Chapter 22

 

“Tia,” Emerson called from out in the hall.

Helena turned to see Tia stalk from her office. “What?” she sounded belligerent. That meant she’d been interrupted from something important.

“I have a surprise for you.” Emerson entered the lab with all the dignity associated with his station.

“Beware of geeks bearing gifts,” she warned.

“Right. That’s the best advice I’ve heard all day.” Tia turned those blue-green eyes on him that cut like lasers. They bounced off Emerson.

He grabbed Helena and attempted to give her a noogie. She escaped with ease, and hissed at him. “I will stab you.” She held her microbiological loop like a sword. Since it wasn’t quite ten inches long, plastic, and blue, it probably didn’t look all that impressive.

“What is that?” Emerson’s voice was more than tinged with amusement.

“It’s not what it is that you should be concerned with, but what’s on it.” Tia backed her up.

Now he eyed her weapon with a little more hesitation. “What’s on it?”

“We don’t know.” She hated to divulge that.

Emerson laughed, sounding triumphant.

“I wouldn’t laugh if I were you.” Tia looked over the progress she had made. “Her boyfriend is a lot scarier than you.”

“That’s true. So is my landlord.” She finished streaking the next plate.

Emerson frowned. “Have I met your landlord yet?”

“You don’t know Beau?” How had he not met Beau?

“I don’t think I have. Remember we were supposed to come to supper and then Nadia started a fever?”

“Oh that’s right. Karis decided you all better stay home in case Nadia got us sick.”

“I wanted to come to supper, but Karis wears the pants in our family.” Emerson tried to snowball them, but she and Tia both started laughing. He stopped the utter fib because even he struggled to keep a straight face.

“That’s like saying I’m planning to wear a pink wedding dress.” Tia shuddered.

“Ugh.” She wrinkled her nose.

“Yes, that’s my same thought.” Tia shook her head. “Not my thing.”

“So what’s this surprise?”

“Yes, I have a surprise for Tia.” Emerson swelled as though he brought portendous news.

“You already said that.” Tia cut him off before he started. This woman obviously had brothers because she handled Emerson with an aplomb that was enviable.

“Your surprise hasn’t arrived yet. But should be here soon.” Emerson announced this with the air of a man imparting a great favor on one.

Tia appreciated it so much she rolled her eyes. “I might sic Vlad on you.”

Her mouth curled up. “That’s not nice.”

“Neither is he.” Tia used her head to indicate Emerson.

“Are you picking fights Tia?” An unfamiliar masculine voice asked from the doorway. It was a very nice voice, and she turned in time to see a tall, attractive man enter the lab. He was followed by the SEAL leader, Ben.

“Mark.” Tia leaped into his arms. He laughed and caught her, hugging the stuffing out of her, which she didn’t seem to mind. She bubbled over at an intense pace, chattering away, and the man who held her listened with easy affection.

She wound down, after Ben said with the same affection, “Tia, take a breath.”

After taking that breath, she turned to them. “Helena, Emerson, this is my cousin Mark de Vosse.”

This man shared Tia’s eye color. It was evident they shared the same genes. But when she looked, the man behind them, with his dark skin and lighter brown eyes also looked like them.

“Mark, this is Helena Dubrinsky and Emerson who you’ve already met.”

Mark held out a hand to her and she shook it. His hand was huge so it engulfed hers. She liked the way his blue-green eyes, exactly like Tia’s, crinkled at the corners. His hair was dark brown and he was tall but also wide like Vlad.

“It’s nice to meet you, Helena.” He turned to the SEAL. “She’s definitely beautiful like you said.”

Emerson ruffled her hair but then winked before he left.

“Yeah, but she’s also dating Welly, so don’t poach.”

“Welly being that scary guy you were harassing?”

“He’s not scary,” she and Ben said together. They shared a laugh and she realized she liked him.

“Are you in the military too?” she asked Mark.

He laughed. “No, I have better sense than Ben.” He clapped the SEAL on the back.

“He has such good sense, he became a neurosurgeon.” Ben clapped him back with easy affection. It was obvious these three enjoyed a close friendship. This offered a little inkling at what Tia was giving up by marrying Aleksi.

She enjoyed their pleasure at being together. “So you three are cousins?” She stared between the two men and Tia.

“We are. First cousins, right?” Tia asked.

