Almost Broken Up (Almost Bad Boys) (15 page)

I look at the two of them, dumbstruck. What the hell am I supposed to do with Razor? I glance at him. Oleg is holding him by his arm, although Razor doesn’t seem to be planning an escape. This is just getting weirder by the minute.
 

“What are we going to do with you?” I simply ask.
 

“I say we pop him,” Vadim offers.
 

I give him a stink eye. Oleg is quiet, and so is Razor, frowning at me. And then something occurs to me. I stand close to Razor and ask, “How did you really get that nickname of yours? You didn’t carve anyone.”

He looks at his feet, chewing on his lower lip. “No. I’m an assistant chef at a Chinese restaurant. I chop veggies and meat. I’m good with knifes… in the kitchen.”

I exhale. “So why the crazy bat circus with stalking me? Why did you threaten Colin?”

He shots sideways glances at the Russian men. I tell them to let me speak to Razor in private, adding quietly to Oleg to stay close.
 

“So? What’s going on?” I ask, trying to sound gentle. I see Jena and Svetlana a few yards away, gesticulating and consulting a small book—most likely the Russian dictionary that Jena brought with her. Geez, I have weird friends.
 

Razor kicks at the dirt, clumps of it flying to the sides. His jaws are tightened, and his eyebrows are drawn together.
 

“Tell me,” I insist.
 

“Faith was really my daughter, not a niece. Nobody knew… only her mother and me. I kept an eye on her all my life. My brother thought Faith was his. And she didn’t know either. I had to protect her.”

“So you put a collar on her and tied her to a bed?” I ask incredulously.
 

He’s silent for a long time. Then he looks at me, and his eyes are unfocused. His mind is somewhere else. I guess he isn’t all together in his head, after all.
 

“Razor? Or whatever your real name is—”

“Aldo,” he interrupts me.
 

“Aldo,” I repeat. “I like that better than Razor. Okay, so what’s the story with accusing Colin of Faith’s death?”

“He should’ve protected her and kept her away from booze and drugs! He should have. She was weak. It was his fault she died—”

“No! We’ve been through this. Stop it. You’ve got it all wrong. Didn’t you hear what I told you about the night of the accident? She didn’t want him around. She was running away from him and into her car to take off. He caught up with her, but couldn’t stop her. He tried. He really, really tried.”
   

Aldo puts his face in his hands. His shoulders start to shake. Dammit. He lowers himself to the ground and quietly sobs. I sit by him. “You need to talk to someone… a professional. Otherwise you might end up hurting a person that’s actually innocent. Not that you should hurt
anyone
. This terrible car accident wasn’t anyone’s fault. A few bad elements came together and into some sort of a shit-crazy avalanche. Faith was at the wrong place, in the wrong time. Colin wasn’t fast enough to stop that avalanche from crashing over her.”

He lifts his head and looks at me. His face is wet from tears, and there is so much pain in his expression, that I feel my heart is about to break. Losing his only child, after living a lie, must be tragic.
 

“What were you in jail for?” I ask.
 

“Theft and destruction of property.” He shrugs. That’s so much better than his previous version of cutting someone’s ear off. Geez.
 

“So why did you tell me all these stories about you punishing cheating men?”

“Because I want to punish them. I see guys hurting women all the time—physically and mentally. It bothers me. They are someone’s daughters… just like Faith was my child.” Two large tears slip down his cheeks, and he quickly swipes at them.
 

“Promise me you will get help. And promise me you won’t hurt Colin. He’s a good man. He’s taking a good care of me,” I say gently.
 

Aldo looks at me with his sad, wet from tears eyes and nods. “He really protects you? Takes care of you?”

“He does.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Colin would never hurt anyone. I know that. Try to believe me.”

Aldo doesn’t answer, only looks into the distance. The Russian guys are smoking cigarettes, and the smoke starts bothering me.
 

I cough and cover my mouth and nose with my hands. “I need to go. I hate cigarette smoke.” I stand up. “Promise me,” I insist. “You leave Colin alone.”

He exhales and finally says, “I promise.”

Okay, that’s settled then. I turn to look at where the girls are. They are talking and laughing, oblivious to what’s going on here. It looks like we have a new member of our crazy Female Solidarity Club. I smile to myself.
 

Aldo stands up and puts his hands in his pockets.
 

“Do you live in Seattle now?” I ask.
 

“No, I’m still in California.”

“When are you going back then?”

“I’ll try to catch a plane tonight.”

I fold my arms across my chest, cupping my elbows in my hands. I’m not sure if I should say something to this. What would I say? He needs to go back and stay away. I only hope that Aldo keeps his promise.

FOURTEEN

“Sex is like money. Only too much is enough.”

 
John Updike

Ali’s upset after I tell her what happened last night.
 

“You were asleep. I texted you. Caroline is the only one that actually has a reason to bitch, because I didn’t text
her
. Although I doubt she would, since, I’m sure, she got laid last night.” I try to reason with her.
 

