They moved to the front seats when they saw the coast was clear and she drove them back into the city. As they approached the bank, Liliya hissed between her teeth in frustration. The police were parked before the building. She turned off onto a side street and pulled over.
“What do we do now?”
Ben’s stomach rumbled. “We eat,” he said with a small smile.
-=-
It was late afternoon when Trish slipped into the dining area of the restaurant from the kitchen. Ben surged out of his chair and pulled her into his arms. Once he’d hugged her, his lips found hers, and he fed his passion and relief into the kiss.
Trish moaned in pleasure and a little discomfort. After surrendering to his kiss, she pulled back gently. “Easy big guy! Don’t squeeze too hard; I’m pretty bruised.” Her eyes moved to the side to see Liliya sitting at Ben’s table. She immediately bristled. “What the FUCK is she doing here?!?”
Ben gently touched her chin to tilt her face back to look at him. “It’s complicated. She’s not the enemy, but we still have one. Did you bring my cell?”
She handed him his phone then sat down opposite the blonde who looked back at her calmly with just a hint of a smile at the corners of her lips.
Trish addressed Ben. “I didn’t tell the police about the safe deposit box as the lead detective inspired no fucking confidence. He seemed the shoot first, check for hostages second kind of asshole. I told them I’d been kidnapped to get to you, but I’d freed myself when Darius decided to get a little rough. I said I wasn’t sure if he’d contacted you before I took him out.”
“What happened to Milonas?” Liliya asked quietly.
“After you two left, his male ego was offended by Ben’s warning, so he decided to prove what a man he was by beating me up.”
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry, Trish!” Ben gasped.
She held up her hand with a grin. “No, it was perfect. You made it possible for me to go one on one with Darius. The arrogant prick couldn’t conceive of losing to me. Sent the guard away to prove he didn’t need any protection and we went hand to hand.” She glanced over at the Russian blonde whose smug little smile had slipped away.
“You fought him barehanded? I saw him fight. Brutal! I would not do it,” Liliya leaned forward to say to the woman across from her.
“Yeah, he connected a few times and fuck, did he hit hard! I’ve got the bruises to prove it.” Then she grinned wickedly. “But the idiot let me guide him over to where I could get my hands on a wooden broom handle. Once I had that, I took him apart.”
Ben grinned at the readhead’s vicious glee. She’d gotten her revenge.
“You killed him?” Liliya asked quietly.
Trish shook her head. “No, I think the fall down the elevator shaft did that.”
Liliya snorted explosively in surprise and lifted a napkin to cover her face in embarrassment. Trish grinned at her.
“What about the guard?” Ben asked.
Trish’s smile dimmed a little. “Yeah…” She took a deep breath as she paused. “I had to shoot him with Darius’ gun.” She shook her head. “I dropped his body over the railing, so he hit the ground near the remaining guards. I waved the machine gun to them, and they booked.”
“Booked?” Liliya asked.
“Ran away like the little bitches they are,” she said with a smile.
Ben shook his head in amazement at Trish and kissed her hand, getting a loving smile for that. He returned to a search on his cell and found the man. “Yuri Gruzinsky,” he mumbled then clicked on the images search so he could show Trish an image of the man who was potentially a threat to him and his family.
“This is the face of our new enemy,” he said to Trish as he showed her the image.
There were some pictures of the man at his factories and refineries. There were also some images of him at charity functions. One caught his eye, and he zoomed in. Yuri was standing next to a man who Ben recognized, Nikolai Noskov. His lovely wife Galena stood at his side. He turned the cell’s screen to Liliya who looked at it with interest.
“Yuri and Nikolai Noskov know each other?” Ben asked her.
Liliya nodded. “Rivals. Fierce. Much hated.” She paused then looked into Ben’s eyes. “Yuri arranged Noskov twins kidnapping.”
“WHAT?!?” Ben roared, and both women grabbed an arm to calm him and pull him back down in his chair. The other customers were looking at them in interest. “Sorry,” he grumbled once he got control back. He looked to the blonde and saw her nodding.
“Nikolai beat Yuri for a big contract. Mining gold. For revenge, Yuri stole children and sold to a slaver. He said, will sell Rose too if I disobey.”
“Who’s Rose?” Trish asked.
Liliya looked at Trish. “My daughter.”
“Shit,” Trish growled then glanced at Ben. They shared a look.
“According to Liliya, since we picked up a very sensitive item from the safe deposit box that Yuri wants, he’ll put the ones I love in danger until he gets it. Not sure if that threat goes away once he does.” He stood up. “I have to make a quick call.”
