“Are you sure?” I asked, the hit of adrenaline draining out of me and making me weak.
It had been months since I arrived in LA, and I was still blasting into fight-or-flight mode. Even knowing I was safe now. My wretched past had made me doubt Rurik, of all people.Seeing someone who resembled my ex had sent me into a tailspin I didn’t realize I was still in, just hiding the turmoil like I always did.
He pulled me against his chest, and I wrapped my arms around him, holding on tight.
“I’m positive,” he said.
Leaning back, he tipped my chin up, dipping his head to kiss me, long and lingering, to melt away the last of my fears. Of course, Rurik wouldn’t lash out over a mistake. Or for any reason. I had to find a way to believe that, or I might as well quit my job and go back to the hotel.
“I’m sorry to be so jumpy,” I said.
“Apologize one more time for no reason and see what happens,” he said with a smile that didn’t have the mildest hint of a threat in it.
“What will happen?” I asked.
He tightened his grip around my waist and lifted me off my feet, kissing me until I was gasping. Setting me back down, he stepped back.
“Now that you have a nice rosy color in your cheeks,” he said, pulling out his phone. “Look straight at the camera and don’t smile too much.”
With a click, he sent off the picture, promising once again the passport wouldn’t be a big deal. In less than two days. I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I appreciated him acting like I hadn’t screwed everything up. Appreciated I wasn’t cowering on the floor under a barrage of fists.
That wasn’t Rurik.
I was hoping we’d spend the evening together, and maybe even the whole night, but halfway through dinner, he had to rush off.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” he said, since I had been making a list of things to do to get ready for this impromptu overseas trip when his cousin called. “We’ll both take tomorrow off and do whatever we have to.”
I still wasn’t convinced we’d be leaving on schedule. There simply couldn’t be a way to get a passport in two days, and I prayed I was right about Rurik not exploding if we were delayed because of me. So I was shocked when a package arrived the next morning while Rurik and I were eating breakfast. Addressed to me, I pulled out a brand new passport with the picture he had taken last night.
“Told you,” he said smugly, swallowing down the last of his coffee. “Now let's get to packing.”
“How is this possible?” I asked, hurrying after him up the stairs.
He only laughed, hauling down the matching leather suitcases from the top shelf of the closet. So, no answer to that, just like no answer to where he’d been running off to at night. I knew he had connections in high places, but getting any kind of ID in less than twelve hours was crazy. He playfully smacked my bottom to get me moving, and I laughed, relieved the trip could continue as planned.
Not only relieved about that, but the fact that I knew with certainty now that I had nothing to fear from Rurik. My paranoia needed to calm the hell down and take a backseat for a while. Forever, in fact. Even if my ex was lurking somewhere in LA, let him find me here in this fortress. Let him find me on the otherside of the world, where I’d be having the time of my life with my…
No, not my husband. I’d be enjoying an important business trip with my boss while helping to secure a lucrative deal. That was better. I couldn’t start actually thinking of him as my husband. It was too dangerous to my well-being to get used to the idea when I already liked it way too much.
Either way, I was out of harm’s reach, so there was no reason at all to feel like something was missing. That’s what I kept telling myself, anyway.
Chapter 22 - Rurik
Clem fell asleep shortly after we were in the air on the way to Tokyo, her phone falling out of her hands to reveal she’d been studying Japanese phrases as I grabbed it to keep it from hitting the floor. I tucked her blanket around her, studying her face, truly relaxed for the first time since I sprang the news of the trip on her.
I had never seen her so upset as when she had to admit that she didn’t have a passport. That certainly might have thrown a wrench into my plans if I didn’t have contacts who could make a perfect forgery in no time flat, but even if we had to push back the trip, she shouldn’t have flown into such a panic. Watching her now, so peacefully sleeping, my fists clenched as I remembered the abject terror in her eyes.
It was like she went to another place, and she no longer saw me in front of her, backing away like a tiger had been unleashed from its cage. We’d had disagreements before where she didn’t bat an eyelash, and this wouldn’t have even turned into an argument. She let me have it big time when she found out we were married, storming into my office while waving those papers.
This was zero to sixty in a blink, so certain what she thought was a profound mistake would somehow turn me into a raging beast.
Something was up with her, and I was determined to get to the bottom of whatever spooked her, but for now, we were going to have a well-deserved break. A honeymoon. No high-rise suite in the heart of Tokyo was good enough, not even with breathtaking views of the city. I had found the perfect place for us.
She woke up well before we landed, prodding me for information. Were we going to meet the Koboyashis right away? Did I ever get a confirmation that we’d be touring their factory? Should we invite them to dinner, or should we wait for them to reach out? Where were we staying?
“Just wait,” I said. “And relax. This is a vacation.”
She scowled at me and went back to studying her phrases, nodding earnestly when the flight attendant gently corrected her pronunciation. My beautiful, brilliant wife, once again going the extra mile. I wondered what she’d think if I asked her opinion on what was really going on with my family. After she got over the shock, would she hunker down and start brainstorming solutions? Or would she try to disappear into the crowds at the airport, certain I was that beast she feared?