His possession

chapter four

I now knew my father's name.

I'd initially wanted to learn about my birth parents because I possessed an overdeveloped sense of curiosity. Then it had occurred to me that I might have gotten my sense of curiosity from my parents.

After that, I'd imagined a man and a woman in their forties, mired in endless wondering about the child they'd given up to a Russian orphanage twenty-four years ago. The thought had pushed me to take on yet another job, to keep digging relentlessly. I'd searched not just for my sake, but for theirs.

But he'd never known I existed? Then I frowned. "My investigator? Zironoff? He hasn't returned my e-mails or calls."

"He was made aware that we would be handling this internally going forward."

"Oh." Thanks for the heads-up, dickwad. At least I hadn't gotten ripped off again. No, I'd . . . succeeded.

After six years of searching.

I tottered from shock--and residual tequila. I returned the tank cover to its spot before it dropped on my head like a cartoon anvil. "If you're my bodyguard, then why were you spying on me in the bath?" I snagged my pink robe, hastily swapping it for the towel. "Huh?"

Silence. When I didn't hear anything, I had a weird spike of panic that this man--a new source of answers, an alleviator of curiosity--had vanished as quickly as he'd appeared. "Are you there?"

Trying not to think of how short my silk robe was--and what he'd just caught me doing--I poked my head out of the bathroom; no sign of him. So I cautiously padded toward my room. "You didn't answer my question. Hey, why are you in my closet?"

He emerged from the walk-in. "Where is your luggage?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I didn't have real luggage. I'd packed for school in laundry baskets and boxes.

He raked his eyes over me in my robe, lingering on choice parts of me. Seeming to shake himself, he snagged my sizable book bag, dumping library books on the floor. The History of Sexuality, The Boundaries of Eros, A Thorn in the Flesh.

"What the hell, Russian?!" If he'd noticed the titles--my general field was the history of women and gender--they didn't faze him.

When he tossed the empty bag to me, I barely caught it. "Pack necessities only. Everything else will be provided for you."

I gaped down at the bag then back up. "I'm not doing anything, not until you tell me where you think I'm going. And why this can't wait until tomorrow. For all I know, you could be a human trafficker!"

"And this would be my m.o.?" He exhaled with a kind of surprised impatience, as if no one had ever argued with him before--as if he'd done this to a hundred other girls, and every one of them had started packing with a Yes, sir. "My name is Aleksandr Sevastyan. Call me Sevastyan." Like Sebastian with a v. "I've worked for your father for decades. Kovalev is keen to meet you." He added almost to himself, "I've never seen him so eager."

"Ho

w can he be sure I'm his daughter? Zironoff could've made a mistake."

"Nyet," he said, enunciating a hard no. "You offered up your DNA. Kovalev already had his on file. There is no mistake."

"If he's so eager to meet me, why didn't he come himself? Why not just call me?"

"As I said, he is a very important man in Russia, and at present, he's caught up with work concerns that can't be handled by anyone but himself. He trusts me implicitly." Sevastyan moved to my bedroom window, peering out between the blind slats with the same wariness I'd noticed in the bar. "If you pack a bag and get on a plane with me, he will meet you at his estate outside Moscow in less than fourteen hours. This is your father's wish--one I will be carrying out."

My manalyzer might be c****d up, but my bullshit detector was still pinging clear; against all odds, I was starting to believe this guy.

Reality began to set in. "But I've got shifts tomorrow." Which I wouldn't need if my search could end. "And my classes!" As soon as the words left my lips, I felt silly. What would this towering, tattooed Russian understand about a Husker's advanced degree? What would he care?

Surprisingly, he said, "Your schooling is important to you. We understand this. But your father wants you in Russia now. Not next month or next week. You leave tonight."

"Does he always get what he wants?"

"Without fail." Sevastyan checked his expensive-looking watch. "Our flight leaves in an hour. I'll explain more on the way to the airport."

Airport? Flight? I'd never been on a plane. Yet I could be in Russia in less than a day. Don't think of the postcards, don't think . . .

Even Jess had never been to Russia!

Then I straightened. "Again, what's the rush? And news flash--I don't have a passport! How am I going to get into Moscow without one?"

"I'll work that out. It's not a problem." Sevastyan shut off the lamp beside my bed, dimming the room.

"How can that not be a problem?" I glanced at the tattoos on his scarred fingers and had a sinking suspicion, but tried to ignore it. Nope, not possible . . .

"I understand that all of this is a lot to take in. But things are different for you now, Natalie. Some rules . . . no longer apply." I squared my shoulders. "Not good en--"

"Let me make this simple for you," he interrupted. "I'm walking out of this house in five minutes. You can either walk out with me, packed and dressed, or leave in that little robe"--his piercing eyes swept over me, over my n*****s pressing against the silk--"thrown over my shoulder. Your choice."

His tone and bearing left no doubt that he was dead serious about kidnapping me. This ruble-billionaire's bodyguard was going to finish his job--period. Still, I dared another question. "Why haven't you said anything about my mother?"

When his eyes narrowed, I again got the impression that not many people challenged this man.

"Four minutes."

I folded my arms over my chest. "I can't just sign on for this, Sevastyan. Not without more answers."

"Which I promise you will get when we are under way."

Worst case scenario: if I didn't like what he had to say, I could run from him at the airport, straight into the arms of security guards.

Sevastyan crossed to stand in front of me. The soft light caressed his hard features. They were almost too masculine. His rugged jaw was wide, the bridge of his aquiline nose slightly askew, giving him a roguish look. But on the whole, he was devastatingly attractive, with that dangerous aura about him.

"You must trust me, pet," he said as he reached forward to gently grasp my chin.

At his touch, that dizzying heat filled me once more. It was just the liquor at work, I assured myself, or exhaustion catching up with me. Or my unsuccessful bath time.

"You know my intent isn't to harm you," he murmured. "Otherwise, I could have led you from that bar earlier, taking you somewhere for us to be alone." My breaths went shallow at that. "Would you not have left with me?"

In--a--heartbeat.

He leaned down to say at my ear, "That's right, Natalya. You would have followed where I led."

"Um . . . uh . . ." I was still recovering from the sound of my name in his raspy accent when I felt his warm breaths. Oh, God, had his lips ghosted over my ear? If his scent and heat had affected me, this grazing contact made my legs weak.

He drew back, expression inscrutable. "So why don't you stop acting like you haven't already made up your mind to come with me."

"P-pardon?"

"You were decided as soon as you heard the words Russia, father, and go." His firm lips thinned, making that razor-slice scar whiten.

"That's not necessarily true--"

"Time's up, pet." He bent down to loop an arm around my ass, hoisting me over his shoulder.