As if all that wasn’t enough to cause alarm, there was Vaska’s thunderous expression as he commanded in Russian, “My dolzhny uyti. Seychas zhe.”
I stepped forward in a pathetic and fruitless attempt to block my students’ view of him. “What?”
He waved his hand in the air, motioning for me to step forward. His brow furrowed as he growled in frustration when he realized he’d spoken in Russian, not English. “We have to leave. Now. No questions. Come.”
My mouth dropped open. I cringed when I heard the unmistakable sound of fabric rustling behind me. In other words, the sound of each and every student reaching for their cellphones. Vaska stepped forward, his legs spread wide and his hands going to his hips. Which pushed back the sides of his suit coat, unabashedly exposing his sidearm. “Put the phones down.”
Hazarding a peek over my shoulder, I saw each wide-eyed student immediately obey as they slammed their phones face down onto their desks. At least I wasn’t the only one who was terrified of Vaska in this state.
I shook my head. “What is going on? I can’t leave my students.”
He turned his powerful gaze on me. “I’m not asking, krasotka, I’m telling. We need to leave now.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “No.” I then leaned in and whispered harshly, “Now you better get out of here before one of these students calls the police or sounds the alarm.”
A frustrated sigh escaped through his clenched teeth. “Have it your way.”
He fisted the fabric of my white striped sailor shirt and yanked me against his chest. The class hooted and called out as he landed a fierce kiss on my closed lips. Their shouts blocked out the distinctive metal click until it was too late.
When Vaska pulled away, I realized he had handcuffed us together. “What the fu—”
He pulled me against his side and dragged me out of the classroom as my uncaring students continued to holler and egg him on.
I was being kidnapped… by my own boyfriend.
Chapter 26
Vaska
There was no hope for it. I’d gotten the call from Dimitri less than an hour ago. Gregor’s Samara had been attacked in his home in the early morning hours. We confirmed the Novikoffs were involved. There was also increased chatter on the street about the Los Infieles gang asking questions about the whereabouts of a blonde Russian female who matched the description of Samara’s friend, Yelena Nikitina. The woman Damien was tracking down.
Two separate factions were striking at us where we were most vulnerable, our women.
Everything and everyone needed to be locked down.
Dimitri already had Emma at the safehouse. I needed to pick up my Barret M82 sniper rifle, which was in Dimitri’s gun safe, and then Mary and I were headed straight there.
I was also going to meet up with Damien Ivanov, who had secured Yelena and was using our helicopter to get her out of the city and to safety fast. We had offered the use of our safehouse, but he wanted to return to Washington, D.C. as soon as possible. I couldn’t blame him. D.C. was Ivanov territory. He would be in a better position to protect her there, rather than relying on our resources here in Chicago. Home base advantage was always better.
After parking in Dimitri’s garage, I circled around and opened the back passenger door, which I had of course child locked when I’d tossed her back there. There was also a thick glass privacy divider I used on the rare occasion I had a driver, which helped keep her contained. I leaned in and asked, “Are you going to be a good girl, or do I have to put the cuffs back on?”
Her foot hit me square in the chest as she kicked out. Fortunately for me, she was wearing a pair of those cute leather ballet slippers she favored for work and not her usual five-inch heels.
I smirked as I grabbed her ankle. “That answers that.”
I dragged her out of the car and hooked the dangling cuff from my right wrist to her left.
Mary’s eyes narrowed as she pulled on her arm and threw her weight back, resisting my efforts to walk forward. “Do you have any idea what you have done? You have ruined my career. I’ll be fired for sure.”
I cupped her face, swiping my thumbs under her eyes to clean up the slight smudges from her mascara caused by her tears. I hated that I’d made her cry, and that I didn’t have time to fully explain, but I would make this up to her. For now, I could at least ease her fears about her job. “Baby, the principal of your school is a degenerate gambler who owes over seventeen grand to the Italians. One call from me and they call in the debt. Trust me, your job is safe.”
“But what about my students?”
“The moment we left, I had an… associate of mine… take over the class. They think she’s their substitute teacher and you’re involved in some high-level terrorism drill.”
Her lips thinned. “An associate? You have an escort watching those kids right now, don’t you?”
I shrugged. “I needed someone with a kind-looking face who could role play. Kandy fit the bill. She’s into the whole teacher/bad schoolgirl thing. Don’t worry. I never slept with Kandy. You’ve been the only woman for me since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”
“Is that supposed to make this all somehow okay?”
I gave her a quick, hard kiss on the lips. “It should. Come on. I need to pick up a few things, then I’m taking you to Emma.”
I entered the house in time to open the front door for Damien who had just arrived with who, I assumed judging by her blonde hair, was Yelena. Despite her wrinkled clothes, she was obviously a very beautiful woman—and I couldn’t care less. Her looks were nothing compared to the glossy black hair and flashing indigo blue eyes of the woman I loved. Nothing reassured a man he had found his forever mate than having no interest in any other woman, no matter how beautiful. I turned to say as much to Mary, but judging from her tight-lipped glare, I decided it would be best to share my revelation with her later.
Damien slapped me on the shoulder in greeting then turned to the blonde. “Yelena, this is my friend, Vasili Lukovich Rostov.”
“Please, call me Vaska, and this is Mary.”
Mary raised her arm to give a small, reluctant wave. “Hello.”
Yelena’s eyes widened when she saw the handcuffs. Damien ignored her reaction and asked, “You heard Gregor is already back in D.C.?”
I nodded. “Dimitri has taken Emma to a secure location just to be on the safe side till things calm down. I’ve already called for the helicopter to take you to Midway. It should be arriving any minute now.”
“Thank you, my friend. I’m sorry we have caused so much trouble in your city this visit.”
I laughed. “Things were getting boring with only the Petrov brothers to kick around. Besides, we owed you for your help with that Morocco mess.”
Mary shifted. I knew Emma getting kidnapped in Morocco was still an open wound for her. It was also a big hurdle in our relationship. Being with me put her in danger. There was no way to get around that. Today’s events certainly weren’t helping.
Yelena interrupted. “I’m sorry, but…”
Damien cut her off by pulling her closer to his side and giving her a warning look.