Bad Nerd Falling (18 page)

“
Congratulations,” she
said drolly. “Did you inform Aleksi?”

“
Very funny. We worked out
the best possible time for me to leave together.”

“
You’re still not happy
about it.” There was a commiserating note in Maria’s
voice.

“
No.”

“
At least pouts look good
on her.” Helena leapt out of the swat zone. She laughed, happy to
see that Tia wasn’t pouting now.

“
Once you take care of
your commitments in America, you’ll really be able to settle in
here, Tia,” Maria soothed.

“
Is that what happened for
you?”

“
I told Graham no
initially when he proposed because I didn’t know how I could leave
home and move here to marry him.” Maria reached out and caressed a
hand down Tia’s slightly slumped shoulder.

“
But you did.” If Vlad
proposed, and that twisted her heart and stomach in an
exhilarating, scary way, she wouldn’t have to leave home to be with
him. But his lifestyle… Maybe she would. Was she willing to pick up
everything and move with him?

She swallowed because that would
entail leaving behind her family, friends, and this great
job.

She finally understood what Tia faced,
and what Maria had all those years ago.

“
It’s doable,” Maria said
firmly. “It might not be easy, but when you think of all you’re
gaining, then it becomes worth it.”

“
What is she gaining?” Was
there actual gain, because that seemed like an awful lot to
ask.

“
She’s marrying the man
she loves. That’s worth more than you can put a price on. You are
leaving family and friends, but it sounds like they don’t mind
popping in to see you whenever they can, Tia.”

Tia perked up. “That’s true. A lot of
them travel so they can easily come and see me.”

“
And Aleksi commands an
entire fleet of airplanes. You can hop a flight, or send one for
any of your family.” Maria sounded like she knew what she was
talking about.

Beside her, Tia nodded. “My family are
all really close. We often spend time together.” Her lips pulled
down.

“
Such as?” Maria prompted
and she was grateful. She didn’t know how to help Tia with this. It
was a huge decision to marry a man from a foreign country.
Especially if that man was the prince of said country. At least
Vlad wasn’t the prince. But he was a military man through and
through. Would he have to move around a lot?

“
We all have lake cottages
where we spend time together during the summer months.”

“
The de Leos’ own an
island. If you wanted to ship your entire family to the island, you
could.” Maria sipped some coffee from the mug in her
hand.

Mmm, coffee.

“
Is that the island Gracia
used to hate?” Tia asked of Aleksi’s mother.

“
That’s the one.” Maria’s
voice was amused.

“
Is she still in
treatments for the lead poisoning?” The pipes that caused it had
all been replaced. But Princess Gracia had needed the full
contingent of treatment.

“
Yes. She has another week
or two before she’s finished.”

“
It’s like she’s a
different person.” Maria would know as she and Gracia were really
good friends now. That had not been the case before Gracia’s
treatments.

“
Definitely,” Tia
agreed.

Maria shifted in the doorway. “Okay,
so, back to your schedule. You leave two weeks exactly from
now?”

“
Yes. I told my cousin
Mark I’m leaving. He’s at a conference.”

“
Have we met Mark yet?”
Maria took another sip of coffee.

She really needed to make some,
soon.

“
No, you’d remember him if
you did.” There was a smile in Tia’s tone, which her slightly
homesick expression didn’t negate.

All other pertinent thoughts fled
though as Vlad strolled into the lab. She didn’t need to look
behind her to know he was there. All of her senses focused on him
as the hair at the nape of her neck stirred.

She turned, and her eyes collided with
his dark ones. It was like he reached out and snagged her. Helena
didn’t even try to struggle. It wasn’t worth the undignified
tussle. Instead she watched as her future walked with easy grace
toward her. He paused only to say hello to Jorge before crossing
the expanse of tile to halt in front of her.

