Russian Mobster's Secret (13 page)

Viktor looked away, a sure sign that he didn’t really intend to tell her the truth. “I’m just meeting some people. It’s a business thing.”

“Business,” Katie scoffed. “Are you doing the same kind of business you were doing before I left?”

“Perhaps.”

He was staring at her. She fidgeted beneath his regard. “Why are you staring?”

“You’re more beautiful than I remember.” His smile caused her stomach to do an unwelcome flip-flop. “How long have you been back in town?”

“Just a week.”

Viktor held the Frisbee out to her. “I never intended to hurt your dog.” He absently stroked Max’s ears. “It’s strange, but when I saw him I thought of you.”

“Me?”

“Of course. You had one just like him when we were in high school. Do you remember?” His soft smile touched her. Viktor had spent hours throwing a tennis ball for Marley.

“Did you ever get your own dog?” she asked, cocking her head to one side and gazing at him with curiosity. “I remember that was the one thing you said you were going to do no matter what.”

“I suppose I haven’t gotten around to it yet,” he told her ruefully. “It’s strange, but being an adult is a little bit different than I thought it would be.”

“You can say
that
again,” she agreed. “I left town thinking I was going away to something bigger and better.”

“And?”

“It was the same old job and the same life, just in a different place.” She sighed, twisting the Frisbee in her hands to keep them occupied.

“What took you so long to come back then?” he wondered. “If it was the same?”

“I had to get rid of some baggage first.” Katie set her jaw. She really didn’t want to talk about Connor.

* * *

It was obvious to Viktor that there was a man involved in her story. It galled him to think of his Katie with anyone else, but she hadn’t been his in five long years.

“I always hoped you would come back,” he told her honestly. “Things just weren’t the same here without you.”

Katie cast a long glance at the van parked just behind him. Viktor quelled the urge to squirm. Then she pegged him with a hard stare. “It seems like things are exactly the same, Viktor.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “Some things will never change.”

“Such as?” she challenged.

He gave her the warm smile he had never used on anyone but her. “How beautiful you are.”

Katie was beautiful in a very unique way. With her long auburn hair and gray eyes, she stood out in a crowd no matter where she went. She was also taller than most of the women he knew at six-foot-eight. Her figure was gently curved in all the right places, but lean and athletic as well. She was, and always had been, Viktor’s ideal woman.

“You always were a charmer.” She couldn’t hide the smile playing at the corners of her generous mouth.

He wanted to touch her badly, to see if her skin was still as soft as it had been five years ago. Instead, he was left to pet her dog. He scratched the animal behind his silky ears and waited for Katie to decide if she was going to let him be her friend or not.

“Do you hang out here and wait for your friends often?” Katie finally asked.

He shrugged. “Often enough, if I have a reason to. Why?”

“I come here every day and I’ve never seen you.” She looked suspicious.

Viktor snorted. “I suppose I’ll be coming to the park every day at this time then, to alleviate your suspicions of my bad behavior.”

“I’m sorry.” Her pretty features arranged themselves into an expression of regret. “I don’t mean to make you feel as if I don’t trust your motives, but well—I don’t really trust your motives anymore, Viktor.”

“I don’t suppose I can blame you for that.” He heard another vehicle approaching. Without even looking, he knew it was Sasha and Yakov, ready to make the exchange. He purposefully turned back toward his van. “I think I hear my friends coming, Katie. But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She held the Frisbee out to entice her dog back to her side. The animal went willingly, following her with the sort of devotion she had always managed to inspire in any canine she met. Viktor smiled as he watched her begin her trek back toward the main part of the park.

“I suppose I’ll see you around,” she called over her shoulder.

“Yes. You most definitely will,” he murmured to himself.

A van creaked to a stop right beside his vehicle. It looked exactly like his but for the nondescript brown paint job. Two young men got out of the brown van and sauntered over.

Sasha pointed in the direction that Katie had gone. “Who was that? I’d like to get a piece of her!”

“Hey.” Yakov’s tone was thoughtful. “Wasn’t that Katie McClellan? I’d swear it was even though I haven’t seen her around in years.”

