She’d had Destiny when she was sixteen. If you looked at her now, or at least the last time Destiny had seen her, she looked well older than her forty-one years. It was sad. She’d never escaped the grip of addiction. Destiny had long ago forgiven her mother, and for the most part, forgotten about her. She wondered if she should try to find her and tell her about Gram.
She probably wouldn’t care. Sad. Her grandmother was her world in some ways. The woman had a big heart and a tender soul.
Nikolai came back with coffee and some cheese and crackers.
“Not much selection, but the protein will hold you,” he said.
She leaned against the wall, suddenly hungry. By the time she was done eating, the doctor was finished examining her grandmother. She was going to be admitted.
***
With Destiny’s grandmother settled in her hospital room and Destiny on her way home, Nikolai could keep his appointment with a private investigator. He drove to a seedy part of the city. He wasn’t in his nice car or his nice clothes. This guy was good, but sketchy.
Nikolai suspected the man could do the job better than any of the ones who kept normal hours. In his job as an agent, he frequented these parts of town and dealt with people from the seamier side of life. It had been soul-sucking in so many ways. If he went back to the Bureau, he doubted he’d do undercover work.
The man sat behind a desk in a wrinkled suit. He stood when Nikolai entered.
“I’m Nikolai Alman. We spoke on the phone.”
They shook hands. “Butch Danvers. Have a seat.”
Nikolai did and instantly regretted it. He wondered what he was going to get on his clothing. Yikes. The place as a dump, but this guy had come highly recommended. The work he wanted him to do was dangerous and required a certain set of skills.
“You’re looking for someone?” Butch said.
“Yes. The person who killed my partner. He seems to have gone underground since the incident.”
“Why not call the cops.”
Nikolai shook his head. The kind of justice he had in mind could not be meted out by the cops. “They won’t find him.”
“You don’t have faith in our law enforcement?”
The man had crooked teeth. Nikolai didn’t know why that bothered him, but he had a hard time looking the man in the eye. He kept looking at his mouth.
“No, I don’t. I need someone who has connections in lower places.”
The man chuckled. “I have that. Who are you looking for?”
“Luis Esposito.”
The man whistled. “You don’t go for the small fish.”
“No, he killed someone I know,” Nikolai said.
“And you want revenge. I get it. The cops wouldn’t like that.”
“No,” Nikolai said.
The man shifted in his seat. Nikolai thought he was going to turn him down. Luis Esposito was the big man in the Mexican Mafia. He could hide any place, including Mexico. Nikolai couldn’t use any of his own contacts because he’d been specifically warned to stay out of the investigation.
Then he’d gone on leave. He’d turned in his badge and gun, temporarily, he hoped. If he could get to Luis and no one knew who killed him, all the better. Even if it ruined his career, he had to do it. He owed it to Mark to avenge his death. The man had saved his life more than once.
Luis Esposito had deprived Mark’s kids of a father and his wife of a husband. That was just wrong in Nikolai’s book. He’d visited the family before coming to New Jersey and it had broken his heart to see them so sad.
“I’ll take the case, but it will cost you.”
“You need a retainer?”
They talked prices. Nikolai had known this man would be expensive. The target was one of the biggest drug dealers on the East Coast. Not an easy man to find or get to. Nikolai handed over the man’s retainer fee. In cash, of course. This man’s business was almost always done in cash.
No records. No cop could pin anything on him. Despite the distaste Nikolai felt for dealing with this type of man, he had no choice. Luis was special prey and only a discreet predator would find him without him knowing.
Butch would be that man.
Back in his car, Nikolai mused over the ball he’d just gotten rolling. Hopefully, it would come to pass that he would find Luis. Driving away quickly, he just wanted a shower after the encounter.
He called the hospital to see if he could get an update on Destiny’s grandmother. She didn’t have insurance so he put it on the company credit card. Finance will have a cow, but what was he going to do? They might not have admitted her if there wasn’t some payment.
He had to see if Destiny could put her grandmother on her plan since she was technically a dependent. He’d finagle something to get the woman covered.
Once he was home, Nikolai took a shower. He had to wash off the grime that he wasn’t used to. He hadn’t been working for a month and already he was back to acting a like a billionaire. He didn’t know if that was good or bad.
Now he wanted food and sex. It was too late to call Destiny, he was sure. He didn’t want sex with just anyone, but he chose to go out for dinner to see who was around. He ate at the bar where he’d picked up Destiny.
She didn’t appear. She was probably too worried about her grandmother. He ate his meal slowly because he could. He relished the idea that he didn’t have to watch his back. No one was after him. He was himself for the first time in years.
He’d been deep cover for too long and why had it taken his father’s illness and his partner’s death to bring him home? Because in deep cover, he could pretend he didn’t have any problems. He could pretend a lot of things.
Reality would be better if he could just get laid tonight.
So he texted Destiny to see how she was.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” she texted back.
“How are you doing?” he said.
“I’m okay. Hoping I’ll actually get some sleep this morning before work.”
“Come in as late as you need to,” he said.
“Thanks. What are you doing?”
