Suddenly Yuri’s head reared back and he laughed out loud, giving everyone his answer.
“You really did that?” Brit cried out in horror.
“You don’t want to know the half of it,” Roman murmured wryly. At this point he’d wrapped his arms around Brit’s waist from behind, his chin resting in her hair, giving more credence to the lie that they were married. The feel of his hard body, the closeness, sent her into shock.
Jeannie shook her head, but Brit could tell the other woman was having trouble holding back the laughter. “You’d better get used to it, Brit. If I were you, I’d never say anything I didn’t want Roman to hear, especially to an empty room. His house contains every surveillance device known to mankind.”
Brit had suspected as much, and died another little death when she thought of her conversation in the kitchen with Denise earlier that morning. What if it were on tape and Roman listened to it?
As if he could read her mind, his grip tightened so she couldn’t move.
“Roman told me that as soon as we get back from California, he’ll attach one of those tracking cameras to my dog’s collar so I can see where he goes.”
At Rod’s comment, everyone broke into laughter, including Brit.
Yuri flashed his brother a devilish glance. “I don’t suppose you told them about the time unbeknownst to our mother when you put a camera on the hood of the car so Dad could find out where she went all day long.”
“That’s terrible!” Brit and Denise blurted at the same time.
Being held this close to Roman, Brit could feel his body shaking with suppressed laughter.
“Passenger are now boarding for flight 1160 to Los Angeles. Please have your boarding passes ready.”
Denise darted a searching glance at Brit. “I guess this is it.”
Roman allowed Brit to leave his arms so she could hug her friend. “Call me as soon as you get there, Denise. Please—” she whispered shakily. “I have to talk to you.”
“I promise. Take care.”
“Have a wonderful time, Rod,” Brit murmured.
“I will. But when we get back, can I come over and see some more of your stuff, Roman?”
“Sure you can. Anytime.”
Brit accompanied them as far as she was allowed. When they disappeared through the walkway, she turned to Roman, wanting him to explain the truth about everything to his brother and sister-in-law before any more time passed.
To her shock, Roman had vanished!
“What happened to your brother?”
“Relax.” Yuri smiled. “He went for the car. We’ll meet him outside the terminal. Don’t worry. The way you two were holding on to each other a minute ago, he won’t be long. I can remember when Jeannie and I were newlyweds. She used to fall apart every time we were separated, too.”
Was Brit’s attraction for Roman that obvious?
Jeannie gave her husband a peck on the cheek, then put her arm through Brit’s and they started walking ahead of him.
“Roman looks ten years younger and so much in love, I hardly recognize him,” Jeannie confided. “You can’t imagine how happy this makes me. I adore Roman almost as much as I do Yuri. They’re the two most wonderful men in the entire world. Obviously you found that out already, otherwise you wouldn’t be married to him.”
Brit groaned inwardly, wishing Roman hadn’t left her alone with them. But maybe he hadn’t had a choice. The more she thought about it, the more she realized there must have been a new development in the case. Maybe Lyle had received word about Glen, and Roman was conferencing with the other P.I.s.
Unfortunately there seemed to be no stopping Jeannie who remained oblivious to any undercurrents and leaned closer to Brit in a manner of longtime friends.
“When you’re ready to tell me, I want to hear everything. You know. How you met, when he proposed. Ever since Eric told us the news, we haven’t been able to think about anything else. We want to take you out for a fabulous dinner tonight and really celebrate.”
“I—I’m afraid you’ll have to consult Roman on that,” Brit answered nervously.
Jeannie chuckled. “I realize you’re still on your honeymoon and Roman wants to hide you away for himself, but because he kept your wedding a secret, he’s going to have to suffer the consequences and share you with us sooner than he’d planned. You don’t mind, do you?” she asked with a trace of anxiety.
Jeannie would make anyone the perfect sister-in-law, but right now Brit was in agony. “Of course not.”
