For the first time since he had written this composition, he managed to play each note perfectly, and the melody was so beautiful, tears prickled her eyes.
They played the last, perfect notes in harmony and with the same flair.
When the last of the music died away, their eyes met in mutual understanding. “That was perfect,” she gushed as glee washed over her.
“I finally got it.” Beau sounded happy.
“You said you just needed to practice. And it’s only taken a week to conquer this particular piece. That’s impressive, Beau.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been practicing it far longer than you.”
“If your left hand worked like it should, you would have already mastered it. But, you’re improving daily, and I think you realize that.”
“I do, but it doesn’t alter the fact that it takes a lot more work on my part to master these pieces.” He sounded disgusted.
“Anything that’s worth doing takes practice.”
“Now you sound like my conductor.”
“She would know.” His conductor, an amazing, dynamic woman just turned fifty, had adopted Beau. They had the sweetest relationship. She wasn’t afraid to yell at him, and he took her scolds well. She also enjoyed spoiling him.
“My aunt takes no prisoners.”
“No. But I still really like her.” Beau’s grin was bratty and yet sweet.
“She likes you too.”
Beau’s smile was private, but happy. “She’s your father’s sister, right?”
“That’s correct. And music has always flowed through her. I’m guessing like it does in you.”
“Right.” When he didn’t elaborate, she sent him a searching glance that he ignored and instead flipped through the music on his piano. “Let’s try this.”
She stared at it for long moments before she nodded. “I’m ready when you…”
But he had already started playing so she shut up and joined him. The music flowed through the room again, engulfing them in magical notes of pure sound, pure loveliness.
It would have been perfect if she wasn’t missing Vlad so much.
And why did Beau always shut down like this when she mentioned her dad or his family? She could rattle on about her mom and sister all she wanted, and he listened and enjoyed it. But mention her father and he didn’t seem all that interested.
Or rather, he changed the subject, didn’t answer, or like now, started playing music to thwart her… or what? He didn’t like speaking of her father but he loved her aunt, his symphony conductor. And she didn’t doubt he loved her, and her sister, Karis.
Curiouser and curiouser.
***
“You’re late,” Ben Morrison announced when he and Shively strolled into his battle chamber.
He eyeballed this man he respected so much he would follow into any battle. “Helena is home from work.”
Ben’s grunt told him he was forgiven but he didn’t smile in triumph. There was no need. Ben’s courtship of his wife was legendary among the SEALs. [The Nerd and the SEAL – Book 3 – The Morrison Family Series] He had heard all about it from Ben’s swim buddy, Sam Welby. Then, after Ben and Treeny married and were expecting their twins, Ben’s family discovered a new cousin, O’Riley’s daughter, who Sam fell hard for. [The Nerd’s Pocket Pets – Book 4 – The Morrison Family Series]
Both men understood that women weren’t easy to understand and that the path to courtship was not for the faint of heart. It wasn’t even kind to the brave. Or so he had concluded when both Morrison and Welby fell hard for their women. He’d like to meet O’Riley’s daughter. That woman had to be impressive, especially since she was also General Emma’s daughter.
He had the dubious privilege of meeting that lady and he had seen right away why Ben spoke of her in hushed tones. Starting an avalanche was dangerous - anyone with good survival instincts respected that. He could clearly see that General Emma was well named. And from that one meeting he could also tell that O’Riley had his very capable hands full with that lady. The admiral, from all reports, was enjoying married life to the fullest.
“So, gentlemen, we’ve got work to do,” Ben stated. He spread a map on the table in front of them and tapped the passage that led from the lab. “How many of the off shooting tunnels have you camouflaged?” Ben glanced at him.
“All of them.” He went on to explain the thirty foot stone archway and then some double door sized openings as well as the smaller ones. He had managed to cover all of them, but it wouldn’t hurt to have their professional opinion on how effective his methods were.
“Is it really necessary to hide those openings?” Tigger wondered.
“Tia is going to explore that tunnel the first opportunity she gets.” Ben’s lips formed a grim line.
“You think my mother and Helena aren’t going to join her?” he added. “Imagine what will happen if those three women stumble into our command center. All three of them are smart enough to do so.”
Ben winced. “And Jorge strikes me as the type to enjoy that sort of thing.”
“He’s a huge military buff. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already figured out what these tunnels were used for.”
“So he’s going to want to explore to see if he can find anything interesting.” Beaumont tapped the map in front of them. Right at the lab entrance into the tunnels.
They all grimaced. “Yes.”
“How long has it been since you ‘discovered’ that passage off the larger store room?”