“Eating a late dinner. By myself.”
She sent him a sad face. He had to smile. It was so cute. How could she be so whimsical when parts of her life were nuts? Maybe he could take some lessons from her and lighten up.
“Thanks,” he said. “You mocking me?”
“Maybe a little.”
“Sleep tight, Destiny.”
“You, too.”
He’d have dreams of her, he was sure. Maybe even a wet one.
Chapter6
Victoria Brown’s room had a large vase of flowers on the side table. Destiny wondered about it when she walked into her grandmother’s hospital room. She would be moved today to a rehab facility and Destiny hoped the flowers would go with her.
Who had sent them to her? Her grandmother looked better than she had yesterday. She smiled when Destiny entered the room.
“Girl, you are a sight for sore eyes. So many people poking and prodding me. Sit and have a talk with me.”
Destiny kissed her on the cheek, noticing how papery thin her skin was. She didn’t like to admit that her grandmother was old. Or getting there. She didn’t want to be alone in life, but she didn’t want to marry either.
“Who are the flowers from?”
“Your boyfriend.”
“I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Victoria sat up a little. She winced. Destiny put a hand on her grandmother to stop her from moving.
“That man that was with you when you came to the hospital.”
“Nikolai? He’s my boss, Gram.”
“Not the way he looked at you.”
What was her grandmother talking about? “He didn’t look at me any way. I barely know him. He’s only been here for a week or so.”
“I bet you’ve been working closely with him.”
“We have because I have to bring him up to speed on everything.”
“T
hat was awfully nice of him to come here,” she said.
Destiny agreed. That was very nice of him. She had no idea why he’d done it. She couldn’t see Yuri doing it, and he’d been very supportive of her in other ways.
“It was, Gram. I can’t explain his behavior. I don’t know him well enough.”
She knew what turned him on. She knew what sound he made as he came inside of her, but she had no idea about him other than in bed. What a thing to know about your boss. She wanted to blush at the thought.
“Well, he’s a fine man. Not every boss would step up and take care of his employee’s grandmother. I might still be waiting to be examined if he hadn’t brought that doctor in.”
Destiny couldn’t argue. He had been sweet. She had glanced at their text exchange from last night. Why had he reached out to her? Booty call? Probably. She should nip that in the bud. Her brain agreed. Her lady parts did not. They wanted to see Nikolai again and again.
“So this rehab facility. Who chose it?” Destiny asked.
“Well, the nurse had some suggestions of where they like to send patients. Nikolai ended up picking it.”
“Nikolai? How was he involved?”
Wasn’t he crossing some line? She was in charge of her grandmother’s health care. This was too much. He was sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong.
“He happened to be here when the nurse brought in the paperwork. I asked his opinion.”
Well. “He was here?”
“Yes, he stopped in when visiting hours first started this morning. He knew you’d be asleep so he came in so I’d have a visitor besides you.”
Destiny did not know how she felt about that. He was intruding on her life. She thought she’d drawn a line between personal and business, but Nikolai had crossed that line. She never should have gone to his house to have dinner.
Damn. This was her fault. She’d have to set him straight. This had gone too far. She wanted to preserve her job, but not this way. He’d made it clear that the sex wasn’t a condition of her employment, but she’d let the boundaries get blurred.
Besides, she didn’t really want to have a man in her life. Too complicated. That’s why she hadn’t slept with him after dinner at his place. She had to preserve that boundary. No matter what her body thought.
Nikolai had the power to make or break her career at Alman Enterprises. She would have to tread lightly, but she could ask him to back off on seeing or doing anything for her grandmother.
She stayed with her for another half hour. She’d visit again when her grandmother was settled in rehab.
Destiny had a goal now. She had to do more to set the tone for her relationship as it were with Nikolai. That one night stand had been a weak moment. Yuri had just told her that he was sick. She felt as if her world had been crumbling down. She needed the comfort of another human being that night.
Nikolai had complied and made her forget about Yuri and his illness.
Wow, had he done a good job. She wasn’t sure of her name after that night. Then the cold reality of morning had hit. And she’d escaped.
She rehearsed what she would say to Nikolai on her way to the office. She had to be firm. Not mean, but she assumed Nikolai didn’t have a fragile ego. She could make him see the light and not have to resort to being mean. He’d get it. They had to work together. They shouldn’t complicate things by having sex, too.
He was in his office when she arrived at work. He came to the doorway. “I didn’t expect you this soon. How is your grandmother doing?”
“She’s good. They’re moving her to rehab this afternoon. I’ll go see her after work.”
“If you need to leave early, go ahead.”
Why was he being so nice? Now she felt like a jerk telling him to back off. He disappeared into his office. She noticed paperwork on her desk. Healthcare paper work. She grabbed it and strode into Nikolai’s office.
“What is this?”
“That’s paperwork to put your grandmother on your company health insurance. Not sure why my father didn’t do it for you.”
Nikolai sat behind his desk. All man and sure of himself, watching her. She sighed. He was being so sweet. She wanted to be mad at him.
“You put my grandmother on my insurance?”
