The Russian Billionaire’s Secret(56)

Setting my bags on the first bedroom I found, I smelled cooked meat. It didn't smell horrible, and my stomach was grumbling. Heading back out to the tiny kitchen, I found John flipping hamburgers over in a pan.

“We had food here?” I tried to figure it out since we didn't stop by a store on our way here.

“This is a safe house that I've used in the past. I keep it well stocked in case of emergencies,” John told me as he scooped the food out onto two glass plates and set them on the small wooden table in the kitchen.

I wasn't dumb, and so when I sat down and ate my food, I picked at it. I wanted to know why he had safe houses set up. Watching him eat his food fast, as soon as he was done I pounced.

“So, why would you need a safe house?” I asked him, and then took a bite of my food, watching him as I chewed.

“Work, sometimes when protecting assets, they require safekeeping,” he told me, his tone was funny and I almost smiled when I realized that I was starting to pick up on his subtle cues.

“Asset?” I asked him and started to laugh until I realized he wasn't kidding. “What do you mean asset?”

“How about we talk over a glass of wine later, let's just finish dinner and let me do the dishes, you can unpack, I need to make a couple more phone calls first, then we'll get settled in and have a conversation about everything,” John told me, his gaze was shuttered and I couldn't read him.

I admit I was disturbed by him keeping secrets and while my gut told me I could trust him, I still felt like he had something he needed to tell me or was hiding from me that I should know.

“Fine, I have something else we need to discuss too,” I told him and put the last few bites of meat into my mouth.

“What would that be, princess?” he asked me grinning at me when I glared at him. He's lucky I didn't kick him under the table, he seriously was taunting me with his princess comments and one of these days... Refocusing my attention, I tried to ignore his comments.

“I want you to help me disappear. I cannot go back to my father. I need a fresh start; I cannot be involved in this. Hiding in a cabin in the woods is not good enough for me, I want to really live my life and as long as I'm associated with my father, or people know who I am, I can't.” I sighed and put my fork down. I wasn't sure what it would take to convince him to listen to me, but I'd do whatever it took.

“That's part of the conversation we can have after my phone calls, just be patient with me Sofie.” John took my plate and did the dishes, shooing me away when I tried to help. I wasn't sure if I was amused at his not wanting my help, or irritated that he was implying I was useless. I wasn't useless; I just needed to learn how to take care of myself.

I went and took a quick shower to distract myself and put a towel around my hair, grabbing a bathrobe out of my bags, I put it on, not bothering to get dressed right now. I found the fuzzy pink bunny slippers I'd slipped in my travel bag and put those on my feet. The cabin had hardwood floors and it was freezing my little toes off.

Going back to the living room, I saw John outside on the small porch of the cabin and I went to go outside and hesitated when I heard him on the phone. I didn't mean to intrude or listen into his conversation, but he didn't exactly try to hide it from me either.

I heard snippets of the conversation, and now I was more confused than ever. He was talking about having the asset contained, and safe, and he mentioned my father's name and that he almost had enough details to take him everyone down.

Feeling protective of my father, I grabbed a statue sitting on the end table next to the lamp for self protection and waited for him to come back inside. If he lied to me, I planned on whacking him with it and taking his car and going home. Assuming I could find my way home. His didn't have a built in GPS and since he made me ditch my phone, I was in trouble without GPS.

Chapter 4

The Truth

John walked in and I ambushed him. I wanted some answers, and he was going to give them to me. Or else.

“What the hell is going on, who are you, really?” I asked him, raising my voice, realizing I sounded borderline hysterical and tried to take a deep breath. “Are you going to hurt me? Sell me for ransom? What?”

“No, my job is to keep you safe,” John told me quietly, and I glared at him. He didn't seem to be too distressed by my outburst and that had me almost more worried than an angry or defensive response would have elicited.

“Then tell me the truth, now, or I swear to god I will knock you out and go back to my father, risk or no risk,” I blustered, hoping he'd take my threat seriously and when he laughed at me, I did it. I didn't mean too but I just reacted. I kicked him in the shins with my bunny slippers. Fuck, that hurt me more than it did him. My poor toes.

“Bunny slippers? Seriously?” John started to howl in laughter as I held my injured toes and glared at him. Realizing I still had the small metal statue in my head I swung it at him and he grabbed my wrist almost painfully hard and made me let go of it. It clattered to the wooden floor with a clang.

We grappled for a few minutes and the next thing I knew he had my back against his chest with my arms across my chest. I tried to stomp on his toes, but my bunny slippers were ineffective against his thick leather military style boots.

“Sofie, if you stop fighting, I'll talk to you about everything, but you need to calm down so I know you can hear me,” John told me, but I wasn't ready to listen. I continued to struggle against him, wanting to be free, fighting against him until I had nothing left. No energy, no anger, I was empty.