REGENCY: Loved by the Duke (Historical Billionaire Military Romance) (19th Century Victorian Short Stories) (6 page)

Chapter 5

“I just don’t understand, Valentine. How did they know about the manuscript? How did they know about me? And why would they want it so bad they would be willing to hurt me for it? Something’s not adding up.” Hope continued to pace in main room of Valentine’s penthouse suite, not even noticing the expensive décor.

She looked at him, her dark brown eyes wide with fear. “He told me they would come after me. That the people he worked for were dangerous.”

“I have to tell you something, Hope. Something I’m not supposed too.”

Hope just stared at him quizzically, confused.

“I was…hired to come collect the book. I was sent here on a mission, but my team, well, we’re the good guys. I can’t tell you more than that, but you just have to believe me.”

“So, you’re like a secret agent or something?” Valentine shrugged, then nodded his head, unable to elaborate. “It makes sense I guess, those days you would disappear, and have to come up with some sad excuse to tell me.”

“Hey, they weren’t sad. They were perfect covers.”

“Uh huh, like when you went to go visit your sick grandmother,” Hope arched an eyebrow in his direction, “your dead grandmother.”

Valentine just shrugged. “Give me a break, I’m still new to this.” He shook his head, continuing, “But the point is, there are also other people after the manuscript. Bad people. Very, very bad people. I also came because I had to protect you. I knew you might be in danger and I couldn’t stand the idea of not doing anything to help you.”

His words had her anger melting.

“What’s so important about this manuscript anyways? Besides that it’s a valuable artifact.”

“Well, it’s more valuable than either of us realized. They wouldn’t tell me the whole reason, but the Captain did let it slip that if this got into the wrong hand, a lot of people would get hurt, whatever that means.”

Valentine sighed as he walked over, wrapping his arms around her stiff body.

“I’m so sorry,
zvezda moya.
I’m sorry that this happened, and I’m sorry for being an ass earlier at that club. It all…the words just came out wrong.”

“Why did you say it at all? You…hurt me. Which I know isn’t fair. I know you don’t owe me anything, and I destroyed any chance we might have had, but–.”

Her words were stopped by the pressure of his lips on hers. Unexpectedly, aggressively. And so delicious Hope had to hold herself back from purring. It felt so right. It always felt so right between them, in a way she had never felt with another human being.

In a flash, their clothes were gone as if they were incinerated, neither willing to waste any time between them. His hard body crowded hers, the short hairs of his chest tickling her as he scooped her up effortlessly in his arms and carried her to the oversized bed.

Laying her down gently, he kissed her again, hard, urgent. She could feel just how tense his muscles were as he held himself above her.

“Lay down.” Hope guided him until he was laying on his back, and she crawled on top of him, amazed as always at how comfortable and safe she felt when she was in his arms.

“Oh,
Zvyozdochk
a, Hope, you’re perfect.” The words rolled out of his mouth, his accent so thick she almost couldn’t understand them, but she felt their meaning all the way to the soles of her feet. His words tuned to Russian and she let the melodic language sweep over her as he whispered endearments in her ear.

She swept her body up his until her soaked opening was just over the part of him that she craved the most, thick and rock hard beneath her. With unbearable slowness, she guided the tip to her entrance and slowly, oh so slowly, lowered her body onto his, relishing the sweet slide of flesh against flesh.

The friction was almost too much for her as he stretched her, filling her completely, but she reveled in it. He was like an addiction that she was afraid she would never be able to really shake.
             
The tension in her body would tighter as his hands worked over her body, igniting hidden fires that just added to the inferno already blazing inside her.

It didn’t take long before she was tumbling of the edge, completely lost to him as she cried out her climax. Valentine was right behind her. Hope collapsed bonelessly onto his chest, and lay there, trying to catch her breath.

“I’ll do it.” She whispered against his skin. His husky laugh met her words.

“I think you already did, love.” 

Hope ran her dark fingers the pale sprinkling of hair dusting his pecs. “No, I mean the manuscript. I’ll give it to. It’s yours.”
I’m yours.
Hope sighed, leaving that last part unsaid as soaked in the feel of his body beneath hers. Another thought ran through her mind before she could stop it.
I love you
.

Chapter 6

Hope looked around in horror at the mess that used to be her apartment. It was completely torn apart. Someone had broken in, obviously looking for something. Looking for the damn manuscripts. She was really starting to wish she had just passed this job by.