“Well, it’ll happen when you sign those papers. Her hospital stay won’t be covered, but if we can get them to the insurance company before she gets moved, they will cover her rehab.”
That was a lot of money that wasn’t going to come out of her pocket. Shit. Why was he doing this? How can she be mad at him? She still wanted boundaries and to talk to him about it, but not today. Not now. Not after he’d just taken a huge expense off of her shoulders.
God, he was a sweet man. Why? Why did he have to be so good to her?
“Destiny? Is there a problem?”
She frowned down at the papers then smiled up at him. “No. I’ll sign these now.”
“Take them right to HR and someone there will fax them.”
She nodded, then walked to the door. When she glanced back to thank him, he was already immersed in his computer.
***
Later that day, Nik was musing over Destiny’s reaction. She’d seemed mad when she entered his office, but what he said took the wind out of her sails. She’d looked at the paperwork in disbelief. He was just glad he could help her.
This evening, he was on his way into New York to meet his best friend and his wife for dinner. He and Sacha had known each other since college. They’d stayed friends even though their paths had been different. Still, they were on the same side of the law.
Sacha was a lawyer. He and his wife were expecting a baby in a few months and this might be the last time he would see the man for a while. He’d heard kids can make you pretty busy.
The restaurant was four star, of course. As Nikolai walked from the parking deck, he realized he should have brought Destiny with him. At least then Sacha’s wife, Kendra, would have someone to talk to.
Sacha and his wife were already seated when Nikolai arrived. Their heads were together as if in deep conversation. At that moment, he realized that Kendra wouldn’t be the third wheel. He might be.
He kissed Kendra on the cheek then shook Sacha’s hand. His friend looked good. Marriage was agreeing with him. Pregnancy was agreeing with Kendra. She glowed. The two were clearly in love. Nikolai was happy for his friend, but knew that married life would never be for him.
He sat.
“So glad you guys could make this dinner. I don’t know what the future holds for me so this might be the last time I’m in the area,” Nikolai said.
“You aren’t going to keep running your father’s company?” Sacha said.
The waitress came. They ordered a bottle of wine for the men and juice for Kendra. “I get to be the designated driver for a few more months.”
Nikolai chuckled. “As if you drive yourself places.”
Sacha shrugged. “In Manhattan we have a driver, but in the suburbs where we just bought a house, we drive ourselves.”
Suburbs? Sacha was all into this domestic bliss. Good for him. Nikolai had no desire to settle down. Nope. Nikolai chuckled. “Okay.”
“So how is life outside the FBI?” Sacha said.
“I’m adapting. It’s nice to be in charge. I get to make all of the decisions.”
“Yes, I get that. I can’t imagine working for someone else anymore. Viktor wasn’t bad to work for, but I still chafed at him sometimes.”
“How is old Viktor?”
“He’s good. Wedded bliss works well for him, too. Who knew?”
Nikolai chuckled. “Who knew? Right.”
“So anyone in your life, Nikolai?” Kendra asked.
His thoughts went to Destiny. She wasn’t truly in his life. She’d just been in his bed. That was it. He wanted her back in his bed, but that was a delicate dance since he was her boss.
“No one at the moment. I’ve never really been into permanent relationships.�
��
“I wasn’t either, then Kendra came along,” Sacha said.
“That’s great for you, buddy. Not for me. If I go back to being an agent, I don’t want to be married for that.”
“What if you stay with your father’s company?” Sacha said.
He didn’t see that for his future. No way. It was a nice break until he found Mark’s killer, but that was it. “My father will come back.”
Kendra and Sacha glanced at each other. “What if he doesn’t? What if he decides to retire for good?”
“Then it’ll be my company to do with what I want.”
“Will you sell it?” Kendra asked.
He hadn’t thought that far in the future. He wanted his father well and to return to take the helm. He hadn’t thought of any other scenario. Of course his father would be back. He had to come back.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll figure that out later. “
“It’s good to have a plan,” Sacha said.
“Well, in this case, there are too many variables to make a plan with.”
He wondered why they were badgering him. He liked things this way for now, but he was pretty sure he’d get tired of the corporate life and be an agent again. It didn’t seem odd.
“Enough business,” Sacha said. “No one in your life? You hesitated when Kendra asked you that. I think there is.”
Sacha knew him well. He was also good at reading people. Almost as good as Nikolai. He frowned. “No, no one.”
Sacha cocked his head. The waitress came back with the bottle of wine. Of course Sacha would order the best. He didn’t know anything else. As an agent, Nikolai had learned to be more frugal, but he had lots of cash at his disposal. Still, he wasn’t completely back to acting rich.
He swirled the wine in his glass as he thought about Destiny. Would she be wooed by his money? Impressed? He could make life really good for her while he was here. He could probably set her up for life without it being a blip on is financial radar. No, that felt like buying her.
“I was sorry to hear about your partner,” Sacha said.
The pain seared his heart. He hadn’t even been thinking that much about Mark.
“Thanks. It’s been tough. We’d been partners for a few years. He was a friend, too.”
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