Courted by Karma (The Adventures of Anabel Axelrod) (44 page)

I texted Maria, and per our agreement, verified
by referring to a book she ordered that Blanca was fine. This was a formality. She knew if there had been problems, I would have called her late last night. Within a few minutes, she texted back that she was going over to Inez’s and was fine with her end of the plan. Satisfied with how everything was progressing so far, I took Maria at her word that she’s comfortable, relieved we don’t have to talk. I’ll await further developments later today from her.

I hope
d Blanca would have fun this morning. Mac’s dropping her off at Jazy’s farm on the way to Faribault for their early Thanksgiving with Diego’s family and friends. I’d given Jazy a credit card for Blanca to go shopping online. She’ll need some clothes and accessories to supplement the meager wardrobe she was able to sneak out in her small bag. According to Maria, her niece was an avid reader. I made a mental note to make sure Blanca got escorted down into the closed store later today. She could pick out a stack of books to take to the farm, too.

My phone buzzed and surprised me out of my thoughts.

“Hey, Stella-Belle. You’re up early, everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine, but I wanted to tell you some stuff Blanca told me last night that I think you should know.” Stella’s voice was an urgent whisper. “
Blanca’s asleep out on the futon and I’m in the bathroom, so she can’t hear me.”

“Sure, tell me, sweetie
,” I answered encouragingly.

“The man that’s after her
, did you know he’s after a couple of her friends in the neighborhood, too? She’s freaking over this. What the hell, Auntie B! How can this dude do this and get away with it? All the adults are fucking terrified of him, too! Blanca said he’s known for cutting people up with this wicked, big knife he carries everywhere. Poor Blanca, she’s such a sweetheart. She’s feeling so happy to have escaped, but lost it last night over the guilt she has that her friends are stuck there still.”

Keeping my voice
even, I asked, “Stella, tell me the swear to God truth here. Who else have you told about this?”

“Nobody! You said not to tell anybody about Blanca and I swear to God that I haven’t,” Stella answered immediately.

“Good girl. Do not tell anybody, not even your mother, Diego, or Eric George about this conversation, okay?” I reassured her, “Not that they aren’t trustworthy, but this is bad stuff, Stella, and the less people involved the better it is for everyone. You dig?”

Stella thought it over for a second and concurred, “I
dig. I swear I won’t talk to anyone.” Her voice was filled with relieved satisfaction, “I knew it! You’re going to do something about this fuckhead man, aren’t you?”

“Stella, what I just said goes for you,
as well.” I went on firmly in a voice Stella knows brooks no argument, “No more questions. Do not reassure Blanca or mention that we’ve talked. Only reinforce her not to Facebook, text, call, or even send a psychic wavelength to any of her friends. This is for Blanca’s safety and ours now, too.”

“Okay, I will
,” Stella avowed fervently. I’m so seldom this serious with her that Stella knows how bad I consider a situation to pull the Authoritative Auntie card.

“You were absolutely right to call me with this information. Thank you for being such
an intelligent female.” I sighed. “Now, two more things before I hang up, my darling mother-to-be.”

“Yes?” Stella prompted with a smile in her voice.

“Have you started taking prenatal vitamins?”

“Not since yesterday, no,” my niece responded dryly.

I smiled. “Quit taking after your Aunt Jazy and being such a snarky pants. Go talk to your mother, Nurse Ratched. Speaking of intelligence, I believe you particularly don’t want to wait on the magnesium fortified calcium. That little tater tot crisping in your oven will suck her little mama’s brains and bones dry taking what it needs to grow.”

Stella giggled
. “Oh okay, Auntie Bel. What’s the second thing?”

“
Enough with the fuckenheimers. I had to cold turkey the swearing when you were a kid, at least until you were five and it became a lost cause. You can do it, too.”

Stella snorted and
protested, “Yeah, but you were only eleven when I came to live with you!”

“I know! I agree it was much harder for me to quit, since I had so much more to swear about
with older sisters and a tyrant of a grandmother.” I added prissily, “But you are a role model to Blanca now, and you should get used to curbing your potty mouth before baby Turquesa Isabella makes her first appearance when I’m in Africa.”

I ended the call hearing Stella’s whispered shrieks
“that her baby was no way in hell, correction heck, being named Turquesa Isabella!”

My smile disappeared while I mulled ove
r Stella’s report on the fuckhead bad man. I shook my head in disgust and got back to my laptop.

I asked Phil to park the limo on the side of the road near the entrance to Luke’s lane. He would wait for me, as I didn’t know how long my first lesson would take. Leaving my laptop in the limo,
but zipping my muted cell in the pocket of my sweat suit hoodie, I pulled up my red fleece headband to cover my ears. I waved goodbye to the driver and took off jogging up the lane.

If I stayed off to the side, there
was a relatively flat strip between the actual lane and the shallow ditch that I could run on without possibly breaking a tibia. I laughed at the state of the lane in the daylight. It could be the surface of the moon. I stopped, took out the cell, and snapped a quick picture to send to Crookie later.

It
was now a gloriously sunny day with a cloudless sky. Patches of snow dotted the churned fields and pastures here and there, but most of it had melted. The ground was much drier today and not too spongy. If I avoided the low dips in the land, I could avoid spattering mud up the back of my running pants. I warmed up quickly in the beautiful morning air. Halfway up the lane, I pulled down my headband and unzipped my jacket to tie it around my waist. Underneath, I had on a red, long-sleeved T shirt.

It would be fun to appear unannounced at the barn a
nd see if Luke could be taken by surprise. I wasn’t holding my breath. Mr. Tricky probably has this whole place rigged with camera surveillance, or has an alarm system to warn if a body was moving around his property.

