Graceful Deception

12. I'd Rather Not Be Offed By A Russian Mafia Princess, Thank You Very Much

***Sorry for any mistakes.  But I'm sure you'll be able to look over them if you find any.  :D ***

Chapter 12

I’d Rather Not Be Offed By A Russian Mafia Princess, Thank You Very Much

 

 

“Your brother is being a butt,” I complained to Elena when she finally answered her phone.

“And you think I don’t know this?” she laughed.  “What’s he doing now?”

“The same thing he’s been doing for the past three days…not letting me out of his sight or even out of this room!  Seriously.  Nothing has changed since I called you yesterday and the day before.  He’s still pissed at me.”

“Well, I can see why he was…”

I grimaced, covering my eyes with my hand.  “Not helping, Elena.  You’re supposed to be on my side, not his.”

“I am on your side.  But you really shouldn’t have waited to tell him about seeing Ryan at the airport in Tokyo until you were in Moscow.  He shouldn’t still be mad at you, though.”

“He can hold a grudge, that’s for sure.”

She was right that I shouldn’t have waited in telling John about seeing Ryan at the airport, but I didn’t want him going all crazy and searching for him when he more than likely wouldn’t have found him. So I’d just decided to wait until we got to Moscow…and at our hotel…right before we went to sleep…a few – well, maybe more than a few – hours later.  Let’s just say that all his yelling woke up Stella, Ren, and quite possibly the rest of our floor. 

And in the three days since, he’d hardly said a word to me.  He didn’t take his eyes off me whenever we were in the same room, which was every minute of every day pretty much.  And the way those eyes would narrow ever so slightly when mine would meet them, I knew that he was still pissed and probably still would be for longer. 

But at night, he kind of made it obvious that he wasn’t extremely pissed at me when he’d fall asleep beside me on the couch instead of on the floor like I’d half expected him to wind up.  His true feelings would come out when he slept since he always seemed to fall asleep right when his eyes closed.  Not a moment later, his arms would wrap around me, pulling me against his chest before burying his face in my hair and I’d fall asleep with a smile on my face. 

“You can’t blame him, though,” Elena continued.  “You not telling him earlier wasn’t the smartest move, Em.” 

“I know, but I would have rather that conversation happen in private than have him be arrested for pulling out a gun in the middle of a crowded airport.”

“Which he more than likely would have done,” she agreed.  “But he’s not going to stay mad at you for forever.  You’ll get him to break that façade of his with just one look, I bet.”  She laughed at that and I just rolled my eyes.  “Where is he right now?  And what about Stella and Ren?”

“Well, the break-in is planned for tonight, so Stella and Ren went out to set up the transmitter so Ren can do his thing.  As for John…”  I sat up, looking out the set of double doors leading out to the room’s balcony, where John was.  “He’s sitting out on the balcony.  And sulking, by the looks of it.  He’s just sitting there with his arms crossed over his chest.”

“He likes sulking when things don’t go his way.  And here I thought he was a big boy who didn’t pout.”

That made me laugh then, which, judging by the slight turn of John’s head, he’d heard.  He looked like he was trying to choose if he was going to come back inside or not to see what I was doing, but he chose the latter.