As much as she wanted to push for more details, she resisted, understanding there were some things that couldn’t be talked about. She knew that better than most considering the fact she and her two closest friends in the world had a secret that could never get out. Something they didn’t discuss with anyone.
She’d seen enough movies and was smart enough to know what would be done to them. Best-case scenario, they’d end up lab experiments again. Worst case, they’d end up dead. Neither was an outcome she wanted.
“What brings you to Durham?” she asked.
Rurik licked his lower lip as he continued to stare at her cleavage. “I’m stuck on light duty for now after some fuck-nuts attacked me a couple of weeks ago.”
“You were attacked?” she asked, rage filling her.
Who had dared to hurt him?
The temperature dropped and some of the cutlery on the table began to shake. Her skin prickled as the fine hairs on her arm rose.
Bill slammed his hand over a fork and met her gaze. “He’s all right now, Liberty Bell. I swear it. Russians are hardy stock, as much as I hate to admit it.”
She realized then that she’d been the cause of the temperature change. That she’d come dangerously close to doing the equivalent of tossing another trailer around. Had Bill picked up on it all? Did he know her secret?
He waggled his brows at her. “I spoke too soon. You should ask if he has any sore spots left from his operations. You could maybe kiss them to make them better. Bet he’d like that.”
Her attention snapped back to Rurik. “Operations? As in more than one? How bad was the attack?”
How was the man upright let alone as active as she’d seen him be?
Rurik continued to stare oddly at her chest area. “It was nothing.”
“Are you in any pain still?” she asked.
He flexed his hand while he stared at her. “It’s better now.”
She didn’t believe him but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it.
He leaned toward her in the booth, crowding what limited space she had with his muscular body.
Her hormones left her nearly tackling him out of the booth and onto the diner floor, to hell with witnesses.
Rurik sniffed the air and growled in a way that left her wanting him even more.
“If you work for PSI, why are you here in Durham?” she asked, only barely getting the question out when all she really wanted to do was ask him if he wanted to go home and hop in bed with her—and then tell her how bad he’d been harmed and who did it.
Something told her he’d say yes.
He tipped his head, his gaze narrowing slightly. “I’m here for you.”
Bill snorted and watched the events unfolding. “All the enemy has to do to get you to spill your guts is bring her into the room. It could be an entirely new form of torture. Set your woman before you and then tell you that you can look but not touch. You’d fold like a cheap suit. Alphas are hopeless.”
Liberty found it difficult to yank her gaze from Rurik but finally managed to do so. She focused on Bill, who was now lifting the small dish the coleslaw had come in and licking the inside of it. “W-what do you mean by his woman?”
“He knows,” said Bill with a snort. “Or he should know. I think his Russian chicken is interfering with his rational thinking. Happened to his buddies too.”
As thoughts of Rurik’s Russian chicken filled her head, Liberty couldn’t help but glance toward his lap. Even seated the man was impressive in all areas. Undressing him would be like opening a present. The mental image of just how wonderful that would be came over her and her cheeks heated.
Rurik moved his arm out from under her touch and then caught her hand in his, holding it firmly. His breathing increased and additional sweat appeared on his brow.
Bill stopped smiling and sat up straight on the other side of the booth. “You all right there, Commie?”
Rurik stared helplessly across the table at the older man and said something in Russian, increasing the pressure on Liberty’s hand as he did.
Concern for him filled her quickly. “Bill, what’s he saying? Is he okay?”
Bill calmly set his attention on her. “He says he’s not sure if he’s all right. He’s worried about his self-control. He’s scared of hurting or scaring you.”
Rurik stiffened. “You speak Russian?”
How did the man not know his father spoke his native language?
Bill winked. “There is a whole lot about me that would surprise you, Sput-Rurik. Now, about you hurting Liberty Bell.”
Rurik sucked in a large breath.
