Saving Katya (7 page)

“Ritchley didn’t approach you again, did he?”

“No!” She shook her head. “A different one this time. He wanted to know where I’ve been
hiding
these last eight years.”

Alexei didn’t say anything as his mouth slid into a one-sided smirk and he waited for her reply.

“I haven’t been
hiding
anywhere.” She tried to give him her hardest glare, but had no idea if she’d succeeded. “I’ve just been living life like everybody else.”

He hesitated, looking at her with a stoic face before gesturing toward their peers. He moved forward, toward the crowd, and she’d better do the same if she didn’t want to get left at the tail-end of the group—exposed.

Kate clung to Alexei’s arm as he led her back inside the group, and outside the range of the television cameras.

When it was over and the cameras had been turned off, the group of skaters disbursed and she could feel
the eyes of the press zeroing in on her and Alexei. Kate recognized the reporter from earlier and tightened her grip on Alexei’s arm. She had more to fear now than tripping and falling because of failing sight.

Alexei’s already rigid frame stiffened more under Kate’s tight grasp. She tried to play it off. Act like it was no big deal. He didn’t need to know their past bothered her so much.

She avoided looking at Alexei and scanned the crowd of reporters instead, getting caught in one’s stare. Great. The last thing she needed was some nosy journalist poking around. She didn’t want the whole world to find out about Alexei’s betrayal, or his connection to Katya.

She let her insecurities coax her attention back toward Alexei. His gaze was darting back and forth between Kate and the reporter.

“Is that him?” Fury lit Alexei’s eyes. “Was he the other one harassing you?” Anger had a way of affecting Alexei’s speech, making his Russian dialect sound more prominent.

“Alexei...” Kate’s voice shook. “You can’t do away with every member of the press.” She drew a breath and held it. He couldn’t keep hounding the journalists just because he’d become accustomed to getting his way. She couldn’t afford for some nosey reporter to go on a crusade against her. There was too much at stake. “Can you just get me out of here?” Better to go with Alexei now and figure out how to ditch him later.

He draped a protective arm around her shoulders and swept her toward the exit, rushing her past the other skaters still milling around. Some of the reporters looked like they were ready to pounce on them but Alexei didn’t give them the chance.

Just as Alexei and Kate stepped outside the Hall, his limo driver hopped out of the car and trotted around to open the door.

They stood beside the car’s opened door and she glanced up at him, ignoring the few passersby strolling along. He offered a quick, reassuring smile. With a bit of reluctance, she stepped inside the car and slid across the seat.

Kate surveyed the limo’s interior—something she failed to do when making her great escape last night. Tiny lights in the mirror above sparkled like stars against the evening sky creating a romantic ambiance. Great. That’s just what Kate needed, to be stuck inside this small space with Alexei, and it was brimming with impractical illusions.

The driver closed the door and Alexei turned to Kate. “I’ll take you to the U.S. compound directly, but there may be reporters waiting there too.”

Kate hadn’t counted on that. She watched the driver trot back around and hop into the driver’s seat. He’d shifted the car into drive before she could get out the words, “What am I gonna do?”

“Let’s get you a suite in another hotel,” Alexei said, and it was no question.

“I can’t,” Kate murmured, shaking her head. She lowered her gaze and turned away from him. She didn’t want to be separated from Katya, and she couldn’t afford to rent another suite—especially in some fancy hotel.

“I’ll have someone bring your daughter to you,” he offered in the calmest of tones.

Kate gasped and tried to choke the panic back down in her gut. She knew she’d failed when it burned her cheeks. “You know about her?”

Alexei nodded, and Kate couldn’t tell from his poker-faced expression what was going on inside him.

She’d never wanted to believe Alexei would turn his back on her, but now she had proof. He knew about Katya.

“Of course you do.” Sarcasm oozed out in her tone. She turned away, checking her anger. “Just take me back to the U.S. residence. I can handle the press.”

She stared out the window, getting lost in the Olympic lights glistening against the night sky. Thoughts of desertion tugged at her heartstrings and Kate pushed aside the urge to cry.

