Page 49 of Exacting Vengeance

Something was definitely going on here.

“Good bye, Victoria,” Father Sergei said. “A pleasure to meet you, Kyle.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” He shook hands with the priest, then followed Victoria out the door and down the steps. When he caught up to her, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “You had no intention of being home when I came to pick you up. You were hiding at the church.”

She parked her hands on her hips. “I was not hiding.”

Except from me.

“How many times do I have to tell you I refuse to hide anymore? And how did you know I was there?”

“I told you,” he said, leading her to his SUV, “I can find anyone.”

When she refused to look at him, that innate sense she had something to hide grew stronger. She’d been adamant about not hiding from Yuri anymore, but this wasn’t about Yuri. This was about him.

When she’d caught sight of him watching her with the kids, there’d been fear in her eyes.

The question, was why.

Chapter Twenty

During the forty-minute drive into the city, every thought Victoria had was filled with both yearning and fear.

Kyle’s nearness created an unbidden stirring that called to every part of her. Yet she shouldn’t be anywhere near him, and he shouldn’t be anywhere near Father Sergei or the church. An ominous feeling stole over her. If she wasn’t careful, her life could spiral out of control again.

“Thought you’d want an update on the bomb scare and the trial.” Kyle turned onto Broadway a few blocks north of 26 Federal Plaza. “K-9 units swept the courthouse. The threat was unfounded, and court reconvened on Tuesday. It’s over.”

“And?” For the last four days, she’d been catching up with other clients and hadn’t had the opportunity to follow media coverage of the trial. “What was the verdict?”

“The jury convicted Kolbayev on all counts.”

“That’s a relief.” Life should be a lot easier on Aly with her husband in prison for the foreseeable future.

He parked in front of a gymnasium and shut off the engine. “Alyona sends her regards, by the way.”

“Is she okay? Can I talk to her?” That day in the courthouse garage, they’d barely had the chance to say goodbye. Not following up with a client, particularly one who’d gone through the emotional trauma Aly had, hadn’t sat well with her.

“No. Sorry.” The expression on his face evidenced genuine regret. “She and her mother are in a safehouse, at least for a while. At a minimum, they’ll move to another part of the country.”

“Safehouses suck.” But at least Aly and her mother were together, and they were safe.

“I can’t imagine what it was like.” When he looked at her, there was an emotion in his eyes she couldn’t quite decipher. Understanding?

“Be grateful you can’t.” She opened the door and got out, unwilling to relive that awful time.

He held open the door to the gymnasium. The smell of rubber from the dozen or so exercise mats on the floor hit her first, followed by echoing laughter. At the front of the gym stood Jack—Kyle’s brother, whom she’d met at the courthouse—and three women she didn’t recognize. Jack had his arm around one woman’s waist. He leaned in to whisper something in her ear, and she responded by giggling and standing on her tiptoes to land a kiss on his cheek.

“C’mon,” Kyle said. When he touched his hand to the small of her back, a delicious shiver raced up her spine, another sign her body would betray her whether she liked it or not. “I want you to meet some friends of mine. They help me teach the class.”

“Morning, Kyle,” the women said as a unit.

“Morning, ladies,” he said. “And Jack,” he added to his brother.

“Good to see you again, Victoria,” Jack said without missing a beat, as if he’d been expecting her.

“Thank you.” She noted the woman Jack still had his arm around wore a giant Chocolate Diamond ring on her left ring finger.

“This is Victoria, a friend of mine,” Kyle said to the women. “She’s taking the class today.”