Ryssa

"So, he kisses me and then he asks to come upstairs to my apartment."

"Did you let him up?" I asked Taylor as I took a sip of my Strawberry Daquiri. We've been at the bar for about an hour now and she was telling me about the latest guy she went out with.

"I did. He came upstairs and things started to get...playful."

"And then?" I asked. I knew this story was going to end badly. I could tell by her tone.

"Then he gets a call on his cell. From his wife."

My eyes widened as my mouth dropped. "His what?" I breathed. Okay, I was not expecting that.

"Yep. Married. God, I know how to pick 'em, don't I?" 

She sure did. Her past "encounters" with men have been horrible. They either cheated on her, lived with their parents, or seemed to be married. I felt for the girl. She was beautiful and had a great personality. I had no idea why she kept attracting these assholes. Why couldn't she find a guy who captivated her? One who was mysterious...possibly with tattoos. 

"What about you?" Taylor asked as grabbed some of the French fries we ordered. 

"What about me?" 

"You dating anyone? Interested?" 

Oh, great. Not her, too. First Janet takes an interest in my love-life and insisted I needed sex. Now, Taylor is doing the same thing. In all fairness, it has been a long time since I had been intimate with a man. The last time was with a guy I had been casually seeing. I liked him, but I also kind of pushed him away. At the time, I was extremely stressed while I was trying to keep the bakery opened. It was just too much to deal with. 

"No, Taylor. I'm not seeing anyone," I answered. 

She stirred her drink with her straw when she asked her next question. "What about Nikolai?" 

I had been taking a sip of my drink and nearly choked when she asked me that. "What? Nikolai? No, I'm not seeing Nikolai, Taylor." 

"Why not?" She smiled as she continued, "He's sexy and he has that quiet thing going on. Besides he's totally into you." 

I doubt that. I couldn't think of two people who were more not right for each other. Yes, I was attracted to him, but who wasn't? He was gorgeous and seemed like a decent guy. He could probably have any girl he wanted. "I'm not so sure about that." 

She turned towards me and studied my face. Her quizzical look made me uncomfortable and I shifted in my seat. 

"What?" I finally asked. 

"Something happened, didn't it?" 

I sucked my teeth and rolled my eyes at her in an attempt to be believable. "Please, like that would ever happen."

Her eyes widened and she started laughing. "I knew it! Something did happen! You have to tell me. Right now." 

I shut my eyes tight for a moment and tried to collect my thoughts. Besides Janet, Taylor was the closest thing I had to a real friend. All of my old friends from school had families and were too busy to keep in touch lately. They had no idea what was going on in my life.
Maybe it will help if I talk to Taylor.

"Fine. We've been hanging out. A little. He's been helping me close the shop." 

Her eyes widened and I could tell she wasn't actually expecting me to tell her that. Or perhaps she wasn't expecting Nikolai and I to actually be spending time together. Which wasn't surprising since I could barely believe it myself.

"You've been hanging out? Really? What's he like?" She asked with curious excitement.

I had no idea how to describe Nikolai to her. I mean, he was pretty much what you would expect. He was quiet, brooding, and mysterious. Although, he seemed to talk to me more than others.

"He was...interesting. I mean, the few times that we've talked, he was sweet. Which I think is surprising considering the impression he gives off."

"Sweet? Really?"

I couldn't hold back my smile. Or the fact that I new I was blushing. "Yeah, he's sweet."

I glanced back at Taylor and her expression said it all. She knew more happened and she was going to question me until I told her. The woman should have been a damn detective.

"Okay," I sighed in defeat, "we kind of...almost kissed."

"I knew it!" She slammed her hand on the table. "Tell me everything!"

"Well, last night I was at the shop getting everything ready to take downtown when he came over to help me with cleaning up the bakery. I didn't hear him come in and, when I went to check on the brownies, he startled me. Anyway, I burned my hand on the side of the pan."

"Ouch!" She said with a frown. Yeah, any kind of burn was never good. The sting from mine was slowly starting to go away.

"Yeah, seriously. He ended up going with me downtown to pass out the brownies and we talked a little which was nice. Then today, before I came here, I went to turn in the paperwork for the day to him in his office." I paused as I took a nervous breath. "When I started to leave his office, he told me to wait and asked me how my burn was. He kind of caressed my hand and we made eye contact. That's when he kind of leaned forward and I think he was going to kiss me."

Taylor was looking at me like she was watching an oscar-worthy movie and I'll see what's missing with her popcorn. "What stopped it?" She asked.

"Janet came in and I basically ran out of the shop all the way here."

"I told you he was into you," she said with a satisfied smile.

I scoffed. "Come on, Taylor, I'm sure he just felt bad about my burn."

Because I couldn't seem to think of another explanation as to why I was feeling this connection towards Nikolai.

I thanked the Uber driver as I got out of the car in front of my apartment. I was glad that I went out with Taylor tonight, it was good to have some girl time. After I told her about almost kissing Nikolai, She was even more convinced that he and I should go on a date.

