Sweetest Surrender (2 page)

If she knew where he’d grown up, she’d have nothing to be embarrassed about.

Tonight he’d planned to ask her on an unofficial date after she got off work. Hayden had said that they could join him and Sierra at one of the bars for drinks. Vadim sucked with women and relationships, but Hayden had told him to stop being a pussy and just ask her out. So he’d planned to do just that, but under the guise of friendship, so if she rejected him, things between them wouldn’t be strained afterward.

He didn’t have many friends, but he valued his relationship with Angel. She was kind and giving and one of the few women who didn’t look at him like he was an un-caged tiger. And he planned to find out why the hell she needed to steal food. Because whatever she needed, he would give to her.

Chapter 2

Angel stared blindly out the window of the bus as she neared her stop. Because of the fluorescent lights all she really saw was her reflection. And right now she didn’t want to look at herself. Still reeling from that entire embarrassing situation where a woman she respected now probably thought the worst of her, and a man she liked way too much… Ugh, Angel mentally shook herself. She didn’t have time to worry about stuff like that. She needed to get home and check on her neighbor’s kids.

The woman she only knew as Dee left her fourteen year old boy and six year old girl alone more often than not because she was hooking up with losers or scoring drugs. Mark, the boy, hadn’t told Angel that directly, but he’d alluded to it in so many words. And it broke Angel’s heart. He’d also warned her not to call social services—and she’d been planning to—because he’d said they’d end up in a worse situation than at home. The fear in his eyes when he’d told her had been real too, so she’d listened. She understood that he didn’t want to be separated from his sister or dumped somewhere even worse. Sometimes the devil you knew was better than the alternative.

Angel knew they weren’t her responsibility, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t turn her back on two innocent kids in need. So she’d been looking after them when she wasn’t working, buying them food and making sure they got to the bus in time for school. It had been exhausting and she knew she should probably ask someone for help, but she hadn’t known who to turn to. And she’d been doing fine balancing everything—until someone broke into her place and took most of the cash she’d saved. She couldn’t believe they’d found it. She’d hidden it in a box of baking soda in her refrigerator, making sure it was buried in the white powder. Hadn’t seemed to matter because whatever jerk had robbed her had found it.

As the bus shuddered to a halt, she jumped up and called out that it was her stop, knowing from experience that this particular driver would keep going if she didn’t stand within five seconds. Hating that she didn’t have any food for the kids, she hurried off the bus. Luckily the stop was right in front of her apartment complex. Which wasn’t exactly in the best part of town, but it wasn’t terrible either. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her keys and her pepper spray. Holding each in one hand, she made her way to the second building down. Her apartment was on the second floor.

She could hear and see a couple teenagers who sometimes like to harass her on one end of the long balcony walkway, so she used the stairs on the opposite side before heading to Dee’s place. Shivering against the cold January air, she knocked once and was surprised when the door swung open.

“Hello?” she called softly. It was late and she didn’t want to wake the kids, but if their mom wasn’t here she wanted to make sure they were okay. Dee had never seemed to mind Angel’s presence; she’d almost appeared to feel guilty that Angel was helping out her kids. But at least she’d never stopped Angel from giving them food.

When no one answered, she stepped farther inside. Frowning when she didn’t see any of Chloe’s toys scattered in the hallway, she shut the door behind her and clutched her pepper spray tight. “Mark? Dee?”

“They’re gone,” a familiar male voice called out. Mr. Botkin, her landlord, peered around the corner at the end of the hallway and smiled warmly at her. He was Russian, like Vadim, and had taught her a few words, which she’d tried to impress Vadim with.

Vadim had simply smiled at her attempts to converse with him, amused. And she loved making him smile. She shook herself, not needing to think about the sexy Russian now. “What happened?” she asked, hurrying down the short, tiled hallway to find him already repainting the living room. Plastic sheets covered the hardwood floors of the empty room.

Even though this place wasn’t in the greatest part of town, Mr. Botkin took great care to keep up the interiors of the apartments.

“They left this afternoon,” he said. “The boy called his grandparents and told them what was going on with their mother. They had no clue about their daughter and came with a moving truck. They give her…” He paused and she knew he was trying to figure out the right word. “An ultimatum. She go to rehab, they take the kids while she does.” He patted his coveralls almost absently then reached into the pocket and pulled out a small envelope. “This is from the boy for you.”

Angel was speechless as she took the card. Clearing her throat, she found her voice. “They just left? Did the grandparents seem nice? How were the kids?”

Mr. Botkin nodded. “I think they’re good people. They were worried over the kids. The boy, he’s smart and protective, he’ll watch out for his sister.”

Angel nodded, knowing that much was true. At fourteen Mark was already taller than her five feet six and was vigilant about looking after Chloe. She tore into the envelope and quickly scanned the card, fighting back tears as she read. Mark told her that he’d found his grandparents contact info and called them himself. He’d also thanked Angel for everything she’d done and left a contact number for her to check up on him. God, he was such a man, so responsible. She swiped at her eyes. “Thanks, Mr. Botkin.”

He nodded, then motioned toward the hallway. “Let me walk you to your door. I don’t like those punks loitering around here lately.”

She wasn’t going to argue. Even though Mr. Botkin was older, she knew he carried at least one gun on him. Once she was safely inside her apartment, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and texted Mark as she walked down the hallway to her kitchen. It was late and she wasn’t sure when they’d left or if he’d be awake so she didn’t call.

He responded moments later.
G-parents nice, mom embarrassed by where we ended up but it’s all good now. Chloe’s happy she has her own room. I’ll call u 2morrow with deets. Thank you for everything Angel. I know what a pain it was to watch out for us
.

