Beautiful Russian Monster: Chapter 26

I sat on the bay window bench and looked up at the dark forest. It was raining heavily, and everywhere I looked there were dark shadows hiding behind the trees. For a moment, I fantasized that Viktor was up there, just like he was the first night. I pretended that he was looking down on me.

“A penny for your thoughts.” My grandmother sat down on the bench beside me.

“How are you, Grandma?”

“I feel like utter crap, and I miss Pappa every second that I am awake, but you know what? Today was a bit better than yesterday. And maybe tomorrow will be better than today.”

I reached up and grabbed her hand. “I’m sad too.”

“Darling, do you think you are going to be moving back to your place?”

I couldn’t imagine returning to my empty, cold apartment. I couldn’t imagine returning to anything normal. I wanted to stay in my childhood home and heal with my grandmother. “Do you want me to leave?”

“I love having you stay here, but I don’t want you to put your life on hold for me.”

“It is on hold. But not because of you—because I don’t know how to move forward.”

She gave me a sad smile. “You’re welcome here as long as you like. You know that. I just don’t want you to be here out of pity.”

“It’s the only place I want to be right now.”

She rubbed the top of my hand. “This is going to sound weird, so bear with me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I was in such a fog the day of the funeral that I wasn’t really present, but I have this nagging memory that doesn’t make sense. Was there a fistfight at the reception?”

I winced as I remembered how horrifying that fight had been. I thought Pierre would kill Viktor. “Yes.”

She frowned further. “Was Pierre in that fight?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I thought I had been hallucinating.”

“It happened.”

She sat back with an intrigued expression. “Who was Pierre fighting?”

“My friend, Viktor.”

Her eyes lit up. “The very big man who helped us find Pappa.”

“Pierre said that Andrusha and Viktor attacked him, but I don’t know what to believe. Viktor looked like he got equally hurt in the fight.”

“Pierre is extremely jealous of this new friend.”

“He shouldn’t be—Pierre and I are only friends.”

My grandmother laughed. I think it was the first time she’d laughed since my grandfather had gone missing. “Darling, Pierre has been in love with you since day one.”

“Why do people keep telling me this?” I could hear the exasperation in my voice.

“Maybe because it’s true.”

“I’ve never led him on.”

She tilted her head and squeezed my hand. “No, but a man can dream. What about this Viktor gentleman?”

I had told my grandmother that I had hired Viktor’s company to help us find my grandfather and that we had gone to Asia together, but I had never gone into details. There had been too many other things going on.

I wasn’t sure I could bear to talk about him. It hurt too much. “Grandma, I don’t want to burden you with all this.”

“Blaire, this is the first time I’ve thought about anything other than my own pain in I don’t know how long. Please keep going. Tell me about Viktor.”

I didn’t even know where to start. “He’s so strong. He’s like this rock, and I feel so safe around him. He’s really funny—when we were together, we would joke around. And he is so tough, but with me, he’s so gentle.”

God, I miss him so much.

I could feel tears build up behind my eyes. “And he thinks we’re too different to be together, and he’s been avoiding me—and I miss him.”

I burst out into tears and covered my face with my hands. “And I know there are bigger problems here, but I’m so devastated that he won’t even give us a try.”

My grandmother pulled me into her arms, and for the first time since all of this had started, she rocked me. She comforted me. “There, now. It’s not too late.”

“I don’t even know how to get in touch with him. We were supposed to talk at the funeral—and then they were fighting… and his beautiful face was hurt… and then he told me to let him go.”

I clung to her as I cried harder. She held me while I cried myself out. Then she handed me a tissue. “Well, I don’t think he would have shown up at the funeral if he didn’t care.”

I lifted my face. “You think he cares?”

“A man who didn’t care for you would just cut all ties. But he’s showing up in your life, and he seems to be struggling to let you go.”

I hadn’t thought of that. “He told me to leave him alone.”

“Why does he get to make the rules? I think you need to confront him.”

“What?” I shook my head. “Grandma, no!”

“Maybe try to look a bit more sexy. Take off these flannel pants and put on something a bit tighter. A dash of lipstick wouldn’t hurt either.”

“Grandma!”

She brushed the hair off my forehead. “He’ll either fully push you away, or he will love you back—but it’s better to know one way or another.”

That thought terrified me. “What if he doesn’t love me?”

She gave me a tender smile. “If he doesn’t love you, then he’s an idiot and he’s definitely not your soul mate. Now, how are you going to find him?”

“Andrusha gave me his card, and it has his office’s address on it. I could try there.”

“That is an excellent idea. Now you go get ready, and I’m going to call my driver for you.”

My grandmother’s driver slowly moved the car down the driveway of a large acreage lined with cameras. We passed what looked like some sort of military obstacle course. At the end of the long driveway was a cluster of buildings. One looked like a small airplane hangar. One was a barn with its doors open. Inside the big doors was a boxing ring and a collection of gym equipment. In the distance, gunfire echoed off the steep, mountainous hill that nudged up against the property.

