Page 19 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
Red swirled in front of Kostya’s eyes as he tried to focus in on Gideon, but it was difficult because he was watching his mother’s stomach bursting open, her blood spraying across the walls and ceiling and finally landing across his father’s stunned face.
“Kostya?”
Kostya shook his head, trying to clear the blood from his vision.
“Kostya, are you with me?”
“I’m…” Kostya cleared his throat. “I’m with you.”
“You sure didn’t seem like you were with me.” Gideon’s voice was dubious.
“I just didn’t expect to be put on a psychiatrist’s couch by my best friend, so I got a little shook, what can I say?” Kostya forced a chuckle. Gideon still gave him the stink eye. “Come on Gideon, we need to get a report from Captain Lockhart and see how our guys are doing.”
Gideon gave him a knowing grin.
“Damn. I take it from the way you’re smiling that you’ve already hacked into their systems?” Kostya lifted his brow.
“Hacked is such an ugly word,” Gideon said as he opened the door to the locker room. “I might have peeked into a few places to see if there were any problems so I could address them with members of our team. That’s what you pay me for, isn’t it?” Gideon asked innocently.
Kostya couldn’t disagree with that. He went to his locker and grabbed clean clothes and a towel before heading to a bench to untie his boots. God, he needed a shower.
“So, what is the Captain going to tell us?” Kostya asked.
“Should be nothing but thumbs up. As a matter of fact, she plans to stay out a little longer and have Jase do some training with her men.”
“Not surprised,” Kostya said as he headed for the shower. “So I shouldn’t expect to see my guys back this week?”
Gideon shrugged as he turned on the water.
Kostya went through the roster of men who were still with him in case they were pulled in for a mission. He’d selected the men carefully for the training exercise so he wouldn’t be left hanging. The only change was having to send Jase Drakos in Landon Kelly’s place.
If Landon failed to show again, he’d have him doing paperwork for the next six months!
* * *
Kostya’s sistercalled that night and invited him over for dinner. Normally he’d be all-in, but his conversation with Gideon had gotten under his skin and he couldn’t settle.
“Sorry,Irinushka, I have too much paperwork I’ve got to get done,” he lied.
“Okay, but I expect to see you next week. Tony will be back then and he’s going to try to grill and you have to be here to make sure he doesn’t turn the steaks to charcoal.”
Kostya laughed. “I promise, I promise.”
On that note, he hung up and then walked over to the back of his house and looked out the large window to gaze at the back bay. The water normally soothed him, but not this afternoon. All he could think about was a feisty, sexy blonde.
“Dammit,” he muttered, then strode back to the kitchen and scooped up his cell phone. He punched in Lark’s number.
“Kostya?” she answered on the second ring. “Is something wrong?”
“Are you still in D.C.?” he asked.
“No, I’m in Baltimore.”
Kostya headed to the formal dining room that he’d made into his home office and opened up his laptop. “Why are you in Baltimore?” he asked.
“Sick friend,” Lark answered succinctly. “Kostya, why are you calling?”
He could see her reporter antennae sticking up even over the phone. He called up his favorite airline and checked out flights to Baltimore. In seconds he saw he could be on a plane in less than an hour, but he winced. In good conscience, he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t, not when he and his team were on stand-by. He switched the flights around. He could be picking her up at the Norfolk airport by eight o’clock tonight.
