Her Russian

Chapter 22-Searching For More Truth

Ilia's chest felt like it was on fire.  After having her that close to him in the car and at the funeral, feeling the heat from her body and her sexy scent, he realized just how much he missed her.

And when her small voice called out Ilia.  Please don't.  He felt crushed somehow.  He didn't blame her though.  If he'd walked in and saw what she had, his thoughts would have gone the same way and he sure as hell would not have listened to an explanation.

Watching her run from the car, sobbing, broke his heart.  As did the last thing she said to him before Max brought her back to Zoya's.  You literally broke my heart.  He never intended to and if by some miracle she will have him back, he will make her sit down and listen to everything he has to say.

Back at home now and in his study, he brings Max in, to unload.  A rapping at his study door tells him Max is on the other side.  "Come" his strong voice rings out.  Maxim walks in and shuts the door.

"Lock it please" requests Ilia.  Doing what his boss asked of him, Maxim approaches his desk.  "Sit down, Max" Ilia says to his second.

Getting comfortable himself, Ilia starts the conversation.  "Aleryia is mixed up with the person that murdered Irina."  There's the first bombshell.  And here comes the second.

"She thinks she has my trust and that I'm working with her."  Max shifts in his chair, his index finger rubbing his bottom lip.  Ilia can tell his itching to speak.

"Okay, so what Galina thought she saw was just you playing double agent?" Ilia can hear the aggravation in his tone and he doesn't blame him.  His boss nodded.  "And you can't tell her this why?  And save her a world of pain?"  He's angry now.

Ilia only says two words.  "Plausible deniability."  This makes Maxim roll his eyes.  "I couldn't take the chance that she would blow my cover, so I did what I had to do.  To keep her safe.  According to Aleryia and whoever she's working for, they want Galina and they want her in the worst way.

If she seems innocent and like she doesn't know what's going on, I have the reasonable assurance that I protect her and keep her safe.  I couldn't live with myself if something happened to her.  Not now" he said, sipping on his vodka.

"So what are you going to do with the cashier's check she gave you?" Maxim asked.  Ilia let out a heavy sigh.  "Yeah that was completely unexpected.  I had no idea that she would do that but in a way, it has kept people away from her because they think I have the money now" Ilia explained.

"I have opened up a dummy account and put the funds in there.  I am the only one that can access that account, so if something happens, they will only need me.  Not her" was Ilia's explanation about the check.

"What is the plan, going forward?" Max asked.  His boss pointed to the boxes that Galina left.  "We need to start going through those and see if we can piece anything together, from Zoya's notes, Toykin, anyone that might know who's behind this.  And then we strike."  Maxim could tell that Ilia's mind was set and once that happens, there is no alternating plans.

"Did you know that she has a job?" Maxim asked.  Ilia's head shot up.  "A job?  What the..." he trailed off shaking his head.  "That's not good, Max.  She's completely unprotected and out in the open."

"Ilia, that's why she has us.  We are watching her 24/7.  Look man, she's enjoying this job and it's getting her out of the house.  Give her some time.  I saw her with you yesterday.  She's still into you, you just need to give her some space and not crowd her.  She'll come back."

Leaning back in his chair, Ilia was thinking over everything that Max divulged.  Okay, he'd do it.  But he was going to pursue her.  A text here or there.  Maybe flowers and depending on how she responded to those, he might stop by.

"Where is this job of hers?" Ilia asked, genuinely curious.  "Zoom Cafe" Maxim responded.  Ilia raised his eyebrow but then again it was the perfect job for her.  He could remember Irina telling him that she was working at a coffee house in Boston, so this was something she knew.

Standing up, Ilia removed his jacket, took off his tie and rolled up his sleeves.  "You ready to do this?" he asked of Maxim.  Getting a nod, both men started going through the boxes of paperwork trying to find anything that might lead them to Irina's killer and the interested party in Galina's fifty million.

After hours of sifting through things, Ilia and Maxim both had set aside things they thought Galina should see and other than that, nothing really.  Although Max found something odd.  

He'd found a lot of papers that alluded to Galina's birth mother being deceased but there was no record of a death certificate, no papers on a burial plot.  Nothing.

Ilia found it odd as well and decided to make a phone call.  "Valkin?  Ilia Savin here."  The voice on the other line seemed excited at the phone call.  "I need to ask you a question, Valkin.  It's of a confidential nature and I would ask you not to tell anyone about this phone call.  Has Dimitry received any visitors or had any phone calls?"

The man was silent as he was thinking.  "Ilia he has had no visitors but there have been a series of phone calls.  Once a week on Monday mornings.  He never says anything, he just listens and then after the phone calls, he's a mess.  We don't know who they are from or what they say because he won't tell us."

Today was Thursday so Ilia would make a trip on Sunday to Moscow for a visit with Galina's biological father.  He would make sure that Erik and Yuri kept an eye on Galina and he would take Maxim and Roman with him.

Maxim heard the conversation and agreed with Ilia's assessment.  He was also glad, but would not voice this, to see Ilia getting back into his work.  He needed a distraction, just as Galina did.  He said a silent prayer that she could find it in her heart to forgive his stupid friend once she heard the truth.

Ilia knew from their short conversations, that Galina loved peonies.  Now he'd never ordered flowers, for anyone before, so this was all new to him, but he did an internet search for nearby florists, found some flowers and ordered them.

He wasn't sure if he would hear back from her and right now that didn't matter.  He was starting slow.  She would at least know that he wasn't giving up and that she was in his thoughts.

Letting out a tired sigh and rubbing his eyes, he went to take a shower and maybe lay down for a bit.  The situation with Galina, Irina's funeral and now this with Toykin had left him wore out.  

A few hours shut eye would do him good and then he would go to his personal gym and work out.  He needed to beat the hell out of something and he needed to get this heaviness out of his heart.