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It sent dread flowing through him. These men used prostitutes while in town. None had any kind of decent relationship with any woman. It was all about sex. Again, he was the anomaly standing out among the team members. He prayed that Korsak didn’t get too interested in Daria. Would he try to rape her? Every protective gene in his body reacted to that question. Nik had no experience with Korsak when a team member had one steady woman in their life. He had no idea what his boss would do. But he certainly knew what the monster was capable of.
One thing that helped tamp down his sheer terror for Daria’s sake was that, when the team came to a larger town, they left women and girls alone. They didn’t just grab one of them off the street, drag her into a house, and rape her as they would out in the smaller villages. Korsak had a standing order that none of his team was to touch any woman or girl here in this tourista town. This was their safe place. They couldn’t afford to bring thepoliciainto it, cause a stir, and then have the Peruvian government become involved. So, maybe based upon Korsak’s directive, Brudin would leave Daria alone too, because she lived in the town. He dragged in a long, ragged breath, praying his logic was correct.
“What are you doing today, Nik?” Ustin asked casually, cutting into the steamed vegetables on his plate.
Nik lifted his head. “I’m taking Daria down a trail where there’s a lot of local orchids. I’ll be seeing her from tena.m. onward.”
Nodding, Korsak said, “You like this woman?”
Did he?God yes.But he played it differently. “We have just met. I like her. But I don’t know where this will lead.”
“The way she kissed you last night,” Brudin said with a grin, “I’d have dragged her into that house and we’d still be in bed fucking through the night and into the morning. I wouldn’t be taking her anywhere this morning. Tie her up to the bed. Keep her my prisoner.”
Nik was well aware of Brudin’s sadistic streak. He liked cuffing the prostitute of his choice to the headboard and having his way with her. Every morning, the men bragged of what they’d done the night before. Nik left early, and never returned to the hotel until after dark. That way, he avoided the whole sordid affair. Lifting his chin, he said, “That’s the difference between us. I respect women. You would be the last people I’d ask for suggestions on how to treat one.”
More guffaws.
Brudin scowled deeply, his lip lifting to reveal his yellow-coated teeth.
Korsak chewed his food thoughtfully, not joining in with the laughter. “You’ve been with the team five years, Nik. What is it about this woman that suddenly draws you out of your monk’s cave?”
Nik reflexed inwardly, feeling Korsak wanting to know more. “I don’t know. I wasn’t looking for a woman, like all of you always do.”
Korsak considered Nik’s reply. “How long will she be in this area?”
Shrugging, Nik said, “I don’t know. How long does it take to write a book on orchids? I have no ruler to measure that by.”
“Sounds boring as hell to me,” Brudin growled.
“There’s a lot of orchids in this area,” Korsak said conversationally, finishing off his vegetables and cutting into his beef steak. “So, Nik? If things go well? You will have something to look forward to once a month coming back here to Aguas Calientes?”
“I will,” he said.
“Instead of sleeping, eating and hiking around here, and playing doctor to that orphanage at the other end of town to fill your hours,” Brudin said sarcastically.
Nik leveled a glare at Brudin. He hated the man to his very soul. Hated what he’d done to the villagers. “Mind your own damned business.”
More snickers and humored looks between the men.
Nik didn’t take any guff from these men. Just because he was a combat medic didn’t mean he was worth less than any other trained Spetsnaz soldier. He was just as good as any of them. And, although Brudin pushed him at times, the idiot circled him warily because Nik was not one to be pushed too far. He’d already broken Brudin’s nose two years ago and the soldier remembered that event. He’d stopped bullying Nik at that time because the medic had refused to just lie down and take his shit. And, although Brudin was pissed at him to this day and still made petty riposte attempts to gig him, he knew if he pushed Nik too far, he’d react. And he didn’t want his nose broken again. Or worse. Nik was a CQC expert, close quarters combat, and that meant he knew how to kill. His hands were literal lethal weapons and Brudin kept that in mind.
“Well,” Korsak said lightly, “perhaps, if things go your way, you will introduce me to her at some point?”
Nik snorted. “In a pig’s eye.”
Brudin grinned.
Korsak gave Nik a steady, assessing look for a moment, nodded, said nothing and popped a slice of meat into his mouth, biting down on it hard.
Nik could feel Korsak wanting to know a hell of a lot more about Daria, felt a tinge of curiosity from the man, but more along the lines of trying to see if she was legit or not, rather than anything more sinister. Today should seal that for Korsak. Nik intended to spend a lot of time out on the trails with Daria doing whatever she did for the book she was supposed to be writing. It was important to get her cover solidly in place and this was the way to do it.
Nik pushed back from the table, his plate clean.
Korsak looked up. “When we see you? Fill us in on what your hike was like today.”
Nik hesitated and gave his boss a hard look. “What? You’re not sending Brudin out to follow us today?”
Shrugging, Korsak said, “We’ll see… He didn’t like sitting for two hours out in the rain and mud last night watching you two eat.”