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16
NINE
For the first time in my life—the Darla years excepted—I was driving under the speed limit.Emmy had long since disappeared ahead of us, but Alex didn’t say a word when I lagged behind.
Not one word.
What were we meant to talk about?
I’d wanted him here, and now I had him, but my tongue was tied in knots.
“So…” he finally started.“How bad was the fight?”
“I’ve been in better ones.”
“Emmy came off the worst?”
I pushed up my sleeve and showed him the damage.“Let’s call it a draw.”
“A regular conversation wouldn’t have sufficed?”
“I thought they were there to kill me.It’s a long story.”
“We have an hour.”He glanced at the speedometer.“Maybe an hour and a half.”
“Unlike some people, I prefer to avoid tickets.Does Emmy get many?”
“She could wallpaper her house with them, and she lives in a big house.”A shrug.“But her bribery success rate is reasonable.”
“I haven’t tried to buy a cop recently.”This time, I’d taken a different tack and made friends with the local deputies instead.Yet another strange facet of Darla’s life.“I don’t have the budget for it anymore, but Emmy doesn’t seem short of cash.”
Alex barked out a laugh.“She has more money than she’ll ever spend.Fast cars aside, her tastes aren’t that expensive.She’d rather eat a cheeseburger than a gourmet meal.Why did you think she’d come to kill you?”
“Because Ana was there, and I figured Zacharov sent them.”
“Lieutenant General Zacharov?He’s issuing orders from beyond the grave now?”
Alex’s response gave me the certainty I’d been looking for.That I’d beenhopingfor.The general truly was dead.Gone.Kaput.Deceased.Which meant the tight band of stress that had been wrapped around me for most of my life finally loosened an inch.
“Until today, I didn’t realise he’d died.Even after they told me, I still struggled to believe it.He was always so careful, so in control, practically immortal.And vindictive like you wouldn’t believe.”
“I believe it.I saw what he put Ana through.”Alex touched me on the shoulder, just the slightest brush of his finger, and that shiver made another appearance.“Darya, he’s definitely dead.I was there.”
“At Base 13?You were part of the operation?But I thought you were a personal trainer now?”
“I train Emmy and Ana, but that doesn’t mean I neglect to train myself.And occasionally, I still get my hands dirty.Not often, because I’m meant to avoid high-impact exercise, but if a job’s important enough, I’ll take the risk.”
“What risk?What happened?”
He took my hand in his and ran it down his leg, which was taking a fucking liberty.Yes, I’d always kind of liked him, but I wanted to talk, not grope his admittedly substantial muscles.I was about to snatch my hand away when I felt the knee brace he was trying to show me.And it wasn’t a flimsy little thing either.
“You got injured?”I whispered.
“Three months after we met.Not a direct hit, just shrapnel, but they sent me to a butcher rather than a surgeon, and that was the end of my military career.”
“I’m sorry.”
Although not too sorry.Back in those days, I’d have gladly taken a butchered knee over my own conscription.