He bent and kissed his mother’s cheek,
before latching those wonderful lips on hers. Helena’s knees and
spine melted. She had to grasp him to keep from puddling at his
feet. Really, she needed far better defenses against this man.
Except that she rather liked what he did to her. Those dark eyes
swept over her in a proprietary manner that left her a bit more
breathless.

“
Hello, Vlad.” Tia smiled.
A fleeting dimple popped out.

Vlad’s eyes crinkled. “My Princess.”
His lips curled up when Tia’s cheeks reddened.

Behind them, Aleksi laughed and Tia
leapt from her chair and hurried to the doorway. She and Maria were
bottlenecked into it, but Vlad wrapped an arm around each of them
and deftly removed them from the opening. Two seconds later, Tia
was ensconced in Aleksi’s arms.

“
When did you arrive?”
Tia’s voice most definitely breathless. Her hand curved along
Aleksi’s cheek.

His own hand curled around her nape
and drew her close for a kiss. She turned away, because it seemed
wrong to watch their little moment.

Although everything in her wanted to.
Her eyes meshed with Vlad’s again, and her breath caught in her
throat.

Vlad released his mother who flowed
across the lab to check in with Jorge. Vlad kept an arm firmly
around her though, and she was rather grateful. Standing might
prove difficult with trembling knees.

She craned her neck and enjoyed
staring at him. “To what do we owe this visit?”

Aleksi’s attention appeared to be
solely focused on the woman in his arms but he answered the
question. “We have a surprise for you.” Aleksi traced a line across
Tia’s jaw and down her neck.

She didn’t seem all that interested.
“Okay.” Tia leaned close to kiss him again.

“
That’s the excitement I
get? An
okay
?” An
unfamiliar male voice growled and that fast, Tia launched out of
Aleksi’s arms and into the unknown man’s.

“
Ben! What are you doing
here? When did you get here? How long can you stay?” Tia tossed out
the questions at approximately eighty miles an hour.

The man she was busy squeezing was
tall and lean and wore his military training well. His skin was
mocha colored, his eyes brown, although not super dark like Vlad’s.
He reminded her vaguely of Tia for some reason. This had to be who
Tia was thinking of when she said Vlad reminded her of
someone.

Tia continued to bubble over him,
asking a hundred more questions before the man, Ben, gently
disengaged her and passed her on to the man standing behind him.
“Rex,” Tia greeted, laughing as the tall, silent man folded her
close and gently squeezed her. He passed her on to another man who
grabbed Tia and waltzed her around the lab.

She grinned as her boss giggled at the
man’s antics. “Hi, Derek.” To give her credit, Tia didn’t miss a
step.

The man who resembled Tia stepped in
front of her. “You must be Helena.” He darted a knowing look at
Vlad.

“
I am. You must be a
relation of Tia’s.”

The man grinned. “I’m her first
cousin, Ben Morrison.”

“
Ben and I took some
training together,” Vlad explained.

Ben shot Vlad a look of utter
amusement. “If you can call SEAL BUD/S ‘taking training
together.’”

“
I don’t.” The larger man
with Ben possessed a deep and silky smooth voice. Like he could
make a fortune on the radio.

“
Neither do I.” The final
man finished waltzing Tia around the lab and returned her to Aleksi
who quickly wrapped both arms around her. “I’m Derek Shively. I’ve
also gone through the same training with Welly here.” He extended a
large, capable male hand.

In a bit of bemusement, she accepted
it. His palm was warm, his grip firm, but not painful in the least.
In fact, it was quite pleasant. The moment she released Derek’s
hand, the other man offered his.

“
I’m Rex Beaumont.” The
man with the dreamy voice.

“
I’m Helena
Dubrinsky.”

Derek chortled. “Yeah, we figured that
out the second we walked into the lab.” He glanced at Vlad. “We
thought you were joking.”

Vlad’s lips curled into a smile. “I
wasn’t.”

“
Joking?” She and Tia
spoke at the same time.