She glanced over at Valentine, who had just finished sweeping her bedroom, and was now looking through her bathroom for clues. But then she wouldn’t have met him. She wrapped her arms around her middle, thinking of all the other things that wouldn’t have happened. In the end, she wouldn’t change that for anything.

Ignoring most of the mess, Hope went straight to her secret hiding place, dragged a chair over for extra height, and climbed up on it, pushing up on the false ceiling tile that blended seamlessly with the rest. After another solid shove, the piece came loose, and she carefully angled it so she could reach up into the whole it created, felling for the locked safe still nestled where she had left it.

After a minute of maneuvering, she had the case down and unlocked, looking again at the object that had caused her so much trouble. Replacing the lid, she locked it again, then went in search of Valentine who had disappeared into the bathroom several minutes ago and hadn’t come back out.

She stopped as she saw him, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, staring at something small and plastic in his hands. Her stomach dropped as she walked closer, recognizing the pregnancy test she had taken just days before.

Valentine looked up at her with unreadable blue eyes.

“Is it…” He stopped to clear his throat roughly. “Is it mine?”

Hope released a brief, hard laugh, but there wasn’t much humor in it.

“Of course it’s yours.” She sighed, then took a seat next to him on the cold ceramic lip of her bathtub. “I…I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. And after this, I figured you would just go back to Moscow, and I couldn’t, I just didn’t know how to...”

“You weren’t going to tell me?”

“Valentine, I don’t know what I was going to do. I just found out a few days ago, and then all this happened.” She gestured to her destroyed apartment. “I was still trying to figure things out when you just barreled back into my life, and everything turned upside down.” She felt tears threaten, but tried to hold them back.

He took her hand gently in his, twining their fingers together.

“Are you…are you going to keep it?” The words were dragged out of him, and her heart stopped at the thought.

“Yes! Absolutely! No matter what happened, Valentine, I…” Hope took a breath before continuing, “I’m so happy. It’s complicated, and it will be hard, but when I think about this baby all I feel is…joy.” Hope placed a hand over her still flat stomach, and then looked at Valentine, shocked to see his eyes glistening wetly back at her.

“I love you.” Those words wrapped around her heart, and refused to let go. Valentine continued, “Not because of this, not because you’re pregnant, although that makes me so happy. But because of you. You’re smart, funny, and beautiful, you make my life better, and you make me better.” He laid the softest kiss against her lips. “You might have to give up being a thief when the baby comes though.”

Hope gave a watery laugh, and kissed him back. “I love you, too.” She whispered the words against his lips, feeling lighter, happier, than she had in months. Finally, she pulled away, swiping at a stray tear that had made its way down her cheek.

“So what do we do next?”

Valentine gave a big grin, “Next, we catch the bad guys.”  He stood, and held out his hand for hers. His grin morphed into a seductive smile, full of heat. “But first, we celebrate.”

An hour later, they were headed back toward the Café where Hope was originally supposed to meet the buyer. Mr. Jones, her seller, had called and he wanted to meet her, saying he had some information on the people who had broken into her apartment.

“I still think it’s strange, Hope. Why would he call you, how would he know anything about that?”

“It’s really not that weird. It’s his job to know things, and he always keeps track of the objects I bring him. He calls it insurance.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“Look, maybe he knows who they are, or where they’re from. Any information that will help us figure out who we’re up against.”

Valentine sighed. “I know, you’re right. I still don’t like it.”

Hope leaned up on her tip toes to place a sweet kiss on his lips. “You don’t have to like it, you just have to go along with it.”

Within a few moments, they were at the café, not as crowded this time because of the time of day. She scanned the crowd until she spotted his familiar dark hair, and the brown suit he always wore, no matter how warm the weather was.

Valentine gave her hand a squeeze, and then broke off, disappearing into the crowd to wait at the spot they had planned out before. He would be able to see and hear everything without being seen himself.

Hope took a breath, that uneasy feeling of being watched returning as she approached his table and casually sat down.

“Hello, Mr. Jones.”

“Hello, Ms. McAllister. I hope all is well.”

“No. No, not really. You said you had information on whoever trashed my apartment.”

“Yes, I do. And it really was a shame they didn’t find the manuscript for me, it would have made this all a lot easier.”

“Wait, what? You…?”

“Yes, I know, it might be hard to understand, but after you missed the meeting with the buyer, who by the way, was supposed to dispose of you after retrieving the manuscript, I had to change my plans.”

Hope looked into his flat, dark eyes in disbelief. What he was saying was completely crazy. She moved to stand, every instinct screaming at her to run, when she felt something hard and metal pressed into the small of her back. She started to turn.

