In a Broken Dream (The Broken Series Book 4) (22 page)

“No
looking at your feet,” Katia instructed. “Ladies, you need to trust that your
partner will steer you where you need to be. Chins up, heads held high.” She
held her chin up and out at some ridiculous angle I was not willing to
duplicate.

Anton
stood a little taller. “Gentlemen, you will begin with your feet together. On
three counts, you will step forward with your left foot, step to the right with
your right foot, and then close by bringing your left foot to the right. You
will then step forward with your right, step to the left, and close. Those are
the basic waltz steps for the men.” He and Katia walked through the steps three
times.

“Now
for the ladies,” Katia announced melodically. “Backwards with the right foot
for one, to the left side for two, then close with the right on three. We’ll
repeat that pattern… step, side, close, step, side, close… throughout the
duration of the music.” Again, they demonstrated the steps.

Anton
smiled. “You need to ensure you are bending and straightening your legs on the
right counts as well. You will bend your knees on one, straighten on two and
three.” Their bodies rose and fell across the floor like a gentle wave. “Down,
up, up. Down, up, up,” Anton chanted as he whisked her around the floor.

“Okay,
let’s begin.” Katia pushed a button on a remote control device, which she had
tucked inside her left hand. The room filled with the gentle strains of an
acoustic guitar.

Kadyn
smiled. He tightened his hold on my back, squeezed my hand, and stepped forward
as Allison Krauss began to sing in a pure, sweet tone.

I
tried to anticipate Kadyn’s moves, but I was having a hard time following his
lead. I wanted to step forward. I could barely walk, let alone dance, backwards.

“You
need to bend more in the knees, Kri. Relax. Feel the music,” Katia called from
across the room.

My
cheeks heated. “Sorry, Kadyn.”

He
offered me an encouraging smile. “You’re doing great, Kri. Try not to worry
about where we’re going. I’m not going to let anyone run into you. Focus on my
hands. I’ll push and pull you where you need to be.”

I
nodded as I recommitted myself to the process. Once I started paying attention
to Kadyn’s hand signals, I didn’t have to worry about where to place my feet. I
gradually began to relax.

Kadyn’s
eyes met mine when the CD rolled into “What a Wonderful World.” “Now this
brings back memories,” he murmured softly.

“New
Year’s Eve with Freddy Cole and Dizzy Gillespie,” I recalled with a knowing
smile. Kadyn and I had danced to this song amidst silver, gold, and white
balloons in the main foyer of the Kennedy Center shortly after their concert.

Kadyn
skillfully maneuvered me around Cenia and Roger. “Everything was so much
simpler then.”

I
gazed up at him. His warm brown eyes looked unspeakably sad. I quickly glanced
away. “Yes, it was.”

“You
smiled more,” he noted.

“So
did you,” I remarked.

Kadyn
sighed. “What I wouldn’t give to roll back time.”

My
feet rooted to the floor. How many times had I wished for the very same thing?

Kadyn’s
eyes softened as he took a step closer to me. Had I released my breath, our
chests would be touching.

Katia
and Anton broke the spell cast by Kadyn’s words. I glanced at Kadyn, confused,
when Anton suddenly whisked me away. I knew why I longed to roll back time… to
undo everything that had happened in Ukraine. It sounded as if Kadyn wanted to
erase a larger portion of my life, the portion that included Paris, Michael,
and Rafael. I thought Kadyn had accepted my relationship with Rafael, albeit
grudgingly. Now I wasn’t so sure.

By
the time Anton settled me back inside Kadyn’s arms, I was thoroughly perplexed.
Kadyn’s face was unreadable. In fact, he was wearing that trademark look he was
famous for. I tried to ignore the questions swirling around inside my head. I focused
on my friends instead. Anton was dancing with Cenia now, and Katia was dancing
with Roger.

By
the end of the evening, we were all dancing more fluidly. Katia and Anton
promised to teach us some twists and turns at our next lesson. We took a few
minutes to tug our street shoes on before exiting the dance studio.