“I’m glad you said that because Yuri probably wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
If he was anything like Roman, then Brit understood exactly what the other woman meant.
“Eric said something about Roman being on an important case, which was why you hadn’t gone on a real honeymoon yet. Yuri and I thought maybe we could all use this time to get better acquainted until Roman is free to take you away for a while.”
“T-that’s very thoughtful of you,” Brit barely managed to respond as they passed through the doors to the outside of the terminal.
“Now that he’s married, my secret hope is that you’ll influence him to cut down on his caseload and come back to New York more often. Our children miss him horribly. We do, too.”
“He misses you very much,” Brit replied honestly. “Roman and Yuri seem exceptionally close, even for brothers.”
“Oh, they are. It about killed my husband when Roman pulled up stakes. On the other hand, he finally realized what Roman was up against and supported that decision, even when no one else could believe he would walk away from everything he ever knew and start all over again someplace else.”
Up against?
Brit had no idea what Jeannie meant, but was afraid she wouldn’t like it when she found out what it was.
Jeannie gave her another hug. “The past doesn’t matter anymore. Obviously his move to Utah has proved to be inspirational because he met and married you. Promise me you won’t let anything that old friends or family say about Roman leaving New York because of Angela bother you. None of it matters one iota because I can tell that my brother-in-law is madly in love with you. No one else’s opinion counts.”
There was another woman. Angela...
All along Brit had known it, but somehow hearing it from Jeannie made it too real and set up an ache in Brit’s heart that wouldn’t go away.
She wanted to know more, and would have asked Jeannie for an explanation, but Roman’s tan car had pulled up in front. They all climbed inside and he drove off looking preoccupied, his features set and hard.
While he’d gone for the Ford in the carpark, he must have heard from one of the other P.I.s and the news wasn’t good. Glen Baird was still on the loose and so far had managed to elude everyone. Brit could feel it. She shivered in place.
Yuri leaned forward and patted Roman’s shoulder. “Hey—why so intense?”
“There’ve been some developments in a case I’m working on. I need to get to the office. Brit will drive you home. I don’t know when I’ll be able to join you.”
Through the sideview mirror Brit could see Phil’s Chevrolet trailing a couple of cars behind. She wasn’t worried about her own safety. Being with Roman had made her feel invincible. Roman’s welfare was foremost on her mind.
Though she would have preferred him to use this time to tell his brother and sister-in-law the truth of their situation—that she was a client who had hired Roman to protect her, nothing more—she could see that now wasn’t the time to bring it up.
Roman continued to drive over the speed limit all the way to his office in the Foothill area. It was a miracle they weren’t pulled over by the police.
En route he allowed Yuri and Jeannie to say and think what they wanted, letting the two of them dominate the conversation. Sooner than she would have believed, he pulled around the back of an end suite in the Foothill Complex and jumped out of the car, the engine still idling.
“I’ll see you when I see yo
u.” His gaze flicked from his family to Brit, the expression in his eyes indecipherable before he turned sharply away and let himself in the back door with a key.
Brit ran around to the driver’s side and got behind the wheel. She would have given anything to know what Roman had learned. As it stood, she would have to be patient until he made contact on the phone, or better still, came. home.
“Okay—” Yuri began. “We want to hear everything. Chapter and verse. Don’t leave out any of the good parts.”
“Darling!” his wife chastised him, but Brit knew Jeannie was just as eager as her husband for every detail of Brit’s courtship with Roman.
“If you’ll wait till we get home, I’ll tell you everything,” Brit promised. Whether Roman liked it or not, she couldn’t live such a colossal lie any longer. He loved and trusted Yuri. Surely it would be all right to reveal the true facts of the situation to his brother.
“You look as tense as Roman, Brit. Don’t worry about him. He can take care of himself better than any human I know. Among other things he trained as a Green Beret.”
Brit imagined as much.
