Hunted

"Kyle?” I asked with a short, uneasy laugh.
"Is that his name?"
I nodded.
Jennie was nodding frantically. "Yes, that's the one."
I groaned and buried my hands in my face for a second. "Mom, he's gay and happy with his new boyfriend Jesse."
Jennie frowned thoughtfully and suddenly her eyes flashed up to my face and she gulped the food that had been in her mouth. "What do you know about him?"
I caught on to the double meaning. "He told me he's in the CIA."
"What happens when the media catches wind of this... affair?" she demanded.
I grimaced and wished I could side-track her somehow. "You make it sound dangerous."
Jennie was worried, that much was clear on her face. "Are you telling me you aren't aware of the repercussions?"
"Don't worry mom," I said. "I'll make sure Roman doesn't get in trouble because of me."
“That boy looks scary,” Jennie mumbled and a small, faint smile lit up her face. She was beautiful.
My heart swelled, I felt like it was going to burst inside my chest. "He does require some getting used to."
There was a very deep silence for a moment.
“Are you being safe?”
“Mom!” I accidentally spilled the juice I'd been holding in my hand all over the floor. “We just started dating.”
“Well?” she persisted.
“Gosh.” I mumbled, embarrassed. “Mom! It's a little too late to have the 'bees talk' with me and as I told you last night I'm still a virgin and by the looks of things Roman is planning to keep me that way for a while.”
"That's interesting," Jennie mumbled, nodding thoughtfully. "He's truly blessed to have found you and you're very lucky to have a man — age aside. Though I'm still not convinced on that — that won't pressure you into sex."
"I know mom — even though you won't say it — you're worried about the noticeable age gap between us. But please don't bring that topic up, he's still not sold and that would just be a deciding factor."
"Fine." 　　
“Don’t embarrass me,” I begged. “And no more talk about sex, you'll scare the poor guy away.”
We saw the flash of headlights flicker against the window. I sighed nervously. It was exactly thirty seconds from the minute the roar of the engine died to the sound of the doorbell ringing.
Jennie dropped her fork and half ran to the front door. I was a step behind her.
Roman stood in the dark porch, clad in dark faded jeans, gray boots and a black biker jacket.
“Hello Roman,” Jennie said. “Come in, don't freeze out in the cold.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Lynn,” Roman said in calm voice. “These are for you.”
“Oh wow, lilies, my favorite.” She blushed. “Why thank you. I can’t remember the last time someone brought me flowers.”
I grimaced.
“It was very rude of my daughter to tell me only after we’d started with dinner that we had a guest,” she apologised. “Have a seat.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“We’re not a formal family, Roman, call me Jennie.”
I got an extra plate for Roman as he sat across Jennie, dazzling her with one of his breath-taking smiles.
“So how long have you been dating my daughter?” Jennie asked.
“For a couple of months,” he answered smoothly, casually. “But I’ve had feelings for her since the very first day I met her.”
I dished up for Roman, wadding the plate full.
He glared at the food.
I sat next to him. Roman took my hand under the table. My heart throbbed but I was still waiting for the pain to register — it never did.
“This is really delicious,” he said.
“Nuru is an impressive cook,” Jennie agreed. “Roman, tell me, what are your intentions with my daughter?”
“Mother!”
She raised her hands in surrender.
A moment of awkward silence followed. Jennie broke it first.
“Is everything working accordingly?” Jennie's voice was calm, curious, clearly she saw nothing wrong with her line of questioning. "Nuru tells me she's still a virgin... It makes me wonder."
I choked on my food.
“Nuru, are you all right?” Instantly Roman was handing me his glass of water. “Here, drink this. It might help”
I nervously downed the water in one swing.
"I have enough reason to believe... I'm okay," Roman answered Jennie without dropping his worried gaze from my face.
I heard the discomfort in Roman's voice. I jumped up and starting clearing the table. “Would you like some desert?”
“Yes please.” Roman smiled brightly at me, obviously more than glad for the subject change.
“She’s beautiful isn’t she?” Jennie said. “…takes after her dad.”
Uh-oh. I groaned loudly.
"She's very beautiful indeed."
Jennie quietly enjoyed her desert or maybe she was thinking of another string of embarrassing questions to fire Roman's way, I guessed. The latter proved correct — she pushed the empty bowl to the side, and her lips moved to form words, her eyes fixed on a horrified Roman.
“O-Kay,” I jumped up before Jennie could further embarrass me. “Let’s go.”
I stalked towards the door and threw it open and waited for Roman.
"Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Lynn."
Jennie nodded. "I'm trusting you with my daughter."
I sighed and tried not to tap my foot impatiently once I'd pulled on my jacket.
"I'd protect her with my life," Roman vowed. His voice shook with the sincerity of his words.
Jennie stared at him blankly, surprised by the depth of his words.
Roman and I stared at each other for a moment. Jennie suddenly disappeared. It was just the two of us.
She cleared her throat. When I looked back at her she was shaking her head in disbelief, her eyes dazed as she shifted them across my face to Roman's repeatedly.
"Come visit soon, Nuru."
"I'll see you tomorrow, mom." I said, while I watched Roman walk to his car. He waited by the passenger door with impatience.
I hesitated. "Mom, you never did tell me where Nikolai went."
"I got rid of him."
It only took me an instant to grasp the distinction, and then a bolt of horror struck me.
"What?" my hesitation quickly turned to surprise. "Oh Jennie."
"Don't worry, I have enough dirt on him to keep him away. Should I go to jail, he's coming with."
"Jennie, I'm worried." I whispered, suddenly panicked.
"I'm fine."
Hesitantly, I touched her face. Her skin was baby soft, smooth and felt warm under my fingertips. "Come stay with Roman and me."
She waited for a second. "Nuru. I'll be fine."
"Mom..." I said, a dangerous tone to my voice.
"Trust me on this." She pulled my hand away from her face and held it firmly in her hands.
My stomach felt empty.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
She gave me a little squeeze. "Positive."
"Jennie," I said, my voice held a ring of authority. "I'm going to ask Roman to ask his people to find out where Nikolai is. If he's closer to town, I'm moving back in. And if anything happens to you — terrifying of all, if you die on me — I will never forgive you."
"Nothing will happen." Jennie smiled reassuringly. "Now go."