Rafael
was leaning against the side of the building, with one foot propped casually
against the brick wall. He pushed off the building and wrapped me in his arms.
“How’d it go?”

“Kadyn
survived the lesson without suffering any serious injuries,” I noted jokingly.
I planted a chaste kiss on Rafael’s lips before freeing him up to greet my
friends.

Rafael
shook Kadyn’s hand. “It’s good to see you again.” He shook hands with Roger and
gave Cenia a hug. “Is anyone interested in going to Cosi?”

“Sure,”
Cenia replied. “I think we’re all in.” We began walking toward the parking lot.

“Do
you want to meet at the Cosi over on King Street?” Kadyn asked.

Rafael
nodded. “I think that’s the closest one.”

“We’ll
meet you over there,” Roger replied. He opened the passenger side door of his
Nissan Maxima for Cenia.

Kadyn
tugged his helmet on, swung his leg over the Aprilia, and pulled out of the
parking lot.

Rafael
tucked me inside the Lincoln Navigator before climbing into the driver’s seat. I
leaned across the center console and planted a soft, lingering kiss on his lips.
“Thanks for being such a good sport about the dance lessons and for inviting
everyone to Cosi. I know this seems awkward given our history, but I’d really
like you and Kadyn to be friends.”

Rafael
squeezed my hand before backing out of the parking spot. “I know, baby. We’ll
get there eventually.”

We
met Roger, Cenia, and Kadyn in front of Cosi. I smiled contentedly when we
stepped inside. The dimly lit restaurant felt toasty warm. The scents of
freshly baked bread, fresh ground coffee, and cinnamon chai tea lingered in the
air.

Roger
commandeered a table. We ordered our drinks and the s’mores package which
included a burner, roasting sticks, marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham
crackers. Cenia distributed the roasting sticks while we waited for the blue, orange,
and yellow flame to grow.

“Rafael
and I ran into a mountain lion while we were hiking in Montana,” I revealed
with some excitement. I was eager to discuss the trip with my friends.

Cenia’s
eyes widened. “Really? Did she try to attack you?”

I
speared a marshmallow. “No. She ran off when she heard Rafael remove the bear
spray from the holster.”

“Bear
spray?” Roger repeated questioningly. His eyes strayed from the marshmallow he
was roasting. The sugary puff ball burst into flames.

Cenia
blew the flames out. She gingerly removed the blackened outer shell surrounding
the marshmallow and popped it into her mouth. “You don’t like blackened
marshmallows,” she protested when Roger gave her a withering look. “Don’t you
prefer them golden brown?”

“See?”
Rafael interjected. “I’m not the only one who hasn’t heard of bear spray.”

“It’s
a giant can of pepper spray,” I explained. “Hikers use it all the time.” I
nudged Kadyn’s roasting stick out of the way as we jockeyed for the flame.

Roger
resumed roasting the gooey remains of his marshmallow. “Why carry bear spray
when you can pack a gun?”

“You
can’t carry a firearm inside a national or state park,” I objected, “and you
can’t just go around shooting bears and mountain lions anytime you want. You
have to obtain a special permit, even during hunting season.”

“If
a mountain lion attacked me, I wouldn’t be asking anyone for permission to
shoot it,” Roger stated dismissively.

“If
a mountain lion attacked you, you wouldn’t be asking a whole lot of anything,”
I retorted. I began assembling my s’more.

“Guess
who else we ran into,” Rafael encouraged with a wry smile.

Kadyn
sat back and studied Rafael. His eyes suddenly lit with interest. “You ran into
Tom.”

“Tom?”
Cenia asked. “Your ex-husband, Tom?”

I
chuckled softly. “Rafael’s fist, his knee, a table, and a wall ran into Tom.”

Kadyn
smiled. “How’d you manage that?”

“The
guy was slamming Kristine’s head into the wall when I walked out of the men’s
restroom,” Rafael explained. He scowled as he reached for his coffee.

“We
were at the Windbag, where you met Gra and Pa,” I clarified for Kadyn.

“The
Windbag? Is that a restaurant?” Roger inquired.

