Page 6 of Nikolai
ChapterTwo
Parker didn’t understand what happened.She’d put her hand on this giant’s arm, this man she didn’t know and yet she felt more of a connection with him than with anyone she’d recently met.How could she hope to comfort him, when she was nothing to him?But that story broke her heart.And his.She could tell.
He didn’t look like a softie at all.In fact, he looked like he could chew glass.Very tall and immensely strong.There were a bunch of Army and Navy officers here on the Consulate terrace.Aunt Caroline made a point of always keeping good relations with military personnel wherever she was stationed and fully half the guests were military.Their invitations readDress Code: Summer Whitesand wherever they congregated in a group you had to shield your eyes from the glare.They were all tough men and women but Aunt Caroline’s security consultant—one Nikolai Garin—beat them at the toughness game.Effortlessly.
She’d been wondering how soon she could escape and go eat something somewhere that didn’t taste as if it had been regurgitated by the seagulls wheeling overhead, when he’d suddenly appeared beside her.
Parker had had zero desire to flirt, but he hadn’t flirted, or at least he hadn’t said or done anything to make her uncomfortable.Of course, the fact that he was a fan was ahugeargument in his favor.
And then he’d told her that story.
And then she’d put her hand on his arm, for comfort.
And then she found herself gripped in his arms, shaken off her feet.Or she would have been shaken off her feet if he hadn’t pulled her to him in an iron clasp.The world moved, but Nikolai Garin didn’t.He was as solid as a stone monument when everything around her shook.
The world had suddenly gone crazy, the ground moving literally beneath her feet.She held on to Nikolai like her life depended on it, burying her face in his chest, because he was the only stable thing in a tilting world.
One long breath, two, three, and the world stopped rocking.She held on for another moment, leaning against a warm, living wall.Then she pulled away, ashamed.
It had been an earthquake, not an apocalypse.
She leaned back against his arms, and he loosened his grip immediately.He held her shoulders and he carefully examined her.“You okay?”
“Y-yes.What?—”
Parker looked around and finally focused on the world around her.Down along Via Acton, the boulevard which followed the bay, cars had driven off the road and drivers were honking.Almost all the parked cars had sirens wailing, mixing with the sounds in the distance of ambulances and police sirens.An earthquake with sound effects.
On the terrace, several waiters had dropped their trays to hang onto something, and the terrace was filled with glass shards and broken plates and food.
One woman—an Italian by her dress— was sobbing and someone—her husband perhaps—was trying to comfort her.
The American military officers were all tight-lipped, looking to someone gray-haired and with a chestful of fruit salad for instructions.She was giving orders while talking on a cellphone.
In the distance came the sound of an explosion.
“Gas line,” Nikolai said.
Startled, Parker stepped completely out of his embrace.It had felt very natural to be near him during the earthquake, which was ridiculous.She had always been able to take care of herself and here the earth shook a little, and she cowered in a man’s arms.
Big strong arms, but still.
“Epicenter Campi Flegrei,” he said, consulting his phone.“5.5 on the Mercalli scale.What?”
She’d kept her expression neutral or tried to.But it seemed Nikolai Garin was unusually perceptive.
“Uhmm, nothing.It’s just that our dig is near the Campi Flegrei, in Pozzuoli.”
“A dig in a seismic zone, that’s not good.”
Parker sighed.“Can’t do anything about it.That’s where a Roman villa has been found.We’ll be careful.”
“If you’re a classicist, not an archeologist, what are you doing on a dig?”
“Not digging, that’s for sure.But I am gathering notes and taking photos.”
Luckily, he didn’t enquire what she was taking notes on.He looked around at the chaos on the terrace.Caroline Munro had arrived and was taking charge, but the reception was over.
Nikolai touched her elbow.“Looks like this whole thing is over.I have my car nearby.Can I give you a lift anywhere?”
