Russian Bad Boy's Untouched Love (9 page)

Vlad was the definition of a bad boy. He could casually commit murder without batting an eye if that’s what his job required of him. He was loyal and stubborn to a fault. And that was why he had left her house this morning and would—in all likelihood—never call her again.

There was a knock at her back door, the kitchen door. Mary whipped around as though she’d been shocked. Through the window she could see two little people on her back step. Unless the mafia had started recruiting midgets, she figured she was pretty safe with these two guests.

Flinging open her back door, Mary was shocked to see Ioann Sokolov and Bianka Nikaelevich standing there with sheepish grins on their faces. Both children were shifting back and forth on their feet and glancing around as if they knew they were going to get in trouble for coming to see her.

“Bianka, Ioann,” Mary said. “What can I do for you?”

“Can we come in?” Ioanna asked eagerly.

“Of course.” Mary swung open the screen door and both kids trotted into her cozy kitchen. “What can I do for you?”

It was Bianka who spoke first. “We needed to tell a grown up something that we heard the other day.”

“Okay.” Mary very carefully folded her hands in front of her and prepared to listen.

“I’m thirsty.” Ioann sounded so pathetic she knew he was playing her for something specific. “Do you maybe have some milk and cookies?”

Mary chuckled. “I think I can rustle something up. Why don’t you two sit down at the table?”

Mary put a hefty serving of chocolate chip peanut butter cookies on a plate and poured out two glasses of milk. She got herself an iced tea, and then carried it all over to her little round kitchen table. The kids dug in before the plate had even touched the tabletop.

“Did either of you eat lunch?” Mary wanted to know.

Bianka shook her curly brown head. “No, ma’am. We had to sneak out in order to come here and that was during lunch time.”

“That was hours ago, where on earth have you been all this time?” Mary was almost afraid to ask.

“Well…we sort of got lost,” Ioann admitted.

“How did you find my address anyway?” Mary asked them.

Bianka primly wiped her mouth with a napkin. “My mother has your address in her book. I just looked up your name and ripped out the page.”

Mary didn’t mention to Bianka that her mother was probably not going to be pleased that they’d actually ripped a page out rather than just copying it down. Instead, Mary focused on what had brought the children there. “So?” she prompted. “What was the big hurry?”

“Well.” Ioann glanced at Bianka before starting his story, but she nodded and waved at him to go ahead. “The other day, when Bianka was there at school, we saw this funny man on the playground. He was talking to all the kids, asking who was who.”

“Why didn’t anyone turn him in?” Mary tried to keep her voice calm. It wasn’t easy. “You know that strange adults aren’t allowed to talk to kids at school.”

“I know,” Ioann said, shoving a whole cookie into his mouth. “But he promised us we could have a bunch of money. He even showed it to us.”

“And you believed him?” Mary raised an eyebrow.

“He gave us each five dollars if we promised to stay quiet about his being there,” Bianka reported. “Nobody wanted to give up that kind of money.”

“So how many kids saw this guy?” Mary swallowed back the lump of fear that had just lodged itself in her throat.

“I don’t know?” Ioann looked to Bianka for clarification. “Maybe ten of us?”

“Ten of us got paid,” Bianka confirmed. “The man wanted to know who was Ioann. That’s why I called Ioann over to the fence, so the man could see him real good.”

“Did you get a good look at this man?” Mary wondered if this would be their big break.

Bianka shrugged. “I guess. He was a grown-up. He had brown hair and blue eyes and he talked really funny.”

“How funny?” Mary demanded. “Like a really thick city accent?”

“Yeah.” Bianka waved her hand around her head.

“Okay. That’s good.”

“He was also wearing all black,” Ioann recalled.

“And he paid you both five dollars because he wanted to know which kid was Ioann,” Mary said to clarify.

“Yep.” Bianka nodded firmly.

“Did he ask about any other kids?” Mary half hoped the answer was no and half hoped it was yes.

“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t remember much of anything else.”

“What made you two decide it was time to fess up about this?” Mary asked, although she had a feeling she already knew.

Ioann pursed his lips. “We were playing upstairs, then we heard Vlad yell about something. Then Vlad left and I heard my papa talking about an Orsini boy that got stolen. Papa said he thinks they’re going to start taking boys from families all over the city.”