That statement actually made me laugh. I could not picture Nikolai on a date for some reason. He was just always so quiet and really spoke to anyone. I tried picturing him in a restaurant full of people. Yep, not the go-out-on-a-date type.

If I had to think about the type of date he would go on, I would imagine something quiet and private. He was definitely an introvert. Even so, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to spend an evening with him.

Okay, I guess technically I did spend an evening with him when he went with me downtown, but that was not a date.

I opened my purse to retrieve my keys from my apartment and groaned when I couldn't find them. "Where are you?" I mumbled to myself.

I really hoped I didn't leave them at the bar. I continue to search like I was on a mission only to come up empty. I was already annoyed at my missing keys. Add that to my slightly tipsy state, I didn't hear the person who came up behind me.  I felt a hand on my shoulder and nearly screamed when I whirled around.

Panic taking over I retrieved the pepper spray from my bag quickly and sprayed the stranger in the face.

"Ryssa! What the fuck!"

Nikolai. "Oh, God. Nikolai, I'm sorry! I didn't know that was you!"

He rubbed at his eyes frantically before he tried to use his shirt to get the stinging liquid out of his eyes. He finally looked up at me and kept repeatedly opening and closing his red-rimmed eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked guiltily before something dawned on me. "What are you doing here?"

"I was trying to make sure you were okay," he said in a raspy voice.

"Why wouldn't I..." I trailed off when I noticed blood dripping down his left arm. "What happened? Why are you bleeding?"

"Ryssa, listen to me. We need to-"

"You aren't going anywhere quite yet," a voice said from behind us.

Nikolai turned around and quickly put himself between the stranger and myself. "Stay away from her, Nick."

What? Why the hell is Nikolai telling him to stay away from me? And how the hell does Nikolai even know this guy?

"I was a little worried in case I ran into you. But thanks to your girlfriend here, it doesn't look like you're quite at full strength right now, Niko."

"Nikolai, who is this guy?" I asked as I tried to peek around him to get a better look at the stranger.

"Go ahead, Niko. Tell her who I am," he said again.

I heard Nikolai let out a tired breath. "Come on, Nick. I'm tired, my eyes are fucking killing me...walk away before I kick your ass."

"Have you changed your mind about the job?"

Job? What job was this guy talking about?

"No, I didn't. And I'm not going too," Nikolai said darkly.

"Well, then you know we have to take her."

"Try it and see what happens."

Just as Nikolai said the words, someone else grabbed me from behind. "Nikolai!"

Just as I yelled his name and he turned towards me, the stranger he called Nick came up behind him. The two of them started fighting and I couldn't believe my eyes. Even injured, Nikolai seemed able to handle himself. It didn't take long before Nikolai was able to knock Nick out cold. He turned around to face me and the man who was holding me. I heard the sound of a gun being cocked. The man must have pulled out a gun; and it was probably pointed at me. 

Faster than I could see, Nikolai reached behind him and pulled out his own weapon. What the hell was he doing with a gun? What was going on here? 

"Let her go. Now," Nikolai ordered with his gun pointed at the man. 

"Or what?" The stranger taunted. 

Nikolai smirked before he fired the weapon. I screamed when I heard the shot, trying to jump away when the man released me. The man was now on the ground, clutching his hand. That's where Nikolai must have shot him. 

"Grab the gun, Ryssa," Nikolai told me; not taking his eyes off of the man. 

"What?" I asked; clearly traumatized by everything going on. 

"The gun is over to the right. Grab it and come over here." 

I looked to the right and saw the gun he was talking about. It was still within my attacker's reach. I walked over slowly and bent down to retrieve it. I swiped it up and quickly ran to Nikolai. I handed him the gun and he slipped it in the waistband of his jeans. 

He walked over to the injured stranger slowly until he was right in front of him. "Tell Rick when he wakes up that I'm not taking the fucking job. And if he knows what's good for him, he will leave New York and stay out of my life." 

Nikolai bent down and slugged the man in the face, instantly knocking him out. He turned and quickly walked over to me. I stood paralyzed as he raked his gaze over my body. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" 

"Am I okay? Nikolai, what the hell is going on?" 

"I'll explain everything, I promise. But we have to go." 

I was completely dumbfounded. "Go where? And why should I leave with you? You just shot a man!" 

"I shot him in the hand. He'll be fine. " My mouth dropped open and he continued, "Look, you can come with me and we can figure this out, or you can stay here. But decide quickly because these guys are going to be waking up soon and I'm sure someone called the police already." 

I thought about my options for a moment. He had a point. I had no idea why those men were after me; but Nikolai protected me. I glanced down at his bleeding arm and nodded my head. "Okay, yeah. I'll go with you." 

He let out a long breath. "Okay, good. We need to get somewhere safe. But first, we need to make a pitstop."