Liberty yanked on Rurik’s hand, forcing him to twist slightly in the booth to face her. Reaching up with her free hand, she touched his scruffy jawline before speaking from the heart. “You won’t hurt me. I’m safe with you, Rurik.”
She wasn’t sure why she’d said that, but she knew it was true.
He calmed somewhat, his other hand moving over hers on his jawline. He nodded ever so slightly, as if he were talking himself into believing that he’d never harm her.
She grinned. “Rurik?”
“Yes?”
“Tell me about the blender. Something tells me there is a story behind it,” she said, wanting to change the subject for his sake as much as for her hormones.
She moved her hand from his face.
He kept hold of her other hand in his.
“I heard it was because he cut a bad dude up in little itty-biddy pieces. Pureed him,” said Bill, sounding like a proud father.
Liberty gasped. “He did?”
Bill shrugged. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there or nothing. But that’s what Duke said when he was talking about the blender and the Asshole of the Week Award that went along with it.”
Liberty tensed. “Asshole of the Week?”
“The guys he works with give the biggest asshole each week an honorary award,” said Bill. “It’s amazing the Russian isn’t employee of the year with asshole being part of the judging.”
She glanced at Rurik, trying to decide if he really was some kind of homicidal maniac or if his father was kidding. “Did you really chop up a bad guy?”
He nodded and then cleared his throat. “Uh, no. I’d never do that. That would be bad, right?”
Strangely, she found herself chuckling at his response.
Reason said she should cut her losses and get far away from a man capable of doing something so heinous, but her heart said “reason” could get bent. He’d been in her life mere hours and had shown up on the scene in a questionable manner, but her gut said they were linked somehow—that he was important to her.
And more importantly—that she was totally and completely safe with him.
Even if he really had pureed a bad guy. Not that she believed for a second that he had.
“Hey, Liberty Bell,” said Bill. “Did you know Sput-Rurik there is second-in-command of a team of badasses? I heard he could head his own team if he wanted to, but that it took a lot of arm twisting to get him to take the position as second-in-command.”
“Really?” she asked, impressed.
She went to pull her hand from his, but he kept hold of it.
He winked and she melted. “Really.”
As she stared into his blue eyes, memories of the man who had called her Little Paw came flooding back, bringing a wider smile to her face.
“Liberty?” he asked, his voice still reminding her of the man from her past.
“Hmm?”
He watched her. “What is it?”
She managed to ease her hand from his. “Nothing.”
He bent his head a bit, an unspoken question on his face.
She took a deep breath before speaking. “You just kind of remind me of someone I once knew. Or I think I knew him. Your eyes and voice are like his. Okay, so is your hair. Fine. You really, really remind me of him.”
Bill rattled ice from an empty cup before popping a piece in his mouth. He proceeded t
o chew it loudly.
The sound nearly sent Liberty over the edge of sanity.
“Hey, Commie,” said Bill between ice chewing. “She remind you of anyone you once knew? Maybe her eyes or something else? Gus is wondering.”
Gus hadn’t made a peep, other than continuing to blow bubbles in his milkshake leftovers.
Bill’s conviction when he spoke, as if Gus had somehow managed to talk to him mentally, was starting to make her wonder if it was true. She was living proof that some people were capable of things others would never believe were real.
Rurik gave the smallest of nods.
Liberty fought hard to keep from smiling so wide that her face almost cracked. It was difficult around Rurik. “Cool. Wonder if our paths really have crossed before?”
“Never know,” said Bill, chomping down on more ice.
The crunching caused Liberty’s eye to twitch.
Rurik reached out so fast the act made Liberty gasp. He grabbed the cup full of ice and removed it from Bill’s reach. He then set it down so hard that ice sprang out and onto the tabletop. He narrowed his gaze on Bill.
Liberty sighed. She was certainly attracted to the man on a level she couldn’t exactly explain, but his temper—when it came to his father—was an issue. She didn’t know who her parents were but if she did, she’d go out of her way to be nice to them. She’d have realized how special a family bond could be. “Thanks for the late lunch and the milkshake, but I should head home now.”
