Her Perfect Gift (19 page)

But in the end, he said, “Fine, but heed me close,
kotenok
, there will be consequences for your manipulations tonight after Aaron has gone to bed.”

Eva threw him a saucy smile. “And I’m looking forward to them. Now talk.”

Alexei sighed and turned to Lacey. “You described Nakamura as a hit man, but he is more than that. He does not simply kill. He is what those in need of his services would call a handler. Some years ago, I contracted him to handle the person who was trying to keep Eva and I apart.”

Eva’s eye widened. “You mean this is the guy who killed…” She trailed off, obviously not wanting to say the name of the person who had been standing between them.

Alexei gave a short nod, “He also handled the man who had been dispatched to kill you.” His eyes went back to Lacey. “Ever since then, I have been asking him to become the head of security for Rustanov Enterprises. We have many enemies throughout the world and a man of his talents would serve us well. However, he turned down my offers. At first because he worked alone, and then because he was happy letting his partner do the work he did not like. I told him they both could come work for me, but Nakamura said he liked having the freedom to cherry pick their cases. Though I am not one to give up on a pursuit, I had nearly given up on bringing Nakamura into the Rustanov empire. However, a few days before Thanksgiving, I received a call.

“Nakamura said he would come work for me, but he had two conditions. He wanted to work out of Chicago as much as possible, and he wanted use of my private jet to fly his son and one other person to and from school for major holidays. Of course, I agreed.”

Alexei’s face clouded over. “But then a few days ago, I received another call from him. He said something had come up and he had to delay coming to work for me until further notice, due to the Hector Mendez situation.”

Lacey shook her head confused. “You mean he’s going to try to kill Hector Mendez?”

Alexei shook his head. “I am afraid it is not that simple. With men such as Mendez, it is not enough to kill them. To truly handle such a problem, Nakamura must not only kill Hector Mendez, but also any person who might want to avenge his death—in this case a couple of allies, one of which resides in the Dominican Republic. It is a very dangerous mission, one that might require sacrifices that may mean Nakamura would not be able to return to your side.”

Lacey covered her hand with her mouth. “You’re trying to say Suro might die trying to kill these men, all because of me?”

“You see why I thought it better you did not know? But do not fret. Nakamura made a separate deal with me. He’s made me the main beneficiary of his will in exchange for protecting you, Sparkle, Kenji and your child in the event of his death.”

“You took that man’s money?” Eva asked him. “You should have volunteered.”

“That is not how these things work,
kotenok
. I would have of course done him this favor without him leaving me his money, considering what he did. But a man such as Nakamura does not receive charity. The only way he could trust I would do as I said is if I agreed to his terms.”

“Well, can you send men to help him out with his mission? Give him some back up?” Eva asked, her voice growing hysterical. “I can’t believe he’s out there by himself.”

“He works alone. This is how he prefers it,” Alexei answered.

“Who cares what he wants? He’s got a woman who’s about to have his baby waiting for him.”

But Lacey cut her off with a squeeze of her hand. “It’s okay,” she said.

“It’s not okay,” Eva said, indignantly. “I’m pregnant and I don’t know what I’d do if Alexei was out there on some dangerous mission I didn’t know if he’d come back from.”

“He will come back,” Lacey said, rubbing a hand over her stomach. “He promised me he’d never leave me like my father did. He promised me. And he’s the kind of man who always keeps his promises.”

Before Eva could say anything else, she asked Alexei. “Did he say when he’d be back?”

“He said I should start the process of executing his will if he was not back by Christmas.”

Lacey grabbed on to that date as if her life depended on it. She could tell from the look on both Alexei’s and Eva’s faces they didn’t quite believe Suro would be able to pull it off, but they didn’t have to. She believed in Suro, more than she believed in herself. They would be together this Christmas. She just knew it.

CHAPTER 22

LACEY
believed in Suro, she believed in him as fiercely as she’d ever believed in anyone. She had been through too much, had gone too many years without hope, to give up on Suro now.

