Page 30 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
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Kostya lookedout the window of the truck as they passed yet another mind-numbing kilometer. All he could see was a canvass of white. He hated snow with a passion. Thirty-five years later he could still remember what it felt like when that bastard Fedor had forced him and his brother and sister to go on even when it was obvious that Roman was burning up with fever.
Kostya shoved that memory aside and concentrated on the here and now because it was his job to deal with it, so he did. It was something he learned how to do when he was seven years old and he’d had no other choice but to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and carry Irina so they had a chance at living. Even when it seemed like his world had come to an end.
Stop being morbid! It’s just snow!
His lip curled up as he took joy in the fact that he wasn’t driving, Lincoln was. The weather was absolute shit, but Linc was doing an amazing job. There was only one fly in the ointment.
Landon Kelly.
“If I shove him out the door, we can make it look like an accident,” Nolan murmured to Kostya. He was the SEAL closest in age to Kostya, and on certain things, he could often read Kostya’s mind. Like, for instance, the fact that Landon hadn’t shut up for the last two and a half hours and was sorely in need of a muzzle.
“Linc asked the kid to talk, remember? He said listening to somebody helped him drive since he can’t get a radio signal, which makes no sense considering the fact that the SISU truck is the pride of the Finnish military.”
“You gotta admit, the seats aren’t that bad,” Gideon said from his left. Kostya grimaced like he gave a shit at this point.
“I can pull up songs on my phone, for God’s sake,” Nolan practically groaned under his breath. “I’d even listen to whatever god-awful music Landon has onhisphone if I didn’t have to hear his inane chatter anymore. Does anybody in their right mind actually watch the Headless Singer?”
“It’s the Masked Singer,” Kostya corrected quietly. “Unfortunately my niece does, so I hear about that shit from her too. It makes my ears bleed.”
“But Landon knows who has been screeching in it each season. How? How? Next, he’s going to tell Linc he plays with Barbies.”
Ryker snickered from across the aisle.
“Who wants to bet that he starts spouting his Call of Duty scores?” Mateo asked, careful to keep his voice down.
“Nah, that’s a total given,” Sebastian sighed. His Cajun accent was strong which meant that he was at his wit’s end too.
“Agreed,” Kostya nodded. He squinted at Mateo as he assessed him. The man might not have been with his team as long as the others, but he had Landon’s number, that was for damn sure. “Man who guesses closest to his C.o.D. scores wins the pot. What do you say, fifty each?” Kostya proposed quietly.
Gideon outright chuckled. “Oh, I’m in.” He rubbed his thick winter gloves together in glee.
Kostya’s head jerked around to look at his second-in-command. “Keep your voice down. Also, I don’t like the sound of that at all, Smith. Have you been checking his stats? You creep around online far too much. You need to get laid more often.”
All the men in the back laughed.
“Whatchya laughing about back there?” Landon called from the front.
“I call foul. Sebastian’s laughing too fucking hard. Apparently married life with Giana is agreeing with him,” Ryker said as he nudged the man with his shoulder.
“I can’t help it if my life is perfect,” Sebastian smiled.
Kostya liked hearing that. After all the shit Sebastian had gone through with his grandfather and uncle he deserved some happiness.
“Ryker tried to tell a joke, then couldn’t remember how it ended. So pathetic,” Nolan called out to Landon.
“Oh,” Landon responded. Then he started talking to Linc again.
“I have not checked out Landon’s or anyone else’s Call of Duty statistics for that matter,” Gideon whispered. “That’s a little too juvenile for me. But I do like the idea of making educated guesses on statistics—that’s right up my alley, so count me in.”
“Ah, he just thinks he’s some kind of logical Mr. Spock, therefore he’s going to blow it,” Ryker grinned. “I vote for upping it to a hundred. This is going to be one long drive.”
Every man nodded, then Gideon shoved his elbow into Kostya’s ribs.
“You okay?” he whispered really low, making sure that Nolan, who was on Kostya’s other side, couldn’t hear him.
Kostya appreciated, yet didn’t appreciate Gideon’s question. It sucked having friends who knew so much of your history.
