KRAIT MC STORIES
MOSCOW 1995
Chapter 10
TOMORROW
The next two days were quiet.
Not peaceful.
Quiet.
Jora spent most of the first day on the couch. The swelling around his eye had gotten worse before it started getting better, and the bruises across his ribs had turned darker.
Kait stayed close.
She made coffee. Ordered food. Brought him ice when he needed it and helped him sit up when his ribs wouldn’t let him do it without pain.
They barely talked.
Neither apologized again.
Neither brought up Barinov.
At night, they slept in the same bed with space between them.
Jora didn’t reach for her.
Kait didn’t move closer.
They hadn’t kissed since the argument.
It was strange how quickly the apartment had changed.
Now she read on the couch while he slept.
She stared out the windows.
They ate without talking much.
On the second morning, Kait woke before him.
Jora was lying on his back beside her, one arm across his stomach. The bruising along his side had spread almost to his hip.
She watched him for a few seconds.
Two days ago, she would have curled against him.
Instead, she got out of bed.
She made coffee and sat at the table with her Russian dictionary open beside her.
Jora came out almost an hour later.
He stopped in the kitchen doorway.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
He walked to the counter and poured himself coffee.
Kait looked back down at the dictionary.
Jora sat across from her.
For a while, neither spoke.
“Feeling any better?”
“A little.”
She nodded.
He drank his coffee.
That was it.
Later that afternoon, the phone rang.
Kait was on the couch with a book when Jora answered it.
“Da.”
She looked up without thinking.
He stood near the telephone with one hand resting against the wall.
The conversation was entirely in Russian.
That wasn’t unusual.
What was unusual was Jora turning away from her.
Kait watched him.
His answers were short.
He listened for much longer than he spoke, then said something she couldn’t follow and lowered his voice.
A few months ago, he would have told her who he was talking to without her asking. In mid conversation even. Now, he walked into the bedroom and partially closed the door.
Kait looked back at her book.
She read the same sentence three times.
The bedroom door opened.
Jora came back into the living room and returned the phone to its cradle.
Kait waited.
He didn’t say anything.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah.”
She looked at him.
Jora walked toward the kitchen.
“Who was that?”
He opened the refrigerator.
“Work.”
Kait waited for more.
Nothing came.
Kait stared at him for a second.
Then nodded once and went back to her book.
Jora stood at the refrigerator a little longer before closing it.
Neither of them said anything else.
The phone rang twice more that day.
The first time, Jora took the call in the bedroom.
The second time, he stepped onto the balcony and closed the door behind him.
Kait didn’t asked who it was.
That night they ate dinner in front of the television.
Jora’s knee rested a few inches from hers.
It might as well have been across the room.
When Kait finished eating, she took her plate into the kitchen.
Jora followed a few minutes later and set his beside the sink.
“I have to go out tomorrow.”
Kait turned around.
“Okay.”
“Just for a little while.”
She nodded.
Jora looked at her.
“I don’t want you going anywhere.”
Kait’s expression changed.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“I’m just telling you.”
“I heard you.”
He stood there for another moment.
Kait picked up his plate and started washing it.
Jora went back into the living room.
She listened to his footsteps disappear behind her.
A lot had changed in two days.
The worst part was that neither of them seemed to know how to change it back.
The next morning, Jora was dressed before Kait finished her coffee.
Not a suit.
Black trousers, dark sweater, heavy coat.
He stood near the mirror by the door, carefully adjusting his collar around the bruising that still climbed the side of his neck.
Kait watched him from the kitchen.
“You sure you’re well enough to go out there?”
Jora glanced at her through the mirror.
“Don’t have a choice. Barinov wants to see me.”
Her hand stopped around the coffee cup.
Jora reached for his coat.
“What for?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Kait set the cup down.
“So this is how it’s gonna be from now on?”
Jora pulled on his coat, slower than usual when the movement caught his ribs.
She watched him pick up his keys.
“It should have always been like this.”
Kait laughed once and looked away from his shaking her head.
For a second, he didn’t move.
Then, he opened the door.
“I won’t be long.”
