Bad Nerd Falling (47 page)

“
Tia, if we can’t work in
the lab for a while can I come and see you in America?”

If Tia was surprised that she had just
interrupted her she didn’t let on. Instead, with an aplomb she
would have normally admired, Tia shifted gears with her. Not in the
least put out by such rudeness.

“
Of course you can. I’ll
put you to work packing.”

She managed a credible laugh. “I
thought you have professionals to do that?”

“
Yes, but they’re also
busy packing up my cousin who is buying my condo.”

“
Did you give her a
bargain?”

“
Absolutely. She’s excited
because my place is nicer than most of them she’s looked at, and
I’m giving her a great deal on it.” There was a smile in Tia’s
voice. “And why not? She’s family and will take great care of this
place and she’s taking it off my hands.”

“
When do you think you’ll
return here?”

“
I have to make one last
visit to the lab and my office to make certain I got everything and
sign the final paperwork. My projects are finished, and all I have
to do is write them up, which I can do from the palace.” The
giddiness in Tia’s voice was sweet. “Aleksi promised to personally
come for me.”

She smiled. “I’m happy for you.” And
she was. Truly. At least some people could have a happy ending and
if there were two people who deserved happiness, it was Tia and
Aleksi.

Maybe she didn’t deserve to be happy.
Or maybe she couldn’t be happy. Was she standing in the way of her
own happiness?

Had her decision to end her
relationship with Vlad been made because she feared happiness? Was
it truly because she didn’t think he would stay with
her?

Through a thick voice, she told Tia
she better go. Tia offered her happy goodbyes and they rang
off.

She thought long and hard about her
fears. Were they silly? Was it realistic that she couldn’t hold
Vlad? The thing was, without ever dating before, they had remained
true to each other. Without seeing him for years, she hadn’t been
able to date someone else. No one else appealed, and no one else
ever would.

It was Vlad or no one.

She had no reason to believe he didn’t
feel the same way.

The shadows expanded as she sat there,
listening to Beau rehearsing a piece downstairs. The music swelled
and flowed around her, but she barely heard it. Instead she weighed
the risks of loving Vlad to the benefits.

Tears finally fell again as she
realized she hadn’t given them a chance. Yet fear was a powerful
deterrent. An effective immobilizer and it caused normally
intelligent people to make bad decisions.

At least she hoped she was
intelligent. Her actions of late might refute that.

Perhaps it all boiled down
to her using that newfound sense of confidence and
taking
what she
wanted.

If Vlad still wanted her.

Her heart twisted. What if she had burnt that
bridge to the ground? If so, then she needed to draw up plans to
rebuild the path between them. She intended to make it stronger
and
inflammable
.

Chapter 38

He performed his duties to the letter.
There was no fumbling, no hesitation when they went in, covertly,
and took everything from the Freedom Fighters headquarters. The
news had not yet spread to the remaining members that their leader
was in critical condition in Rurikstan and would never return.
Probably because many of their remaining members were dead or
incarcerated.

His team ran into no problems, but
until they had scoped out the situation and made certain of what
they faced, it still took two days. He was ready to start rolling
heads by the time they retained everything they came for, completed
their mission in full, and finally headed home to
Rurikstan.

When they arrived,
debriefs took another day. Aleksi and General Warcowski had to be
informed of everything. They asked for details. A
lot
of them.

It took what felt like forever, but he
suspected Aleksi realized he was gunning to leave. He wouldn’t put
it past his prince to keep him behind just to ask nosy questions.
Emerson was probably frothing at the mouth wondering what was
up.

Eventually, they answered all the
questions. That left them free to return to the command center and
finally fill out all their paperwork. There was plenty of that left
to do.

His friends also helped him return
everything to rights. They took a few of the cameras, but left most
of them. He decided to maintain most of them just in case they
ended up the target of another attack.

It was a huge victory that they had
annihilated The Freedom Fighters, and word would spread among the
terrorist factions that Rurikstan had the resources to protect
themselves and would do so.

“
Gentlemen,” Aleksi said
from the doorway of their command center.

They all turned to him.

“
I have some
news.”

He couldn’t read Aleksi’s expression,
but there was an air of satisfaction about him.

“
What’s that?” He could be
polite. Every single one of these tasks prevented him from finding
Helena and begging her, if necessary, to stay with him.

It was like that part of his life had
spiraled out of his control and he didn’t like the sensation. But
it also made him aware that he needed to express some things to her
a lot better than he had. Her fears were normal, since he had never
told her how he felt.

Actually, he’d prefer swimming with
sharks in bloody water than conducting a conversation about his
feelings, but he would do it to save his relationship with
Helena.

“
Every single terrorist we
incarcerated is now dead,” Aleksi announced. “Their bodies have
been incinerated.”

Various expressions lit the air as
they all peered at each other.

“
Every
one
of them?” Ben’s voice sounded
strangled.

“
All of them, dead.”
Aleksi’s face gave nothing of his feelings away. “It is Rurikstan’s
policy when prisoners die, to cremate them.”

Coffee mug still raised to his lips,
he lowered it to the desk. “Yes, but usually not this
quickly.”

“
All
of them were dead?” Beaumont sounded like he didn’t quite
believe it.

Aleksi nodded. “Every single one. By
an apparent group suicide.” His eyes rested on Vlad. “And, yes, it
was a fast decision to incinerate them. This is so any remaining
members of this faction will never find them again.”

He had a point.