Alexei leaned across her and slid a side compartment open. To avoid him, she diverted her interest to what he was doing instead. Inside the hidden cubby, fancy glasses lit up under the glow of soft lights. Skillfully, he scooped a couple into one hand and closed the small door with his forefinger.

The chalice he offered, accompanied by his devilishly-handsome grin, was hard to resist. He swapped the other glass into his hand that’d been resting along the back of the seat behind her. Leaning in again, he flipped the lid next to the compartment housing the glasses. His intoxicating cologne swept her away. Ice chips rattled as he claimed the champagne bottle. Kate recognized the
Krug
label—not that she’d ever handled one.

“Let’s have a drink...to sooth our nerves.” A wink accompanied Alexei’s suggestion, baiting her. He popped the cork and filled their glasses—hers first, then his.

He set the bottle back in its bed of ice chips and gave her little nudge, coaxing her to drink up.

Well, he’s got it down to a science
. Sipping the champagne, she realized the seductive trap that Alexei had perfected. The limousine’s sparkling and persuasive atmosphere, expensive champagne and the promise of romance, all strategically used to score with the ladies.

What happened to the Alexei she used to know? The one who’d made her feel like she was the only girl in the world? This Alexei preferred a variety of women—a new girl every night—to her and Katya. Kate’s anger bubbled over.

She stiffened her upper lip and ordered herself not to fall for his charms again. She wouldn’t allow herself to forget how this had played out in the past. “So...how is Mikhail?” Unable to hold his gaze, she glanced away.

Alexei’s manager and guardian, all those years ago, hadn’t cared for Kate. She knew that. He was the one responsible for Alexei’s abrupt return to Russia, once he realized how far their teenage affair had gone.

She’d cried of course, and begged Alexei not to go. Her tears, although heartbreaking, accomplished nothing. At seventeen, her lover had no choice in the matter.

“Mikhail and I have long since ended our connection.” His words came slowly, as if searching for the right ones.

“Really? What happened?” She stopped, checking herself. “Oh, wait. Never mind. That’s really none of my business.”

“I don’t mind.” The car rolled to a stop in front of the US residence. Kate, leaving nothing to chance, pulled up on the lever and prepared to open the door. Alexei laid a gentle hand on her arm. “Dennis will get that for you,” he said of the driver.

“Alexei, I can open the door.” She shook her head. “There’s really no need for the man to get out of the car.”

“It’s his job.” His tone was too calm to suit Kate. “Besides, he likes to do it.” He flashed that smile of his and Kate’s heart did flip-flops against her chest. His gaze was tantalizing and left her feeling vulnerable. “Do you really have to go?”

“Yes. I do.” And she was going to give Dennis about thirty seconds to open the door or she’d do it herself.

“I understand.” For a second, she thought she’d heard disappointment in his voice. But just as quickly, his tone hardened, “I’m sure your daughter’s waiting.”

“That she is.” Kate studied Alexei’s face, wondering if he felt any kind of remorse or regret. She didn’t see any. “And I should get going.”

“I won’t keep you then.”

Hunh
.
Don’t put yourself out
. She held onto the urge to laugh, keeping it inside and undetected.

Kate had always hated the side of herself that ridiculed Alexei for leaving her back then, thinking he could’ve somehow refused. Sensibly, she knew better. But maybe his actions after the fact played a part in her choice to lay blame at his feet. He didn’t answer her letters. He’d turned eighteen less than six months after he was forced to return to Russia, and he didn’t come after her. That hurt. She wasn’t about to let him do the same thing to Katya.

Dennis opened the car door and she let out a sigh. She fled from the limo and checked the sidewalk beneath her feet, looking for slippery ice. The last thing she needed was a repeat from last night. Her slow, guarded steps didn’t lead her to the entryway fast enough, but it increased the odds that Alexei would stay inside the car.

Passing through the glass doors, she dared to cast a clandestine glance over her shoulder. Good. Alexei’s limo was gone. She hurried to the elevators and commanded the doors to open as she hit the “up” button. As if on some cosmic wave with her, the doors parted.

The otherwise empty elevator took her to the fourth floor in silence. She cleared the hallway in record time and paused at her door long enough to glance at her watch. 10:30. Good. She peaked inside, and the dimly-lit outer room confirmed her hope that everyone was sleeping.

