Bad Nerd Falling (31 page)

Who nodded. “Janine is married to Greg
Gilmore.”

That must be the name Michael Lamont
went by these days.

“
Greg’s sister, KC, is
married to another cousin of ours. Max Morrison.” De Vosse’s voice
was quiet, but like the man, infused with power. He really would
make an excellent warrior.

He pieced the info together. “That’s
why that name is familiar. KC did a tour in Kuwait with
Janine.”

“
Yes.”

He nodded. “I think I’ve met KC, but I
don’t remember Janine. I assume she looks like you?” He directed
that to Ben.

De Vosse answered. “She does. Only her
eyes are amber rather than Ben’s brown. Otherwise they could about
be twins.”

Ben nodded. “I’m surprised you haven’t
met Janine.”

“
How long ago did you two
meet?”

“
It’s been two or three
years.”

“
I was in Japan and
Australia then.”

“
Oh, right. You’ll like
her.”

“
I’m sure I will. I am
impressed that you have four sisters.”

Beside him, de Vosse laughed. “It’s
made him tough.”

“
I didn’t ask for sisters.
Fortunately, KC’s husband, Max, and I grew up together and he
defends me.”

“
I remember Max. Why do I
remember him?”

“
Because he and Lainy are
good friends of mine. Lainy is his twin for all intents and
purposes. They’re only about a year apart like Janine and
me.”

“
Right. Lainy is the
inventor.”

“
Definitely,” de Vosse
agreed.

Ben added, “She’s also married to
Mitch Monahan, a former Marine.”

“
Right.” Those facts
percolated. “You have a lot of military people in your
family.”

“
No, we have a lot of
family in our family,” Ben corrected.

He and de Vosse both laughed. It was
true. He himself came from a big family but the de Leos line
couldn’t compare to the Morrisons. Not that they tried, but he had
been hearing stories about Ben’s family for years. Even Welby
contributed. He felt like he knew them.

“
I’d better get back to
work.” He still needed to check the various cameras and also run
additional checks on the new bodyguards Aleksi thought it prudent
to hire.

“
I’ll join you.” Ben’s
offer didn’t surprise him.

De Vosse waved and wandered off down
the hall. He didn’t appear to have a destination in mind, but he
rambled toward the lab.

Normally, Vlad would be suspicious,
but this guy seemed hooked on someone else. And he was related to
Tia so spending time with her made sense. He and Ben turned the
other way. Their route took them past his ancestor, Vladimir
Wolfgang.

“
Hello, Vlad Senior,” Ben
said facetiously as they passed.

“
He was born a long time
ago.”

“
Right. He looks just like
you. Except for those crazy clothes.”

“
That’s what they wore in
the thirteenth century.”

Ben stopped and turned to stare at the
portrait. “He was the first warrior in the family?”

“
The first recorded. There
were probably others before him.”

“
Right. You know, despite
the clothes, he still looks like someone you wouldn’t want to mess
with.”

“
From all accounts he
wasn’t someone to mess with. Times weren’t as civilized back
then.”

Ben snorted. “Got news for you, Welly.
They’re not civilized now either.”

***

“
What’s your rush?” she
asked Tia when she raced back into the lab an hour or so after she
left.

“
My second meeting of the
day is over.”

After a careful inspection of the
swollen lips, messy hair, and happy, glowing expression, she
nodded. “Yeah, I gathered that. It looks like the meeting went
well.”

Tia’s expression turned dreamy. “It
went perfectly.”

“
Right. Did we get the
full budget?”

“
Not yet. Apparently there
will be more meetings.”

“
Again, I’m certain I can
accomplish more than what you have.”

“
What?” Tia turned alarmed
eyes on her. “You are not to attend any budget meetings with
Aleksi.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Why not? I
could go in there, harass him into giving us the full budget and
leave with my hair intact, my lips normal, and I wouldn’t be,” she
gestured at the whole of Tia, “twinkling.”

“
I’m not
twinkling.”

“
Yes, you are,” Maria
inserted from where she was busy vortexing a tube of
goo.

“
So you agree that I’m
more suited to these budget meetings than Miss
I’m-engaged-to-the-man-holding-the-money-bags?”

“
You’re far more eminently
suited. You’d go in there, demand what we need, and leave
triumphant.”

She turned to Tia. “And
unkissed.”

Tia’s ominous expression cleared. “But
I don’t mind these budget meetings.” She smiled. “Not at all.” She
drifted into her office, humming a happy tune.

“
I think she missed the
point.” She and Maria, who stopped mixing the tube of bacteria,
both turned to stare after their happy leader.

“
He’s going to be
impossible while she’s away.”

“
Maybe it’s good we’re
going to be stuck at the hospital.”

“
It might save our
sanity.” Maria picked up where she left off vortexing the gunky
mixture in a dilution tube.

A thought popped into her head. “That
means you’ll be going on budget meetings, doesn’t it?”

Although Maria’s lips curved up much
like Tia’s had, Maria shook her head. “Our budget is determined by
Aleksi, not Graham.” She frowned. “It’s too bad though, really. I
would enjoy extracting everything I want from the hospital
director.”

When
her
expression turned dreamy, she
escaped into the storage closet. Most of her supplies were low and
now seemed like a good time to restock.

She didn’t dwell on the fact that she
had yet to lay eyes on Vlad.

