Page 24 of Unbreakable Vow

“Sergei, I didn’t realize you were right there.”

“Of course not.” He turns his stare onto Mrs. Yugov.

“I’ll go get dinner started.” She hurries away, pausing only a moment near him and muttering something in Russian.

His face tightens for a second but then he gives her a soft nod, before she heads to the kitchen.

“Don’t be mad at her,” I say.

“I’m not. She’s not the one who left this morning when she was told not to.”

“That’s not really a fair statement. You didn’t say I had to stay here today. That was last night.” There’s a gray area somewhere, and that’s where I live. In that little spot of not complying but not outright rebelling either.

“Come with me,” he says, turning on his highly polished heel and walking off. I debate for a split second not going with him, but realize he’d probably just drag me with him, and I don’t need to make a scene.

He leads me through the first floor down the hall Mrs. Yugov had directed me to his office. After pushing the door open, he steps aside and gestures for me to enter.

Once he joins me, he shuts the door and flips the lock on the handle.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t want to be disturbed,” he says, reaching for my computer bag. I swing my shoulder away, out of his reach.

“I can hold it.”

His eyebrow darts up. “Hold it?”

“I mean you don’t need to take it.”

He grabs me by the shoulders, spins me until he can reach the bag and easily takes it from me.

“I’m not keeping it.” He puts it down on a table near the door. “Should I look inside? Will I find something you don’t want me to see?”

“It’s just my computer and a notebook.” I raise my chin.

“You went somewhere with your computer, why?” he asks.

“I wanted to work on my resume and apply for some jobs.”

“You’re looking for a job? You work at the country club still, right?” he questions.

“How did you know about that?”

“I saw you there. Months ago.”

“Ohmigod, that was you,” I whisper. My insides tingle at the flicker of a memory.

I had seen him. My boss had been going off on me for something and a man in a dark suit with a severe expression walked nearby. Jason had noticed him and straightened up, forced himself to smile, and hurried off.

It was Sergei. When I’d seen him in that news article, he’d looked so damn familiar. But I wasn’t sure, and I’d thought it silly to even consider that he’d be at that club. Even sillier that he’d take an interest in what was happening between a server and the boss.

“Yes. Did your boss do something? Is that why you are looking for a new job?”

“It’s not a permanent job. I’m on the call list. So, if they’re short, they call me in. I was working at a real estate office for a few months, but I got let go last week.” It’s not helpful to have your main phone operator have to keep leaving work to run across town to help calm her mother down whenever a doctor showed up unexpectedly in her room.

Sergei’s jaw ticks.

“You have no job then.” I can give him some credit; he’s trying to have patience. “Is that what you’re telling me? That’s why you needed the money so badly?”

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