Page 7 of Brutal Loyalty

“How often does that happen?” Elena finally asked, breaking the long silence.

“What, an engine overheating?” Roman glanced at her. “I’ve never had that happen before.”

“Wow. Lucky us.” It was all Elena could think to say. Her heart had continued to race long after the emergency, and she felt almost dizzy now that the adrenaline rush had passed.

“Not too lucky. We’re low on fuel.” Roman pointed to a small circular gauge. Elena stared at it, wide-eyed, then turned to stare at him.

“How much farther do we have to go? Please don’t tell me I need to pull out the manual again or something,” Elena said, trying to hide her second round of panic for the night. She saw Roman’s mouth twitch. Then, slowly, his lips curled into a tiny, faint smile.

“Just a few more miles. We’re almost ready to land, and we’ve been descending for a while now. I’m surprised you didn’t notice,” Roman said.

“You bastard!” She swatted at the air next to him in a dramatic gesture. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

“Payback, Ms. Popov, for the troubles you have caused me.” Roman’s faint smile widened into a smirk.

“I’m not even going there right now.” Elena rolled her eyes. “But I will remind you, chaufferone, that I saved the day by reading you that manual.” She crossed her arms and scooted deeper into her seat.

“And I will remind you that, without me to guide you and fly the plane, we both would have been eaten by sharks or frozen in the Atlantic Ocean.”

“Just gotta outdo me, don’t you?” Elena snorted. “Ass.”

Despite his mean joke, Roman was right about how close they were to their destination; within minutes, she felt the plane jump and screech as they touched down on the runway. The landing was easy, and knowing they were no longer in the air was bliss to Elena.

When the plane stopped moving and the door opened, Roman gestured for Elena to climb down first. She went to stand and found her muscles weak from the adrenaline drop. Carefully, she grabbed her suitcase and made her way down one stair at a time. Roman followed.

On the last step, her knees buckled. The suitcase hit the ground and a cry escaped Elena’s lips, but rather than feel the cold sting of concrete, she felt strong arms scooping her up. Roman had caught her and was holding her tightly. The adrenaline from their harrowing flight was joined by a new surge of excitement when she felt the warmth of his body.

Without thinking, Elena lifted her head and joined their mouths for an intense, spur-of-the-moment kiss. Her knees went weak again with the contact, and this time, it had nothing to do with the flight. Roman tasted like mint, and although he seemed startled at first, she felt his lips working against hers, prolonging the kiss.

Then, as quickly as it had happened, it was over.

Elena cleared her throat and tried to walk away as Roman set her down awkwardly, but her knees buckled again even before he let her go. Roman steadied her and linked their arms to prevent her from stumbling again. He stooped to pick up her suitcase with his free hand and then escorted her carefully off the runway.

Yeah. Maybe chaufferone wasn’t so bad after all.

CHAPTER5

Roman

After a long, nerve-racking flight, the last thing Roman wanted to do was get behind the wheel of a car and make the two-hour drive back to the mansion, but he would do what needed to be done. Elena sat in the back of the town car with her suitcase next to her, staring out the window with a pout. He was grateful for the silence—it was far preferable to her sarcasm and eye-rolling—but there was a question that kept plaguing him.

“What was that about?” Roman asked her. He heard her shift her weight in the plush leather seat.

“What was what about?” Elena replied after a pause.

“The kiss.”

“Pfft. I don’t know. Just glad to be alive after I got off that stupid plane. But it wasn’t all me, you know. You kissed me back.”

Roman wasn’t sure what to say in response, so he remained silent. He couldn’t remember the last time he had shared a kiss. It had been…good. But Elena was still a Popov, a sworn enemy, and so Roman tried to push away the feelings she had stirred in him. Still…Her lips had been warm, her taste sweet, and he hated himself for being unable to forget it.

After weaving through traffic, they finally pulled up to the rolling drive of the Sokolov estate. Roman parked, keeping a careful eye on Elena. They entered the mansion to find Viktor and Alexandra waiting for them.

“Elena! I missed you so much!” Alexandra exclaimed as she and Elena rushed toward each other for a long hug. Roman watched their interactions with scrutiny, but ensured that he remained outwardly nonchalant. It would be in poor taste and mean potential trouble for him to question in front of others Viktor’s decision to bring Elena here. Viktor was Roman’s long-time friend and pakhan, and he could not bring himself to argue that Elena was not truly a defector if that was the stance Viktor had taken. Roman had no evidence, after all, only a gut feeling—which was rarely wrong.

While Alexandra and Elena chatted a mile a minute, Viktor clapped Roman on the back.

“I heard it was a hell of a flight. If anyone could have done it, it was you,” Viktor said with a smile.

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