AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,” Daria whispered, choking, wanting to deny all of it. “What else?”
“Jack will get permission from Langley to send those photos to your computer, which is encrypted. You need to see them for yourself. I want to look at them, too.”
“And if the two sons had this birthmark?”
“Then it tells me it’s a predominant genetic marker of the Pavlovich family.”
“But… what happens, then?” she asked in a strained tone.
“Driscoll said Pavlovich has only two children on record being born in Moscow by his wife. His two sons. No daughters.”
Daria sank against Nik, pressing her face against his chest, holding him tightly. “Then, how are we possibly related?”
“I have no idea, Kitten, I’m not into genetics to that degree,” and he kissed her hair, massaging her tight shoulders, feeling a subtle tremor run through her. She was shaking. He would be too, given such devastating news. He continued to stroke her shoulders and back. “My gut? I remember my genomics professor telling the class that birthmarks could skip generations for whatever reason, and then return. Not everyone gets them, and it could be that some far-off cousin in your family is related to a far-off cousin in his family.” He sighed heavily, sliding his arms tightly around her. “None of this is your fault,moya kotya. You are the innocent in this sordid dance that’s hard to keep up with.”
Tears squeezed out of her tightly-shut eyes, a shudder working through her. Nik’s arms felt incredibly comforting and Daria desperately needed all the kindness and love he was feeding her right now. “This is awful, Nik. If he reallyismy relative, he’s a global drug lord.” She buried her face against him, struggling to grasp it all.
“You’re the light to his dark,” Nik said unsteadily, battling to hold his emotions in check. His natural protectiveness rose up in him. He wanted desperately to shield Daria from the Don. He could feel Daria fighting not to cry, and he wished she’d just let it go, but she was strong. And there was so much for her to think through. Her arms were tight around him, as if she were clinging to him during a wild storm that might yank her away from him and she would drown.
“Come? I want to go to the bedroom and lay down with you. Hold you for a little while? It might help?” Because it was all he knew to do at the moment. There was no intent of sex. She was hurting deeply. This information was going to change her life forever. Daria had discovered, possibly, a long-lost relative who was also a drug lord. And not just any drug lord. Pavlovich was high up on the global ladder of the Russian trafficking world. He was a king in his own right, power-wise. Nik shook his head, wondering why some people like he and Daria were given so much to bear. Others bore so very few loads in life. Life itself wasn’t fair, and he knew that firsthand.
“Yes, I’d like that,” Daria choked out in a small voice. She sniffed and pulled out of his arms, quickly wiping her eyes.
She wasn’t going to cry. Nik could see that resolve in the way she held her chin. But he could feel her mind racing, feel the agony radiating from her heart, could feel her wanting to deny all of it. Who wouldn’t? He wanted so badly to insulate her, but there was no way he could. Pavlovich hadn’t said how long he’d be in Aguas Calientes. Daria was here for the duration until they could capture Korsak. He caught her hand, giving it a gentle tug, and walked her down the hall to the bedroom.
Nik laid down in the middle of the bed and gestured for her to come to him. Daria sat down on its edge, nudged off her sandals, and slid over. Groaning as she fit so well against him, Nik slid his arm beneath her neck, curling it around her shoulders, holding her close, but not too tight. When her head came to rest in the crook of his shoulder, Nik sighed and closed his eyes. “Last night, I dreamed I was holding you. And then, when I awoke early this morning in the grayness of dawn, you really were in my arms.” His mouth drew into a faint smile. “You have no idea how good it felt to hold you, Daria.” Perhaps distracting her was the better choice? She needed time to absorb the deep shock from the revelations of their talk. Besides, this way, he could protect her, give her a sense of safety, and care for her while she dealt with the deep shock of this unwanted discovery.
She slid her arm across his belly, absorbing his strength and calm. “I massaged your back last night. Do you remember that?”
“No… I fell off a cliff. I was gone.” Nik raised his head, meeting her gaze. “I’m sorry I missed that.”
“You were exhausted from yesterday, Nik.”
“So were you, Kitten.” He threaded his fingers through her loose hair, feeling the beat of her heart against his chest. The rounded firmness of her breasts teased his senses and he stopped his mind from going there. His plan was to get her to talk, maybe cry. Nik wanted to do so much more for her.
“I wish there was a way to get a DNA test down here,” she muttered against his chest.
“There is,” he said. “Pavlovich sneezed and threw the tissues into a waste basket. One time, when we took a break from the meeting for bathroom breaks and such, I was able to rescue the soiled tissues and hid them in my pocket.”
Daria lifted away, surprise in her expression. “Seriously? You did?”
“Yes, I put them in a small plastic baggie in my pocket. Then I transferred them to a sterile bottle when I left the hotel, and it’s now in my medical ruck. I’m going to need you to take the train into Cusco tomorrow and get the sample analyzed by the hospital. I’m sure they at least have a gene services unit down in Lima. It could be overnighted by courier from Cusco to Lima, if needed. It’s not the best quality specimen, but I believe there’s enough of his DNA on those tissues to find out what we need to know.”
“Oh, Nik!” Daria cried, throwing herself into his arms, hugging him with her woman’s strength.
He smiled brokenly. “It was the least I could do, Kitten.”
“Don’t let there be a match…”
“We must get that evidence from either the Cusco or Lima hospital. We need to buy you a roundtrip ticket by tonight. There is an agricultural train coming into the station at 0800 and you’ll be on it.”
Nodding, Daria gave him a grateful look. “You are incredible, Nik. Thank you for doing this for me. I’ll be on that train.”
He frowned, brushing strands of hair away from her cheek. “I don’t like leaving you alone in Cusco, Daria. A lone woman, especially an American one, is vulnerable. There are gangs who kidnap and ransom Americans for money.”
“I can take care of myself,” she said firmly, sliding her fingers across his jaw. “You just focus on what’s going on with your team, okay? I’ll worry a lot more aboutyou. I won’t have contact…”
“You’ll have the paper notes I pass to my Indian women friends as we move through that particular village, though.”
