"That's a good idea," Bastien said. He peeled Molly from his chest, one hand catching her chin so he could look into her tear-drenched face.
Sonia wasn't at all surprised to see that Molly looked beautiful even after crying her heart out. If Sonia had done that, she would have had a red, splotchy face, swollen eyes and nose and even her mouth would have been puffy, because when she cried, the biggest puffer fish in the world had nothing on her. She swelled up like a balloon and turned red like a boiled lobster.
"You can't go alone, Sonia," Kai said. "I'll have to go with you."
She shook her head. "You can come the moment you find what you're looking for."
"I have to go with you," he repeated.
Bastien frowned at her. "Damn it, Sonia. I had a bad feeling about you too. You can tell me your story later. Go, and take Molly with you."
Sonia ignored Kai. She wasn't going to argue in front of a cop and get him any more curious than he already was. She caught Molly by the hand. "Come on, honey, let's go pack you a bag."
Molly shook her head. "I don't want to go in there."
Sonia understood. She hadn't wanted to enter the Bogomolov home once she knew her husband had planned to murder her. "I'll get you a few things. You need any meds? Something along those lines?"
Molly shook her head again and then sank onto the porch swing. Kai hesitated and then walked out toward the left side of the house, toward the nearest neighbors. Gray had gone around to the back to cover the field. Sonia knew both men were utilizing their leopards' abilities to help them. Bastien went straight toward an abandoned house two houses down and across the street.
"There's a bag under my bed. I'm sorry for being such a baby," Molly said.
"No worries. I'll get everything you need." She hurried inside, dragged the bag from under the bed, managed to find underwear, jeans and shirts, raced into the bathroom, collected makeup, toothbrush, hair tools and found birth control pills. She added them, although it looked as if Molly hadn't started them yet.
She found a pretty dress hanging in the closet, rolled it and added it and then raced back outside. "Let's go." She held out her hand. "We can get you settled, and I'll put on coffee and something for the boys to have. It will be done by the time Kai gets there."
"Are you certain he didn't mean he had to ride in the car with us?" Molly asked. She looked around her, fear on her face.
"They always come right behind me," Sonia said. She whistled and when Kai turned his head, she pointed to her truck.
He nodded and had started back when Gray came up to him. The two conferred. Sonia and Molly hurried to her truck and got in.
"Thank you for finding the cameras," Molly said in a low voice. "I haven't had a friend like you ever."
"You found them," Sonia pointed out. She glanced at Molly. "I've never had a friend like you either. I think we've both gone through similar situations. My husband tried to kill me, your boyfriend tried to kill you. We're both really, really bad at picking men. You're involved in a relationship with law enforcement again. I'm involved with a man who looks like he should carry a neon sign that flashes danger, danger, danger."
Molly's smile was a little wobbly, but it managed to make her face look like the sun had just come out to shine. "I'm not in a relationship with Bastien Foret."
"I think you are. I think he thinks you are. I think the town might think you are."
Molly's soft laughter filled the cab of the truck. "You're so crazy." She twisted her fingers together in her lap, her smile fading away. "I'm so sorry you got dragged into this."
Sonia shook her head. "Don't say that. You haven't dragged me anywhere I haven't been. Actually, I've been in worse. My father worked for the Russian mob. He wasn't Russian, so he was very low level. He was a carpenter with a gambling addiction. To cover the gambling, he took jobs for the mob. Papi taught me most of what I know about carpentry. He even allowed me to set dynamite charges when he moved rocks and land from plots to build."
She glanced at Molly to see how she was taking the truth. She hadn't allowed herself to think about what her father had set in motion all those years earlier. He'd created a debt that had had to be paid. They were lucky Nikita Bogomolov chose to keep them alive rather than kill them along with her father.
"Keep going," Molly said quietly.
