Bad Nerd Falling (4 page)

His obvious skills raised the hair on
the back of his neck.

There was no doubt Vlad Wellington was
even scarier now than he’d been in their youth. Back then he
possessed a lot less skills than he apparently enjoyed these days
and he was scary enough then. Still, just from this brief
interaction he had learned some vital info. The first was that Vlad
respected and missed Aleksi’s father.

The second was that Vlad’s respect had
now transferred to the new prince. He wasn’t certain what to think
about that. It was nice Vlad intended to give him a chance. Yet
Aleksi wasn’t so certain he was worthy of Vlad’s
respect.

The fact that Vlad didn’t know what
was on the USB device but was instructed to hand it to him
personally made him wonder what could possibly be on it. He took a
deep breath and paced to his computer. There he slid the storage
unit into a port. The screen for opening files popped up and asked
for a password.

“
He didn’t say there was a
password,” he muttered. Yet he had been pretty certain there would
be.

Now, out of all the passwords his
father had used he had to figure out which one secured this device.
Obviously the information contained here was
confidential.

He entered each password and was
denied.

His father had left him several
confidential files. None of them had been left with someone. They
had been stored in the family safe that as far as he knew, only he
and his mother knew the combination to.

Still, it seemed odd to leave critical
information in the hands of one person. What if Vlad had forgotten
it? What if he was killed? And why had his father felt he could
trust Vladimir Wellington?

“
What is that?” Emerson’s
interested voice asked from behind him.

“
Where did you come
from?”

“
The secret passage, where
else?”

A hidden panel had been added to the
prince’s suite centuries ago to protect the prince in the event of
war. Or, in more modern times, terrorist attacks. The only person
who regularly used it and the ensuing network of tunnels throughout
the palace was Emerson. He figured it amused Emerson and he
probably stayed busy keeping them clean. He was the only man Aleksi
knew who could pass even the strictest white glove test.

“
What is that?” Emerson
asked again and pointed to the USB stick.

“
I was just going to ask
that same question.” Maks stood on the other side of his
desk.

“
See,” he pointed out to
Emerson, “Maks used this thing we call a door. You can find them
throughout the palace.”

“
Regular doors are
boring.” Emerson used his chin to point to the USB
device.

“
Vlad just gave me
this.”

Both of his friends turned their full
attention on him.

“
Vlad as in my brother?”
Maks asked.

“
The same.”

“
What does it
say?”

“
I don’t know yet. It’s
password protected.”

“
And the list of your
father’s passwords don’t work,” Emerson concluded.

“
That is
correct.”

They all stared at the USB
drive.

“
That means it’s
important.” Emerson stroked his chin, his gaze
assessing.

Maks frowned. “What could Vlad know
that we don’t?”

“
He seems to have trusted
my father.”

“
Vlad has always respected
your father. I remember a big disagreement he had with the parents.
Your father stepped in and Vlad didn’t argue with him. The matter
was settled as far as he was concerned and my parents learned
something.”

“
What’s that?” Emerson
asked.

“
That if they wanted Vlad
to do something, they needed to go through Prince
Aleksandr.”

“
I wonder why?” he asked
this but he didn’t get an answer from either of his two friends and
didn’t expect one.

His guess was that this USB drive was
the key to discovering that answer.

Now he just had to figure out the
password.

***

After he handed over the drive, Vlad
headed down the hall. He was sorely tempted to return to the lab.
In that room was the woman he longed to spend a lot more time with.
There was so much they still didn’t know about each
other.

Sure, he had kept up with her life
while he was away. Still, he didn’t know all that much about her.
She knew next to nothing about him. It had to remain that way. At
least until they figured out exactly what they faced during the
next few weeks.

It might be nothing. On the other hand
it could be an all out war that Rurikstan, as it stood right now,
wasn’t prepared for. In fact, they would definitely come out on the
losing side as the military wasn’t competent yet. There weren’t
enough men who were trained as they should be in order to win the
type of battle he suspected was about to befall them.

On the other hand, perhaps the teams
he worked with had managed to discourage the different factions
they knew were watching Rurikstan and its wealth with greedy eyes.
Yet he had lived long enough to doubt that scenario.

The device he kept in his pocket
vibrated and he dug deep to remove it. He stepped into one of the
hidden passages and then into a chamber that he doubted even
Emerson knew about. He had found this room his eighth year. It was
fairly spacious and only the former prince knew of its location.
Aleksi might not even be aware of it.

The coordinates were likely on that
USB stick, but for now Vlad was using the room as his
communications center. “Hello,” he said into the device.

“
Are you in place?” The
voice that spoke was as familiar to him as anyone in his immediate
family. More so because this voice had sometimes been his only
contact in a few of his darkest hours. The only one he spoke to
while he trained in the art of war. It had kept him encouraged,
kept him alive, threatened him, helped him.

In essence, this man and his team had
become Vlad’s family.

“
I’m in place.”

“
Have everything you
need?” The voice was pure American.

He could name the state and the region
where this man had grown up in America. He could do so with any
American voice he heard.

“
I’m fine.”

“
For now.” The voice took
on a grim note.

His heart plummeted. “What have you
heard?” His own voice reverberated with the same edge.

“
The same old. But we’re
hearing it from enough different places that we’re a little
nervous.”