But as far as she was concerned, Glen Baird was certifiably insane, which made him dangerous to everyone, even Roman.
Foothill wasn’t that far from the Mount Olympus area. With the aid of the remote, Brit was able to drive the Ford into the garage. She pushed the remote again and saw Phil’s car drive past as the big door closed behind them.
Once they’d gone inside the house with their luggage and freshened up in the guest bathroom, she invited them to sit down in the living room and offered them sodas which they accepted with pleasure.
Yuri shed his suit jacket and tie and relaxed in Roman’s favorite leather lounging chair. Jeannie curled up in one corner of the sofa opposite Brit who preferred to sit on a straight-back chair in front of them.
Through Yuri’s veiled eyes she saw the gleam. “All right. We’ve been good little boys and girls. Now it’s treat time.”
Brit’s mouth curved upward. She was already charmed by Jeannie’s husband, too. There was something about the Lufkilovich men...
You’re going to have to get over him, Brit.
Straightening in the chair she said, “Actually, Roman and I aren’t married.”
She might just as well have dropped a bomb. They looked totally shell-shocked.
Yuri sat forward, all mirth gone. His crestfallen expression reminded her of a little boy who’d asked for a train for Christmas and was given a book on trains instead.
“You mean you’re living together but told everyone you were married.”
A deep sigh escaped. “We’re living together, but not in the sense you mean. I hired him to protect me from a man who has been stalking me.”
A long silence ensued. She could hear their minds working, making adjustments.
“You’re serious?” Jeannie finally cried out, whether from shock, disappointment, horror, or all three, Brit couldn’t tell.
Yuri shook his head. “I don’t believe you. Eric told me you two got married at your parents’ house.”
“We did, but it was one of the P.I.s who married us to make it look real. Because of this madman who is after me, Roman felt the best way to protect me around the clock, and keep my reputation intact, was to go undercover as my husband. I’m afraid Eric played a joke on you without telling Roman. I’m so sorry.”
“But you didn’t deny it when I phoned you.” Yuri sounded pained.
“I know. Because I thought the stalker had traced me to Roman’s house and knew the phone number. One of the P.Ls told me to keep you talking on the phone so they could trace it. I-it’s a long story.”
By now Yuri was on his feet, pacing. Then he stopped and impaled her with stormy green eyes reminiscent of Roman’s. “I still don’t believe it. I know my brother. He’s in love with you.”
Brit shook her head. “No. What you saw at the airport was good acting. The boy you met, Denise’s brother, has no idea that I’m being stalked.
“That’s why Roman kept up the pretense as long as he did in front of Rod. You see, Denise could be in danger, too. Roman sent them to California where they’d be safe. Rod thought his sister had decided to take him on a vacation while their parents are away.
“Roman had no idea you were on that plane. I think he was as shocked as you are now.”
With a solemn expression, Jeannie got to her feet and linked her arm through her husband’s. She stared at Brit in a daze. “Yet you and Roman act like a man and wife who are crazy about each other.”
Brit averted her eyes. “Looks can be deceptive. Don’t forget—Roman is a master P.I.”
There were times when Roman had almost fooled Brit. But now that she knew about Angela, Brit had cast the blinders aside. A little dose of reality went a long way.
“Surely you must realize that if it had been a real wedding, you two would have been the first people to know about it. Roman adores both of you and would have insisted on your being part of the festivities.”
Yuri still didn’t seem convinced.
Deciding to take the plunge she added, “Though he’s never discussed it with me, it’s obvious that Roman still has feelings for the woman he left behind. I believe you called her Angela, didn’t you, Jeannie?”
The other woman blinked, then slowly nodded. “We’ve hoped and prayed for so long. that he’d get over her and find someone else. When we heard about you, we couldn’t contain our joy. That’s why we rushed out here! You seem so perfect for him. It’s hard to believe none of this is true.”
She turned to her husband. “Why would Eric lie to us like that? We’ve flown all the way out here at the most inopportune moment for Roman. Right now I’m so angry I can hardly speak.”