Both men nodded. “Yes, we’re all Morrison family first cousins.”

“So your fathers,” she pointed to Ben and Tia, “are brothers and your mother,” she indicated Mark, “is their sister?”

“Tia’s dad and my mom and Mark’s mom,” Ben answered. “My dad is also ironically a Morrison but of no relation to my mother’s family.”

“There are also a lot more cousins, aunts, and uncles.” Tia readjusted her ponytail.

“So this is like a Morrison Family reunion?”

All three of them laughed. “No. The reunions get huge really fast.” Tia shook her head. “I think they’ve been banned.”

Both Mark and Ben nodded. “We all like each other and we all get into trouble, so it’s better not to do anything formal.”

She moved on to grouping the other person she had met from the Morrison Family. “So Emma is your aunt? She’s a sister to your father and mothers?”

“No.” Tia’s ponytail bounced. “She’s actually the youngest sister of our mutual grandfather. So she’s a great aunt, but she is our parents’ age.”

“She’s your grandfather’s sister?” She paused in streaking her last plate.

“Yes, the youngest. Our grandfather’s oldest brother already had children by the time Emma came along.”

“That’s right. So Emma’s got two nephews who are older than her and a niece who is the same age.” Mark’s voice was deep and quite nice.

“That’s crazy.” Big families were a bit unfathomable.

“It’s not so unusual for that day and age.” Tia shrugged, apparently very comfortable with her place in her big family.

Mark turned to Tia. “I hear you’re flying home with me?”

“Yes, Aleksi wants me to.”

“Leo is sure you’re going to fall apart.” Mark offered a faint smile.

Ben whispered that Leo was Mark’s younger brother. She appreciated the information.

“I will not.” Tia’s protest was weak.

“She’s dealing with it by not thinking about it.” Ben sent her a knowing look.

“Tia has been really busy,” she inserted. “You know, locking lips with Aleksi, exchanging tongues, exploring each other’s tonsils, important stuff.”

She managed to dart out of Tia’s swat zone. “Like you have any room to talk.”

“True. Although we have a long way to go to reach your level of competency.”

“Vlad is good at everything he does.” Ben remained a loyal friend.

“Yes, but I’m still a part of that equation. I’m not good at everything I do, and I don’t have much experience.”

“Welly doesn’t either.”

“See, that’s good news for him,” she joked but was thankful for this reassurance from someone who knew him. Her samples were finished.

“Trust me, the man focused solely on his training and job.”

She couldn’t be mad at him even if he had dated other women. They hadn’t made a formal commitment to each other when he left.

“Am I going to get to meet this Vlad Welly?” Mark asked.

She tucked the agar plates into the incubator. “His name is Vladimir Wolfgang Wellington.”

Mark’s eyes widened. “General Emma said Europeans have the best names.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your name,” Tia said loyally.

“I don’t have a wolf anywhere in mine.”

Tia pursed her lips. “No, not many people do.”

“Vlad inherited his name.” She started cleaning up her lab bench.

“You inherit names over here?”

“Oh yes, it’s a long tradition. There were other Vladimir Wolfgangs before ours. The original Vlad’s last name was de Leos, not Wellington, but the same warrior.”

Ben’s eyebrow rose. “The original Vlad was also a warrior?”

“Definitely. That’s why Maria and Graham named him that. The de Leos warriors are always named according to the first.”

“So the de Leos line is Aleksi’s line?” Mark appeared to assemble the pieces effortlessly.

“Yes, he and Vlad are cousins.” Tia stuffed some of her unused supplies into the correct drawer.

She smiled at her boss but continued with her information dump. “Graham is of the de Leos line via his mother. Aleksi and Vlad are therefore cousins.”

“What about Emerson’s side of the family?”

“Emerson’s mother is also a de Leos, but once removed. So her family follows Graham’s side.” She paused. “Emerson is of the belief that he’ll never have to rule and is rather happy about that.”

“He tries to give Aleksi lessons on how to conduct himself as a prince should.” Tia told them this as an aside.

Ben’s lips curled up. “I think I overheard one of those lectures.”

“You probably did.” Helena squirted antibacterial spray across the top of her bench. “Emerson is quite good at them and he enjoys “educating” Aleksi, who he believes is far too relaxed to be the prince.”