“Whoa,” Sasha said with an appreciative whistle. “
The
Katie McClellan? Like the one that had our boy Viktor all tied in knots for years?”

“You guys are pricks,” Viktor groused. “Can we just forget about the woman and focus on the job?”

“No way!” Yakov crowed. “If you’re trying to get us to forget about her, that means you’re still into her. That’s gold, man!”

“So this was the chick that he wanted to marry back in the day, right?” Sasha hadn’t actually been around back then. He’d come to town in the last year or so to work for his uncle Boris Karkoff. “I’ve heard people say that you actually proposed to her and she turned you down.”

“It was a long time ago,” Viktor said patiently. “Not worth discussing now.”

“So he says,” Sasha teased.

“Leave it.” Viktor didn’t bother disguising the threat in his voice.

Sasha held up his hands. “All right, all right. I’ll forget about it for now. But I want an invitation to the wedding.”

“Who said I was getting married?” Viktor frowned.

Sasha pointed in the direction that Katie had disappeared in. “Well if her body language is anything to go by, she’s way into you. Which means you have a shot at getting her back.”

“Her body language?” Viktor had never been very good at reading people. He was a very practical man. “You really think that’s what’s going on in her head?”

Sasha nodded his head. “I’m good at reading people, especially women. She’s into you, big time. Promise.”

“Careful, Viktor,” Yakov warned. “Remember that Mr. I’m Good at Reading Women is still single.”

“I’m single because I choose to be,” Sasha argued. “You just watch. If you find a way to get her alone, she’ll open up to you.”

“She comes to the park every day with that dog,” Viktor reasoned.

Sasha bobbed his head. “Sounds like you need to find a reason to be at the park every day.”

“Speaking of,” Yakov said, snapping his fingers. “We’re getting a little close to the deadline here. Don’t you think?”

Viktor walked around to the back of the brown van. He opened the door. Four very naked, very scared-looking young women looked back at him. His midsection lurched in disgust. He didn’t necessarily approve of trafficking mail-order brides and allowing them to be primarily used as sex slaves. But this wasn’t his shipment, his business, or even his choice. He got paid to do a job and that was it. It was the only thing he knew how to do—what he’d always done. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t have welcomed an opportunity for something else.

Viktor’s thoughts returned to Katie. There was something he would most definitely like to do with the rest of his life.

Chapter Two

Katie glanced at the clock on the wall of the reception area in the tiny dental office where she worked as a receptionist. Her day was almost over. At three o’clock she would walk home, get Max, and go to the park. It should have been the same as every other day since she’d been back in town, but today was different.

“Got a hot date?” Her coworker asked casually.

Katie whipped around to face Anne, feeling almost embarrassed. Was she that transparent? “What makes you say that?”

“You’ve looked at the clock like a thousand times since you got back from your lunch hour. And you’re distracted too.” Anne shrugged. “It’s no big deal. A girl needs to dream big about a guy every once in a while, you know?”

It occurred to Katie that Anne had gone to school with Viktor too. She’d just been a few years behind him and Katie. Without being too obvious, Katie cleared her throat and pretended to look at a phone message she’d scribbled earlier. “Do you remember a guy we went to school with named Viktor Urevich?”

Anne’s blue eyes opened wide with alarm. “Oh honey, that guy is bad news!”

“Why do you say that?” Katie’s heart jumped into her throat. What had she expected? For Anne to tell her that Viktor had turned over a new leaf or something?

“For starters, he may not be a full-time member of the Karkoff crime family, but he’s definitely got ties.” Anne took a dramatic breath. “So there are rumors that he runs illegal stuff for them, for money!”

“Yes,” Katie said, feeling disappointed. “I can’t imagine he would have changed much since we were in school together.”

“Whoa!” Anne sat back in her chair. “You’re
that
Katie?”

“What Katie?”

“There was a rumor going around that Viktor Urevich was in love with someone named Katie for years. Supposedly he’s been single ever since.” Anne snorted, giving an impression of what she thought about that notion. “Personally, I think that’s a load of crap. The guy is hot and he’s into illegal stuff. He’s probably got women stashed all over the city.”