Sonia sighed. The pressure in her chest was painful. She felt Gatita rising to comfort her. "He stole from the mob. That's never a good thing. It was a lot of money and they made an example of him. Then they went to Mami and demanded that the two of us work off the debt. I thought, at first, they were good to us. Much later, after my mother died, I found out that my father-in-law forced mi madre to sleep with him. She cleaned his house and apparently had sex with him. We lived in the guesthouse on their property. I helped her take care of the house, but she was careful not to let me see what was really going on."
"I'm so sorry," Molly whispered. "That must have been terrible for you."
"Sasha, his son, was fifteen years older than me. He was always looking out for me. Always taking care of me. The entire time we worked for his father, he treated me like a younger sister. I loved him. I really loved him. Then my mother got sick and everything changed. I was so scared. For her. For me. For us. Sasha took care of every detail. The nurses she needed around the clock. The bills. He got her the best care. I loved him for that. When I think about those times, I still do. That man. The one who was so good to my mother."
"Of course you loved him," Molly said. "I love that he did that for you."
"I was so lost and he was so strong. He married me to protect me, he said. I knew I loved him, maybe not the way a woman loves a man, but he was so good, I knew in time I'd feel that for him as well. For almost two years we were together. He didn't like me going anywhere because he said he had enemies. When I did go, I had bodyguards with me." Which was why she resented Kai and Gray looking after her every minute. "I didn't have friends. I didn't even realize just how isolated I was until I overheard that conversation and I knew they were planning on killing me."
"The bastards. They were your family." Molly glared out the windshield. "That is one sick, twisted man. Or men. Both were twisted. Did you know they were mafia?"
"No. Everyone kept that from me. When my father was murdered, I had no idea it had anything to do with them. When mi madre took me to live with them, I still didn't know. There were men with guns, but I thought they were there because we'd been threatened. Later, Sasha told me that their family was threatened all the time because they were wealthy Russians. I believed him. I believed everything he ever told me. His father hired a tutor for me and I was homeschooled. Again, I was told it was for my safety."
She parked the truck in her driveway and both women slid out of the cab. She caught up Molly's bag from the bed. "You can see why I'm reluctant to start another relationship. It's kind of hard to believe what he says."
Molly nodded. "It's very understandable. Have you told Joshua?"
Sonia unlocked the door and pushed it open, stepping back to allow Molly to precede her inside. "No. I was afraid if I told either of you, something bad could happen to you if they found me. I think I'm safe, but I don't know for certain. Still, I know I have to tell him. It isn't something you just walk up to a man and say."
Molly's soft laughter somehow made that terrible pressure in Sonia's chest disappear. "Hey, babe," she said. "I forgot to tell you. I may or may not be married to a Russian mobster. He's out to kill me and he favors bombs and torture. Still, I'm really cute so I'm the girl for you." She made a face. "He's going to run for the hills, and that's the best-case scenario."
Molly's laughter, which had swelled in volume, ended abruptly. "What's the worst?"
Sonia sobered instantly, her heart accelerating. "He'll sell the information of my whereabouts to my father-in-law. They'd pay a lot of money to find me." She glanced at Molly and then at the floor, a little ashamed that she'd been afraid to tell her for the same reason.
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"Sonia," Molly said softly. "I was afraid to tell you or anyone else anything. I'm still freaked out that Bastien knows. And those two men. Your bodyguards."
Sonia winced. "Don't call them that. They're not mine anyway. They're part of a security team Joshua runs. I don't know why he insists on having them follow me around, but in this case, it was a good thing. They know what they're doing when it comes to this kind of problem. They've been all over the world taking back kidnap victims. I've overheard Kai and Gray talking and they definitely aren't lying. They've done it. They also talk about Joshua and how he's so good at slipping into camps unseen and gathering the information needed to get hostages out. If they can do this, surely they can handle Blake Garritson."
"Maybe Joshua suspects you're in danger, just the way Bastien suspected with me. I tried not to look at him because he's a cop and he's all wrong for me, but he kept coming around. Now I realize, it was all about his gut, his detective instincts that made him look interested."
"Yeah, that was it," Sonia said, smirking at Molly as she closed the door and locked it, just to be safe. Kai would be there soon, and she had Gatita to warn her, but she didn't want to take any chances with Molly's life. "Bastien Foret was willing to take on both Kai and Gray just because you were crying."