“Aleksi is far too relaxed, and we like him that way.” Ben watched as she used a cleaning cloth to wipe down the surface.

Tia laughed. “I know I adore him just as he is.”

“He’s an excellent prince.” She disposed of the cloth.

Mark ignored a beep from his phone. “He seems very dignified.”

This quiet, strong man could give lessons in that.

“He is. But that’s only out of respect for his father. Aleksi isn’t in the least bit stuffy as some of the previous princes have been.”

“Was Aleksandr stuffy?” Tia asked.

“No. Like Aleksi, he maintained the dignified air because that was expected but I suspect a lot of Aleksi’s laid back nature comes from his father.”

Tia chewed on the inside of her cheek. “I wish I could have met Prince Aleksandr.”

“He would have loved you. I’m guessing the sun and moon would have risen and set on you for him, just like Aleksi believes.” This time she wasn’t as quick and did get swatted. She laughed.

“Aleksi definitely loved, admired, and respected him.”

“To know him, just look at Aleksi. They were a lot alike.”

“I’m glad,” Tia said with a secret smile. Her eyes widened. “You know, I think I have a budget meeting with the prince this morning.”

“Maybe you should send me to those meetings.” She danced away from her friend.

“No way.” Tia looked fierce.

Ben looked interested. “Budget meetings?”

“Yes, that’s the code name for their make-out sessions.”

“Oh, those kinds of budget meetings.” Ben’s lips curled up.

“I highly recommend them,” Tia said with utter satisfaction and some anticipation.

Mark turned to Helena. “Can I get a sandwich somewhere?”

 

She showed him to the palace kitchens where one of the chefs whipped him up a delicious looking creation while he waited. Tia had to run off to a meeting, although not one of her budget meetings. Ben disappeared to wherever SEALs go. She didn’t ask.

When she returned to the lab, it was to find Maria and Jorge both back from wherever they had been.

“Where were you?”

“I had to deliver papers to Graham,” Maria said. Helena had already guessed that by her swollen lips and tousled hair.

Jorge held up his sampling toolbox. “I left some things at the last site when I got my samples.”

“Ah.” Helena nodded. “You missed Tia’s cousin Mark.”

“Oh, he’s here already?” Maria looked up from where she sorted through a drawer.

“Yes, he just arrived a few minutes ago.”

Jorge set his toolbox on the bench. “Where is he?”

“He was hungry, so I took him to the kitchens for something to eat. I imagine he’ll have a nap next.”

“His body probably has no idea which time zone it’s in.”

“No. Apparently he just left his conference in France. They fly to America the day after tomorrow, I think.” The details escaped her.

“Oh no, that means we’ll be stuck back in the hospital soon.” Maria stopped rifling through the drawer.

“It’s only for a few days and then that will be finished.” At least if all went well. One never knew.

“I’m not looking forward to returning either.” Jorge’s mouth pulled down.

“We’ll get through it and then we will be together again.” She hoped.

“I hope Tia isn’t gone long.” Maria mentioned the thought on all their minds.

She collected her data sheet from the printer. “Let’s not worry about that right now.”

“It’s going to be strange to have our little group broken up.” Maria tugged some items out of the drawer she had messed up.

Both she and Jorge nodded. “But this is the last time. Once we sign off on our contracts at the hospital, we’ll be permanent here.”

“Yes, and that’s a huge relief.”

They all agreed and then parted to finish up their current tasks.

She didn’t want to think about the upcoming days at the hospital. It had come to the point where she hated that job. The never-ending bodily samples that needed processing and the mind-numbing daily drudgery. Then there were the people there, who were even worse than the bodily samples.

It had been an utter joy to be moved to the palace lab to test water samples in a friendly environment. While water testing proved tedious as well, it was still better than what they processed at the hospital. Now with Tia bringing in some research stuff, all of it interesting, it was like she had a brand new job. Something interesting every day and something she could do long term. Not to mention the fabulous people she worked with.

Why was she suddenly thinking long term?

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to answer that.

If Vlad remained in Rurikstan, she could see herself staying here at the palace lab. Even if he didn’t stay, she could still see herself here every day. Only with a broken heart.

She wondered how she could ask him—without appearing to be nosy—whether he planned to stay or if this was simply a passing-through instance.

The problem was that she feared the answer so much she hesitated to ask.

If he said he had no intention of remaining here, her entire world would bottom out.