Chapter Nineteen

I realized, as he drove us over the slender off road by the river, that Roman was mad. His lips were held in a hard, straight line, his eyes glaring through the windshield unto the heavy downpour.
Roman measured my expression for a second. "I couldn't help overhearing the last conversation you had with your mother."
"Goods news right?" I enthused. I was thrilled. "Nikolai left."
"Nikolai wouldn't just leave." Roman still sounded worried. "He's planning something huge."
"Like what?" I muttered to myself, and I instinctively looked at his face, it distracted me long enough to make my pulse race. Well...
He thought for a second. "I don't know, Nuru, but this is Nikolai, why would he suddenly accept whatever decision Jennie makes?"
I shrugged. "Maybe he's tired of living a lie."
Roman continued to glare out of the windshield as we raced through the dead town.
I was starting to grasp the seriousness of the situation; I breathed deeply through my mouth and tried to block out vivid images of the dream I had last night. What if something like that happened to Jennie and Nikolai wasn't a dream, but a living, breathing nightmare?
My eyes narrowed at Roman's face as the wet air from the open crack in the window whipped his hair to his eyes.
"Maybe..." he finally muttered. I was close to forgetting about the conversation.
"Roman?" I asked in dread.
He looked up at me, alarmed by my sudden change of mood. "Yes."
I smoothed the hair out of his eyes, and touched his smooth skin.
"Why didn't you tell me Jennie hired someone to kill you?" He tensed. I stared at him desperately, my stomach was uneasy. It was silent for a long time. "Where you planning on answering me at all today?"
He glowered and looked away in guilt. His guilt wasn't necessary. "How did you know? I thought I was convincing enough earlier today," he said in a light tone, obviously trying to downplay the situation. "Here I was thinking I'm the master of deception."
"My mother told me the truth," I said with a hard tone, ignoring his attempt to lighten the mood. "Nikolai wants you dead and she thought it'd be best if she got someone to kill you and spare me. Why didn't you say anything?"
He tried to smile but it turned to a grimace. He winced. "I'm sorry, Nuru. I couldn't, no, I refused to break the fragile bond you share with your mother."
He held my hand and I stared up at him in panic and then stared out the window, while he drove us home. I was restless.
"We'll be fine," he promised.
The feel of the wind on my face did not calm me, rather it reminded me of the devil himself, Nikolai, driving me around town to a client's house. I flinched and stopped the flow of my thoughts. It was all in the past. Right? I was safe from Nikolai, right?
"Nuru!" Roman hissed his panic. "You aren't breathing. Breath!"
I filled my lungs with air and my eyes rolled back into their sockets. I was suddenly dizzy and my stomach churned.
"We'll be fine," he promised again.
"But not while Nikolai is out there, waiting to attack," I protested quickly.
"I'm putting an end to this."
"What do you mean?" I griped.
His forehead creased. "We can't continue to live in fear."
I thought about that for a minute—about what it could mean. My heart ached. I didn't like this one bit. "What are you planning?"
"I'm going to take care of him... for good."