Smiling even though her chest ached at how grown up he sounded, she texted back.
It was never a pain. I love you guys. Keep in touch no matter what but if you have a problem with anyone let me know.

I will but I don’t think they’re freaks or anything. Mom’s okay leaving us w/ them while she’s in rehab and she wouldn’t if they were weirdos.

And there was the fourteen year old shining through. Angel shook her head as she shot off a quick goodnight response. When she reached her small kitchen she set her purse on the counter nearest the refrigerator and opened the door even though she didn’t have much in there except some fresh fruit. Almost on cue her stomach growled so she grabbed an apple. Biting into it, she started unbuttoning her Oxford-style black shirt as she headed to her bedroom. Right now all she wanted was a hot shower and to crash. She’d worry about her lack of a job tomorrow. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to stay in Vegas anymore. She’d been here too long as it was and the longer she stayed, the better chance he had of finding her.

Yeah, she definitely didn’t want to think about
that
tonight. As she rounded the corner of the built-in counter in her kitchen she came face to face with Vadim striding in from her living room. His movements were impossibly silent.

And he looked pissed.

On instinct she jumped, but stopped herself before she stepped back. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him, apple between her teeth and the front of her shirt completely gaping open. Stunned, she pulled the apple from her mouth. “What are you… How the hell did you get into my apartment?” she shouted, feeling suddenly vulnerable. Not because she thought Vadim would hurt her but because she’d just replaced her locks and added extra alarms to her windows. She didn’t feel very safe anymore.

His jaw clenched once, his pale blue eyes seeming almost darker in her dim apartment. She’d never thought of him as intimidating but at six feet tall, she was suddenly aware of how much bigger he was than her. He rubbed a hand over his short blond hair in agitation. “Why didn’t you tell me you needed food?”

“I don’t. And don’t change the subject. Why are you here and how did you get in? And how did you even know which apartment is mine?”

He took a step closer, his gaze briefly flicking down to her open shirt and her face burned even hotter. Hell, what was she thinking? She set the apple on the counter and wrenched her top together. She was just wearing a plain utilitarian white bra. She was more embarrassed about him seeing her in something so boring than flashing him skin. She’d had plenty of fantasies involving him and in all of them, the first time he saw her in any state of undress she was wearing lace and silk. Not a cotton bra she’d snagged in the dollar bin at a discount store. She hurriedly buttoned her shirt, her fingers shaking.

“Your address is in your employee file.”

“Which you shouldn’t have access to,” she snapped, nerves and embarrassment threading through her. Though she wasn’t surprised he did. The man was a computer genius from what she’d heard. He didn’t talk much about his work to her, just in generalities, but she’d picked up enough from other employees to guess that he was gifted when it came to security measures. They were friends but she was pretty sure he’d signed a non-disclosure agreement or something since he didn’t talk about what he did.

He made a scoffing sound, his expression almost arrogant. Then he frowned again and took another small step closer so that there was only a foot separating them. “You should have come to me. I would have helped you. And I still will. You still have a job. Sierra doesn’t want to fire you.” He lifted his hand a fraction, as if he would touch her, then dropped it back to his side.

Relief slid through her that she still had a job. Angel was going to get back to how the heck he broke into her place, but for now, she motioned behind him in the direction of the living room. With him this close, his subtle spicy scent teasing her, it was hard to think straight. She needed some distance between them if she wanted to talk in coherent sentences.

His jaw clenched again, but he nodded and turned toward the small room. It had come pre-furnished and now she was thankful she’d bought slip covers to hide the hideous seventies-style flower pattern on the couches. When she’d bought them she’d felt guilty for spending money on something frivolous but those colors had just been too ugly to look at day in and day out. The light cream color slip covers were much easier on the eyes. The rest of the room was decorated in plain earth tones, which was fine with her.

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked as he perched on the edge of the loveseat. The polite question was ridiculous considering he’d broken into her place, but manners had been drilled into her at a young age. It was that Southern upbringing.

He was tense, his entire body coiled and ready to pounce. For the first time she understood why some of the other waitresses were nervous around him. Not that she was afraid of him, but she could see that deadly edge now. It was jarring to her senses to see him this way. With her he’d always been so sweet and gentle.

“No. I want to talk. Now sit,” he said gruffly.

She was so surprised by the command in his voice that she did. As soon as her butt hit the couch though, she wanted to smack herself for doing it. Friend or not, the man had broken into her home and she wanted to know how and why. “Vadim—”

“I came in the front door. Picked the lock in less than fifteen seconds. It’s a piece of crap,” he said, guessing her train of thought.

“I just replaced it.” She’d installed it herself.

His lips pulled into a thin line, his expression disapproving. “It’s crap. And the reason I’m here should be obvious. I want to help.”

Some of her steam faded at that. “You could have called.”

“And you would have ignored me. I eliminated that problem before it happened.” His voice was so matter-of-fact and it sounded just like him. He liked to look at problems from every angle.

Considering how embarrassed she’d been at the restaurant, he was right to have guessed she’d have ignored a call from him. Still, it annoyed her that he’d broken into her place. But she could put that on the backburner.

“Now tell me why you were taking food. Are you not making enough money?” he asked in that blunt way of his. Normally she appreciated it but now she just wanted to die of embarrassment.

“It wasn’t for me. My neighbor has two kids and she wasn’t taking care of them so I’ve been buying food for them. And I’ve been doing fine. More than fine actually.” She’d managed to save a couple thousand with the tips she’d been bringing in even though she’d been feeding Mark and Chloe. She’d almost felt like it was karma rewarding her. The more she helped them the better she’d done at work. Of course that theory had been shot to hell when she’d been robbed. “But then I was robbed and—”