Rex answered their question. “Welly
mentioned you were the most beautiful woman in the world. We were
all skeptical.”

Vlad’s arm tightened around
her.

“
I’m not the most
beautiful woman in the world.” She gestured to Tia. “There’s her,
and his mother.” She hooked a thumb toward Vlad. After a quick
search of the lab, she located Maria. “Maria, come
here.”

With the sensual flow that was Maria,
that lady complied, dusting her hands off with the casual grace and
sinew that was tantamount to her. “So you boys trained with my
Vladimir?” Because they worked with her, Maria’s husky, throaty
voice didn’t faze any of them. But all three SEALs blinked and then
stared at Maria like they’d never seen a woman before.

Vlad growled but she
patted him. “As you can see, there are lots of far lovelier women
here than me. This is Maria Wellington, Vlad’s
mother
.”

Derek shot him a disgruntled look.
“You’ve been hiding all these beautiful women.”

“
They’re all taken.”
Vlad’s arm tightened around her. “Helena is
mine
.”

“
Caveman,” she whispered
to him.

“
He gets that from his
father.” Maria patted her son with every evidence of pride and
joy.

“
And his brother,” Maks
added from behind them.

She, Tia, and Maria all jumped, but
none of the SEALs or Vlad did. For that matter, Aleksi hadn’t been
startled, either.

“
Have you boys met my
brother?” Vlad made the introductions.

“
Wow, you three could be
triplets.” Derek glanced between the three de Leos men.

“
We get that a lot.” Maks
finished shaking hands with them.

“
They all look like my
husband,” Maria said, a hand on each of her boys, warm gaze on
Aleksi.

“
Welly, please tell me you
have single sisters.” Derek eyed Maria.

“
Two, but no
way.”

“
One of them is still in
America, finishing her studies which she’s vague about.” Maria
hooked an arm through Derek’s. As usual she charmed him without
effort and soon he was dancing Maria around the lab like he had
Tia.

“
He’s doomed,” Maks said
to Vlad and Aleksi.

“
Yep, and he won’t even
know what hit him.” Ben shook his head sadly.

“
Call Dad,” Vlad directed
Maks.

“
Done.” Maks hit the send
button on his text message. “He’s coming to rescue the poor
man.”

“
Shively doesn’t know he
needs rescuing.” Rex stared at the pair. He looked like he rather
wanted to switch places with Derek.

“
He does, trust us.”
Aleksi stroked Tia’s arm as she watched the pair.

“
She’ll eat him alive.”
Vlad didn’t sound upset by this prospect.

Since she was tucked tight into his
side, she had to crane her head back to stare up at him. “That’s
okay?”

It was Ben who answered. “He’s had it
really easy with women all his life. It’ll do him good to get his
heart broken for a change.”

“
That’s not very nice.”
Tia bit her lip and sent a look to Aleksi.

“
I don’t know the man so
I’m not worried,” Aleksi replied.

Both she and Tia tried to poke him. He
evaded her finger but caught Tia’s. Aleksi immediately drew it to
his mouth and kissed the tip. She was certain that short circuited
her friend’s thought processes.

Vlad shifted his weight a bit, and
when she looked up, noticed Maria and Derek were closing in on
them. With a smooth, simple movement she envied, Vlad eased between
them and tucked his mother behind him. He turned Derek so he was
facing his colleagues. Ben reached forward, and tugged him out of
Maria’s orbit.

“
Foiled again,” Maria
drawled as Graham popped into the lab.

“
What trouble has she been
causing?” He immediately asked his two sons and Aleksi.

They all pointed to Derek.

Meanwhile Maria pouted. “Why is it
always me who causes the trouble?”

Graham’s eyes swept over her in what
only could be called a loving sweep. “Because you’re you, love.” He
turned to Ben, Rex, and the still blinking Derek. “I’m Graham
Wellington.” He shook Rex’s hand first, since Rex was closest, then
went down the line.