Page 76 of Disgraced (Russian Sinners 3)

Scarlett

“B-But aren’t you busy?” I stuttered. I didn’t expect him to come along.

“No, I’m all yours today.” There was the charming Sergei that I fell for but I knew it was all fake. I wouldn’t fall for it this time. It was ridiculous how easily he got to me.

“Whatever,” I muttered under my breath. “I don’t want to ask for a card or money every time I’m making a purchase. So I’d like either your credit card or mine.”

He nudged me forward, his hand on the small of my back. My body hummed in anticipation, like his hand on my back was just foreplay. God, my hormones were killing me. This was not normal, it couldn’t be.

When we got outside, everyone was already in vehicles, except for Sonia and Michail. It seemed overkill to have five vehicles for a shopping trip.

“You ready?” Sonia asked, her eyes darting between Sergei and me.

“Yes.” Turning to Michail, I addressed him. “Could you and Sergei ride in another vehicle so Sonia and I can-” I didn’t even get to finish when Sergei interrupted.

“No, we are riding together.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I’d rather just ride with Sonia, so we can make a shopping list in peace. That way we are in and out.”

“I doubt there is in and out with you, Scarlett,” he replied. “Well, except when we-”

“If you fucking say it, I will kill you,” I spat at him, then took Sonia’s hand. “Sit next to me, Sonia.”

She chuckled. “Okay, I sense more sizzling attraction flowing in the air.”

If my glare could kill, she’d be dead. “No, this is murderous sizzling.”

“Hmmm,” was all she replied, but there was a knowing look on her face.

Once we were all in the SUV, the vehicles moved. “This is ridiculous,” I muttered under my breath. “It’s just shopping, not a battlefield.”

Neither Michail nor Sergei commented.

“Okay, Scarlett,” Sonia tried to keep the topic light. “Tell me what you need so we know which stores to hit.”

“Clothes and I need a drug store.”

“That’s it? What kind of clothes? And do you need medicine?”

I sensed Sergei’s eyes on me but I ignored him. “No, like where you buy all kinds of stuff. Like shampoo, soap, body wash, condoms.”

Sonia’s mouth just about dropped. But what was I supposed to say? Pregnancy test? Usually condoms and pregnancy tests were in near vicinity in the U.S. stores. Hopefully they were in Russia too.

“Okay, I guess we can stop at the pharmacy,” Sonia mumbled and I was aware of Sergei and Michail’s eyes on me. I swore my face was burning but I refrained from fanning myself. “Why do you need condoms?”

“Oh, I don’t,” I replied, trying to seem nonchalant. I hated that I didn’t have a phone I could pretend to look at. “I was just giving you examples. But first let’s do a clothing store, one that has everything so we don’t have to jump from store to store.”

I honestly didn’t give a crap about more clothes. But in order to conceal buying a pregnancy test, I wanted a lot of bags so I could hide the pregnancy test.

The shopping trip was efficient. I grabbed a little bit of everything and asked whatever guard was too close to me to take piles of stuff to the counter, and I started with Sergei. Right after that, he gave me his card, and waited right at the entrance of the store. He had the store manager close the store to the public so we could be safe. So I felt obligated to buy a lot of stuff. Sonia, on the other hand, was enjoying the shopping too much. She kept lingering close, showing me this or that. I would agree it was cute and get it added to the pile. While it wasn’t a big deal at the clothing store, I wasn’t sure how I’d get the pregnancy test bought without her noticing.

Once we were done with the clothing store, we stopped at the pharmacy. With satisfaction, I noted all the guys swept through the store to ensure it was safe, and then lingered at each entrance of the store rather than stay close to me.

I grabbed a basket and filled it with everything and anything. I roamed around the store, desperately looking for a section where they kept condoms and pregnancy tests but the writing on the boxes was in Russian. Tiny problem! They usually had a plus and minus window picture on the box, right? That could be my clue. It would have been easier if I asked Sonia to help me out but she would have told Sergei or Michail. I was sure of it.

So I continued struggling aisle after aisle, and kept sending Sonia on fool’s errands. Finally, after I went through the whole pharmacy twice, I was at a loss. I ran into a woman stocking up the shelves. I pretended to look at the toothpaste on the bottom shelf. Glancing over my shoulders, I noted Sonia nor Sergei’s men were around or could see me.

“Excuse me,” I whispered quietly to the woman. “Do you speak English?”

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