“
And rightly so.” While
this wasn’t unexpected, he still hated it. “It’s not enough to
deploy a team though.”

“
No. If you need
anything—”

“
You’re the first person I
call.”

The voice lightened. “You know my
admiral will send us as soon as there’s need.”

“
Thank you. I’ll call as
soon as things look like they’re about to blow up.”

“
Right, Welly. Do that.”
The command in that voice was so familiar he
straightened.

“
I will, Captain, now
shouldn’t you go command someone?”

“
Cheeky…” The transmission
broke up before he heard what his former commander called him, but
that was okay. He had time to think up a few favorites. Maybe if he
thought long enough he could come up with something especially
amusing.

He fired up his equipment and started to do what
he did best. This was the culmination of his extensive training.
The reason for his entire life… and no one here in Rurikstan even
knew.

Chapter 5

“
So that was Vlad,” Tia
murmured as Helena struggled to slow her heartbeat.

Unfortunately, her efforts weren’t
effective.

“
That was Vlad.” Her voice
was far too dreamy. Combined with her rapid heart rate, she was
definitely in trouble.

“
He’s…” Tia frowned. “I’m
not certain there’s a way to describe him.”

“
I’ve never come up with
anything suitable.” Not besides
Mine
, but she didn’t share that with
other people. It sounded so possessive. The main problem in that
little scenario was that Vlad did get free will and so far he
didn’t sound like he was committed to their relationship. Such as
it was.

“
The thing is, Vlad
reminds me of someone I know.” Tia chewed on the inside of her
cheek.

“
Maybe Aleksi,” she
ventured with a bratty grin.

Tia swatted her. “Yes, he reminds me
of Aleksi. They could be brothers. Vlad also reminds me of Maks,
obviously. But I’m thinking of someone who doesn’t live in
Rurikstan.”

Her eyebrows soared. “Oh, right.
Who?”

“
I don’t know. That’s why
it’s bugging me.”

“
Maria at three o’clock.”
She barely managed to warn Tia before Maria halted in front of
them.

“
I still can’t believe you
didn’t tell me you’re dating my son,” she alleged instead of the
usual greeting.

“
Maria,
again
, I don’t
know
if
I’m
dating your son. I’d like to know myself.”

Some of Maria’s fire abated. “Okay, I
can understand that. Vlad is my simplest child, and yet he’s very
much my most complicated.” Maria flopped onto a stool, her
shoulders hunched.

“
Try dating him.” She
dropped beside her.

“
I’m engaged,” Tia piped
up. She and Maria both turned baleful stares on her. She grinned.
“Don’t you think the two of you are making this more complicated
than it is?”

“
No,” she and Maria
answered at the same time.

“
I think you
are.”

“
Who cares what you
think?” She tapped the benchtop. “I’m not certain if I have a
boyfriend, but I’m desperately attracted to a man who might or
might not be attracted to me.”

“
He’s attracted to
you.”

She turned abruptly to Maria. “How do
you know that?”

“
He’s my son. Vlad has
been attracted to you since you hit puberty.”

“
Explain, Maria,” she
demanded.

“
I might not know him
well, but he is my son.”

Tia frowned. “How can you not know
your own son?”

“
If your sons turn out
like Vlad, which could happen since you’re marrying a de Leos and
Vlad is also of that line, you’ll know.”

“
Maria, it would help if
you spoke English,” Tia replied.

“
I did.”

“
What Maria is trying to
say, but isn’t doing very well, is that there’s a weird gene or
something in the de Leos line that every once in a while produces
men like Vlad.”

“
It pops up randomly?”
Tilting her head like that, Tia looked more like a model at a photo
shoot than a scientist, but there was no doubt the woman was all
brains at the moment. She recognized that deep-thinking
face.

“
That’s what genes do,
love.” Maria smoothed a hand through her already sleek
hair.

“
So you think Vlad is a
throwback from another generation?”

“
Oh no.” She shook her
head. “He’s definitely a man of this era. His skills are probably
pretty impressive—it’s just that he’s so complicated.”

“
I’ve never understood
Vlad. He’s very different from my other children.”

Her stomach twisted. “The problem is
he’s always been aware of the fact he didn’t quite fit in
here.”

“
And Graham and I worked
very hard to make him feel like a part of the family.” Maria’s
voice was so sad her stomach twisted again.

“
Did Vlad know?” Tia’s
innocent question didn’t ease the pain.

Maria’s smile tried to wrench her
stomach or heart, she couldn’t figure out which organ, right from
her body. “Of course he knew.”

“
Wow, and I thought
growing up with the Apes was bad,” Tia said, referring to her three
older brothers.

***

Tapping out another command at the
main computer, Vlad watched the screen. Helena’s face filled it.
Then she turned and headed to the huge sterile hood. There were no
cameras there, because he didn’t want to compromise the sterility
and use of the hood.

The entire purpose of the cameras was
to maintain the safety of the personnel who worked there. Not spy
on the lab staff, even if one of them was the woman he wanted above
all others. He yanked his attention from her and moved
on.

He clicked another series of keys and
another camera scene popped up. Emerson was in the kitchen,
speaking with one of the many employees. No matter what time of
day, it seemed someone was up and about in the palace. It was a
vast place with as many priceless antiques as prestigious museums.
Most of these antiques had been passed down from generation to
generation, and yet were in pristine condition.