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“Not exactly real life,” he said. “We’re still stuck here at the farm.” He shifted her off him and eased away from her. “But back to our temporary life.”
Without looking at her, he slid off the bed and stepped into the tiny washroom to dispose of the condom. When he walked out, Sierra was dressed in the tee-shirt and sleep shorts she’d been wearing when he woke her last night. She was collecting her laptop and the SAT phone he’d given her, and she turned to face him when he stepped into the room.
“I know there’s a tiny shower in there, but I’m going to use the one in my bedroom,” she said, her voice too bright. “Is it okay to go upstairs now?”
“We’ll go together,” he said, throwing on his own clothes. He opened the door and led the way upstairs. He’d made her feel awkward, and he hated that. But better awkward than hopeful of something more from him. Both of his parents had probably expected more, and that’s what they’d both gotten. More fights. More pain. More tears.
He needed to get himself and Sierra back on bodyguard-protectee footing.
Neither of them spoke as they hurried up both flights of stairs. At the top of the second flight of stairs, she slipped into her room and gently closed the door. Cody stared at it for a long moment, then finally stepped into his own room. Closed the door a little harder than Sierra had.
For a moment, he’d toyed with asking her to shower with him. Thank God he’d resisted the impulse, because he knew where it would’ve led -- right back in bed together.
Trying to block the picture of Sierra on top of him, he took a cold shower and threw on clean clothes. When he opened the door, Sierra’s was still closed. Thank God. He could go downstairs and make breakfast. Check their security. Bury the memories of last night and this morning deeply and regain some semblance of normalcy.
After starting the coffee, he sat down and pulled out his phone. Studied the security app. Everything appeared secure. Calm. According to his phone, there were no problems.
But Cody knew there were. How had the Russians found them?
There was a leak somewhere, and he wasn’t sure where to start.
He froze. Sierra’s phone. She’d made a phone call from it before he stopped her. Could the Russians be monitoring her cell phone? Tracking her calls?
It could be done, but they’d need someone working for her cell phone carrier. Someone with access to the cell records.
A chill ran through him. The Bratva had a lot of assets on the east coast. Someone who could check on cell phone records would be invaluable. If they were smart, they had people working for all the carriers. For someone inside the system, tracking Sierra’s phone and figuring out where she was? Child’s play.
When she stepped into the kitchen, he looked up from his phone. Smiled at her. “Good morning. What would you like for breakfast?”
“I’ll start with some coffee,” she said, going over to the coffee maker and pouring herself a cup. She grabbed the cream and poured some in the mug, then slid into the seat across from him.
She studied him over the rim of her mug, her hazel eyes green in the morning light. “How did the Russians find us?”
He should have known she’d think about that. Should have had a glib answer ready. But he didn’t want glib with Sierra. He shrugged. “Not sure.”
She took another sip of coffee. “It was me, wasn’t it? Me using my phone right after we got here. The Bratva were tracking it, and once they pinpointed my location, they sent those two guys after me.”
He stared at her, impressed. It hadn’t taken her long to put the pieces together. But instead of agreeing, he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now how they found us, because they didn’t get you.”
“Which means they’ll send someone else. Right?”
Cody took a deep breath. “Eventually, yeah. But they’ll give the guys I caught a few days to get the job done.”
Sierra tilted her head and studied him, clearly unconvinced. “They’d expect them to call in regularly, wouldn’t they? And when they don’t hear from them, they’ll send someone else.” She drew in a deep, shuddering breath and flopped against the back of the chair. “We have to leave, don’t we?”
“Let’s give it a day and see what happens,” he said. “I need to check in with Mel and see what’s going on at her end.”
“So I shouldn’t start packing up?”
“Not yet,” Cody said. He was reluctant to leave the farm. It felt like an oasis, a safe place in the midst of whatever mess was happening at the Blackhawk Security compound.
Here, he and Sierra were isolated. Alone.
And he wanted the illusion of privacy and seclusion. Wanted to spend more time with Sierra before they had to face the real world again.
He closed his eyes as he took a too-big gulp of hot coffee. He was in so much trouble.
Chapter 11