“Probably,” Katie murmured. “It makes for a nice story though, hmm?”

Anne shrugged. “If you like that sort of romantic crap, I guess so.”

“And you don’t like that romantic crap?” Katie happily steered the conversation away from herself.

“Are you kidding?” Anne rolled her eyes. “I’d be happy with a guy who could keep his dick in his pants.” Anne slapped her hand over her mouth, as if realizing she’d just said that out loud where any of their dental patients could have heard.

“There’s nobody here,” Katie assured her drily. “Although I’m sure Mrs. Anson would have gotten a kick out of that. At eighty years old, she probably has some insight of her own to add.”

Katie and Anne burst into a fit of giggles. It was fun to enjoy her time back here at home with work and friends, but sometimes Katie longed for a little more. And seeing Viktor again had put impossible thoughts in her head.

* * *

Viktor had never spent so much time in a park before in his adult life. In fact, he was starting to worry that one of the mothers hanging out by the jungle gym was going to call the cops on him. Not that he could blame her. Viktor didn’t look as if he belonged, and in this day and age, that meant somebody was likely to mistake him for a pedophile or someone equally distasteful.

Then Katie approached from the direction of the thick trees and caught him by surprise. “Are you just hanging out here watching children?” she asked with a smile. “Because I’m thinking you might be considered a suspicious person if you hang out here too much longer.”

“I think I have enough problems,” he told her jokingly. “So I suppose I’ll hang out with you for a while. That should lend me some credibility, don’t you think?”

“That depends.” She gazed up at him with an unreadable expression on her face. Her dog sat almost motionless next to her, also looking at him with an eerily human expression. “If you’re only using me to boost your credibility because you’re secretly doing something nefarious, then take a hike.”

“Nefarious?” he teased. “Who uses words like that?”

“People who paid attention in English class?”

Viktor snorted. “That most certainly wouldn’t have been me.”

“No. The only way you managed to get out of English class with a passing grade was with my help.” Katie smiled and the beautiful sight took his breath away.

“But I had an A-plus in Russian,” he pointed out. “Not many people could brag about that.”

She didn’t cut him any slack. “Only the other half a dozen kids like you who spoke Russian as their first language.”

Without another word, she began striding away toward the field where she’d been throwing a Frisbee for her dog the previous day. Viktor trailed along behind her. The day was warm and sunny. The late afternoon breeze was pleasant on his face, and he could see that Katie was enjoying just being outside the same way she had when they had been kids.

She launched the Frisbee and the dog bolted after it as if his tail were on fire. Viktor gave an appreciative whistle. “That’s a very fast dog.”

“He’s smart too,” she assured him.

“Where did you get him?”

Her expression was suddenly unreadable. “I got him when he was a puppy.”

* * *

Katie did not want to discuss her recent move, her failed relationship, or anything else about her life over the last five years. The fact that Viktor was obviously wondering about the missing years made her nervous, although it was also flattering.

“I didn’t mean to pry,” Viktor told her in a mild tone of voice. “I was just making conversation.”

“Then make conversation about something else,” Katie suggested flatly.

“Where are you working?”

She sent him a sideways glance. “City Dental Associates.”

“That sounds interesting.”

Katie laughed, the sudden sound of merriment almost musical to his ears. “It doesn’t sound interesting. You’re just saying that because you don’t even know what a person would do at a job like that!”

“Okay, maybe.”

“Maybe, my behind,” she teased. “I answer phones and make appointments for people.” She shot him an evil grin. “When was the last time
you
went to see the dentist?”

“I have no idea.” He couldn’t help the distasteful expression that spread across his face. “And I hope I never have to go.”

“That’s actually the point of going regularly,” she teased. “We call it
preventative
.”

“Do you like what you do?” He made an attempt to grab the Frisbee from Max’s mouth as he returned, but the dog ducked to avoid him.

“I do enjoy my job.” She put her hand out and Max promptly deposited the Frisbee. Katie grinned at Viktor. “He’s trained to give the toy back to whoever threw it.” She handed Viktor the Frisbee. “Try it.”