His (Ties That Bind #2) - Natasha Knight Page 0,8
Josh. “I don’t want Josh getting upset.”
“But—”
“Just a precaution. That’s all. Nothing is going to happen to me, Kat.”
I take the phone and push it into my back pocket.
“Is everything okay? Did something happen on your call? Is there something new and that’s why—”
“We need to get on the road. I want to put more distance between us and Vasily. I’m going to run to the store and buy some things we need.” He gestures to my hair. “You’ll need to color your hair. It’s too recognizable.”
I touch my hair. “Josh is used to me like this. I don’t think we should change—”
“The important thing is to keep Josh safe, and that means to keep out of sight. We’ll find a way to explain it.”
“He wants to go home.”
“Yeah, well, he can’t do that right now, and neither can you, so stay focused, Katerina.” This is a different side to Lev from the tender one of last night and the fatherly one of this morning. This is the sharper, edgier side. And I realize something. Something I’ve known all along but never consciously acknowledged.
He’s a trained killer.
He watches me as I think this, and I know he knows what’s going on in my head. I see it on his face. But he doesn’t try to soothe me or fill my head with pretty, meaningless words. This is reality. He and I both know it.
“Did you only talk to Pasha?” I know he didn’t. I heard him say Alexei’s name, and I get the feeling he heard something he didn’t like.
“No, I spoke with my cousin too.”
“Did something else happen? You seem more anxious.”
“Of course, I’m anxious, Kat. How do you expect me to be?” he snaps but catches himself, shaking his head. “I’m sorry.”
“What did he tell you?”
“What do you need me to pick up for Josh at the store?” he asks instead of answering my question, and something in his expression tells me I’m on to something.
“Um…he has some clothes from Talia but probably needs some more things, jeans and sweaters, underwear, socks. And maybe some toys? Just some trucks or toy cars. Do you remember the cereal he likes?”
Lev nods. “What about you? What do you need?”
“Nothing I can think of. Well, maybe…Can’t we come with you?”
“It’s better if you stay here. They’ll be looking for the three of us.”
Shit. I knew this, didn’t I?
“What do you need me to pick up?”
“Tampons.”
He nods, and if he’s uncomfortable, he doesn’t let on. Instead, he walks me into the bathroom and closes the door. From the back of the waistband of his jeans and under his shirt, he pulls out a small pistol and holds it in the palm of his hand.
I back up a step and shake my head.
“It’s not exactly the same model you pulled on me but similar enough.”
“I don’t want that.”
He steps closer, puts the pistol on the counter behind me and pulls me to him, rubbing my arms.
“You won’t need it,” he says, “but I’d feel better if you had it while I’m not here.”
My heart is racing. “I don’t like this.”
“I like it even less, but if you have to use it, use it. Do not hesitate. Do you understand me?”
“I—”
“You hesitated with me. It takes a split second for a man to overpower you. You know that. Do not hesitate. Do you understand?”
I nod.
He takes the pistol, giving me a quick tutorial, but it’s almost exactly the same as the one I had. He then tucks it into the back of my jeans and pulls my sweater over it to keep it out of sight.
“I’ll be as fast as I can. There’s a store two blocks away. You lock the door behind me. No one knows we’re here. As soon as I’m back, you’ll color your hair, and then we’re gone.”
“Where are we going to go?”
“New York City.”
“New York City? But isn’t that closer to Vasily with him being in Philadelphia? Wouldn’t we be in more danger there?”
He sighs. “I’ll explain later. Let me get to the store. The sooner we leave here, the better.”
5
Kat
I lock the door after Lev leaves and watch him through the window of the second-floor hotel room as he looks around the almost empty parking lot, then gets into the SUV. Before he closes the door, he looks up at me. We stay like that for a long minute before he drives off.
In the bedroom, Josh is sitting against the pillows with Wally in his hands, rubbing the