As he walked off, Trish turned to look at Liliya. Her expression hardened. “I want you to know, if you’re playing on Ben’s white knight syndrome, I will personally kick your ass twice as hard as I did Darius’. And you fucking better have a daughter named Rose who needs rescuing!”
Liliya blinked at the fierce creature sitting across from her. She pulled out her cell and opened her photo album to search until she got to the selfie she took holding her daughter in her arms. She handed the cell to Trish who looked at it cautiously. Once she saw the young girl, Trish could no longer maintain her scowl, and her expression softened. “Damn… she’s so beautiful. What a sweetie,” she said gently.
Silent tears ran down Liliya’s cheek as she nodded. Trish handed the phone back and held her hand.
Ben returned and saw Liliya’s tears. He glanced to the image on the phone, and his heart lurched in his chest. He shared another look with Trish then collected himself.
“Nikolai’s secretary informed me that he’s at a family gathering but will call me first thing in the morning,” he said.
Liliya’s eyes widened when a light came on behind them. “You rescued his daughters!”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, but I’m not calling in a favor. He needs to know who put his daughters in that horrific situation and he may have advice on how to deal with the threat Yuri represents. They travel in the same circles. This is way outside my experience. I’m just a simple mechanical engineer.”
Liliya snorted in amusement again, and Trish grinned with her. The redhead shared a look with the amused and skeptical blonde.
“Ben has a cockeyed perception of his impact on those around him. He actually thinks it’s small,” Trish said to the woman.
“Trish!” Ben yelped then looked at her in confusion as he replayed her words in his mind.
She laughed as she saw him struggling to separate what she’d actually said from what he’d heard.
“What? I wasn’t talking about the impact your cock has on us!” She leaned towards Liliya and spoke with a conspiratorial tone. “Which is by no means small!”
“Trish! Stop!” Ben exclaimed once more, and both ladies laughed at his look of embarrassment though Trish held up her hands in surrender. She reached out and rubbed his arm affectionately then winced as her bruised muscles protested.
Ben immediately sent her a look of concern, but she just smiled sweetly to him. “It’s just the bruising.”
He shivered at the thought of Trish being hurt. She reached up to smooth the worry lines on his forehead.
He sighed at her touch. “Nothing we can do until tomorrow morning. We’ll give the bank another try. It must have been a coincidence that the police were at the bank today when we went back to it.”
“Are you going to give me the diamonds?” Liliya asked hopefully.
Trish perked up. “Diamonds?”
Ben nodded to Liliya. “Show her the pictures,” he suggested.
The Russian blonde found them on her cell and passed it across to Trish whose eyes widened with shock.
“Where the fuck- these were in the safe deposit box?” she hissed quietly to the two of them. Ben and Liliya nodded. She turned her eyes to Ben. “And you’re giving them to her? She works for the bad guys!”
Ben leaned forward. “Half. She might be able to use them to get Rose to safety and keep her safe.”
Trish leaned back, mouth open in surprise, flustered at the idea of Ben giving all of those diamonds to someone who worked with the bad guys! She saw Ben’s mind was made up, so she threw her hands in the air. “Fuck it. Whatever.”
Ben could see some of the tension leave Liliya’s face when she saw Trish wasn’t going to fight her on it. Trish looked exhausted. He needed to let her rest. “It’s been a difficult day for all of us. I think we’ll head back to our hotel. Where are you staying? Will you be ok tonight?”
Liliya smiled at Ben. “I will be fine. I have hotel room a few blocks from here,” she said. “I see you tomorrow morning, yes?” Ben nodded. “The memory stick-”
“I’ll hang on to that until tomorrow. If Yuri’s going to threaten my family I’m going to see this through,” Ben said grimly. “Take my cell number so you can reach me.”
She still looked a little frustrated that he wouldn’t give her the stick but entered his number into her cell and shared hers. With a final look into his eyes, she nodded to herself. “Until tomorrow.” Ben stood as she did and with a nod to Trish she made her way to the entrance and stepped out into the street.
Trish frowned. “I love her Natasha Fatale impression-” Ben began to protest, but Trish held up her hand. “I’m trying to keep an open mind,” she sighed then held Ben’s eyes. “This could very well be a trap. She’s playing the damsel in distress card pretty hard and bringing in the big guns of her daughter in the hands of the villain. I concede it might be true. The picture of the young girl did look like it could be hers.” She sighed and shifted uncomfortably. “I need food, preferably room service, then a hot bath followed by a soft bed with my man beside me.”
Ben smiled at her. “That can be arranged. Let’s go.”
She leaned against his side as they walked to the exit. “So… you’re really giving her those diamonds?”
“Trish.”