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“Louie came with him because he felt guilty for not saving Nikel’s brother,” she went on, sounding like she was reciting a book report. “Edik Ovchinnikov was Louie’s best friend, and so he felt like he owed it to Nikel to help get his revenge.”
“Samara, we cannot stay here,” I informed her, putting everything else aside. “You can explain everything later, but we need to head back home. The O’Brien’s hospitality only extends so far.”
Her blue eyes flashed a bit, but even she knew better than to test these murky waters. “Fine,” she relented. “I’d like a shower anyway.”
I helped her off the gurney, and then swung her up in my arms bride-style. Though I knew that she wanted to protest, she didn’t, not wanting to cause a scene that didn’t need to be caused. Honestly, after the way that I’d treated her, it was a miracle that she wasn’t fighting me on this.
As we headed towards the door, I stopped in front of Noah, then said, “We will take care of Nikel Ovchinnikov. Now that we know who he is, what he looks like, and what he’s after, this is our issue. The Sartoris are aware.”
“O’ course, they ere,” he drawled out. “We should all be so lucky as ta have a Morocco Carrisi.”
I gave him a terse nod of acknowledgment before carrying Samara out of the cabin, and then securing her safely in my car, hoping that she didn’t jump out once we were back on the road.
Chapter 36
Samara~
Exhausted beyond belief, I’d slept the entire way back to Avgust’s place, and I hadn’t even put up a fight when he had carried me out of the car, waking me up to see where we’d arrived. If I’d had any energy, I would have insisted that he take me back to my condo, but when I had remembered that my home no longer provided the peace and privacy that it’d once had, what did it matter where I showered and slept?
Once we’d gotten inside, Avgust had carried me to the bathroom, had stayed with me as I’d done my best to shower while keeping my bandages dry, then had put me to bed after giving me a clean shirt to sleep in. I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept for, but when I’d woken up, I’d felt the last few days everywhere on my body, and I’d never been so grateful for the pain pills that Lochlan Murphy had sent home with me. I was also starving, and if I was going to take pain medication, then I’d better put some food in my stomach before I made things worse on my body.
Getting out of bed, I made my way to the bathroom, then washed my face, brushed my teeth, then did what I could with my hair. I was a bit surprised that all my stuff was still here, but my curiosity wasn’t enough to make me give it much thought. Food was the priority, and then the pain meds.
When I walked out of the bathroom, it was to see Avgust carrying a tray of food, and my stomach immediately started growling at the delicious scents. So, choosing to be practical over angry at this entire situation, I limped my way back towards the bed, eyeing the tray of food.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d feel like, so I chose light dishes,” Avgust remarked as he set the tray on the bed. “Of course, if you wish for something else, I can have it made for you.”
I stared at the chicken soup, wheat toast, and grilled chicken sandwich, and it all looked good enough for me. “This is fine,” I assured him.
I didn’t say anything as I walked over to the bed, but once it was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to place the tray on my thighs, Avgust quickly removed everything off one of the nightstands, then pulled it closer to me, placing the tray on top.
Once I started eating, Avgust grabbed the rocker in the corner, then pulled it towards the bed. Eating in peace didn’t look like it was in the picture, but I still should have expected as much. While I’d told him what I’d learn from Louie, I hadn’t told him everything, and he’d known it. While Nikel’s motivations were important to the organization, I knew that Avgust wanted to know everything that had happened in that house.”
“There’s not much more to tell,” I semi-lied. “This Nikel Ovchinnikov is a Barychev, and he’s out for revenge for some supposed slight. If the math is right in my head, then he’s around thirty-three, but that’s all I know.”
“Nikel Ovchinnikov has been in Port Townsend for some time,” he replied, surprising me that he would discuss organization business with me. “Until recently, we’d known him by Klive Simpson, but we hadn’t known what he was doing here. All that we’d known was that he’d had an entourage of some sort, but thanks to the Sartoris and O’Briens, his numbers had dwindled considerably.”
In between eating, I said, “It makes no sense. Once he learned that Maksim and Akim were part of the bratva, why stay? He can’t possibly believe that he can kill two high-ranking members of such an organization.”
“He’s a lot more cunning than we’d given him credit for in the beginning,” Avgust stated. “We didn’t even know what he looked like until the other day.”
That had me blinking in confusion. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Over ten hours,” he answered. “However, I suspect it was from whatever Lochlan Murphy had given you for your pain.”
“No wonder my body feels so stiff.”
“Samara, what else happened in that house?” he finally asked.
Knowing that there was no way out of this, I told him what I’d been holding back earlier. “Louie claimed that it was pure coincidence, but he saw you at my condo the night of…” I let out a deep breath. “Anyway, he saw me being escorted to the car, and according to him, he’d stuck around long enough to see Gosha report for his new duties.”
“What else?” he bit out.
“Knowing that he couldn’t get near you or Maksim, he stalked my condo building, and when he saw me return, that’s when he came up with the plan to kidnap me,” I went on. “He followed me that morning, and knowing that I was looking for a job, he ‘bumped’ into me and played his part.”
“All of it, vozlyublennaya,” he insisted.
I let out another deep breath before continuing. “He was under the impression that you engaged in pillow talk, so he was convinced that I knew something that could help his cause. When I assured him that you weren’t the type of man to pillow talk, he said that it didn’t matter. I was still going to be used to send a message that would make its point.”
