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turning it over first.
Why? Is there holy shit! Kostya, this is too much.
He smiled at the thought of her wearing the gold bracelet with the jade cabochon that he had
carefully taped to the bottom of the box. The moment he had seen the bracelet in the jeweler s case,
he had thought of her pretty green eyes. Santa doesn t have the receipt so you ll have to keep it.
She didn t say anything for a few seconds, and he started to worry. Had he been wrong to give
her jewelry? He had been sure that a bracelet was the perfect gift for her. Now he had second
thoughts.
Santa will have to let me cook him dinner to show my appreciation.
Relieved that she liked the gift, he replied, Santa will have to check his calendar and get back
to you. Now go back inside and lock that door.
Yeah. Okay. Bossy butt.
He laughed again and waited for the front door to close before returning to his house. Alone in
his bedroom sometime later, Kostya stared at the ceiling and played his moments with Holly on an
endless loop inside his head. It struck him suddenly that she had given him the greatest gift of all this
Christmas.
She had given him a glimpse of what it might be like to be normal, and God help him he
liked it. One taste of how things could be if he wasn t mired in the swamp of his mobbed-up life, and
Kostya craved the possibilities.
Was this the feeling that Ivan Markovic and Alexei Sarnov had chased all those years ago when
they were making their exit plans? Now, Ivan had everything he wanted a clean life, a successful
business and a gorgeous woman who loved him.
Can I have that?
He honestly didn t know. Even before getting involved with Nikolai s crew, Kostya had never
dared to dream that his life might be normal. His rather unorthodox upbringing with parents who were
KGB operatives had sealed that deal. When he had proven to be a genius like them, he had gone to
university where he had excelled in biochemistry and then he had accepted a government contract to
follow in his parents footsteps.
Getting out from under the Kremlin s thumb had required that he make a hasty exit from his
homeland, and there had been only one way to do it Maksim Prokhorov, the mob boss of Moscow.
Through the boss vast network, Kostya had ended up here and attached to Nikolai. His friendship
with Nikolai was the truest of his life, and he would give his life to defend his friend and his boss.
But what if there was something else for him?
Even if he could get out and the odds of him surviving such a move were less than one percent
what the hell could he offer a woman like Holly?
Money wasn t an issue. He had so much of it stashed away in various banks and hidey holes
around the world that he could stop working tomorrow and live the life of a very rich man until he
was ninety years old. She could have anything she wanted if she belonged to him.
But what if she wanted more than he could give? If she started asking hard questions about his
life and his work, could he tell her the truth? What would she say if she found out about the dark,
unforgiveable things he had done in the past? His particular skillset lent itself to some truly terrible
deeds.
Rolling onto his stomach, Kostya punched his pillow into submission and clamped his eyes
shut. He didn t want to think of all the reasons why he couldn t have what he wanted. Tomorrow, in
the cold light of day, he would accept the reality of his totally fucking shit situation. Tonight, in his
dreams, he could have the woman he wanted. He could have Holly Phillips.
In a bikini, on a beach, and throwing a Frisbee with a mutt of a dog named Tokarev, he decided
with a sly smile. It was Christmas after all. He might as well dream big!
You can read all about Kostya finally having a chance at his happily ever after in Spring
2014!
Toys for Tots
DANILA
As if on an army recon mission, Danila Cherevin slowly drove through the parking lot of the
Black Eagle social club. He spotted the beat-up truck that Burt Garner drove and eased into a spot a
few spaces back. Sliding out of his black Tahoe, Danny flipped up the collar on his coat and crossed
the parking lot for a quick chat with the host.
Though he belonged to Nikolai Kalasnikov s family, Danny was on good terms with the rival
Albanian crew. They handled different pieces of Houston s criminal underworld so there wasn t
much competition between them at the moment. He had no problem convincing the host of the social
club that doubled as an illegal gambling den to give him the lowdown on Burt.
Once he confirmed that the man had only just arrived, Danny slipped an envelope of cash to the
host to buy his neighbor a nice marker and enough credit at the bar to keep him busy for the night and
morning. He also pushed a few crisply folded fifties into the host s hand to make sure the transaction
was completed without delay. Assured Burt wouldn t be around to bother his family and ruin another
Christmas, he returned to his SUV and headed home.
Driving across Houston, Danny thought of Thanksgiving when he had been forced to throw that
drunk old bastard onto the street. He had come home from a night guarding a gun shipment for the boss
to hear the most terrible sounds of violence coming from the townhouse next door. The police were
frequent visitors to the Garner residence yet nothing ever changed.
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