An hour later, as she was sitting on a metal four-poster double bed, brushing out her wig, her opinion of Virus had already shifted toward the positive. She’d visited the outhouse and used the basin of warm water Virus had placed on an antique-looking dresser to wash her head and face and brush her teeth. The smile he’d given her when he’d told her she should call him Virus instead of Petros was brief but kind. He didn’t know her, but he’d helped her anyway, and he hadn’t lied to her. So, at this point, in her book, he already had more points than Aleksei.
She shifted on the surprisingly comfortable bed. Despite the spare furniture, the lack of an indoor shower and toilet, and the fact that the cabin looked like it might have been built in the 1800s, the linens Virus gave her to make up the bed smelled freshly laundered, and the mattress was a modern pillow-top style. She glanced at Thor, who covered half the bed, snoring. She should change his name to Benedict Arnold. When Aleksei had come to collect him for dinner and a quick walk with Jaka, Thor had trotted along happily without hesitation. They were in full role reversal. Now, Thor was the one who adored Aleksei, and she was the one with reservations.
She blew out a breath, rustling the hair on the wig in her hand. It felt like betrayal, but at least it assured her that Aleksei was trustworthy at a basic level. If he weren’t, Thor wouldn’t want Aleksei anywhere near her, and that would make things challenging, since it seemed they’d be cooped up in the small cabin for at least a day or two.
The house was a single story with only three rooms. The combined kitchen and living area was similar to the cabin at Ricketts Glen, but Virus’s sink had an old-fashioned hand pump instead of a regular faucet. Hopefully, she’d hidden her shock when she saw it. She didn’t want Virus to think she didn’t appreciate what he was doing for them.
The other two rooms in the cabin were bedrooms. Virus’s eyebrows had winged up when Aleksei announced he would sleep on the couch, but he hadn’t commented. He hadn’t said much at all since they’d arrived. Aleksei had shown her the outhouse and explained that there was a cistern outside that fed a cold-water outdoor shower. Despite it being spring, the temperature was in the forties, so she skipped the shower and used the basin. At least the cabin had electricity.
She gave the wig one last brush. She didn’t like the idea of sleeping bald when she was separated from both men by only thin sheets of plywood. Her soul was battered, and the wig was her protective armor, but she could not put it back on right now. By the time she’d gotten settled in the room, her head had been so itchy and irritated that it had taken multiple washes with the blessedly cool water to settle it down. Her scalp needed some time to recover.
She rose and pulled her two wig stands from her suitcase on the floor and set them on the dresser. She placed both the wig in her hands and the damp wig she’d bagged up earlier on the stands. She was exhausted. The last thing Aleksei had said to her before she shut the bedroom door was, “Don’t worry. You’re safe here.” Maybe it was wishful thinking or fatigue slowing her brain, but she trusted those words. She climbed under the covers with Thor snuggled next to her and taking up more of the bed than she did. When she closed her eyes, sleep came hard, fast, and dreamless.
Woof, woof, woof.
The barks jolted her awake. She reached for her phone to check the time, but it wasn’t on the nightstand next to the bed. Right. It was in a dumpster at Ricketts Glen.
There was no clock in the room, but the sun shimmered brightly around the curtains. She climbed out of the cozy bed and pushed one of the tree-patterned panels aside. The sun was high in the sky. Did that mean it was after noon? A grin spread across her lips. She was acting like a pioneer woman, trying to tell the time by the position of the sun.
Thor barked at her again, standing tall in front of the bedroom door.
“All right. All right,” Rosemary muttered.
She preferred to ease into the morning, but Thor always woke up ready for action. That was one of the very few downsides of pet ownership. She found a sweatshirt in her suitcase and threw it on over the tank top she’d slept in, settled her cap and wig into place, and slipped on her Uggs.
Thor barked again.
“I know. I know. You need to go out. I hear you. I need the outhouse too.”
Floorboards creaked under her feet as she made her way to the front door. The house was empty and quiet. A coffee machine with a half-full coffeepot sat on the counter, tempting her.
Bathroom first. Then coffee.
She opened the cabin door, and the beauty of the land nearly stopped her forward motion. She was in the mountains surrounded by trees. A large area behind the house had been cleared and turned into fields, gardens, and a small orchard. Behind the clearing, the landscape shifted back to thick forest. She could hear a creek rushing in the distance. Last night, Aleksei had mentioned the property was more than five hundred acres.
Her mother would have loved it here.
Thor dashed up the dirt and gravel road that ran in front of the house. Aleksei had let the dogs run off leash last night, so Rosemary assumed it was okay. She didn’t want to do anything to irritate Virus. Not just because he was a mean-looking, gun-toting, former Marine who thought grunts were an appropriate form of speech, but also because he had allowed them into his home when everything about his body language said he preferred to be alone. She was grateful for that and wanted to be a respectful houseguest.
After both she and Thor had taken care of their personal needs, the house was still empty, so she helped herself to coffee and made toast with butter and homemade blackberry jelly she found in the fridge. It was a simple breakfast, but the jelly was the best she’d ever had, just the right mix of sweet and tart, and the coffee was pure heaven. Relaxation flowed through her with the first sip. It was always that way with coffee. And wine.
Deep voices and the crunch of footsteps on gravel interrupted her peaceful moment. Thor leapt up from lazing in a sunny spot on the kitchen floor. He barked as Aleksei and Virus entered the cabin with Jaka. Aleksei kicked off his sneakers and headed directly for the coffeepot, poured a cup, and sipped it black. Thor and Jaka wrestled on the floor of the sitting area in front of Virus, who sat on the couch, unlacing thick brown work boots.
Virus nodded toward Thor. “Quite an animal you got there. Looks more like a cow than a dog. He probably weighs as much as you do.”
Aleksei coughed, spewing coffee onto the kitchen floor. “Living out here alone seems to have rusted your charm,” he said as he cleaned up the mess with a wet paper towel.
She knew her build wasn’t slim and petite like her sister's, but she liked her figure. It was the perfect mix of athletic and curvy. She was fit and strong but still felt soft and sexy.
“It’s okay,” she said, smiling and shifting in her chair to face Virus. “He’s a Great Dane Dalmatian. Last time he was at the vet, he weighed 175 pounds, so yeah, he’s a big dog.”
“You’re lucky Rose is as sweet as her name. Any other woman would punch you if you compared her to her dog,” Aleksei said, a teasing note in his voice.
“Shut the hell up, Thompson. I should just shoot you and keep Rosemary for myself.”
Warm laughter tickled Rosemary’s throat, but she didn’t set it free. In the homey cabin, with the sun shining, gorgeous views through large windows, and the comfortable banter, it was easy to forget what had brought her here. She couldn’t let herself be distracted. Someone had set off a bomb in her office. Most of her coworkers were dead. If someone was after her, they might also go after Sage, Ryker, or Davis. Now that she’d rested, she needed to focus on figuring out what the hell was going on.
“Any chance you have internet access?” she asked.