He grinned at her. “I haven’t been in here in months. I wish I was here under better circumstances.”
“Where else do you have houses?”
The pilot took their suitcases out of the helicopter. Kendra grabbed hers while Sacha took his.
“I have an apartment in Paris. One in Moscow and a house in the Hollywood Hills.”
“Do you get to see them often?”
“No. Maybe I’ll take you to all of them sometime.”
He was talking about the future. As if they really had one. She was temporarily in his life. She knew this, but she could dream about Paris and Moscow. It wasn’t a bad dream at all.
“Will the helicopter stay here?”
“Yes, he’ll put it on a trailer. There’s a hanger, but he’ll have to tow it there and the pilot will stay in the apartment there. He’ll be available if I need him. I usually give him my schedule ahead of time, but he knows that I might need him other times too.”
“So he’s always on call?”
“He gets paid well for always being on call, Kendra.”
Sacha’s looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes, as if she shouldn’t ask more. She wouldn’t. Not her problem. Sacha opened the front door. Inside the foyer was two stories tall. A living room sat to the right, as did the rest of the house. A staircase was right in front of her.
“Just leave the suitcases there. Let me show you around down here, and then I’ll show you to our bedroom.”
***
Sacha wanted to go to the bedroom first. It had been a few days since they’d been in the sack, and he was itching to get at least his good hand on a naked Kendra. The logistics would be interesting, but he’d bet they could work it out.
“This is the great room. The fireplace is propane. No need to chop wood.” He led her through the room to the kitchen.
“Oh, my goodness,” Kendra said.
He loved this kitchen. “I can make some really great meals in this room.”
He watched her as she looked at everything in the house. He liked her reaction. He’d never brought a woman here. He’d never seen it through someone else’s eyes. The smile didn’t leave her face. Finally, they reached the bedroom. It was at the back of the house and had a large window looking out into the woods.
“What a view.”
“Yes it is.”
She spun back to him. He was looking at her.
“You need to freshen up?” he said.
She walked to him, then kissed him. “I’m good.” She stepped back to look at him. Her gaze fell onto the sling on his arm.
“We can work around this Kendra. I just need your help undressing.”
“I think I can do that.” Her fingers danced across his chest as she unbuttoned his shirt. She was taking her own sweet time.
“I don’t care if you rip it off.”
She stepped away from him. “I’m not going to hurt your arm. If you aren’t nice to me I’ll undress in front of you and leave you here to try to take your own pants off, with a hard on.”
She crossed her arms. Damn her. She’d been helping him with his clothing for the last two days. She knew he couldn’t do it himself.
“Fine, but I’d think you would be eager since it’s been a few days.”
She cocked her eyebrow. “I could go a few more days.”
“Stop. You’re killing me.”
She laughed, then pushed his shirt off of his shoulder with the care someone would give crystal. He didn’t care about the pain. His dick hurt from lack of use more than his shoulder hurt from the bullet that had grazed him. The shirt landed on the floor. She unbuttoned his pants then slid them and his boxers down his legs. He used his good arm to brace himself on the wall to remove his legs. Now he was naked and Kendra was kneeling in front of him.
Oh. God.
She put her hand on his erection.
“That might explode.”
Then she licked around the tip and Sacha slammed his hand on the wall. “Kendra.”
She laughed then stepped away to get undressed. His breath came out ragged as he fought not to lose it. “Go lay down on the bed,” she said.
Her voice was a little husky. He did as she said. She crawled on top of him, her breast right by his face.
“I can only touch with one hand. I’m sad.”
“At least you can touch.”
“True.”
“Then touch them,” she said.
So he did. First bringing one nipple to a peak. Then the other. Kendra groaned then kissed him. Her nipples brushed against his chest and he wanted to flip her over. He tried, but she shook her head.
“Oh, no. I’m doing all the work tonight.”
Her hand traveled down his torso to grip his dick.
“Oh, Kendra. It is going to go off if you’re not careful.”
“Condom?”
“In the drawer,” he rasped out.
She rolled one onto him the poised her body over his hard dick. She smiled then slid herself down onto him. She was warm and wet and moving over him.
“Holy shit.”
She felt good. He’d missed her. Missed being like this with her. His shoulder ached, but he didn’t care. He lifted his middle to meet her every stroke. Her hands were braced on his chest. Kendra was his, even if only for a short time. She was his, body and maybe soul. Her body reacted to his as if they’d known each other for years. He didn’t want the connection to stop, but he could see the tension in her face. She was close and he wasn’t too far behind.
She threw back her head as her pussy clenched around him. He groaned as he went over the edge. “Aargh.”
It hurt and felt great at the same time. He might have pulled some stitches, but he wasn’t ready to look at his shoulder yet. Kendra slumped over him, leaning on his good shoulder.
“I need to get rid of the condom.”
She slid off of him. He sat up and disposed of the condom. Damn things were a nuisance. He lay back down. Kendra rested her head on his good shoulder.
“I missed you,” he said.
“You missed sex.”
“I missed sex with you. It’s damn good sex and I like having it with you,” Sacha said.