Andrusha appeared at the big doors. He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest.

The driver sounded nervous. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

“Park the car and wait for me, please. Don’t get out.”

The driver gave me a slightly horrified look. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

I walked across the gravel driveway. I had on a soft blue long-sleeved dress and a darker blue coat. I had dressed to entice Viktor, but now I felt a bit foolish since only Andrusha was here.

“Is that gunfire?”

“We have a gun range. Come on in.”

We didn’t speak as he led me across the empty gym into a nicely decorated office space with a comfortable waiting room and a boardroom off to the side. I looked around, but I couldn’t see Viktor anywhere.

“Come sit in my office. Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you.”

Instead of sitting at the desk, he led me over to a set of couches. He sat down across from me. “What can I do for you, Blaire?”

“I’m here to see Viktor.”

He leaned back against the couch. “I was wondering when you would show up.”

That made me blink. “Really?”

“Viktor is a stubborn arse at times. If you’re with him, you’ll to have learn to bend sometimes.”

“Is he here?”

“He left for France a couple of days ago.”

Just knowing that he wasn’t in the same country made my heart stumble. “He left the country?”

“He’s looking for the sniper. The one who killed your grandfather.”

The thought that Viktor was out in the world looking for a killer terrified me. “He thinks he’s in France?”

“What did he tell you about Beirut?”

“Drake told Viktor that the sniper was after him because of something that happened in Beirut. Viktor said he had two missions in Beirut that went bad.”

He looked at me with curiosity. “How much do you know about Viktor’s past?”

“Tonko told me that he was good at his job.”

Andrusha looked flummoxed. “You met Tonko?”

“Yes, right before the hurricane.”

“The hurricane?”

It baffled me that he didn’t know these things. “Don’t you and Viktor talk?”

“First of all, no one has met the legend we all know as Tonko.”

“He passed away.”

Andrusha’s eyes widened in disbelief. “How?”

“In the storm. I’m surprised Viktor didn’t tell you all this.”

He looked down at his hands. “Well, Viktor hasn’t been himself.”

I thought about the sniper. “The sniper was here for Viktor, not my family?”

“We think that the sniper was hired by the broker or the buyer—to ensure the sale went through. But once the sniper recognized Viktor, his priorities shifted. We’re not sure. We’re not even sure who the sniper is or why he has it in for Viktor.”

“Drake said he was connected to Beirut? Do you know what happened there? What went wrong?”

“Viktor didn’t go into detail?”

“No.” I prayed that Andrusha would share more with me than Viktor had. “What happened?”

“The first time Viktor was in Beirut, he was on a mission with a small team and he lost a good friend to a sniper. The friend’s name was Fyodor.”

I remembered that name. That was the name Viktor had shouted out during his nightmare on the boat. “That’s really awful.”

“Viktor realized there was a sniper on the roof, and he got his entire team out of the way, saving everyone except Fyodor. Fyodor had broken protocol and stepped into a shop to buy a drink. Viktor was running toward him, telling him to get down, and Fyodor got shot as he came out. They were very good friends, and Viktor felt responsible.”

“Why does he always think things are his fault?”

“This is Viktor’s one flaw. He thinks he has to save the whole world.”

“What happened the second time he was in Beirut?”

“Russia has been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Lebanon over the years. Viktor’s team was assigned to guard an official who had come to make a public show of solidarity with someone from the Lebanese government—but a third party ended up assassinating the wife of the Russian diplomat. Viktor did everything right. He followed protocol. Someone from the Lebanese military screwed up and let the wrong person in.”

“Have you guys figured out how this is connected to the sniper?”

“Our team went back and found everyone connected to these two cases. And no one cares—all of this stuff is cold—but finally we figured something out. Or Viktor did.”

“About Beirut?”

He stood up and walked to the bar. “You sure you don’t want a drink?”

“Do I need one?”

He poured two drinks and brought one back to me. “Maybe.”

The suspense was almost killing me. “What did Viktor remember about Beirut?”

“He forgot to mention the third trip he made to that city.”

I took a fortifying sip of my drink. “Go on.”

“He spent one weekend in Beirut waiting for a woman who didn’t show up. That’s all I know.”

I could feel my heart beating faster. The thought of Viktor being stood up made me want to angrily pace the length of his office. “Why didn’t she show up?”

“I guess there was an old ex-boyfriend still kicking around.”

“Who was this woman?”

“Her name is Justine. She was a war journalist. When she didn’t show up, he assumed that she had chosen to be with the ex-boyfriend.”

My breath escaped me. “She was French.”

“She was from France.”

My hands were shaking so hard I had to put the glass down. “So he’s gone there to look for her?”

Andrusha corrected me. “He’s gone there looking for answers.”

“Oh.” I felt my heart squish with something dark and bad. He had left me and gone looking for another woman. This news couldn’t be worse.

He leaned forward. “Hang in there, Blaire. Give him time to get this all sorted out.”

I wanted to cry. “Is he safe?”

“He can handle himself.”