But not everyone was so sure. Eva kept slipping concerned looks her way during their daily visits, and started talking about booking her an appointment with a local OB, even though Lacey told her she’d wait until they were all back in Chicago to get checked out. Her father had been so busy working to keep a roof over their heads the first time around that she’d had to go through everything, save the actual labor and delivery, alone. This time she wanted Suro there every step of the way.

Sparkle made it through the Russian greats disturbingly fast, but as it turned out, just in time. The day she finished the piano works of Alexander Abramsky, Alexei showed up with Kenji—apparently, Suro had also asked his Russian friend to pick Kenji up from school after the semester was over. And with little to no fanfare for their reunion, the two musical prodigies once again turned their attention back to their opera.

Alexei was so impressed by their dedication, he promised to finance a production of their opus if they finished it.

“
When
we finish it,” Sparkle corrected him, before giving him a rote thank you for his promised patronage.

Lacey wouldn’t have thought Kenji was thinking much about his father at all. Except the week before Christmas, she came downstairs to make herself a warm glass of milk because she couldn’t sleep and found Suro’s son staring out the living room’s large bay window at the small path that led from the front gate to the guest house.

Even though she knew he was a musical prodigy with Asperger’s who was skeptical about any unproven fantasy figures, at that moment he looked like nothing less than a little boy waiting for Santa Claus.

“Kenji, what are you doing down here?” she asked, coming to sit beside him in the window.

“My dad’s not coming back, is he?”

Her heart thumped in her chest to hear Kenji say aloud what she’d only allowed herself to wonder on the darkest nights. “What makes you think that?”

“He called me a few weeks ago,” Kenji said. His eyes stayed on the path. “He said he loved me and if anything happened to him, I should treat you like I would my mother. He said you two weren’t married but he considered us a family and I should always take care of you and Sparkle.”

She had to resist the urge to place her hands around his shoulders. Kenji, she had realized over the last couple of weeks, was even more sensitive to touch than her own daughter. Instead she settled for mentally envisioning she was hugging him when she said, “That’s a lot of responsibility to put on a little boy.”

Kenji rocked back and forth, but just once, as if he was putting considerable effort into controlling his physical tick. “The security guards at Rise Academy only make minimum wage. I asked them. My dad isn’t just a security guard, is he?”

Lacey’s first instinct was to lie, but over the past few weeks she had grown an aversion to keeping secrets. “No, he isn’t.”

“And whatever he does, it’s dangerous, isn’t it?” Kenji gave her a sad look. “You two didn’t become boyfriend and girlfriend because I told you to, you became boyfriend and girlfriend because you both do bad things.”

She sighed. “Kenji, I love your dad. And one thing I know for sure is we both have our reasons for any bad things we did. But trust me, I’ve lost my father, and in the end, the only thing that matters is the love. Your father will always love you and that’s the most important thing, okay?”

Kenji gave her a skeptical look but said, “Okay.”

“Do you want some warm milk?” she asked him.

“Is that something mothers do? Make warm milk?”

She gave him a wry smile. “Sometimes.”

“Then I think I’ll like having a mother for reasons other than facilitating my work with Sparkle.”

She knew he was perfectly serious, so she tried to keep the smile off her lips as she answered, “Well, I know I’m going to love having a son. We’re not the most normal family ever, but I think we’re going to be great.”

Another skeptical look from Kenji. “I’ll reserve judgment until we see how the opera turns out.”

That, she supposed, was the most she could ask for.

Over the next few days, it became her habit to bring Kenji a glass of warm milk during his nightly vigil by the window and she often joined him to watch the still empty path in companionable silence.

“You’re humoring me aren’t you? You don’t think he’s ever coming back,” Kenji said on one of these silent nights.

Again she told him the truth. “I’m not humoring you, and I truly believe he’s going to come back. Your father has kept every promise he’s ever made me.”

Lacey believed every word she said, but then it was Christmas Eve. Alexei, Eva, and their delightful son, Aaron, came over to unwrap one gift each from underneath the tree Eva had thoughtfully had set up in the guest house living room. And even Kenji and Sparkle took a break from their opera to join in the festivities.