“Three or four days.”
“Let’s go through and tweak what Welly’s done, and then we need a battle plan.”
Chapter 17
Helena snuck away at lunchtime to meet her sister in their favorite café.
“Karis!” She squeezed her sister until she squeaked.
“Easy, Helena,” Karis groused as usual.
“I can’t believe Emerson didn’t try to also steal this lunch break.” She waited until after they gave their order. As usual, Karis shone like the true beauty of the family. Everyone thought Helena beautiful until they met Karis. Her hair was a gorgeous, shining sable that was far more vibrant than Helena’s, whose hair was more chestnut colored. Her eyes were a clearer green, and her smooth caramel colored skin showed off their mother’s mixed heritage to perfection. Really, Karis was probably the most beautiful woman in the world.
“I told him I had made a date with you and that if he wanted to
argue, he could take it up with you.”
She laughed. “Since he’s a wimp, he didn’t take it up with me.”
“He fears you could take him. Or, more likely, he remembers all too well that you’re dating a rather scary man.” Karis used her fishing voice.
“What do you want to know?” Her sigh was long-suffering.
Karis took a sip of water before she leaned forward. “Everything.”
“You need to be more specific.”
“Are you actually dating Vladimir Wellington?”
“Yes.” She frowned. “I think so.”
One of Karis’s perfect eyebrows arched. “You think so?”
“We see each other every night and I don’t want to date anyone else. So, yes, I think so.”
Karis pursed her lips. “You never have wanted anyone else.”
“That’s right. And here’s something - neither has he.”
Their server set their coffee in front of them and promised their meals were coming soon.
She and Karis barely heard him even though they thanked him. “Neither has he?” Karis repeated as though they hadn’t been interrupted. “That means like you, he’s never dated?”
“That’s what I took his statement to mean.”
“He’s never dated?” Karis’s eyes were wide but still lovely.
“I haven’t either,” she said gruffly.
“No, but that’s not so unusual for a woman. But the fact that Vlad, one of the most gorgeous, dangerous men alive, has never dated is blowing my mind.”
“I know. It did me, too. But I didn’t verify that he’s never dated before. He just said he wasn’t interested in other women.”
Karis took a cautious sip of coffee. “Kind of hard to clarify that statement.”
“That’s what I thought. Do I ask for more information and have my heart broken or do I pick the meaning I want and not ask for more details?”
“Definitely pick your own interpretation.”
She grinned. “Yeah, that was my thought. But the thing is, even if he’s had other women in the past, he knows that he doesn’t want them or he wouldn’t be with me.”
“One thing I remember about Vlad is that he’s got this core of integrity that’s legions deeper than most men.” Karis played with her spoon.
“That’s why I chose to believe he hasn’t dated other women.” She took a sip of her own coffee. It was delicious, as always. “Plus, he’s been pretty focused on his training.”
“Is he finished with that training?”
“As far as I know.”
Karis sent her a knowing look. “Do you even know what that training was?”
She sniffed. “Yes. He’s trained to become a warrior.”
“Oh.” Karis’s eyes widened again. “A warrior. Like the original Vladimir de Leos?”
“Apparently.”
This time Karis’s full mouth tilted down. “How do you feel about dating a full warrior like that?”
“I’m not certain. I want Vlad, but I wish he was a stockbroker or accountant or something.”
“That’s only because you can’t stand math and balancing your bank accounts is impossible.”
“Correct. Hence the need for a man who can do that stuff so I don’t have to.”
“Doesn’t Maks already do that for you?”
Shoot, caught out by her own sister. Karis was good at that. “Yes. He’s been handling my money affairs for several years.”
“Is it because Vlad asked him to?”
She paused. “I don’t know. One day Maks asked me about it so I told him I’m hopeless with financial stuff. He instructed me to bring all my records to him. I did and he’s taken care of it ever since.” He was currently busy sorting through the issue of her pay rate and back pay. For which she was very grateful to leave in his capable hands.
“You could ask Vlad.”
“I could, but I generally have more interesting things to do with him than talk.”
Fortunately their server brought their lunch so that broke up the conversation. For now.
After they had eaten quietly for a few minutes, Karis took a sip of her coffee before she fixed her with a determined expression that was all too familiar. “You don’t like the fact that Vlad’s job is dangerous.”
Her sister made that announcement the same way she would the weather. It’s going to be sunny and warm today…
She knew how to play this game. They’d been doing it since childhood. Usually Karis won because she was sneakier and now that she was a parent her skills were that much better. Apparently kids were better at this than some adults. “You wouldn’t mind if Emerson was active military rather than ran the palace and most of Aleksi’s life?”