Rurik didn’t move and since he was blocking her exit, she was stuck in place as well. “You want to go?”
“Can you blame her, big guy?” asked Bill, crunching the last of his ice as loudly as possible, more than likely to get under Rurik’s skin. “You’re being a giant grump again. She probably thinks you’ve changed your mind on wanting to kiss her all the time.”
“I haven’t,” said Rurik so fast that it made Liberty laugh. He cleared his throat. “I mean, I still want to kiss… Anyone want pie?”
Liberty snorted. “How about pie and a kiss?”
Rurik’s eyes widened. “That. I want that!”
Chapter Seventeen
It was all Liberty could do to hold on to the cackle wanting to break free from her at the eager expression on Rurik’s face.
“Is pie and a kiss an option?” he asked, somehow managing to appear even more hopeful as the waitress appeared as if by magik.
“Can I get y’all anything else?” asked the waitress.
“Pie!” shouted Rurik so loudly that the woman stepped back fast.
She touched her chest. “Sweet Jesus, I knew our pie had a good reputation, but I’ve never seen someone so excited about it before.”
“I ain’t so sure that’s what the commie is worked up about,” said Bill, earning him a grunt from Rurik.
“What kind do you want?” asked the waitress. “We’ve got cherry, pumpkin, and blueberry on the menu today.”
Bill grinned from ear to ear and then waggled his bushy brows playfully. “Liberty Bell, I bet he picks cherry pie.”
Her eyes widened at the innuendo. Had Isobel been present, she’d have jumped all over the chance to make a similar joke.
“I do not like pie,” said Rurik in a deadpan voice. “This is for Liberty. I just want the…erm…pie sounds great. Cherry please.”
Bill laughed. “Told ya.”
“Pumpkin for me please,” said Liberty, wanting to move off talk of cherry pies.
Bill nodded. “Same for me and for my buddy here.”
Gus blew more bubbles.
The waitress stared at him a second and then shook her head, walking off as she mumbled about how weird college students were.
Liberty set her attention on Rurik. “You don’t like pie? They’re one of my favorite things to bake. Apple is my specialty.”
Gus paused in his bubble blowing but kept the straw in his mouth.
Bill lit up. “You know how to bake?”
“I do,” said Liberty. “There was a point in my life I thought about opening a small baked goods shop, but life sort of demanded I do something else.”
“Why are you wasting your time in that bullshit cogwheel of higher learning they call a university?” asked Bill. “You could be baking. Not being brainwashed. Don’t believe nothing they tell you, Liberty Bell. The government controls them all. I got brainwashed once. Sucked.”
“I’m working on a PhD in molecular genetics and microbiology.” She took the napkin from her lap and set it on the table next to a partial cup of soup and what remained of the half sandwich she’d eaten.
Bill glanced at Gus for a minute or so and then back at Liberty.
“But you don’t like what you’re studying there?” asked Bill, sadness evident in his voice.
“No. I do. Kind of,” she said, fixating on the napkin as she began to pick at the edges. “I’ve always been good at science and math. And it’s important I learn as much as I can in the field of genetics.”
“Why?” asked Bill. “If you don’t love it, you shouldn’t do it.”
She sighed. “Sometimes, you do what you have to do. This is one of those times. I need to know more about myself. Genetics is the key to unlocking the mystery of…um…mankind?”
She nearly cringed, having come close to divulging more about herself than was safe.
“What more do you need to know about yourself or mankind?” asked Bill before lifting his empty plate and licking a crumb from it. He then eyed the crust of her sandwich. “You gonna finish that?”
She shook her head.
He snatched it off her plate and shoved it in his mouth. The act reminded her of a frog catching a fly.
Rurik laughed so softly that she nearly missed it.
She stared at his profile again, as had happened a lot since she’d found herself having a late lunch (or early dinner, depending on who you asked) with him. He was so incredibly handsome that it was hard to believe anyone came made that way. Yet there was a certain sadness around his eyes that made her want to hold him before trying to right all the wrongs in his world.
