Page 62 of Exacting Vengeance

He’d said those words to her once before, only this time even she had to agree things had changed drastically. She didn’t need for Kyle to confirm anything with the florist. In her gut, she knew it had been Yuri.

“Okay,” she whispered, leaving him standing in the living room while she blindly headed to her bedroom.

In a daze, she pulled a small suitcase from the closet and dropped it on the bed.

It was happening again. Her life was on a never-ending repeat cycle. All the precautions she’d taken were for nothing.

Yuri had found her anyway.

Jeans, underwear, socks, and a few shirts went into the suitcase. Next, came toiletries. There was no denying this was all her fault. If she’d obeyed Kyle’s orders and not rushed into the courtroom, Yuri would never have seen her. But Aly had needed her help, so she didn’t regret her actions for a second. That was what her new life was about—helping people. Ironically, she didn’t know how to help herself out of this mess.

Sadness crept over her like a dark cloud she could never run from.

Kyle’s deep voice filtered into the room as he spoke with someone on his phone. She couldn’t hear the words but assumed he was updating someone at the FBI as to what was happening. For that matter, she’d have to do the same. Tomorrow was Monday. She couldn’t not show up for work.

The disgusted sound bubbling up in her throat bordered on hysterical laughter.

She wasn’t sure who she was more afraid of: Yuri…or Kyle.

Yuri would hurt her with his words and his fists. The words she could ignore. The bruises would eventually heal.

What Kyle could do to her if he knew the truth would be long lasting.

And far, far worse.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kyle ushered Victoria into his West Portal, New Jersey house, then punched in the security code on the keypad, silencing the beeping. Luckily, the house was clean. He worked so many hours, he barely spent time in it, except to put his head down at night. “It’s not much, but it’s home.”

For the first time in ages, he looked around the lower level of the small, two-story house, trying to see it through Victoria’s eyes.

With its golden-oak hardwood floors, blue-and-white patterned rugs, and burgundy sofas, it was a comfortable house, one he’d once expected to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries with his wife and their kids. Seeing Victoria here, in this house he hadn’t truly considered a real home in a very long time, brought an unexpected sense of comfort and rightness he couldn’t explain.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, turning to take it all in.

It was beautiful but not because of him.

Shortly after the house had been purchased, he’d gone on one deployment after another. He hadn’t selected any of the furniture, the paint colors, or anything else, quite frankly.

The moment he set down her suitcase, his cell phone rang. Deke.

Not wanting to leave Victoria alone or take her with him to the florist, he’d called Guy, the security guy he’d hired, notifying him Victoria would be staying “elsewhere,” but he should remain on site anyway and keep an eye out for Yuri Petrov. He’d also asked Deke to swing by the florist shop to find out who’d sent the flowers. “Whatdya got, Deke?”

As he listened to his brother’s recap, Victoria walked to the bare fireplace mantle. During the drive to his house, she’d hardly spoken. Not that he could blame her. Her asshole ex-husband refused to leave her life, and as long as Yuri was in her life, he was also in Kyle’s life.

“Thanks, bro,” he said when Deke had finished. To Victoria, he said, “I’ll take your suitcase upstairs.”

“What did Deke say?”

“Nothing we can use.” As he’d fully expected, Yuri hadn’t left a paper trail. “The flowers were purchased in cash by a woman who spoke with an unidentified accent. There was no camera inside the shop, and the exterior camera didn’t pick her up getting into a vehicle we can trace.”

Slowly, she nodded. “I’m not surprised.”

But they both knew beyond a shadow of a doubt who’d sent the flowers.

Back at her apartment, he’d considered having the card and the envelope it came in tested for fingerprints, but there was no point. Even if Yuri himself had written the card, sending flowers to a woman wasn’t an arrestable offense. His sole purpose in sending them was to terrify Victoria.

Bashing Yuri’s head into a brick wall was about the only thing that would assuage the rage simmering in his blood. By sending the flowers, Yuri was telling Victoria he could get to her any time he wanted. His stomach clenched at the thought of Yuri laying hands on her. “Until we figure out Yuri’s next move, you can’t go in to work.”