Rurik moved his arm out from under her touch and then caught her hand in his, holding it firmly. His breathing increased and additional sweat appeared on his brow.
Bill stopped smiling and sat up straight on the other side of the booth. “You all right there, Commie?”
Rurik stared helplessly across the table at the older man and said something in Russian, increasing the pressure on Liberty’s hand as he did.
Concern for him filled her quickly. “Bill, what’s he saying? Is he okay?”
Bill calmly set his attention on her. “He says he’s not sure if he’s all right. He’s worried about his self-control. He’s scared of hurting or scaring you.”
Rurik stiffened. “You speak Russian?”
How did the man not know his father spoke his native language?
Bill winked. “There is a whole lot about me that would surprise you, Sput-Rurik. Now, about you hurting Liberty Bell.”
Rurik sucked in a large breath.
Liberty yanked on Rurik’s hand, forcing him to twist slightly in the booth to face her. Reaching up with her free hand, she touched his scruffy jawline before speaking from the heart. “You won’t hurt me. I’m safe with you, Rurik.”
She wasn’t sure why she’d said that, but she knew it was true.
He calmed somewhat, his other hand moving over hers on his jawline. He nodded ever so slightly, as if he were talking himself into believing that he’d never harm her.
She grinned. “Rurik?”
“Yes?”
“Tell me about the blender. Something tells me there is a story behind it,” she said, wanting to change the subject for his sake as much as for her hormones.
She moved her hand from his face.
He kept hold of her other hand in his.
“I heard it was because he cut a bad dude up in little itty-biddy pieces. Pureed him,” said Bill, sounding like a proud father.
Liberty gasped. “He did?”
Bill shrugged. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there or nothing. But that’s what Duke said when he was talking about the blender and the Asshole of the Week Award that went along with it.”
Liberty tensed. “Asshole of the Week?”
“The guys he works with give the biggest asshole each week an honorary award,” said Bill. “It’s amazing the Russian isn’t employee of the year with asshole being part of the judging.”
She glanced at Rurik, trying to decide if he really was some kind of homicidal maniac or if his father was kidding. “Did you really chop up a bad guy?”
He nodded and then cleared his throat. “Uh, no. I’d never do that. That would be bad, right?”
Strangely, she found herself chuckling at his response.
Reason said she should cut her losses and get far away from a man capable of doing something so heinous, but her heart said “reason” could get bent. He’d been in her life mere hours and had shown up on the scene in a questionable manner, but her gut said they were linked somehow—that he was important to her.
And more importantly—that she was totally and completely safe with him.
Even if he really had pureed a bad guy. Not that she believed for a second that he had.
“Hey, Liberty Bell,” said Bill. “Did you know Sput-Rurik there is second-in-command of a team of badasses? I heard he could head his own team if he wanted to, but that it took a lot of arm twisting to get him to take the position as second-in-command.”
“Really?” she asked, impressed.
She went to pull her hand from his, but he kept hold of it.
He winked and she melted. “Really.”
As she stared into his blue eyes, memories of the man who had called her Little Paw came flooding back, bringing a wider smile to her face.
“Liberty?” he asked, his voice still reminding her of the man from her past.
“Hmm?”
He watched her. “What is it?”
She managed to ease her hand from his. “Nothing.”
He bent his head a bit, an unspoken question on his face.
She took a deep breath before speaking. “You just kind of remind me of someone I once knew. Or I think I knew him. Your eyes and voice are like his. Okay, so is your hair. Fine. You really, really remind me of him.”
Bill rattled ice from an empty cup before popping a piece in his mouth. He proceeded to chew it loudly.
The sound nearly sent Liberty over the edge of sanity.
“Hey, Commie,” said Bill between ice chewing. “She remind you of anyone you once knew? Maybe her eyes or something else? Gus is wondering.”
Gus hadn’t made a peep, other than continuing to blow bubbles in his milkshake leftovers.
Bill’s conviction when he spoke, as if Gus had somehow managed to talk to him mentally, was starting to make her wonder if it was true. She was living proof that some people were capable of things others would never believe were real.
Rurik gave the smallest of nods.
Liberty fought hard to keep from smiling so wide that her face almost cracked. It was difficult around Rurik. “Cool. Wonder if our paths really have crossed before?”
“Never know,” said Bill, chomping down on more ice.
The crunching caused Liberty’s eye to twitch.
Rurik reached out so fast the act made Liberty gasp. He grabbed the cup full of ice and removed it from Bill’s reach. He then set it down so hard that ice sprang out and onto the tabletop. He narrowed his gaze on Bill.
Liberty sighed. She was certainly attracted to the man on a level she couldn’t exactly explain, but his temper—when it came to his father—was an issue. She didn’t know who her parents were but if she did, she’d go out of her way to be nice to them. She’d have realized how special a family bond could be. “Thanks for the late lunch and the milkshake, but I should head home now.”
Rurik didn’t move and since he was blocking her exit, she was stuck in place as well. “You want to go?”
“Can you blame her, big
