Page 20 of Saint

“It’s negative fifteen out there,” Hunter informed them.

Mia pulled her hood up as Nik grinned. “That’s practically balmy,” he said and unlocked the cabin door.

An icy wind hit Mia’s face as she stepped onto the rolling stairs supplied by an airport crew member. “Oh, my God,” she whispered, shocked by the temperature. As a native Californian, she’d never experienced anything like it. The cold stung, piercingher exposed skin like icy needles and the bitter wind viciously sought to penetrate her clothes.

Stepping down onto the frozen tarmac, she glanced over to see Nik close his eyes and breathe in deeply. The man was home and seemed to practically revel in the polar vortex. Mia, on the other hand, started shaking. Her feet already felt frozen to the ground as she watched Nik talk in rapid-fire Russian to an airport employee. After he handed Nik a set of keys, Nik reached for her hand and tugged.

“C’mon, let’s get in the car before you freeze,” he said.

The engine was already running and when Nik opened the passenger side door, blessed heat poured out. Mia jumped in and he shut the door and circled around to the driver’s side. As he got in, Mia leaned closer to the vent, soaking up the warmth.

“Now I know what a popsicle feels like,” she chattered, and Nik threw his head back and laughed. It was the most genuine emotion she’d seen since they’d met at the bar. And she liked it.

“Dobro pozhalovat' v Rossiyu,” he said. “Welcome to Russia.”

She tried to smile, but her face was still numb. Maybe coming here wouldn’t be so bad, she told herself. Especially if he kept smiling at her like that. “Is it always this insanely cold?” she asked.

“No, it gets up into the seventies here in the summer. It’s just the winters that are a bitch.” He turned the car toward the road and hit the gas, maneuvering the vehicle through the snow with ease and experience.

“Where exactly are we?” The landscape was a frozen tundra that looked magical and inhospitable at the same time.

“Perm. Eastern Europe.” He pointed to a massive ridge of mountains in the distance. “Those are the Urals.”

“They’re ginormous.”

“You think it’s cold here, it’s probably negative thirty up there.”

Mia shivered at the mere thought of that kind of ungodly cold. As she turned to look back out the side window, she was startled when five black SUVs appeared and surrounded them. Her head whipped back to look at Nik, and she saw and felt him tense as he slowed down.

“What’s going on?” Mia leaned forward but couldn’t see a thing through the other cars’ blacked-out windows.

“Looks like our escort has arrived.”

“Nadia?”

He nodded. “You got the burner?”

“Yes.” She placed her hand over the lump in her pocket.

“Okay, good. This could go one of two ways—she’ll help us or try to kill us. Be prepared.”

Mia’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me?”Wonderful.Just what she wanted. To die and have her body be tossed into a Russian snowbank.

As Nik allowed their SUV to be forcibly escorted along the road, Mia studied him closely, hoping to find reassurance. But even with his gloves on, she could tell he was gripping the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white, and his stubbled jaw was clenched.He’s not sure what’s going to happen,she realized.

After a ten-minute drive, they entered a small town and stopped outside what looked like a hole-in-the-wall bar or restaurant.

“Where are we?” Mia asked.

“C’mon, let’s find out.”

His words weren’t very reassuring, but she got out of the car and stuck close to Nik as a group of large, scary-looking Russians guided them inside. It was a dimly-lit tavern with scarred tables, wooden chairs, a bar and a roaring fire to chase away the chill. Even though the heat warmed her, Mia trembled.

A slim, very beautiful woman with sharp cheekbones, ebony hair and bright red lips strode out of a back room. Her feline-like green eyes zeroed in on Nik and she grinned a Cheshire-cat smile. “Welcome home, Nikolai,” she practically purred.

Mia glanced up at Nik whose expression remained unreadable.

“Hello, Nadia,” he said coolly.

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