Rurik caught her watching him.
She smiled. “For as annoyed as you pretend to be with your father, you think he’s funny too.”
“He’s not my—”
“Liberty Bell,” said Bill, cutting off Rurik as Gus returned to bubble blowing. “Think you could bake me and Gus an apple pie? We love it. It’s our favorite.”
She nodded. “Of course. Anything else you like?”
“What are our choices?” asked Bill.
She shrugged. “Sky is the limit.”
Bill fixed his gaze on Rurik. “Son, you are to marry her this instant or you’re grounded.”
Rurik’s lips twitched. “I’ll see what I can do about that. She’d need to agree.”
Gus stopped blowing bubbles in his milkshake. “She will.”
Liberty went ramrod stiff in the booth. “I will?”
Gus returned to his bubble making, paying her no mind. He was incredibly peculiar but seemed harmless enough.
Liberty toyed with the napkin once more, hoping to avoid talking anymore about marrying Rurik, mainly because she had a feeling she would totally say yes if he asked.
Her cell phone rang, and Bill lifted her bag, which was next to him on the booth. He handed the bag across the table to her, and she fished out her phone. When she saw it was Isobel calling, she debated on answering. Knowing her friend would worry if she didn’t pick up, Liberty hit the accept button.
“Hey, girl,” said Isobel. “Where are you? I went home, but you weren’t there. I’m now back at the university because another server went down. I thought you needed a ride up here. Didn’t you have papers to drop off to Pistachio-Pecker-Head Pasternak?”
“I did, but it’s handled. I walked up to school and now I’m, erm, having lunch with some new friends,” she said, wanting to avoid making a big deal out of it all.
“Hey, Is-it-a-belt,” said Bill loudly. “We’
re finishing up with our milkshakes and then we’re all heading home. Wanna hang out?”
Liberty cringed.
Isobel burst into laughter. “Holy shit! You’re out for milkshakes with the hot Russian dude and his dad?”
She held the phone tight against her ear and cheek, hoping that no one else could hear. “Yes.”
“A grown-ass man took his father on a date with you?” she questioned, still laughing. “Did they bring Abraham Lincoln too?”
“It’s not a date,” she said in a hushed whisper. “And yes, Gus is here as well.”
Bill stared at Rurik. “Your woman doesn’t know you’re on a date with her. You should probably clear that up.”
Isobel laughed harder, evidently hearing Bill with ease. “I can’t wait to tell Daisy about this. Her flight was delayed so she’ll get in later than expected but should text when she does.”
“Stop. Please,” begged Liberty. “I ran into Bill and Gus while I was dropping off the papers at the university.”
“And the sexy Russian came in when and how?” questioned Isobel. “And does this story involve him getting naked at any point? If so, I want the details. Now. That man is fine as hell.”
Liberty winced, praying Rurik couldn’t hear Isobel’s side of the conversation. “No.”
“What you’re saying is that you’re doing this date thing wrong,” stated Isobel with a loud laugh. “Have I taught you nothing? Get him naked now. Send me pics.”
Liberty yelped and tried to hide the outburst behind a cough. “Enough.”
“Fine. But you know that you want to see him naked as much as I do—maybe more,” said Isobel, speaking the truth.
“More,” spat Liberty in agreement before glancing nervously at Rurik. She did want to see him naked.
He had one brow cocked upward, appearing as if he’d more than heard it all.
She closed her eyes, wanting to fade away. She then stared at her lap, rather than look at him. “Isobel, can I call you back when I get home?”
“No, because cell service at our house has been total shit for weeks,” said Isobel. “In related news, the telecommunications van isn’t in front of the house anymore, and we still have shit internet. Maybe they’ve given up on us.”
Act of Surveillance: Paranormal Security and Intelligence® an Immortal Ops® World Novel (PSI-Ops/Immortal Ops Book 7) Page 16
