Page 71 of Second Chances

Floating on a high, he drove back to his place. He loved this time of night, coming home to the house when the sun was setting behind the garage, which bathed his home in bright colors.

Someday soon, he was going to ask Olivia and Simona to move in with him. He wanted more than anything for this to be their home. To have those two extra kids he’d talked to her about. Their kids. All three of them, since he already thought of Simona as his.

He stepped in the back door, removed his shoes, and put them in the cubbies below the bench that he’d built in the mudroom. He was so proud of the work that he’d done around the place. It was finally starting to feel like home. Maybe it was because Olivia and Simona were spending more and more time there.

He was so preoccupied with dreaming about his perfect life with Olivia and Simona that he didn’t register something was wrong until he felt the sharp pain in his side. Instantly, his heart began to race as the electric current charged through his entire body, forcing all his limbs to freeze up until, finally, he felt himself fading into blackness.

When he woke, he was groggy and unsure of what had happened. That changed quickly when he tried to move and realized that his hands were tied down. His entire body jumped to alert.

Looking around, he realized he was no longer in his home. Even though it was dark, he knew that he had to be on a boat somewhere, since the entire room was slowly swaying with the movement of the ocean. Either that or the taser he’d been shocked with had extra high voltage and had done some damage to his brain.

If this was a boat, it had to be a fairly large one since the room was easily as big as his bedroom. He listened for any sounds other than water lapping outside but didn’t hear anything. No boat motors, which meant he’d been out for a time. Long enough for whoever had taken him to drag him out of the house and onto a boat. Had they docked the boat behind his place? Or loaded him in a van and then hauled him into a boat at the town’s docks? If it were the latter, he could still be at the docks.

He tried wiggling his way out of his restraints, which by the feel of them were thick wiry ropes tied very tightly around not only his wrists and arms, but his thighs, calves, and ankles. He realized he was still shoeless.

He continued to fight against his restraints, letting the ropes cut into his skin in a desperate attempt to break free.

Hearing a noise, he looked up and saw a dark figure step into the room from the door directly in front of him. He could see a flash of dim light coming from the other room or from outside.

He waited a heartbeat, then a light flashed on in the room and he knew he was screwed. Standing across from him in a flowing red jumpsuit stood Kimber Ivanov, daughter of Maxim Ivanov, oligarch of the Chukotka Province in Russia. Well, ex-oligarch, at any rate, since the man had been killed by his team shortly after he’d escaped the family’s clutches.

“Kimber.” He smiled, knowing that his situation couldn’t get any worse. Scratch that, he thought quickly. Kimber could have gone after Olivia or Simona. His mind jumped back to the door handle he’d replaced at Olivia’s place and knew that he should have guessed that it was Kimber who had broken in. After all, that was how he’d broken into her place years ago.

“Adrian.” She narrowed her eyes. “Or should I say, Todd O’Brien.” She said his name as if it tasted bad in her mouth. She leaned on a table and looked down at her perfectly manicured fingernails, the same color red as her outfit. “Don’t you think it’s about time we had a little chat?”

“If I remember correctly, last time we chatted… you tried to kill me,” he said smoothly. There was always a way out. There had to be a way out this time. His future with Olivia and Simona depended on it. He just had to think.

“You were spying on my father.” She shifted slightly. Her thick Russian accent didn’t hinder his understanding of her words. After all, he’d spent more than six months living with her. Sleeping with her. Watching every move that she and her family made. “I don’t suppose you had anything to do with his death, two weeks after you disappeared?”

“Your father’s dead?” he asked, trying to sound surprised.

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and he understood that she didn’t believe him.

“No,” he replied, meaning it. “I was still in the hospital when I got word of his death.”

Her eyes relaxed and she nodded. “Yes, I know this to be true.”

“Why come after me?” He glanced down at the ropes. “Can’t we be civil?” He smiled. “Like old times?” He tried for charm.

Her eyes narrowed again. “You are with this other woman now, no?” she asked, watching him closely.

He froze. His heart jumped in his chest, no doubt beating loud enough that she could hear it clearly across the room. Now that the room was fully lit, he could see it was a suite on a yacht. He had no doubt that more money had been spent decorating this one space than he’d spent redoing his entire house.

Maxim Ivanov, when he’d been alive, had ruled over the province with fear and with death. Most of his subjects were spied on, imprisoned, poisoned, or had their wealth turned over to the state if they questioned anything. Especially Ivanov himself.

While he and his daughter enjoyed the wealth and titles of the land, his subjects suffered greatly. When the US government had gotten reports that Ivanov was planning a blockade of the Bering Strait, which included seizing all boats in the area and all of Alaska’s harbors, his team was sent in to confirm the rumors.

The night that he’d finally confirmed those reports had been the night Kimber had found out what he was. He’d believed that she loved him, that she would overlook his deceit. Instead, she’d turned him in to her father and helped as he’d been beaten and hauled away for death.

Then he thought of Olivia and realized that there was no doubt in his mind just how she felt about him. He knew fully that she loved him as much as he loved her. He hoped that she’d understand what had happened to him. Why he’d have to break his promise to her about breaking her heart.

“Yes,” he finally answered Kimber, “I’m with Olivia.”

“She is plain. Boring.” Kimber shifted slightly. “Her life is… chaotic. She has a daughter, no? Where is her man?”

“He’s… in jail,” he said, knowing there was nothing he could do now to protect them. She’d walked through their house already. Kimber probably had gotten all the information she’d needed on Olivia and Simona last night.

“Why are you here?” he asked finally.