Kate strolled to the couch and sank down into it with a heavy sigh. She struggled to keep her tears locked away. She failed miserably and dropped her face into her hands.

Some part of Kate, on mostly an unconscious level, saw the inner door of Debra’s room opening. Her pride wanted the tears to dry up, but they wouldn’t comply.

Debra dropped onto the couch and draped a comforting arm around Kate’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“He knows about Katya.” Kate’s sobs muffled her words, but she took Debra’s tensing body as confirmation that she understand. “I didn’t have to tell him...he knew.”

Debra didn’t say anything right away, but when she did her tone was soothing, “What happened?”

Amid tears, Kate relayed the fine points—as she saw them. With each sentence Debra’s expression darkened; she’d wanted to believe the best about Alexei. And knowing Debra, the romance-novel queen, she’d want Kate to get the fairy tale, not the shaft the second go-round.

Debra was bound to end up disappointed.

“I’ve got to keep Katya away from him.” Her breath caught audibly in her throat.

“Why?” Debra asked. “From what you say, it’s not like he’s going to make much fuss about her.”

“But what if she asks me who he is...” Kate’s words trailed off into silence. She couldn’t lie to Katya. As it turned out, the Olympics weren’t going to be Kate’s savior after all—not when they were hanging like a noose around her neck.

There was only one thing left to do. Her baby girl had to go home. But Kate couldn’t disappoint Katya either. She’d promised to take her skating at the outdoor rink.

That settled it. They’d take an early turn on the ice in the morning and then Kate would send Angeline and Katya home—before that noose tightened.

CHAPTER 6

THE NEXT MORNING
when Alexei emerged from his bedroom inside the suite, he found Serge still pacing the same tract he’d been trekking last evening when Alexei had bid him goodnight.

Serge’s growing apprehension over the deportation deadline was starting to annoy Alexei. So had that damned torch lighting fiasco.

Alexei moved to the window overlooking the outdoor rink. A few skaters glided over the ice but he found none of them interesting. His thoughts meandered back to last night in the limo with Kate. Clearly, she didn’t want him to have anything to do with her daughter. That realization was like a thorn piercing his heart. Sure, okay—he understood that this Keith Carlson was the child’s father, but what could it hurt to let them meet?

For the first time, Alexei wanted to fire his agent. Brent had gotten him into this mess, but Alexei knew he wouldn’t be getting him out. Far as Alexei could see, there wasn’t any way out.

Serge broke from his trek and marched toward the window, stilling silently at Alexei’s side. He felt Serge’s eyes scrutinizing him. Alexei crossed his arms over his chest, as if that would keep Serge from seeing the chaos wrecking havoc on his nerves. “Did you find the husband?” The words left a bad taste in his mouth.

“No.” Serge slid his hands inside his trouser pockets. “He appears to be a mystery.”

“Perhaps,” Alexei said, and didn’t try to stop the hope fueling his voice, “the marriage ended years ago?”

“Yes, well...you have far more pressing matters to contend with.”

“Such as?”

“An order was signed moments ago—by a judge—to have you removed from the United States.” Serge paused, brandishing an
I-told-you-so
scowl. “As we suspected...the US wants to avoid a scandal. The order allots you two weeks from the end of the Olympics to vacate the country.”

“You think they’ll enforce it?”

Serge laughed and laid his arms across his chest. “Do you think the Senator would obtain a judge’s signature if she’s only bluffing?”

Doubtful.

Well, maybe.

Probably not.

But just in case, Alexei didn’t want to leave himself open. He turned to Serge. “What options do we have?”

“Well, short of getting married...I’d say, pack your bags.”

“Very funny.” Alexei returned to the window and peered out, seeing Kate and Debra and the little girl and her caregiver from the other day, donning their skates. He looked down at his suit. He’d need to change. “Well, then...” He grinned at Serge. “Let’s see what we can do about finding me a wife.”

A wife
. That was by far the dumbest idea Serge had ever come up with. Alexei disappeared inside his room in the suite and began shedding his clothes. He dressed in a pair of grey slacks and a midnight-blue pullover sweater—easy for ice skating.