“
I think I’m going to move
here,” Shively announced, once again all Tigger.

“
We like to get things
done, and since I run the country, there is no red tape.” Aleksi’s
smile was hard.

“
Red tape gets us every
time,” Tigger agreed. “Can I retire here?”

Aleksi smiled. “Of course.
But I imagine we’ll offer you a job in our military.” He glanced at
each of the men. “
All
of you.”

His heart tripped a beat.
He
had
a job in
the Rurikstan military, but as of right now, that was in question.
They thwarted a terrorist attack and it seemed, at least for the
present, that it was unlikely he would be needed. All of his life
had been spent training for what had occurred this week. Now it was
over, or nearly so, and he had essentially worked himself out of
his own job.

“
You can call on us at any
time.” Ben stood to shake Aleksi’s hand.

“
Thank you, and thank your
uncle for me.”

“
Admiral O’Riley said to
tell you we will gladly help you combat terrorists.”

“
Tell him Rurikstan will
be happy to aid you in your efforts as well.” Aleksi included the
other SEALs in his gaze. “We’re working to form a military that
will cause terrorists to shake in their boots. And we have the
money and skills to make that happen.” Aleksi’s eyes remained
uncharacteristically hard.

The others all slanted looks at him.
“We don’t doubt that,” Ben murmured before he reseated himself
behind his computer. “We’d better finish our reports. We leave the
real world at 0600 hours tomorrow.”

“
Thank you,” Aleksi
repeated and then shook all three men’s hands. When finished the
prince turned to him. “If you will please accompany me to my
office?”

He agreed. You didn’t refuse a request
from your prince. It wouldn’t be right. He nodded to his friends
and followed Aleksi. It was evident during the attack that Aleksi
knew his way through the passages, but it soon became apparent that
he knew far more about these hidden corridors than Vlad had learned
during his extensive searches of them.

After walking a little way, in what
was clearly the wrong direction to arrive at Aleksi’s office,
Aleksi stopped in front of a panel. He placed his palm against a
knot and light showed like a scanner, before a faint beep sounded,
and the panel slid open. It revealed Aleksi’s office, only this
door opened up behind the desk. It would make an excellent escape
route, and thusly made utter sense.

“
I had no idea that was
there.”

“
Most people
don’t.”

“
Let me guess, only you,
your mother, Maks, and Emerson know about it.”

“
Maks knows of it but not
the location. But I did show Emerson since he runs the palace.
After our wedding, Tia will know as well.”

“
Now I know.”

“
Yes, and the reason for
that will become rather clear.”

Except that cryptic statement meant
nothing to him.

Aleksi indicated that he should seat
himself. He did so.

“
My father set out to
train up a warrior to protect Rurikstan.” He folded his hands on
the desk.

He nodded. There was a knot in his
throat. He didn’t want to leave Rurikstan for long periods of time
anymore. He wanted to stay and eventually start a family with
Helena. Not that he wouldn’t respond to a call to aid his numerous
colleagues around the world, but he wanted to remain here. Put down
roots in this place, his homeland.

“
I know that he was very
impressed with you, Vlad. You exceeded his expectations as well as
mine.” Aleksi stared hard at him. “Knowing the training you’ve been
through, and what you’re capable of is scary. Because of your
skills and leadership abilities, and your many friends, you’ve
proven Rurikstan will not fall without a fight. We didn’t lose any
men in this battle. That’s impressive.”

“
We lost Anna Barstow’s
aunt.”

The prince turned solemn. “One woman
too many. We’re still investigating that situation, as both women
were the traitors, although unwilling, since they were victims.”
Aleksi’s mouth pulled down. “I don’t want to know what they
endured.”

“
It’s better that way.” He
had a rough idea and that was more than he wanted.

“
We didn’t lose anyone
other than Anna’s aunt.”

The hope was that perhaps Anna would
recover, although she had a long road ahead of her. Neither she nor
her aunt voluntarily signed on with the faction, they were
kidnapped because Anna had been General Warcowski’s personal
assistant until he retired and she retained a lot of knowledge. Her
aunt had been with her when the terrorists struck and both women
were subsequently tortured over the course of several months at
least.

Anna attempted to kill Helena twice in
order to save her from the terrorists. Both attempts had been an
act of mercy in the unstable woman’s mind.

“
We shouldn’t have lost
even one person.” The housekeeper’s death would haunt him for the
rest of his life. Gazing at his cousin, he guessed Aleksi would
suffer every bit as much.

“
No,” Aleksi agreed.
“That’s where you come in.”

He paused. What did he mean by
that?

“
My father, I believe,
intended for you to eventually come home to stay.” Aleksi stared at
him with the same eyes he saw in the mirror every morning. Yet
there was something in Aleksi’s eyes he had never seen
before.

“
I would prefer to remain
here.” His voice sounded tight.

Aleksi nodded. “As you know, I have
been working to strengthen our military. General Warcowski has been
instrumental in aiding my efforts.”

He waited.

“
However, he is retired
and doesn’t particularly want the job of running our military, and
at any rate, he isn’t my top choice.” Aleksi leaned back in his
chair, resting an ankle on his thigh. “General Warcowski lacks
recent in-the-field experience. It’s unlikely he would recognize
most modern technology and weaponry.

“
What we need is a man who
has trained as a warrior all over the world. Who has connections in
many of those countries, who has used all the modern equipment, and
more importantly, is comfortable with it. Someone who is capable of
overseeing the complete overhaul of our military.”