Free To Love and Protect by Susan Mallery Page A

pressured to go into the family business?”
    “Dad was hopeful,” he said with a chuckle. “But computers were never my thing.”
    “I guess having all those brothers and sisters helped, too. Less pressure than if you’d been the only one.”
    “Exactly. But I am the best looking of the bunch.”
    “I’ll bet.”
    She smiled, then rested her head on his shoulder again. “I’m sorry about last night. Afterward. It was awkward.”
    “Agreed.”
    He’d been torn between never letting her out of his bed and the need to run for his life.
    “Neither of us expected that to happen,” he said. “I really had planned to cook you dinner.”
    “I know. But we’re sort of combustible when we’re together.”
    Even now, although he didn’t mention that to her.
    “I always thought that if we’d had more time and some privacy, we would have become lovers five years ago,” she said.
    He nodded. In a matter of hours she’d come to matter to him more than anyone ever had.
    “I wanted you to come to Moscow with me,” he admitted. “Which was crazy. So I didn’t ask.”
    “I would have come,” she told him. “I offered, remember?”
    He nodded. “But your life would have been different.”
    “Yeah. I wouldn’t have had the success, but I would have had you.”
    “If we’d made it work.”
    “We would have,” she said with a confidence he envied.
    She spoke without knowing the truth about him. About who he was. Liz judged him based on what she’d seen so far, but if she knew about his past—about what he’d had to overcome—she would change her mind. Not that he would blame her.
    “Here we are now,” she said. “In a hotel room with a baby.”
    “Most people just want a room with a bathroom.”
    She chuckled. “Be serious.”
    “I am.”
    He was—about a lot of things. “Go to sleep,” he whispered. “I’ll watch over you and Natasha.”
    That he could offer. Standing guard. Keeping her safe until she left for home.
     

    Later that night a phone rang in a small Moscow apartment. The man who answered sat in the dark, his cigarette glowing as he inhaled.
    “Da,” Vladimir Kosanisky said when he picked up the phone.
    “We’re ready.”
    The American whom Kosanisky knew as the Stork sounded as if he were in the next room instead of half a world away.
    Kosanisky stared at his cigarette. “The money has been transferred?”
    “I just did it. You’ll pick up the baby?”
    “Tomorrow.”
    “Good. The couple waiting has paid top dollar for their kid. We don’t want to disappoint them.”
    “No, we don’t want that,” Kosanisky agreed. “I’ll confirm the deposit in the morning, then pick up the baby. The travel arrangements are all made. She should be to you in less than twenty-four hours.”
    He gave the flight information. The Stork repeated it back, then hung up.
    Kosanisky replaced the receiver and dragged on his cigarette. Stolen babies were much more profitable than importing portable stereos.
     

    The doctor patted Natasha’s tummy. “She’s in excellent health,” he said in a thick, Russian accent. “Good responses, alert.” He reached for the chart and flipped it open. “Blood work is fine. She’s young enough that you’ll avoid many of the developmental problems orphan children can have.”
    Maggie gave Liz a knowing look. The social worker had tried to calm Liz’s fears about the medical exam, but Liz had still been nervous. She didn’t want anything to interfere with her ability to take the baby home with her.
    While the doctor signed the medical certificates, Liz dressed Natasha in her shirt and jumper. The little girl was awake and happy, giggling as Liz tickled her feet.
    “You were such a good girl,” Liz whispered as she pulled the baby into her arms. “See. The doctor wasn’t all that scary. He said you’re healthy and that’s a good thing.”
    Maggie collected the signed certificates and ushered Liz and Natasha out into the hallway of the