Page 26 of The Bratva's Innocent Pregnant Bride
“I’m not going to admit something that’s not true,” I said, instantly realizing my mistake. I had the perfect opportunity to be free of him and missed it. Then again, it was probably better to have a big burly man around. His dancing eyes told me he knew he’d won that round but I couldn’t be mad since he was basically a free bodyguard. I could still act mad.
I opened my door, slid into my room and slammed it in his face.
“See you tomorrow,” he called through it.
Fine, good, as long as I could sit down now. My shaking legs gave out and I crumbled to the floor. The little sparring match had distracted me, but now I had to face my phone. Or did I?
What could I do to help the FBI? I didn’t know anything except about the existence of the list. I didn’t know why the hell anyone was on it or why they were getting killed. I’d been going nonstop since morning and I was beat. Learning about Mr. Caraggio’s death had just about toppled me.
Shrugging out of my clothes, I pulled on my pajamas and fell into bed, pushing the FBI and Axon firmly out of my mind so I could sleep. Dan remained front and center, plaguing my dreams.
I woke up, overheated and tangled in my blankets. Everything came rushing back. Dan’s unspoken promise to continue hounding me, the unanswered messages. My phone was still off and I left it that way, ignoring it like it was a sworn enemy.
I needed to hit the slopes, do some hardcore snowboarding to get rid of this awful anxiety before I took charge of the kids for the afternoon. Outside, the sky was leaden. It had snowed again during the night, with fresh powder coating all the trees and rooftops. It was record snowfall for that time of year, more than the resort had seen in a decade. At the moment, nothing was coming down, but the sky looked iffy, almost making me turn back.
Deciding to chance it for a quick run, I headed down to the lift. As soon as I pulled into the nearly deserted lot, another, familiar car pulled in next to me.
“You’re kidding me,” I said to Dan as he pulled his board from the back.
“You only had to admit we make a great team,” he said, shaking his head. “And I would have been forced to keep my word and ignore you.”
“You wouldn’t have kept your word,” I said. grabbing my board and stomping away from him.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he answered, easily keeping up with me. “Anyway, I was planning on a run this morning anyway. You tagging along is just the cherry on top.”
I gave him a horrified look and tried to take up the entire lift, but he hopped on beside me, our boards thudding together.
“You’re the one tagging along,” I said. “And good luck keeping up this time.”
“I don’t need luck when I have such a good teacher,” he answered smoothly.
I jumped off a second or two early and thumped over to the most difficult trail. There was a safety warning for heavy snowfall that afternoon, but that was hours away and right now Ineeded freedom. Especially from the insufferable man who was quickly catching up to me.
Well, let him try, there was no way he was ready for a trail like this. He’d be a fool to attempt it, and as annoying as he was, I knew he wasn’t stupid. As I careened down the hazardous track, I let out a whoop of triumph, whipping around to disappear from his view around a sharp curve. Free at last.
Chapter 17 - Daniil
The woman was driving me crazy. Paisley was on my mind day and night, not even sleep freed me from thoughts of her. And thoughts were all I was getting, because she wasn’t giving me the time of day unless she was forced to or I snuck in.
What was it about her? She was meaner than hell, but only to me. I was so far gone I didn’t even mind her dirty looks. Oh, I wanted her smiles, her soft sighs, her laughter. But damn, it, I was taking whatever I could get, and that wasn’t like me at all.
It pissed me off, and all I wanted was to get out and enjoy some fresh air and the newfound sport I had come to love. I was supposed to be getting her out of my head, but the moment I saw her, everything changed. I had to follow.
And now it looked like I had to keep up. Damn it, she really knew exactly how to injure my pride. Slamming doors in my face, scowling at my jokes, pretending she didn’t have the time of her life with me on more than one occasion, and now leaving me in a spray of snow.
I watched her until she took a hard turn on the treacherous looking trail and she was out of sight. But I could still hear her cry of triumph at leaving me behind.
There were probably a dozen available women at any of the resorts in town who wouldn’t treat me the way Paisley treated me. When did I become such a slavering dog for any woman? I glanced at the warning sign.
Expert only, and on top of that, a weather advisory. And Paisley had whipped onto the trail without hesitation. Of course she was an expert, and while I had taken to the new sport and felt confident in my ability, this was steep. And rocky. Anddotted with trees that looked like they reached with snowy, outstretched arms, inviting someone to slam into them.
Did she think I’d chicken out because of a warning sign? Hell no.
In another second, the scenery was speeding by and it took all my strength and concentration to stay on the trail, switching this way and that to avoid those sinister trees. Light snow began to fall and it was both peaceful and exhilarating. After only a few minutes, I caught sight of her, looking almost leisurely while I was sweating in my snow gear. She was damn good and a wondrous sight to behold.
And then she just disappeared.
I heard her shout and leaned forward to speed up, realizing too late it was a shout of joy. She’d taken a jump and as I neared the edge, I could see her land gracefully, swishing to the side to stop and look behind her.
