AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"You thought I'd say no?"
He nodded. "I did," he said softly. "I thought you'd hate me. It was because of me that you… had to leave."
I said nothing, just looked at him, drinking in his face, his body. Finally, I spoke, my voice wavering with emotion.
"I could never hate you," I whispered.
Hunter smiled. "George packed a picnic basket for us. I thought we could hike along the trail along the cliffs and have lunch."
"Sounds nice," I said with a sigh. "I don’t really know anyone here so it'll be nice to have some company for a change."
He nodded, his eyes lingering on my face. "I'm sorry. It must have been hard, being all alone for so long."
I nodded. Finally, he turned to George. "I'll take that."
George held out the wicker basket. "I pack good Russian food, " he said, a grin on his face. "Vodka, caviar, sour cream, blini. Fruit, too."
"Caviar?" I said with a laugh and stood up. "That's not picnic fare."
"Is in Mother Russia," George protested, a mock-hurt expression on his face. "Each year we go to dacha on Black Sea and eat caviar, drink vodka around fire."
I turned to Hunter. "Do you eat caviar? "
"It's really quite good, " he said and grabbed the basket. "Try it. You never know you like something until you try."
"I'll try for George's sake, since he went to so much trouble."
Hunter patted George on the back. "We'll be a while."
George nodded, smiling. "Have nice time."
We left the house and made our way along the cliff that overlooked the coast. While we hiked, I talked about the area and about my time there since I’d left, and he filled me in on news from Saint Brothers Gym and the whole business with Sergei and Victor.
I stopped him, my hand on his arm.
"Did you kill Sergei?"
He said nothing and started walking along the path.
"I take it that means you did, but you can't admit it."
He smiled at me. "Classified info. Let's just say I'm happy he and Victor are gone. Now the FBI has to take down his cousin Semion. He's a really bad guy."
We reached a clearing after hiking along a winding trail that cut along the face of the cliff with a few trees on one side, a sharp drop on the other. Below was a rocky shore where the waves crashed into white foam. The air was cool and a bit damp, the scent of pine and salt sea air strong. It was refreshing and kept me from overheating.
A couple of trees had been felled and the clearing was dominated by a huge tree stump where Hunter stood.
"Here's our table." He turned his back to me. "Do you like the view? I scouted this place out when we arrived and thought this would be a great place for a picnic."
I nodded, then frowned.
"How long have you been here?"
"A week." He glanced sideways at me, a guilty expression on his face.
"A week? And you didn't contact me?"
He shook his head. "I promised your mother and your aunt that I'd never see you again."