Karis laughed. “Emerson does poke his nose into far too much of Aleksi’s life.”
“Everyone knows that. So far, that’s been a fairly safe career for him. But imagine if he was still in the military.”
A shadow crossed Karis’s lovely face. “No, I don’t think I want to do that.”
“Okay, now imagine if Emerson wasn’t just regular military on active duty, but if our prince had sent him all over the world to become some sort of super soldier.” A knot formed in her stomach.
“No, I can’t imagine that.” Karis’s voice was thick.
“You can’t, because your husband works in a safe, comfortable profession. Not to mention a cushy environment.”
“Is Vlad a super soldier?”
“Yes. From what I’ve learned, that’s what Prince Aleksandr decided for him when he was five.”
Karis choked on her next sip of coffee. “Five?”
“Yes.”
Neither of them needed to point out that Karis’s oldest, Nadia, was already three. She was two years from the age that Vlad’s military training started.
“No child is old enough to start training for a career at that age,” Karis said tightly.
“Apparently Vlad was.”
Karis swallowed and it sounded really loud.
“Do you now understand why I’m so worried?”
“Oh yes.” Karis mangled her salad with her fork. It was rather obvious her healthy appetite had fled, right along with hers. “No wonder you’re so worked up by all this.”
“My fears are reasonable.” Helena worked at mangling the lettuce on her own plate. Goodness knew she couldn’t possibly eat more of it. Not with her stomach churning like this and the bile rising in her throat.
“This is why you’ve been such a mess,” Karis decided suddenly.
“You haven’t seen me in three days. There’s no way you can determine whether I’m a mess or not.” She fixed her with a sisterly stay-out-of-my-business stare.
Karis ignored the stare and instead raised an imperious eyebrow.
She relented. “I keep telling myself that everything is fine, but the thing is, men who are warriors sometimes don’t come home.”
“No, they don’t. But other men sometimes don’t either.”
When she looked up, it was Karis the nurse practitioner speaking, not her sister. “That’s true.”
“Yes. No one is exempt from vehicular accidents, disease, or just bad luck. Death comes whether we like it or not.”
She sighed. “It just seems like a stockbroker would be far less risky.”
“Yeah, except their blood pressure is usually really high, their waist bands keep expanding, and they shoot into the high risk category for stroke.”
“You know, it occurs to me that Emerson isn’t the only know-it-all in the family.”
Karis laughed, but she also patted her hand. “There are no guarantees. We only get so much time here. No one knows when their time is up. You need to decide whether Vlad is worth your time. Can you live without him? Would that be easier?”
The thoughts swirling like hurricane winds through her brain weren’t welcome. She couldn’t make heads or tails of any of them and it was driving her crazy. She picked up her coffee cup and took a long, fortifying
sip.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you’ll have more answers if you think about this for a while.” Karis’s eyes were soft with sympathy. It was a look she did well.
“Whether I’d be better off without Vlad than with him?” Even saying those words caused the knot in her stomach to grow.
“Yes. Decide how important he is to you before you make any rash decisions.”
While that was good advice, she had no idea how to follow through. It might be safer to just go crawl back into bed and forget about life for a while.
Only that would set her free to dream and one man recurred in her dreams on a regular basis. There would be no rest if Vlad invaded her dreamscapes and he had already proven he was quite comfortable there.
She sighed again. Why hadn’t anyone warned her that men were dangerous to her mental health?
***
She trailed into the lab after lunch, her thoughts uncertain, and her mood… surly. She said hello to her lab mates before locating her toolbox to collect water samples. That would allow her time to think while keeping her out of the lab. Besides, it needed done.
“I’m off,” she announced once she packed up the bottles she needed, sterile wipes, and various other items necessary for the collection process.
“I have a meeting later.” Tia indicated the appointments calendar with her head. She nodded. That’s right, Tia was meeting with Graham at the hospital.
“Is Maria going with you?”
They both turned to Vlad’s mother. “I don’t think I can. I have to process all my water samples.” Maria was busy plating some things Tia needed.
“I’ll process those when I return,” she offered. “I’ll have all mine to do, so it won’t make any difference if I do yours as well.”
Jorge pushed away from the bench where he was cleaning up his work station. “In that case, should I go collect my samples and Tia’s?”
They all looked at each other before voting in favor of that. Processing the samples would keep her busy for the rest of the afternoon. That made her happy as she waved goodbye and exited the lab.
