Trusting A Stranger. Melinda Lorenzo Di

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      Luke shook his head. “My concern is that it would look too suspicious, as though the marriage was strictly for the purposes of keeping her in the country. A couple involved in a whirlwind romance wouldn’t be thinking about that on their wedding day. The morning should be fine.”

      Viktor made a sound of agreement. Karina listened silently, much as she had for most of the day. Strange how she’d had so little input in her own fate. Ever since this nightmare had begun, it seemed like she’d been caught up in events larger than herself, placing her life in the hands of others. First Sergei, then Viktor. Now a stranger. Even now it seemed as though the men had placed themselves in a way so that they could converse without her, with Viktor closest to the street, Luke in the middle and her trailing along on the other side.

      The feeling of helplessness chafed, but she didn’t know what else she could do. It may be her life, but they knew more about these matters than she did.

      They were almost to the parking lot next to the building when Karina spotted a black sedan pulling away from the curb on the street up ahead of them. It began to drive down the street in their direction.

      She wasn’t certain at first why she noticed it. There was nothing unusual about it. Its make and model were unremarkable. It might have been the strangeness of seeing it there, parked on the street when no other cars were on this quiet stretch of road. It might have been that its windows were a little too dark, tinted to hide its occupants.

      Then she realized how slowly it was driving, crawling along on the street far less quickly than it should be.

      And she knew exactly what was about to happen, even before she saw the passenger-side window was down.

      She opened her mouth to scream, to shout a warning, to do something for once, even as she saw the tiny barrel of a gun emerge from the window.

      “No!”

      The word was barely out before something large and heavy crashed into her, throwing her down to the ground. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs. A few muffled pops reached her ears. She saw a blur out of the right side of her vision, the side closer to the street, where Viktor was standing.

      She whipped her head to look at him.

      In time to see him fall to the ground, his face clenched in pain.

      For a moment, she could only stare, frozen in disbelief, as past and present blurred, what she was seeing and what she’d only seen in her nightmares blending into one. Viktor’s face faded into another, so similar. Sergei. On the ground. Shot.

      And then it was Viktor again. Here. Now. Shot.

      She lunged forward, only to find her progress impeded by the heavy weight on top of her, holding her back.

      “Don’t be stupid,” a harsh voice said in her ear. Luke.

      “I have to help him!” she screamed, struggling to get away.

      He tightened his hold in response to her thrashing. “You can’t help him! All you can do is get yourself killed.”

      Even as she heard the words, she felt herself being hauled to her feet and pulled backward. They’d reached the parking lot. There were only four cars in it. He dragged her behind the nearest one, blocking them from the street.

      “What are you doing?” she gasped, unable to believe what was happening.

      “I’m getting you out of here.”

      “No! I cannot leave him!”

      “My responsibility is to keep anything from happening to you. That’s what this was all about, wasn’t it?”

      “Nothing will happen to me! They’re gone!”

      “They could double back.”

      “They won’t kill me here!”

      “Do you know that for a fact? Do you know with absolute certainty that they won’t shoot you, too, just for the hell of it?”

      Karina threw her mouth open to say yes. Nothing came out. She couldn’t think, couldn’t begin to form words. She wanted to scream at him again that she didn’t know anything, she hadn’t known anything with absolute certainty since this nightmare had begun and everything had started to seem unreal. Like this.

      Luke took advantage of her speechlessness to lift her clear off her feet. As soon as she realized what he was doing, she began to struggle anew.

      “Don’t throw away everything he did for you,” Luke said. “Don’t make it worth nothing.”

      The angry words made her go still, torn between what he was saying and what she knew to be right. She couldn’t just leave Viktor there, lying on the sidewalk. But what if she was shot? The loss of her own life seemed insignificant compared to what it would mean to Viktor. And this man? If he were shot trying to save her—and she did know they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him—then what had all this been for? What had Sergei and Viktor, and perhaps even this man, died for? She did not need another death on her hands. Someone else dead, because of her.

      Then they were at his car. Luke yanked the passenger-side door open without stopping and practically hurled her inside. “Stay here and keep your head down.” Without waiting for a response, he slammed the door shut in her face.

      Ducking her head slightly, she never took her eyes off him as he made his way back to Viktor.

      She swiped a trembling hand across her face to wipe away the tears she knew had to be there, only to have her fingers come away dry. She stared at them, disturbed by the sight. It made no sense. Her throat was still raw from begging him not to make her leave Viktor. Her heart felt as though it had been ripped from her chest. How could she not be crying?

      She remembered sobbing for Sergei when the news of his death had truly hit her, the tears coming before she realized they were there. Yet now she had none.

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