Molly put her hand to her face. "Is my mascara running? Why do I always look awful when that man comes around?"
"As if you could ever look awful. I was thinking of doing you in myself when I saw you looking hot while you were crying. You're like one of those women on a soap opera, looking even prettier with tears in your eyes."
Molly laughed, the sound surprising both of them. Some of the fear faded from her face. "Bastien is really a good guy, don't you think? He didn't sound like he'd turn me over to Blake without first investigating and finding out what really happened."
"Is there evidence of your broken ribs and arm?"
"X-rays were taken at his doctor friend's clinic. We went there after hours. After that the doctor would come to the house."
"Were you ever alone with the doctor? Did you try to talk to him?"
"Blake was always in the room. He insisted on being with us. I know he was paying his friend, but the doctor was angry with him. He might testify, although it would mean his license. I think there was more than money between the two of them."
"Do you know if Blake was seeing someone before you? You couldn't have been his first girlfriend." She carried Molly's bag into the guest room. "Sorry about the mess. I haven't had time or the money to fix these rooms. There's heat, though, and the bed is nice. Just keep your eyes closed and don't look at the walls." Sonia scowled, looking down at the floor. "This room really needs work."
"So does your roof. This is fine. I feel safe here with you, especially if Joshua has a couple of his hotshot security team members watching over you."
Sonia rolled her eyes. "I think he assigns them jobs to keep them from being bored. Watching me go to work and come home must be super-exciting after rescuing kidnap victims and hostages in exotic places. I think if they don't get a legitimate job soon, there's going to be a rebellion."
"Does that mean if they do get a job, Joshua leaves the country?" Molly asked uneasily.
Sonia hadn't thought about that. She didn't like the idea of Joshua leaving, especially if his job put him in danger, but on the other hand, it might be the perfect solution. If he left, she wouldn't have to tell him about the Bogomolov crime family and how she might just be married to one of them.
"I hadn't thought of that," she said, pushing open the door to the guest bathroom. "Plumbing works, so toilet and shower are fine, but again, it isn't very nice." It wasn't. The tile was cracked and broken. The walls were peeling, faded paper and paint.
"It will work."
"I guess it's better than camping," Sonia conceded. "Come on, let's get something to drink. I don't have your strawberry lemonade--which, by the way, kicked ass--but I've got plain lemonade."
"Sounds perfect," Molly said. "We can sit out on your upstairs balcony so the alligators can't eat us and listen to the sounds of the swamp. I could use a little relaxation." She followed her to the kitchen.
Sonia loved her kitchen. She didn't have to be embarrassed by it. Everything was perfect. "I'm in charge of remodeling Joshua's kitchen. Well, his entire house and the houses on the property," she said. She pulled open her refrigerator, unable to keep the smile from her face. "It's my dream job. Seriously, Molly, the perfect job someone like me dreams of for a lifetime and never gets because I don't have the right credentials. That old plantation home is so beautiful and unique. The builder did things no one else building in this area during that time period did. All the tiny little details, the exquisite moldings and carvings, the floors, I could go on and on."
She poured them both a tall glass of lemonade, with plenty of ice. "I love what I do, and I never thought I'd get such a chance."
"The bonus is, the owner just happens to be gorgeous."
"That isn't a bonus." Sonia led the way up the stairs. "I haven't made up my mind what to do with him."
"You seem to do just fine with him," Molly teased.
Sonia forced the blush back down. "That part is easy. It's all the rest of it that's difficult. Remember the may-or-may-not-be-married thing? The Russian mob would come in force if they knew I was still alive. Joshua isn't the type of man to back down, and no one takes on the Russian mob. They're violent. They kill entire families. If you look at what they normally do, my mother and I were very lucky."
Molly gave a little sniff of disdain. "Lucky? Those men were assholes. The worst kind of human being, pretending to love you, to be family and then turning on you. Even if you were married to one of them, he doesn't deserve you, and I'm pretty certain the fact that he tried to kill you cancels out the marriage."