“Take your fucking time.”
Jora looked at her another second.
Then he left.
Barinov was in his office.
Oleg was there too.
His eyes went straight to Jora’s face, admiring his handiwork.
“Ah… pretty boy’s not so pretty anymore.”
Barinov made a noise that shut him up.
Jora ignored the remark and stopped just inside the door.
Barinov sat behind his desk.
“Close it.”
Jora did.
Oleg leaned against the wall near the window.
Barinov looked Jora over.
“You heal fast.”
Jora said nothing.
Barinov lit a cigarette.
“You’ve had a few days to think.”
“There was nothing to think about.”
Barinov exhaled smoke.
“So I have your loyalty?”
“Yes.”
Barinov studied him.
“You said the girl isn’t working for Dragunov.”
“She’s not. I’ve been watching her closely.”
“And you’re not working for him either.”
“No.”
Barinov nodded slowly.
“Good.”
He reached for the ashtray.
“Then we don’t have a problem.”
Jora watched him.
Barinov tapped ash from the cigarette.
“The girl, however… does.”
Jora’s expression didn’t change.
“She knows too much.”
Barinov leaned back.
“She knows my men. She’s been on my collections. She’s seen where we work. How we work. She knows enough to become useful to Konstantine the second he finds her.”
“She doesn’t know anything about the big stuff.”
“She knows enough.”
Jora stayed quiet.
Barinov looked at him.
“I let you bring her around because I thought she was just some foreign girl you were fucking. Someone we could use for other things later.”
Jora’s jaw tightened at the thought.
Barinov noticed.
“But she’s a lot more than that, isn’t she?”
Jora held his eyes.
“She poses no danger to the organization.”
Barinov took another drag from the cigarette.
“Ah… I beg to differ. Dragunov’s people are starting to ask questions. Only a matter of time before they find her.”
Jora’s stomach tightened.
That was new.
Barinov watched his face.
Jora glanced toward Oleg.
Oleg smiled slightly.
Barinov took a drag of his cigarette.
“And then she’ll tell them everything she saw.”
Jora shook his head.
“That won’t happen.”
Barinov leaned forward.
“No. Because she won’t get the chance.”
Jora didn’t move.
Barinov’s voice stayed calm.
“Get rid of her.”
For a second, the room was completely still.
Jora looked at him.
Barinov waited.
“I can put her on a plane back to Denmark tonight.”
Oleg laughed.
A glare from Barinov was enough to make him stop.
Barinov looked back at Jora.
“That is not going to be enough. Kill her.”
Jora forced his face to remain empty.
“Is that how you want me to prove my loyalty?”
“In a way, yes.”
Jora swallowed the knot in his throat.
“How do you want it done?”
“I don’t care.”
Barinov took another drag from the cigarette.
“As long as you bring proof.”
Jora nodded once.
“And I want to make sure Konstantine hears about it.”
“He should know what happens when his family comes into my territory.”
Jora stood there another moment.
“If I do this, will you stop testing me?”
Barinov looked toward the ceiling as if considering it.
“It’ll be a good place to start. You have until midnight tomorrow.”
Jora nodded once and turned.
“I’ll see it done.”
Jora walked out and shut the door behind him.
Oleg looked at Barinov.
“You think he’ll do it?”
Barinov sat back in his chair.
“If he doesn’t, we’ll bring them both here and I’ll kill them myself.”
He took another drag from his cigarette.
“The girl first.”
Jora drove until he found a payphone far enough from Barinov’s office that he was willing to use it.
He parked around the corner and walked back.
The number Viktor had given him was still folded inside his wallet.
Jora fed coins into the phone and dialed.
A man answered in Russian.
“Da?”
“I need you to give Katya Dragunova a message.”
“Who is this?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Jora glanced through the glass toward the street.
“Tell her that her daughter, Kait Lokken is in Russia and in a lot of danger. She needs to have someone come pick her up tomorrow night no matter what.”
The man went quiet.
“Where?”
“I’m going to call this number again tomorrow at midnight. I will give the location then.”
“You need to tell me right now who you are.”
Jora paused.
