Page 110 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
“Kostya, sweetheart. Talk to me.”
“I don’t know if I can,” he choked out. “I was weak. So weak. I failed him.” His voice trailed away. Again Lark waited for him to continue.
“Who did you fail?” Lark eventually asked softly.
“Roman,” Kostya whispered.
Lark tried to grapple with his answer. She knew he couldn’t be talking about his nephew; his nephew was fine. She looked down at the book in his hands.
“Who’s Roman?”
“My brother. My older brother. It was my job to keep him safe, and I failed.” Kostya started to tremble. Lark set her wineglass down on the coffee table and didn’t care when it toppled over. Instead, she launched herself at Kostya, pulling him into her arms.
“I’ve got you,” she crooned. “I’ve got you.”
He grabbed at her like she was the only solid thing in a world gone mad. Lark hadn’t the slightest idea what she said to him, she just knew that she kept talking, soothing him, almost as if he were that child on the cover of the book. When Kostya had regained control, he stiffened. She could feel him begin to draw inward, but there wasn’t a chance in hell she was going to allow it.
“Booze.”
“Huh?”
She released her hold on him and pushed up from the couch. “Booze,” she gave him a saucy grin. “I’ve already spilled my wine, so it’s time for the good stuff.” She strode to the kitchen. “Where’s the Jameson?” Lark opened the cabinet above the stove.
She felt him behind her. “For God’s sake, woman, I would not store my good whiskey above something that heats up.” He reached up to the cupboard over the refrigerator and pulled out an unopened bottle of liquid gold. “So, my meltdown drove you to drink, did it?” he asked as he pulled out two highball glasses. “How much do you need?” He broke the seal on the bottle.
“Dial it back, big guy. This is the part where we agreed to share dysfunctional childhoods, share some booze, and laughs. Don’t go all broody Russian on me.” She took the bottle out of his hands and poured herself a finger of whiskey.
He stared at her, befuddled. She had to fight back a smile. She pulled the paper towel roll off the holder, took her drink, and went back to the sofa. When she started to clean up the spilled wine mess, he took the paper towels out of her hands and took over.
“Sit down and tell me how in the hell I went from having a nervous breakdown all over you to having laughs over our childhoods.”
“Well, maybe not laughs. After all, you were all gentle, sweet, and nice to me about the big bad step-grandfather crap…” Lark sighed. “So I guess I need to shove some compassion your way.”
Kostya chuckled.
Lark sat back and crossed her legs, enjoying the fact that he immediately stared at them, even if they were in jeans. Good, the man was definitely back in the moment and he wasn’t going all deep-freeze on her. Now she should be able to get him to share with her.
“So?” Lark asked as she patted the seat cushion next to her.
Kostya nodded and sat down. He took a healthy swallow of whiskey. “There’s really not much to tell about my childhood.”
Yeah, sure.
Lark plucked his glass out of his hand and carefully deposited both of their drinks on the coffee table. She didn’t want a spillage repeat. She got up off the couch and unbuttoned the first two buttons of her blouse. Kostya’s eyes turned navy blue. Lark swung one leg over his lap, then straddled him, shimmying down so that both knees rested comfortably along each of his hips.
“There now, I’m holding you as you held me. Fair’s fair.”
“Lark, I never talk about this.” His words were a plea. But she couldn’t allow it, he desperately needed to talk.
“Kostya,” she breathed out his name as she curved her hands around both sides of his neck. “Tell me about your brother. What was he like?” She kept her voice soft.
His eyes searched hers. She tried to give him all the empathy and understanding he would need for his story, and he must have seen it because he answered her.
“He was smart,” he said solemnly. “Roman was so much smarter than me. At school, he was the smartest in his class, even smarter than all the older kids.”
Lark nodded and waited.
“But he never made me feel stupid. We were a team. Roman was sick a lot. Mama said it was lung disease, so I was bigger than he was and kids tried to bully him.”