She stopped in the middle of the studio and looked around her at the paintings. "These are beautiful, Sonia." She moved closer to study the canvas Sonia hadn't quite finished. "You make everything come to life. I could fall in love with the swamp just looking at this painting."
"Thank you, Molly, that's an amazing compliment."
"It's true, though. I can't believe you've got such a talent. Bastien is right, these paintings belong in a gallery."
"Russian mob looking for me, remember?" Sonia repeated and opened the French doors to the outside verandah. "Come sit down. I at least have decent chairs out here." She waved Molly toward the most comfortable seating she had.
This was her favorite spot. The studio had a beautiful view of the swamp and river. Cranes waded through the thick duckweed floating in the water. The knobby knees of the cypress trees rose around the larger trees just at the shoreline or in the shallower waters. The colors were vivid, shades of green, explosions of pink, purple and yellow where flowers fought for space in the heavier bushes and brush. Leaves took on a silvery glint or yellow and gold so that colors seemed to vie for space.
Birds circled overhead and flitted from branch to branch. Squirrels ran along the twisted limbs and chattered to one another. Alligators bellowed. Boars grunted. Always the vibrations of the cicada filled the air. Frogs called back and forth. Fish jumped from the water and landed with a splash. The occasional snake plopped from a tree branch into the river. Sonia couldn't imagine a more beautiful place. She knew it wasn't for everyone, and she was grateful it wasn't, otherwise it would be gone, overrun by people.
"Have you noticed the way the tree branches lead straight to your balconies? That big thick one twists down to your lower verandah and this huge, gnarly one nearly touches this balcony. The branches are so big that anyone or anything could walk right on them," Molly observed.
Sonia leaned on the railing, peering down at the trees as if studying the branches. It would be difficult not to see that, and Molly wasn't stupid. Sonia was an artist. She would have noticed the branches. She nodded, but kept her back to Molly. "I've been thinking about how best to paint them," she said. "There are q
uite a few really large trees in this swamp. Thick ones, with massive branches that reach from tree to tree. If I was going to build a treehouse, this would be the perfect place."
She turned to face Molly, her hips resting against the railing. "Have you ever looked at books with treehouses in them? There are beautiful homes. Actual homes."
"You're thinking of building a treehouse? Aren't there, um . . ." Molly frowned and took a sip of lemonade. "I think I've become so paranoid I can't enjoy anything, not even beautiful trees. Why are you able to carry on with your life and I'm such a terrible baby? I cried in front of Bastien. That's so awful. I can't imagine what he thinks."
"He thinks you're a beautiful, desirable woman with a madman chasing after you. He thinks you're human, Molly." Sonia turned back to stare out over the swamp. She needed that swamp to keep Gatita safe and happy. She wasn't human. She had no idea why or how she ended up a shifter, a woman with a leopard living inside her. She didn't know if her mother or father was a leopard, but she did know she wasn't human. There wouldn't be a human man in her future.
You have a mate, Gatita weighed in.
I don't know how to tell him about Sasha. He would try to protect us and no one can take on the Russian mob and live--not even Donovan Security. She sighed and pushed at the hair falling out of her haphazard ponytail.
"I'm really scared, Sonia," Molly confessed. "I don't think I'd survive if Blake found me again. I can't take pain very well. It hurt so much."
Sonia whirled back around, forgetting for a moment to keep Gatita's speed under control. "No one is going to get to you, Molly. No one. I'll protect you, I swear it."
"He could hurt you," Molly pointed out.
Sonia shook her head. "Since Sasha turned on me, I've made it my business to learn a few things in this last year." She was getting faster at shifting, although she hadn't figured out how to get out of her clothes as quickly as she would like. She was still working on that. "He's not going to get to you. Kai will be here any minute and then Gray and probably Bastien. Once Joshua knows you're in danger, which he probably already does because Kai and Gray tattle every chance they get, he'll come too. Most likely, because his security team is bored as hell, he'll bring them along and then . . ."