Reaching the end of the lane, I glanced over towards the
one-story brick house. I could just make out the bed of our truck in the driveway before the tangled Lilac branches obscured my visibility. It was tempting to go begging for more Baklava for breakfast. Instead, I kept jogging towards the huge, white barn in the distance.

As I approached, I could see the entrance door at the top of the wide ramp
was propped open with a cement block. It appeared that Luke was taking advantage of the fresh, balmy air and sunshine.

Slowing down to a walk
on the graveled drive, I looked all around his farmyard and wondered what other surprises these outbuildings held. Aside from the barn that dominated the landscape, there was a double garage, a Quonset hut, a curved-roof chicken coop, an eye-catching silo built of the same fieldstone and brick as the house, and two wooden buildings that were also painted white. I couldn’t identify what their purposes were from only their exteriors.

Energized from the short run, I
was excited to start my work out and couldn’t wait to see what Luke would have me do.  The newness of what I was feeling about my Dark Prince was adding to my eagerness to see him. Grinning at my foolishness, I was wondering if he’s going to look different in my eyes today, or if he was going to notice anything different about me. Was I glowing and shining on the outside like I felt inside?

‘If I get
any sappier, I may just puke.’
The voices all laughed along with me, and I think I even heard the mean mommy’s low chuckle.

I
skipped up the ramp and entered into the cavernous barn, pausing so my eyes could adjust to the difference in lighting from the bright sunshine to the shadowed entrance room.

The Dutch door on my left
was open, top and bottom. I walked soundlessly towards the little office, but froze mid-step when I heard that annoying seal bark. I stayed frozen at the sound of Luke’s low laughter following right after Svettie’s.

I don’t know if it
was in response to my bat-like hearing, but something inside me clenched at the pitch of that overheard laughter. It sounded teasing and intimate. It sounded wrong.

‘No, no, no!’
Everybody wailed at this thought
.

Walk
ing a few steps closer to the open doorway, an inexplicable sense of dread rose up in me. Pulled relentlessly forward, I could not stop myself, even as I wanted to run away. Hearing Luke’s murmur and his deep, sexy laughter in response to that lisping, accented voice, I was compelled to eavesdrop again. I couldn’t resist.

‘No,
resist! Run away and don’t listen!
’ The voices were babbling and shouting.

I
ignored them and took the final step. Leaning against the wall, I could clearly hear the conversation taking place a few feet away.

“…
shouldn’t watch a man taking a shower, Svetlana. How would you like it if I walked in on you, hmm?” Laughter. “Never mind, don’t answer that.”

Hearing a rustling noise that sounded like clothing,
it wasn’t enough I could hear what was being said, but I had to see, too. I sank to the floor soundlessly, and on my knees, barely let my right eye clear the door frame.

“Luke,
do not tease me so. Nobody vill know out here, but us. I’ve vanted you for months. I can feel how you vant me.”

Swallowing hard over the lump in my throat
, the ringing in my ears, and the voices in my head, I have a side view of Luke and Svettie almost directly across from me. They were standing near the open doorway to the bathroom. Luke was wearing only a short towel around his middle and the taped bandage around his chest. From my vantage point this low to the floor, I wouldn’t say he had an erection like Svettie implied, but when her hand reached out and stroked him, I furiously assumed that flaccid state of affairs wouldn’t last long.

Standing there
barely covered by his towel, the water droplets glistened on his hair and broad shoulders when Luke casually took Svettie’s hand off him. The air of total coolness he purveyed while doing this made me blink. It was as if he’s had to remove women’s hands off his genitals so often that it was an inconsequential, unconscious act hardly requiring thought.

He
held her one hand aloft and shook it in mock ferociousness while scolding gently, “Svetlana, you know we can’t do this. I am your boss and will not take advantage of you.”

I
was reminded by his manner of his affectionate gentleness with her hysterical crying fit in the barn yesterday. If he didn’t want her sexually, then I was at a loss to understand why he hadn’t shut her down more forcefully. This was a highly charged scene. I could feel the desire Svettie felts for Luke shimmering in the air. If she invited him to share a bed last night, obviously this wasn’t the first time she’d come on to Luke.

The longer I watch
ed and the more time it was taking Luke to disengage from Svettie, the harder it was getting to swallow past the lump in my throat and see past the red film over my eyes.

Svetlana
’s dark hair was hanging loose and she was dressed in a short robe or a cover up. It was hard to tell what exactly she was wearing from my sideways view, but its bright orange and very skimpy. Her long legs were bare to the knees, and then there was the ubiquitous white fur boots that I was now convinced were actually a permanent part of her legs.

“You vill not be taking advantage!” She cried passionately. “You are the owner of the company, Luke. Nobody
can tell you vat to do. It is because of An-a-bel, isn’t it?”

Luke
’s muscled shoulder moved and his tone was dismissive, “No, this has nothing to do with Anabel.”

The Russian shrugged the
colorful robe off her shoulders, presenting her pale, nude body like an orange sherbet push-up pop to Luke’s gaze.

I felt dizzy with
all the unfamiliar, seething emotions crashing through me. Raw possessiveness, fierce jealousy, unfathomable hurt, but above all, irrevocable despair.

Luke
briefly looked down the length of Svettie once and said softly, “Jesus, Svetlana, put your robe on. I said no.”

I’
d seen and heard enough.

Leaning back and looking around me blindly, I noticed Ja
zy’s barn boots against the wall where I’d left them yesterday morning. Right now, yesterday seemed like a million years ago. Hell, fifteen minutes ago seems like a far off dream compared to the nightmare images I now have strobing through my mind.

You’d think I’d be grabbing those boots and whaling away on
Svettie or Luke, and I was surprised at myself, too.

I did grab the boots, but my best friend Anna
was wrong. I had no desire to fight over Luke. What I felt was much worse. I needed to get away.