It would have been a lot of fun if not for the missing presence of Suro hanging over the room.

Alexei came into the kitchen while Lacey was making a second batch of apple cider. He was wearing a Christmas sweater with a reindeer, a look so ludicrous on the large Russian, she didn’t even have to question whether it had been a gift from Eva. Only his wife would have been able to convince the otherwise stern businessman to don Yuletide apparel.

Over the past few weeks, she learned Alexei put up with very little foolishness where others were concerned, but he was a pushover when it came to his wife.

“Just in time. You want your apple cider refill now?” she asked, gesturing at the mug in his hand.

He looked down at it as if just realizing it was there and nodded. “Yes, thank you. It is very good.”

“The secret ingredient is maple syrup. My daddy believed in putting a touch of sweet in everything. He used to say even the spiciest dishes needed some light.”

“He sounds like a very interesting man.”

“He was,” she said and found herself tearing up with memories of her father. But then she cleared her throat and put a mind to refilling Alexei’s mug, making sure to add a slice of real apple and a stick of cinnamon. That had been her idea. Her father had never been one for making food pretty, but she had been fond of adding little touches to make it look as good as it tasted.

“Thank you,” Alexei said, when she handed the mug back to him. Then: “We should talk about Nakamura.”

“I know. I’m sad he’s missing out on this apple cider, too. For somebody so lean, he likes his food. You’d never guess it.”

But Alexei didn’t pick up on this thread of conversation. “Tomorrow is Christmas,” he said.

She tightened her jaw. “But it’s not Christmas yet.”

“We should talk about next steps. I can have new IDs made for you, Kenji, and Sparkle and get them enrolled at a new boarding school. But it is not a good idea for you to go back to Chicago or Santa Fe. You will have to choose a new place to live if Mendez’s allies are looking for you.”

“It’s not Christmas yet,” she said again.

“We should see to these things sooner than later. Eva is very worried you have not seen a doctor yet.”

But she shook her head at him. “Alexei, I appreciate all you’ve done for us, but I still believe Suro is going to be here by tomorrow.”

He looked at her in the pitying way adults do when kids who are old enough to know better admit to still believing in Santa Claus.

“I know you do, but we have not heard from him at all. Chances are not very good for your wish to come true this holiday.”

Her answer to that was to paste a smile on her face before going to the door and calling out to everyone in the living room, “The new batch of cider is ready!”

And she tried to hold on to her faith in Suro. But throughout the evening, Kenji got grumpier and grumpier, making comments that seemed mean-spirited as opposed to socially awkward. And when she came downstairs to make him some warm milk, he shook his head. “Don’t bother,” he said. “He’s not coming. He’s dead.”

“Don’t say that,” she whispered, covering her heart with her hand.

“Why not? It’s true!” he said. “He’s left me here all alone because he couldn’t get a regular job like other dads.”

She bent down to talk to him at eye level. “Please don’t say that. Your dad loves you very much and I know he’d be here if he could.”

“He’s a bastard,” Kenji said.

And though she knew he was speaking out of hurt, she had to control the urge to shake him and say, “Don’t call your father out his name.”

Instead she said, “No, he’s very brave and he’s noble. More brave and noble than I think either of us could ever be.”

“Whatever,” he said. He pushed past her and ran back up the stairs to his room. She heard a door slam on the second floor a few seconds later.

She wanted to run after him and tell him it wasn’t true, that his father would be returning, he just had to keep the faith. But the old grandfather clock in the living room read 11: 50. As much as she wanted to believe, there seemed to be little or no chance Suro would be returning by Christmas as promised. And that meant he had sacrificed his life for her.

She waited with baited breath, and the minutes crept by, but soon enough the clock struck midnight. It was officially Christmas, and Suro wasn’t there.

She wept then, so heartbroken she feared she wouldn’t be able to pull herself together by Christmas morning. But she had to, she told herself. For Suro, she had to. It was her fault Kenji would grow up without a father. She had to do whatever it took to get him through this, even if it meant suppressing her own feelings until he and Sparkle could start at another school.