“And you were afraid that you were next,” Mary mused. She didn’t bother asking him to define what he meant by families all over the city. She knew he was talking about those connected with the mafia. The interest seemed to be centered around the sons of bosses. “Well I’m very, very glad you told me what you know. But it was pretty wrong to come over here without telling anyone. Your mamas are going to be frantic with worry.” Mary gestured to the plate of cookie crumbs. “You’ve both had your snack so I think it’s time to call your families and see what happens.”

***

Vlad banged on Mary’s door with more force than was strictly necessary. He hadn’t been this angry in a good long while. If it were up to him, he would flay his brother alive for daring to scare them all like this.

Mary opened the door with an amused smile on her pretty face. “It certainly didn’t take you long to get here.”

“You can imagine why,” Vlad said irritably. “I think his mother has cried enough tears to fill the harbor. Sokolov was ready to send out the troops and raze the city until he found Ioann or his body.”

“Then let’s be glad it hasn’t come down to that just yet,” Mary said lightly. “Just be aware that the kids were looking for a safe place to tell something they were a little worried about. Did they handle it well?” She shook her head. “No. But they’re seven, all right? Screaming at them is not going to get you anywhere. If that’s what you’re here to, then—”

“Are you warning me that if I behave badly you’re going to sit me in a corner or something?” Vlad couldn’t believe she was ready to toss him out if he didn’t obey her rules of engagement.

“Yep, I really will.” Then her expression sobered. “Although at the moment I’m pretty pissed off at you as it is.”

Vlad’s gut tightened. He’d been an ass earlier when he’d left her house, but it had been hard as hell to leave her. “Look, it’s just until this whole situation blows over. I just don’t want to see you hurt because of me.”

“Oh, and you think that possibility is going to end when we locate the mysterious Man in Black?” Sarcasm dripped from her words. “What part of your job, on a regular day mind you, is safe? Because I sort of feel like it’s not going to matter what day of the week or month of the year it is, your occupational hazards will become mine if we’re together as a couple.”

She had a point. He didn’t like it, but she did. Vlad forced the words through his clenched teeth. “Then maybe it isn’t a good idea for the two of us to be together.”

“You can’t do this,” Mary hissed, keeping her voice low so the children didn’t overhear. “You can’t just waltz into my life and change
everything
and then prance back out and expect me to act as if it meant nothing!”

“I don’t prance.”

“You will when I get done kicking your ass,” she growled.

Vlad cupped her cheek in his hand, risking the possibility that she might bite a finger right off. “You are an extraordinary woman, Mary. Don’t ever let anyone try to convince you otherwise.”

She pulled away, keeping her gaze downcast. “You better come inside. Just please be nice.”

“I promise.”

He followed her into the apartment and immediately saw straight ahead into her tiny kitchen. Bianka and Ioann were sitting at the table with glasses and an empty plate before them. A wave of adolescent regret hit him hard and he knew he wouldn’t be harsh with these two. Not when he empathized with them so completely.

“So.” Vlad took an empty seat at the table. “Tell me what happened with the Man in Black.”

“He came to school the day before Bianka missed school.” Ioann swallowed, and Vlad knew his brother was struggling. “You know, before her dad died.”

Bianka nodded, her blue eyes wide as saucers. The sight of her did horrible things to Vlad’s conscience, but now was not the time to try and make amends.

“All right,” Vlad encouraged. “What did he say?”

Bianka spoke in tight, concise words. “He paid me five dollars to tell him which boy was Ioann Sokolov. Then he paid four other kids to tell him the same thing. Then I called Ioann over and he got five dollars too.”

“I see.”

“Then today we heard Papa talking about that Orsini kid,” Ioann said, his voice picking up speed and volume. “Did the Man in Black take him too?”

“We don’t know,” Vlad admitted. “But it seems like he did.”

“Will they find him?” Ioann wanted to know. “The Orsini kid, I mean.”

“We hope so.” Vlad stood up, gesturing to the kids to follow. “This might help. Hopefully, anyway. Maybe someone else saw him at school. Or maybe he went to Jonathan’s school too. I don’t know. All of us are looking now.”