“Wait for my phonecall tomorrow, and do take this seriously… I’m the only one who can keep Kait Lokken safe. Let Dragunova know that.”
Jora didn’t turn on the lights when he came home.
He left his coat near the door and went straight to the bedroom.
Kait was asleep on her side, one arm tucked beneath the pillow.
He stood there looking at her.
Tomorrow night.
Jora got rid of all his clothes and climbed into bed behind her.
The mattress dipped beneath his weight.
Kait didn’t wake.
He reached for her and ran the back of his fingers slowly down her bare arm.
Once.
Then again.
She stirred.
Jora moved closer and brushed her hair away from her neck. His mouth touched her shoulder.
Kait breathed in softly.
Her eyes opened.
“Jora…”
He kissed her shoulder again.
She rolled toward him, still heavy with sleep.
“You’re home.”
Jora brought her closer and kissed her.
Kait froze for half a second.
It had been days.
Then her hands began to wander and found him ready.
He grunted softly as he felt her hand on him.
She kissed him harder.
Jora pulled her against him.
Kait pushed the blanket away and climbed closer, her leg sliding between his as his mouth moved from hers to her jaw and down her neck.
She tilted her head for him.
“You okay?”
Jora didn’t answer.
His hand slipped beneath her cami and spread against the warm skin of her back.
Kait caught his face and made him look at her.
“Your ribs….”
Jora shook his head.
“Don’t worry about me.”
That was all she needed.
Kait kissed him again.
This time there was nothing sleepy about it.
She pulled her cami over her head and let it drop it somewhere on the bed. Jora’s hands were on her before it landed.
Her lowered her back onto the mattress and kissed her while his hands wandered.
He kissed her everywhere he could reach, slowly at first, until Kait started pulling at him, impatient with the care he was taking.
Jora caught her hands.
Not hard.
Just enough to stop her.
He looked at her.
Kait’s breathing slowed.
Something in his face made her stop fighting to hurry him.
Jora released her wrists and touched her cheek.
Then he kissed her again.
And this time Kait let him have whatever pace he wanted.
He took his time with her.
Every kiss lingered. Every touch seemed to last longer than it needed to. His mouth traveled over her skin while his hands held her like he couldn’t stand the thought of letting any part of her get too far away.
Kait responded to all of it.
Her fingers dragged through his hair. Down his back. Across the snake inked over his chest and shoulder.
When she pulled him closer, pain flashed across his face.
Kait immediately stopped.
Jora shook his head.
He caught her hand and pressed it back against his chest.
Then he kissed her.
She understood.
Don’t stop.
So she didn’t.
The quiet that had filled the apartment for two days was gone now, replaced by tangled sheets, broken breaths and the soft sounds Kait couldn’t keep buried whenever Jora found another place to kiss.
She whispered his name.
Jora closed his eyes.
Tomorrow night.
He pushed the thought away and kissed her harder.
Right now she was here.
Warm beneath his hands.
Kissing him back.
Still his.
For a little while longer.
Jora loved her the only way he could let himself love her at that moment.
Without explanations.
Without promises.
Without telling her what tomorrow would bring.
And Kait gave herself right back to him.
When it was over, neither of them moved for a long time.
Eventually Jora rolled onto his back and Kait followed, curling against his side.
Her head settled on his chest.
Jora pulled the blanket over them.
Kait’s fingers wandered lazily across the snake tattoo, following one of the dark coils until her hand came to rest over his heart.
To Kait, it almost felt like their first night together.
Jora covered her hand with his.
“I’m sorry.”
Kait lifted her head.
She searched his face.
Then her expression softened.
She leaned up and kissed him once.
“Me too.”
That made Jora close his eyes tight.
She had no idea what he was saying sorry for.
Kait settled against his chest, and before long, her breathing softened into sleep.
He stayed awake, holding her. Sleep was the last thing he wanted.
He knew it was the last night he would ever have her like that.
He had never been so gentle with her.
Never loved her so carefully.
That should have been the way to treat her every time.
It shouldn’t have taken tomorrow to make him love her that way tonight.
