Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“Riggs,” she whispered.
She got that feeling all right.
“Bubbles knew what that would do to me, so I know he didn’t stop doing stupid shit for and with bad people, he just never dragged me into it again.”
“Until the wine.”
“Of a sort,” he allowed. “But he felt he owed me a marker, and in his head, that’s part of how he paid me back.”
“He did owe you a marker, but selling you that wine was no payback.”
More training from her dedulya, no doubt.
“I didn’t hold a marker, honey, and I told him that a million times. But Bubs didn’t get it. He didn’t get friends have each other’s backs. I should have seen that, but I didn’t. Until today.”
“Just to say, now I want to kick him in the shin again because he used your friendship to drag you into doing something that made you feel dirty.”
“It was my choice.”
“You were looking out for a friend.”
“It was still my choice.”
“We’re just going to have to agree to disagree, Riggs, because bottom line, you’re right. It was your choice. But we do things for people we care about. Especially if you’re a good person. And he played on that. I don’t know how much of a doofus he is. On the one hand, he sold you a bottle of wine that got him a stay in a hospital, and that’s pretty damned stupid. On the other, he played the only thing he could play when he was dealing with a highly intelligent man, his emotions and the feelings he felt for him. Which is pretty ingenious, and downright nasty. So, fuck Bubbles whoever-he-is.”
Totally needed to give Nadia some serious headspace.
“Warning, the Russian is coming out in you, princess,” he teased.
“Warning right back, Riggs, it’s always close to the surface.”
“No shit? It got in my face this morning about the gun.”
“I’ve never been to Russia,” she announced. “My grandfather used to spit after he said the word. Mom told me great-granddad would do the same. But she said he missed it even so. The pain was like a toothache he had every day of his life. I think that kind of love flows through bloodlines.”
“I know his story, just so you know.”
“It isn’t a secret. It’s actually famous.”
“Yeah. And if I had to leave the country I love in order to be free to be me, I would feel the same.”
“Agreed.”
“What does dedulya mean? Grandpa?”
“It’s kind of an endearment for grandpa. Dedushka is grandfather. Mom called her grandfather deda. He was still alive when I was born, though I don’t remember but snatches of him. To distinguish the two, I was taught dedulya.”
“Right.”
“How far is this place where we’re going?”
“About forty-five minutes.”
“We should stop and get you coffee,” she said as she reached for hers.
“Like I said, I’m good.”
“Okay.”
He drove for a while.
When she put the coffee back in the holder, he called, “Nadia?”
“Mm?”
“Thanks for being pissed on my behalf.”
“You’re welcome,” she said softly.
He reached out and squeezed her knee.
Instead of leaving it there, like he wanted, he put his hand back to the wheel.
Absolutely.
It was time to find the headspace to figure out where he was with Nadia, and then set about discovering where she was.
It was time days ago.
So it was high time now.
Forty-five minutes later, he stood back and witnessed a mother and child reunion.
That being a big, blue cane corso loping right to Nadia, who had crouched to make herself less threatening without Hutch telling her to do so, and the dog slobbering all over Nadia’s face after barely a sniff.
Whereupon Nadia threw her arms around the terrifying-looking animal’s neck and cried out a joyful, “Puppy!”
“Jesus Christ,” Hutch muttered, standing at his side. “I’ve never seen anything like that. And I been doing this awhile.”
Hutch was a former SEAL who’d been breeding and training police and guard dogs for at least seven years.
“She’s Russian by heritage,” Riggs told him.
“That explains it,” Hutch replied.
Nadia turned to Hutch and called, “What’s her name?”
“Gia,” Hutch called back.
She returned to Gia and cooed, “Oh my God. Gia. Who’s a darling girl? Who’s a pretty girl? Who’s the prettiest girl in the world? Gia is!” while the ninety pounds of packed muscle that made up Gia pranced around her like she was, well…fuck.
A puppy.
“She’s gonna undo six months of training in two minutes.” Hutch was back to muttering.
“Welcome to my world,” Riggs muttered in return.
But in his case, he reckoned, it was more like thirty-eight years.
TWENTY-ONE
That Did It
Riggs
“You gotta go low, hit it on the back flat, like this,” Ledger said, then let fly, and the stone he was holding skipped seven times across the lake before it sank.
Riggs watched as Nadia bit the tip of her tongue, tried to mimic Ledger’s stance, then let fly.
Her stone immediately kerplunked.
“I’m failing my latest nature girl test,” she said to the lake.