“A
brothel that was converted into a bar and restaurant,” Rafael replied. He was
still tripping over the fact that I had taken him to a brothel.

I
could practically see the wheels churning in Roger’s head. “A brothel, huh?”

“I’ve
always wanted to visit Montana,” Cenia confessed. She was twirling her
marshmallow through the flame.

Roger
perked up even more. “Maybe we should go there for our honeymoon.”

Cenia
shook her head. “We’re not honeymooning in Montana so you can wrestle mountain
lions, frequent brothels, and provoke a bar fight.”

“You
know… if you went right after the wedding, you’d get there in time for hunting
season,” I added teasingly.

Roger
grinned. “I think we should do it.”

Cenia
threw her marshmallow at me. “As my maid of honor, your loyalties lie with me.”

I
reached for my coffee and snuggled closer to Rafael. I was thoroughly enjoying
myself. “My loyalties lie with all of you.”

“Speaking
of loyalties,” Rafael began. He looked at Kadyn. “Your friend, Dan, was sitting
out on his front porch, polishing his rifle, when I stopped by to meet him.”

Kadyn
laughed. “That sounds like Dan. Did he take you out shooting?”

Rafael
nodded. “That guy’s got quite the arsenal.”

“I
want to go shooting with Dan,” Roger whined. “Why can’t we go to Montana for
our honeymoon?”

Cenia
just rolled her eyes.

“Did
Kristine tell you Maxim paid her a visit last weekend?” Rafael asked. He was
staring intently at Kadyn.

Kadyn
shot me a disapproving look. “No.”

“Maxim?
Who’s Maxim?” Roger asked, thoroughly confused.

“The
guy from the Russian mafia. The one who helped Rafael and Kadyn free Kri,”
Cenia replied.

“What
did he want?” Kadyn asked. He was still glowering at me.

I
fidgeted nervously in my seat. “He wanted me to know he… uh…” I glanced at the
couple sitting across from us. “He took care of the person who shot Michael and
the ones who hurt Shae and me.”

Kadyn
glanced sharply at Rafael. “Did you pay him to do this?”

Rafael
shook his head. “No. I didn’t.”

“Maxim
said he couldn’t allow their actions to go unpunished. If he let them get away
with hurting us, he would have lost power, credibility, and influence in
Ukraine,” I explained.

“Yeah,
but that’s not his end game,” Kadyn surmised.

I
looked at Kadyn. “What’s his end game?”

“You
are,” Rafael replied.

I
shook my head. “I don’t think so. Maxim knows I could never live in Ukraine.”

“He
did kiss you,” Cenia noted before eating her s’more.

Kadyn
stared dumbfounded at Rafael. “You let him kiss her?”

Rafael
folded his arms across his chest. “He didn’t exactly give me a choice.”

“Maxim
said it was the only form of payment he’d accept,” I interjected.

“For
what?” Kadyn demanded.

“For
killing those men,” Rafael growled irritably.

Kadyn’s
jaw clenched. “So he didn’t kill them to maintain power and respect. He did it
to get closer to Kri.”

“What’s
the big deal?” Roger asked. “Clearly, this guy wanted to play the hero. He
killed the bad guys, and all he asked for was a little kiss. Frankly, I think
he deserved a kiss.”

Cenia
shook her head. “It wasn’t a
little
kiss.”

Roger
balanced a piece of chocolate on top of his marshmallow and held it over the
flame. “It was a kiss. How bad could it be?”

“Evidently,
his kisses are… orgasmic,” Cenia persisted.

“Cenia!”
I gasped. She wasn’t supposed to share that.

“They’re
what?” Rafael gritted.

I
slid down in my seat. “He’s just… very skilled at kissing.”

Roger’s
eyes widened. “You mean to tell me this man can give a woman an orgasm just by
kissing her…
on the lips
?”

“And
neck,” I clarified miserably.

Rafael
threw a wad of money on the table. He stood, grabbed my arm, and tugged me to
my feet. “We’re leaving. Now.”

I
was shocked. “What? Why?”

His
eyes bore into mine.