“Don’t, Ms. McAllister. Our friend here is just stopping by, don’t turn around, and don’t look. I’m sure you can feel the barrel of that gun against your back. You don’t want to do anything to startle our friend, right?”

“Ri…right.” Terror pulsed through her, but so did anger, keeping her head clear. “I still don’t understand; why didn’t you just take the manuscript from me, like normal.”

“You knew too much. It’s quite simple, really. Things would have been easier if you had just meet the buyer in the first place,” He sighed, almost in regret, “but now the buyer has had to come to you, and I don’t think that makes him very happy.”

The metal of the gun pressed deeper into Hope’s back.

“I’ll scream…someone with call the cops.”

“Really, the police, Hope? What would you tell them, anyways? Besides, I made a contingency plan just in case. They have your name, your address, everything you’ve ever stolen. I’m sure there’s a warrant out for your arrest as we speak. You can’t go to the police, Hope. Your life will be over, then who will take care of your poor, sick brother.”

Hope stared at him in horror, thinking furiously for any way out, any escape. But all she saw were dead ends. Literally. She knew if she didn’t get out of this situation soon, she would end up lifeless, forgotten.

“It’s time to go, Hope.” The man at her back whispered the words, and they slithered along her skin. She recognized that voice. It was the same voice of the person who had attacked her outside of the club.

She froze refusing to move, and suddenly a though occurred to her. “The manuscript! You need the book!”

Mr. Jones, or whatever his real name was, just shook his head sadly at her. “No, I know where the manuscript is. You have it hidden, in the ceiling of your apartment. The men I sent were incompetent, but believe me, Ms. McAllister, I will have the artifact in my possession shortly after your unfortunate demise.”

The edge of the barrel cut roughly into her skin as the man, her attacker, gripped her by the arm and lifted her to her feet. Panic tore through her with the force of a hurricane, obliterating any rational thought except that she would never see Valentine again, never see their baby.

“Don’t struggle. Don’t make a scene. Or I’ll start shooting, got it?” Hope just nodded her head, numb with terror as he pushed her with the gun at her back in the direction of a dark alley. She knew as soon as they made it there, she was dead.

She remembered Valentine, watching, listening, and hoped against hope that he would be able to save her, but as they neared the alley, that hope began to desert her. She pictured his face, his blue eyes staring down at her, and felt hot tears threaten.

Suddenly, the sound of sirens and flashing lights surrounded the outdoor courtyard of the café, causing chaos to erupt. A close, familiar voice shouted, “There, over there, he has a gun!”

As the attacker turned back to see what was happening, a strong punch flew at him from behind, startling him and knocking him back a few paces. Just enough for Valentine to grab her hand and drag her behind him as he flew down the alley. They paused for a moment at the other end, just long enough to see police surrounding her would-be killer. He was screaming at Mr. Jones, who was trying to sneak away, but as the entire café was surrounded he had nowhere to go.

“You promised me! You promised me I could kill her!”

Hope couldn’t hold back a small smile as both men were handcuffed and escorted into police cars. She looked up at Valentine.

“You saved me.”

He met her gaze with one of his own, a small lopsided smile on his lips.

“Not yet.”

They ran back to the hotel room, Valentine explaining along the way that he had called in the anonymous tip that there was a man with a gun at the café.

Hope looked over at him, her eyes shining. “You’re pretty good at all this spy stuff.”

“I’m not a spy,
Zvyozdochk
a.”

“Well, either way, you’re good.” He chuckled, but the sound slowly faded as he noticed the worried look on her face.

“What is it, Hope? What’s wrong?”

“What am I going to do now? You heard him, the police are probably looking for me right now.”

“Well, as for that, I called in a few favors…” He gave her a sideways glance. “That is if you want to come live in Moscow with me.”

“I would love to, but, my brother…”

Valentine stopped, turning to her.

“I can have him in one of the best hospitals in Russia today. He’ll be okay. You don’t have to take care of everything on your own, you know? You have me now.”

Hope smiled tremulously up at him, her heart so full of love she could barely contain it. She kissed him.

“You’re incredible, Valentine.”

He just shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. “I know.” He took a deep breath, then continued, “So, what do you say? We can be on a private jet, flying home, in less than an hour.”

Hope was struck by the unfamiliar uncertainty shimmering in his pale blue eyes. She twined her fingers around his tightly, never intending to let go. “Home…Home sounds perfect.”

THE END