She kissed his neck. “If you insist.”
He played with her hair as they lay there.
“You need food?” she said. “Do we need to shop?”
“Place is all stocked up. You can make almost anything you want.”
“Nice.”
She sat up then put her clothes on. “Don’t put clothes on for me.”
She laughed. “I can’t walk around naked.”
“Why not? I like the view.”
“I’m sure you do, but I’m just not comfortable.”
“Okay, but don’t wear too much since I can’t take them off.”
She giggled. “Oh? We’re doing it again?”
He sat up. “We do have a quota and we’re behind.”
“That’s because someone got themselves shot.”
“Saving your ass.”
She sat down on the bed next to him. “I never thanked you for saving my life.”
He brushed a hair out of her face. “You’re welcome. There should be some sweat pants in the drawer. Help me get them on.”
She did and he followed her to the kitchen. “I’m in the mood for chicken.”
“I’ll eat whatever you put in front of me.”
Chapter9
Kendra’s phone rang two days later when Sacha was back in Manhattan to get some work done. The ring didn’t sound right. The screen told her it was Alia, something must be wrong with Cliff.
She answered it even though she was out hiking. “Hello.”
“Kendra, it’s Alia.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong with Cliff. I’m having some pains and we can’t get ahold of Viktor’s mother to take Cliff. I don’t want to leave him with just anyone, but I need to meet my doctor at the hospital.”
“Have y
ou tried Sacha?”
“He isn’t answering, which is odd,” Alia said. “It goes right to voicemail. Either his phone is dead or he’s in a dead zone.”
Damn. “Okay, I’ll see if I can get a ride to Manhattan. I think the helicopter pilot has come back here.”
“Okay.” Alia told her what hospital they’d be at. “I’ll send a driver to get you from the airport. Cliff will be with us.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Kendra set off in the direction of the hangar. The chopper was sitting on the lawn, so she just had to figure out where he was. His name was Chuck. That much she knew. She wondered what instruction Sacha had left him with. He must have told him to come back in case Kendra needed him. She wouldn’t have thought she would, but she had to bring Cliff back here.
The pilot was in the hangar, having a cup of coffee. Smelled good.
“Hey, Chuck, I need a ride to Manhattan.”
For a moment, she was struck with the oddity of the situation. Just weeks ago, she was hoping her car would last. Now she was hopping a ride on a helicopter like it was something she did every day. How much would she miss this world? She hadn’t ever expected to be a part of it. Had never aspired to it. Her goal had been to do work that fulfilled her and to do it while paying her bills. Might be tough to go back to living hand to mouth but she had no choice for sure.
“Uh, I think Mr. Kozlov will need me soon,” Chuck said.
Kendra cocked her head. “Why didn’t you stay in Manhattan then?”
“I need to get something from here.”
“Then drop me off in Manhattan then you’ll be there for Mr. Kozlov,” she said.
“He gave me orders that you weren’t to leave here.”
“I doubt I’m a prisoner. I have to go get my brother. It’s important.”
Chuck frowned. His gaze darted all over the room as if he couldn’t look her in the eye. “It’ll take me fifteen minutes to get the chopper ready.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she said.
She returned to the house, grabbed her purse then met the pilot at the chopper. She climbed on board when he gave the okay. He seemed to be taking a lot of time to get the thing started and off the ground. She had to get to Cliff. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too scared in the hospital. Her heart raced. She didn’t like that Cliff might be afraid. All of this had been enough of a disruption in his life.
She longed for her life to be back to normal. She bet Cliff did also. At least his nanny had given him some stability and now she was gone. Kendra needed to have him closer to her. She was his constant.
Finally, the chopper took off. As the aircraft began to move away, she thought she saw a car coming up the road. Check then, the driveway, but then it disappeared under the trees. Was it Sacha? She wouldn’t be able to hear him if she called him now and if he was driving he wouldn’t text back. The trip to Manhattan didn’t take long, but it seemed long to Kendra. The pilot dropped her off at the building where Sacha lived. In the garage a car awaited, which whisked her off to the address Alia had given her.
She arrived at the hospital an hour later, despite midday Manhattan traffic. She found Viktor, but no Cliff. Viktor was pacing.
“I can’t find Cliff.”
The paging system overhead clicked in. “Code Adam. Code Adam.”
Kendra hoped he’d just wandered to the bathroom, but her heart was in her throat. Where was he last?”
“I left him here in the hallway. The doctor is examining Alia. I figured he’d be okay out here. It isn’t a busy place,” Viktor said. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault. He should have been with me.”
“I’m a little new at this kid thing.”
“I’ll go look in the cafeteria. You look in the bathrooms.”
Kendra raced down to the other end of the hospital. Maybe Cliff got hungry. He didn’t have money on him, she was sure, but who knew how a five year old thought. Kendra’s phone rang.
“They found him. He’s at the security office,” Viktor said.
Overhead, she heard an announcement. “Cancel Code Adam. Cancel Code Adam.”
She hurried to the security office. There, Cliff was sitting on a chair, eating an ice cream cone. Cliff smiled up at her with ice cream on his face. “Kendra.”