“Pffttt, Davenport, really? You deliberately cut me out of some fun. You included Jena, didn’t you? Is she a better friend than I am? I’m so pissed at you.” She paces around my office, throwing me vindictive glances. “I can’t believe you did that.”

I groan and continuously hit the back of my head on my desk chair. “It’s not my fault you were sleeping. I sent you and Jena the same text, you moron. Your phone must have been off, right? But regardless, you think this was some kind of a fun-filled adventure?”

“Wasn’t it? Because it totally sounds to me like it was.”

“Okay, there is no talking to you. You’re a freak. Do you realize how terrified I was? I almost pissed my pants. I had no idea that this guy was all fraud, only pretending to be some kind of a wanted criminal. He’s totally messed up in his head. I was scared for Colin. I though he was in an actual danger. And then the Russian mafia… well, at least those maniacs are for real.” I shudder, remembering Vadim’s eagerness to “pop” Razor.

“Still, you should’ve called me on my land line. That would’ve woken me up,” she says stubbornly.
 

I moan. “Okay, next time I’m about to engage with a stalker, the mafia, or any other questionable element of this society, you’ll be the first to know.”

She stops pacing and puts her hands on her round hips. “You better, sister. Or I will personally come after you. Now, when is Colin coming back from Atlanta?”

I look at my watch. “In about four hours. He kept sexting me this morning, so I can only imagine how horny he is.”

“Oh, la la!” Ali claps her hands. “Good for you. Are you picking him up from the airport?”

“Yep. Bringing him straight to my place and tossing him in between my sheets.”

She winks at me. “Knowing you two, there will be a quickie in the airport parking garage.”

“No, there won’t be.” I snort. “The backseat sex is so overrated.”

“So you say.”

I’m waiting at the gate, concentrating on the passengers getting off the plane and into the Alaska Airlines terminal. A middle aged, bolding man in a navy-blue suit drops his newspaper right by feet. We both bent to retrieve it and almost bang our heads. I grin at him and he returns my smile.
 

“Oh, sorry. And thank you,” he says, pushing his metal-rimmed glasses onto the bridge of his nose.
 

“The flight was delayed. Do you know what happened?” I ask him.
 

“They wouldn’t really tell us any details. Just some technical difficulties.” He shrugs.
 

A short, plump woman, holding two small kids by their hands walks past, speaking to them in rapid Spanish. Each of the children carries a small, cute backpack. I smile at them.
 

There is a group of elderly people, talking loudly and gesticulating, each of them dragging a small carry-on. One of the ladies walks with a cane, but that doesn’t stop her from keeping up with the rest of the group.
 

Still no Colin. I start worrying—yesterday’s events are vivid in my mind, and I still can’t be sure if Razor… Aldo—I like that name so much better than his stupid nickname—will keep his promise and forget about his obsession with Colin. I can only hope he will.
 

Oh, Colin. I miss him so much. In those few short months I totally fell for him. He’s so different from all the losers from my past. He actually cares for me and isn’t afraid to show it. My heart beats faster when I think about him. Come on, where are you, Colin?
 

And then I see him, and he sees me. Our eyes meet across the crowd, and I laugh and wave and jump up and down, like a schoolgirl. I don’t care how immature I look—I’m simply happy that he’s here; that he’s safe… and mine; all mine.
 

He rushes toward me, and I run to him, calling his name. I fall into his waiting arms, and my lips find his. I claim his mouth, kissing him like there is no tomorrow. “Oh, baby, I missed you,” I whisper against his lips.
 

Colin laughs between the kisses. He holds me tight, caressing my back, my arms, my shoulders, kissing me over and over again. “So I see. I missed you too.” He pulls back to look at me. His face is brightened by pure joy, and his eyes are blazing with desire. “I want you now, right now,” he murmurs, clenching his teeth and smiling in that insatiable way only he can.
 

“Whoa, big guy.” I laugh. “Here? With all these people watching? That would get us on the morning news for sure. And maybe even arrested.” When I say the last word, I go cold, remembering last night.
 

Colin notices. He narrows his eyes, and the grin disappears from his face. “What is it? Something happened when I was gone, right?”

Have I mentioned my acting abilities suck? I’m as good in hiding facts, as an elephant would be walking on a tightrope. Dammit. I was planning to tell Colin; of course I was, but not now; not right away.
 

“It was a crazy night. I’ll tell you later.” I manage to force jovial notes into my voice. My arms circle his neck, and I kiss him—deep and sensual—to dispel his dreadful suspicions of things gone somehow wrong. He can read me like an open book.

Fortunately for me, Colin’s mind must be completely focused on his carnal desire, because he happily obliges and kisses me back, pressing me close to him. His hands roam over my back and neck. One hand fists my hair, making me tilt my head just right for his devouring mouth. I feel his erection deliciously bulging against my stomach. My body screams for him, led by Queen Vagina, who’s ecstatically singing an Italian opera.