“You mean the Sokolovs are working with the Orsinis?” Ioann said in wonder.

“Pretty crazy, right?” Vlad said with a smile.

“Yeah!” Then Ioann looked over at Bianka. “Is Bianka going to get in trouble?”

“No.”

Vlad wasn’t even going to tell his father where he’d come up with this information. As far as he was concerned, he had taken the kids over to visit their teacher, whom he was supposed to be romancing anyway. Then he would attribute this information about the Man in Black to Mary. He wouldn’t take a chance of his father getting upset with Bianka. Not after what had happened to her father. Vlad didn’t know if he could trust his father or his father’s motives.

“Are you all right?” Mary asked him softly. “You look upset.”

“I’m fine.”

Mary held her hands out to the children. “Why don’t you guys come with me into the front room and we’ll get ready to go.”

“What’s wrong with Vlad?” Ioann cocked his head. Vlad could feel his brother studying him.

Mary hushed the boy. “Nothing, sweetheart. He just needs a minute.”

Yes. He needed a minute. Or maybe a century wouldn’t be enough to work through all of the baggage he’d been carrying around since childhood.

Chapter Twelve

Monday dawned bright and early. Mary was at school at what felt like the ass crack of dawn trying to get everything ready for their class field trip to the Bunker Hill Monument. The logistics of getting her twenty-five second graders to their destination, plus trying to coordinate with the other three second grade classrooms was mind boggling. Mary was making lists of lists and seating charts and anything else that might prevent her from losing track of the kids under her care.

“Good morning, Miss Reilly,” Bianka said quietly as she came into the classroom.

“Morning Bianka.” Mary gestured to the treats she’d left on her desk. “You may give each student a granola bar when they come into the room. I want to make sure everyone eats
something
this morning. Lunch won’t be until late.”

“Okay, Miss Reilly.”

The little girl’s flat expression told Mary that she was still deeply grieving her lost father. Mary couldn’t even imagine what the child must be going through. Losing her own parents at an early age had been world altering.

Other children began spilling into the room. Bianka handed out the granola bars and Mary took head count after head count. Finally Ioann was the only child missing. Mary’s gut tightened with nervous apprehension. What if the Man in Black had gotten to Ioann somehow? What if Ioann was gone?

“Bianka?” Mary tried to keep her voice calm. “Did Ioann say if he was coming or not?” Mary could see the busses pulling up out front. “It’s almost time to go.”

“He’s coming,” Bianka said with a firm nod. “He’s bringing Vlad.”

“Ah. All right.” Mary tried to control the excited flutters in her belly. She and Vlad were supposedly on the outs. She shouldn’t be that excited about the prospect of seeing him.

Mary put it out of her mind. “Everyone line up behind our line leader. We need to be quiet because there are other classes still in session. Okay?”

“Yes, Miss Reilly.” the kids chorused.

It was like herding cats to get them into line and out the door. They met up with the other three second grade classes in the hallway. There were excited giggles and lots of shushing on the part of the teachers and the students, but still no Ioann.

Finally, just as they were loading onto the busses, Mary spotted Vlad striding across the parking lot with Ioann glued to his side. He approached with an almost glowering expression on his face.

“I take it you’re here against your better judgment,” Mary suggested, trying not to feel hurt that he didn’t even seem glad to see her.

“Ioann should be home where we have a legion of people to keep him safe. Bringing him into the open like this just because he doesn’t want to miss his field trip is ridiculous.”

“No, it’s childhood.” Mary lightly touched Vlad’s arm. “He will be so thankful that you brought him. It’s important to him.”

She finally got the ghost of a smile from him. “If you say so.”

“I do.” She shooed Vlad and Ioann toward the bus. “Now get on so we can leave on time.”

In no time they were bouncing off across the city toward the tiny spot of green park still surrounding Bunker Hill. There was a neighborhood build close in on the fringes of the monument now and the busses had to park in a line at the curb. Mary almost felt sorry for the residents as the big yellow busses dumped the over exuberant cargo on the sidewalk.

Mary waved to another teacher and they started the process of herding children up the steps to the base of the monument. “Split them into groups,” Mary shouted to her fellow educator.