She sat next to him, wanting to hug him, but also not wanting to get ice cream on herself. “You okay?”
The head of security sat behind his desk. “He had wandered off and when we found him he was screaming at a man who was trying to leave the hospital with him.”
Was it random or had it been someone connected with Lopez? “You caught the man?”
The man frowned. “He escaped before we could talk to him, but Cliff is safe and sound.”
“I’ll take him with me. You need to see some identification?”
“Yes.”
She showed him her license and Cliff told the man that she was his big sister. She’d have someone get his clothes, but she took him to the airport with her. She’d received a text that the helicopter was there.
***
Sacha was off to find the supposed adoptive parents of his child. They lived in Connecticut, but nowhere near an airport of this helicopter to land. He took his car instead, looking forward to giving his Bugatti a workout. In the middle of the day, there wasn’t a lot of traffic. He breezed into the state then found the house. It wasn’t impressive, but it looked neat and taken care of. He hopes his son was neat and taken care of also.
If so, then he would try to make arrangements with the parents to see the boy. Hopefully they’d already told him that he was adopted. He strode up the front walk that was lined with flowers. He hadn’t wanted to ambush them, but Sacha had been afraid that they wouldn’t agree to see him. So he’d called right before he arrived. The couple was home. He wasn’t here to steal back his son, unless there was a problem. If there were no issues, he just wanted to see his son. On a regular basis. He figured he’d have no standing in court, but he could respectfully request visitation rights. This might be one time he couldn’t throw money at the problem. That was rare.
He knocked on the front door. He didn’t hear a child. A woman with black hair answered the door.
“I’m Sacha Kozlov. I just called you.”
She glanced over her shoulder then back at him. “My son isn’t here.”
“I’d still like to talk to you.”
She once again glanced behind her. She frowned, but opened the door for him. Ushering him into the living room, she said, “Ethan isn’t here and I don’t think he’s who you’re looking for.”
Sacha sat on a brown plaid couch. “Why do you think so?”
“Because we didn’t get Ethan from that agency. We were once registered with them, but Ethan arrived from another agency we used.”
“The agency’s records are pretty clear. You’re named as the adoptive parents. The mother signed off on the adoption paper and my signature is in the file letting go of my rights,” Sacha said. He was no threat to them if they were taking care of his son. If they were on the up and up, why were they being so cagey? They should have nothing to hide.
“Their records are wrong.”
A man appeared in the doorway. He put out his hand. “I’m Jason Rogers. My wife is Ellen.”
Sacha stood, and then took the man’s hand. He had a firm shake and he looked right into Sacha’s eyes. That didn’t mean he was honest. It just meant he was sure of himself. Liars could be sure of themselves.
“Sit,” Jason said.
“I’m looking for my son. Records at the adoption agency indicate that you adopted a little boy, my little boy. I just want to see him,” Sacha said.
“I’ve explained to Mr. Kozlov that we didn’t adopt from that agency. We had been registered with them, but Ethan came from another agency.”
“Can I see the adoption papers?” Sacha said.
Something wasn’t sitting right with him. His gut told him that they were lying.
“We don’t have them here. Besides, they aren’t any of your business.”
“Then I want to see your son, Ethan. I want to see he looks nothing like me,” Sacha said.
“He’s at summer camp,” Jason said, a little too quickly.
“When is he due back?”
“Look, we didn’t adopt your son. I’m sorry to say it, but he isn’t your son. We know the mother. It was an open adoption. You aren’t listed as the father,” Ellen said.
“Do you remember who was?”
“No, I don’t, but I know it wasn’t a Russian name,” Jason said.
Sacha sighed. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with these people, at least not on his own. “Well, then I guess I’ll come back with a court order to see him.”
The man crossed his arms. “You think because you have money that you can do anything.”
“No, because I have proof that I am likely his father I can get this done. You can try and fight, but I’m going to prove or disprove his paternity, with or without your consent.” Sacha rose. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers.” He walked out the front door wondering just what they were hiding. Were they neglecting him? If they were, then he was glad he went on this quest. If they were treating him properly then what did they have to hide?
He started his car then drove away. He pulled over a mile away, looking at his phone. It was dead so he plugged in the car charger. Would take a minute for any message to come up. He decided to drive back to upstate New York since he was closer her than if he went back to Manhattan. He sent a text to his pilot saying he wouldn’t need him for the rest of the day.
No answer, but he was going to assume that his pilot received the message. The whole encounter with the Rogers couple bothered Sacha. He couldn’t figure out what they were hiding. He had seen a copy of the file at the adoption agency. Money had paved the way for that. He didn’t want to have to bring in his lawyer, but he would. He could give the Rogers’ one more chance to let him see their son. He needed DNA to prove paternity. He could get that, he was sure.
His lawyer was wily. It was nice to have money. He wouldn’t ever apologize for it. He’d worked hard for it. Or at least had worked for it, maybe not hard. He had a knack for picking stocks.
He sighed, then, with his car finally out on the open road, he let the Bugatti take him home.
Her Russian Billionaires - The Complete Billionaire Romance Collection Page 30