Where was he? Why hadn’t he stopped by
the lab yet? Was he upset with her? Too busy to come by? Yet Ben
had brought Mark to meet everyone. Surely Vlad could have taken a
minute to see her.

As she tugged open the door, she
wondered what it would be like to conduct a budget meeting with the
man of your dreams.

She sighed, she had the man of her
dreams… sort of.

***

He watched her shoulders slump. Then
Helena crossed the lab and tugged open the door to the storage
closet. That was all he needed to see.

Erupting from the desk, no doubt
surprising the SEALs on either side of him, he practically jumped
to the door. “I’ll be back.”

He sped through the passageways on
silent feet. These corridors were easy to navigate because he had
passed through them so often. As he ran, he made certain things
were as they should be, but all that barely registered as he upped
his speed.

He wanted to catch Helena inside the
closet, not arrive after she left. When he reached the doorway into
the closet, he quietly opened the door and slid inside. From there,
he gave his eyes a moment to adjust before he squeezed through the
opening between the metal shelves in time to see Helena leave with
an armful of supplies. There was a second pile on a nearby empty
shelf.

Waiting was something he did well, so
he hung back in the shadows. Watching the door he heightened his
senses and made certain everything was as it should be in this wing
of the palace. He heard the typical sounds of activity. No alarm,
no panic, just the normal, everyday activities in the lab and the
area outside.

The door opened again, and
he waited until she fully entered the room before he tugged the
door shut. Then he gathered a startled Helena into his arms and
bent his lips to hers. It had been far too long since they had last
kissed.
Far too long
. Their lips connected and he felt her smile.

“
Where have you been
today?”

“
In meetings.” He pondered
kissing her again.

“
You didn’t come say good
morning.” She sounded unhappy about that. It warmed his
heart.

He tugged her close again. “I’m here
now.”

“
I can see that.” Her arms
tightened around his neck as she rose on her tiptoes to press a
kiss to his chin. When he angled his head down, she then moved to
his lips. “You’re really tall.”

“
Maybe you’re really
short.”

“
I’m not. I’m of average
height.”

“
You’re almost
petite.”

“
I’m of average height for
a female.” You had to admire a woman who stuck to her guns. Denying
that she was just short of short.

“
I’m not of average height
for a male.”

“
You’re not of average
anything, Vlad.”

He didn’t know how to
respond to that, so he kissed her again. It was nice to have their
lips lock like that. Like they belonged. They
did
belong. Only he wasn’t certain
how to proceed with their relationship.

If there was one thing he hated, it
was this feeling of ineptness. Normally he knew exactly what he was
doing, how to do it, and why.

In this case, he couldn’t explain any
of those things. Not with any degree of skill or competence and he
detested it.

Something of his internal doubts must
have shown on his face, because Helena leaned back and her face
closed off. She tried to step away from him, but he knew enough to
prevent that.

“
No,” he said, and he
sounded firm and decisive. That was good.

“
No what?” Even her scowl
was beautiful.

“
You can’t pull away from
me.”

He ran his hands down her back,
enjoying the supple strength there. No other woman had come close
to tempting him like Helena. Maybe that was bad. Because now as he
held her in his arms, he wondered if he should have paid more
attention as to what one did with a woman like her.

He was here, holding her, but there
was a distance between them. It had always been there, only today
it was far more pronounced.

“
What do you want?” she
finally whispered.

“
You.” Vlad didn’t
whisper. Saying it out loud meant it was true and real,
right?

Not really. He said all the right
things, but it didn’t mitigate the hard knot forming in her
stomach.

This time, when she stepped back, she
broke free. She paced to where she had left the rest of her
supplies. “Do you?”

She turned to stare up at him, and he
looked stricken. As stricken as Vladimir Wellington could
look.

His face cleared, but she couldn’t
erase that memory. “I know I want you,” he repeated. This time he
sounded firm and in control again.

But that moment of hesitation was now
etched in her brain.

“
For how long? And
why
do you want me? What
are your plans? I don’t actually know because you don’t talk to me.
That scares me because communication is necessary in a
relationship.” She stared at him in anguish, because she knew she
wanted him. But she didn’t want a man who was only here for a short
time. “You could destroy me, Vlad.” The anguish hurtling through
her nearly crippled her it was so fierce.

He looked stricken again, for a
fleeting moment. “I would never hurt you.”

Her answering laugh was hollow. “No,
you don’t want to, but you could do it with little
effort.”

With a hand that looked
like it might be shaking, he reached out and cupped her chin.
“You’re the only woman I want, Helena. I couldn’t stand to live
without you. You are what has kept me going throughout all these
years. I
need
you
in my life.”

Some of the tension in her eased. At
least it sounded like he felt the same way about her. “That’s how I
feel.”

He bent and kissed her again. This
time it was soft, gentle, and sweet. Vlad had never kissed her like
that before.

When he brushed a warm hand over her
face, she swallowed at the naked look in his eyes. He wanted her.
She could see that. But she wasn’t as certain about how long he
wanted her. And what he wanted her for.

Although Vlad was really good at most everything,
he definitely stank at interpersonal communications.

Chapter 24

“
You look mighty unhappy,”
Beau greeted when she got home that evening.

She growled at him. For his awful
greeting, for being right, and for the happiness that effervesced
just beneath the surface in him.

“
Yes, most definitely
unhappy.”