Her husband shook his head. “That’s the trouble with jokesters. They sometimes go too far. Eric really did it this time.”
“Please—” Brit spread her hands. “It’s not the end of the world. I’m sure Eric didn’t mean any harm. Roman admitted to me he’s never pretended to be someone’s husband before. I’m sure his colleagues found it amusing.
“Eric had no way of knowing that the minute you heard, you’d drop everything to come out here and celebrate with Roman. And even if you did, I know how much he loves you. He talks about you all the time and doesn’t need a reason to be thrilled to see his family!”
She didn’t seem to be getting through to them. “Y-you’re both acting like this is a funeral. It’s not!”
Just keep telling yourself that, Brit, until you believe it.
Yuri’s eyes glinted with admiration and something else she couldn’t decipher. “You’re a very generous, beautiful woman. If my brother has any brains at all, he’ll make your marriage real.”
“You’re embarrassing her,” Jeannie whispered, but Brit heard her. “For all we know, Brit’s been taken by another man.”
“No,” she assured them.
“Why not?” Yuri fired back.
“I’ve been so busy establishing a career as an architect, I guess I haven’t been looking for one. That’s probably the reason I ran to Roman for help in the first place.”
“But you like my brother.”
Like?
The words caught in her throat. “It’s more a case of being so thankful for him, I’m afraid it borders on worship.”
Suddenly she saw Yuri’s white smile, reminding her of another smile which had the power to turn her heart over and over again. “That’s a start!”
She laughed softly. Yuri was incorrigible. The trouble he and Roman must have gotten into when they were young didn’t bear thinking about
Before Yuri got any more ideas she said, “Wonderful as Roman is, he has a past I intend to end up with a man whose past, present and future are all tied up in me and me alone. My best friend says that’s impossible, but I guess I’m one of those idealistic kinds of people who remains optimistic that he’s somewhere to be found in the cosmos.”
That’
s putting it out front. Bluntly. Now you can’t go back on it.
“It’s every woman’s dream,” Jeannie concurred. “Hang on to it.”
Yuri was oddly quiet. “If you’ll excuse me, Brit, I’m going to take a short nap in the guest bedroom. Do you want to join me, Jeannie?”
“Please—” Brit intervened before Jeannie could say anything else. “Both of you—do whatever you do when you visit Roman. I’m going to be in the study sketching some designs for a new client. You have much more right than I to be here. I’m sure Roman would tell you to make yourselves at home. I’ll see you later.”
She took their empty glasses to the kitchen and washed them out before heading for the den.
Maybe it was a good thing they’d come. Their presence brought Brit back to a semblance of reason and sanity. Another day, another night alone with Roman in this house, and she was on the verge of making a total fool of herself where he was concerned.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE sun had long since dipped below the horizon when Roman and Sid finally heard from Eric and raced up Alta Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains east of the city.
Roman noticed a ShopWise truck pulled to the side of the road before they came upon an abandoned mine shaft maybe a block further on where the P.I. had trailed Glen Baird. Lights from a dozen police cars, a fire truck and a SWAT team van flashed around the opening.
Roman jumped out the passenger side and approached the big blond German. “Have they brought him out yet?”
“No. They’re going to tear gas him. The tunnel doesn’t go back very far. They’ll flush him out before too long.”
“I knew you wouldn’t lose him.”
“Ahh.... I wasn’t so sure. It was luck, Roman. Pure luck. Jon saw him abandon his van at the gas station and run to the adjacent mall where he disappeared in that huge ShopWise store on 72nd.
“While Jon covered the front, I circled around the back, figuring he’d run out the rear door. Nobody appeared. Pretty soon the garage door to the docking entrance opened and a ShopWise truck emerged. From my angle, I couldn’t see the driver, but he shot out of there too fast for someone who should be watching out for foot traffic.
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