Читать книгу Shark hunting. Spartacus - Lily Rizk - Страница 3

– How did you know about me and who you are?

– A just country guy, passing by, heard the sound, – he answered, without taking his eyes off the road. They were driving out of the village.

– I didn't make any sound, – she answered, piercing him with her incredulous gaze, – and you said from the start that my father didn't know.

– Look, I don't know your name, even, – he muttered impatiently in his voice, – you'll be home soon, what more do you want?!

– Or maybe I don't want that!

The guy hit the brakes and turned his whole body toward her.

– Then we'll go back to the barn and I'll just disappear like I never was.

– How about you just drive me into town and disappear? – The girl parried, not taking her eyes off he.

– No, – he answered in a calm tone. – I'll take you home. Where do you live, tell me?

– I live in Chicago, – she answered in the same sarcastic tone.

– Damn! – he cursed, and with his lips pressed together, he took the wheel and started to turn the car around.

– Uh… guy, where are you going? – The ex-captive freaked out.

– Where to need! – He answered, and then snarled, – Why am I bothering with you? For what I need your problems ?! You want to play cat and mouse, that's your business.

– My name is Nadya, I really just came from America. My father wants to marry me off to his friend's son, and I don't want to, so I ran away, – she said quickly, – Please believe me!

The girl changed her tone, and he suddenly felt sorry for her. He stopped and rubbed his forehead with his hand, then looked at her and asked, – and what do you think you will do next, run from him through the woods?

– I want to go back to America.

– Do you have your documents?

– I have only my internal passport with me, but my international passport I left at home.

He smirked faintly and added, – Well, it's for the best, you won't waste money on tickets. They will catch you at the airport as soon as you get there. So you don't have a lot of options.

She leaned back in her seat and stared at him intently. She smacked her tongue, and in a husky voice she said, – There is one win-win option.

– You look at me so strange, Nadia …

– I em… do not have a lot of money now, but in the near future, I assure you, will repay you in excess, if you agree to help me. And tell me your name, please.

– Spartacus, – replied the lad.

– Spartacus?

– Spartacus, – he repeated.

– Not an ordinary name for a country guy… but you're a bit different, though.

He grinned again and turned away. Then he spoke softly, – my father give me that name, after the hero of the book, that one. He liked the Thracian very much.

– I should read it, – Nadia said aloud her thought.

He glanced at her again, and after a pause, asked, – So what shall we do? It's late, – he glanced at his wristwatch.

– Spartacus, marry me?!

– What?

– Not for real, – she added as she leveled herself slightly in her seat, – and on credit.

– Today is a day full of oddities. Nadezhda, this plan is a failure. I can't help you that way, I'm sorry, – he replied, and turned his head to the side again.

– Well, look, I'll go to America and we'll get a divorce. My father will forgive me and I can thank you. I'll pay you a lot of money. You can get away from here, start a new life, – she lured him, – or do you want me to take you with me to America?!

– Or I'll just go to jail for complicity in fraud, – he added, not responding to her suggestions, – I'm sorry, that's out of the question.

She snickered quietly. The resentment wiped all interest from her and she immediately turned away, asking in a half-voiced voice, – How long is the drive to Krasnodar from your Rogosovka?

– It'll take about two hours on this jalopy.

– Would you be so kind as to wake me up when we get there?

Then she covered her eyes and took a comfortable position and closed her eyes.

Spartacus shook his head slightly and started the engine.

Towards the entrance of the city, he called out to her. She immediately turned her head in his direction.

– You hadn't slept?

– I was.

– Doesn't look like it. Okay, where do we go from here? It's already midnight, I have to go back.

– Do you know Krasnodar well?

– Not bad, – he answered.

– Then to some normal hotel, I have money, – she said and turned her head out the window again.

– Stop. What hotel?! Give me the address of your home, and don't be silly, – he ordered.

– I'm afraid we can't get there in your jalopy!

– Where? Leave Chicago now, okay?!

– My father lives in Moscow, I came here by train, – she answered. – And I'll leave the same way. Tomorrow, – her voice was barely audible by the end.

Spartacus pulled over to the curb and stopped. He got out of the car, slammed the door, and began swearing loudly, while banging the wheel of the car with his foot.

– Damn that goddamn stepfather! Well, I'll give you one!

The girl got up and opened her eyes and stared at the furious guy.

After a few minutes he came back and stared at her in silence. She felt as if he was about to drive his fist into her. She cringed and slowly covered her head with hands.

– You're so fool! – he whispered.

– I don't want to marry that idiot! He disgusts me!

– What does this have to do with other people? Your father will be here tomorrow. He will find you and with you, me! And do you know who will be the last? – Spartacus almost roared at her, and he turned away, pressed his lips, punching on the steering wheel. The UAZ responded at once, beeping.

– I didn't call you. And neither did those people who invited me to stay with them. Assholes. Took all the information out of me and locked me up in the barn.

Spartacus, clenched his teeth, began to think, quickly looking for a solution to the problem. Uncle Pasha would answer to the full, just to get him home! But what to do with the girl, and how to take the trouble away from himself, and from others? God! Why did he get mixed up with her? He should have stuck his nose where it didn't belong. That's a damned kindness!

He sighed heavily and took his old cell phone out of his pocket.

– What's the number, – he said, trying to be as quiet as possible without raising his eyes.

– Whose?

But the question that followed made him move his gaze to her. He was ready to beat her now.

– Your father's!

– I don't have his number. I can't remember his number by heart. And I lost my cell phone,– she answered, blushing.

– Are you kidding me? – The guy said, barely able to contain his rage.

– Honestly. And don't look for it, please! I don't want to live there! – With these words she covered her face with her hands and began to cry.

He was immediately affected by her crying. In his eyes she suddenly turned into a defenseless little six-year-old girl. He had learned to tolerate many things in his life, but not a woman's tears.

He threw his phone away, leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, cursing quietly again.

– I agree, – he muttered after a few minutes.

She immediately stopped crying and first through her fingers, then lowered her hands and looked at him. Quietly interrogating, – Agree to what?

– To be your husband.

– We'll stay in a hotel, and tomorrow morning we'll go to the registry office. How much money do you have with you? – He asked in a tired voice, starting the engine.

She reached into the bodice and began to take out crumpled bills.

– I'm afraid to ask where you hide your passport, – he muttered, looking at the road.

– That's right. Don't be, – replied the girl, laying out the money on the front.

– There's even dollars, – he said with a leering glance.

– Yes, two hundred and fifty dollars and three thousand rubles.

– Give me a hundred, – he said, holding out his hand.

Nadia gave him a hundred-dollar bill.

– This is to get us signed tomorrow. Hide the rest back, – he commanded, putting the bill in his pocket.

By one o'clock they were all asleep in their rooms. Spartacus no longer had the strength to think about anything. Get married, then get married! In any case, he would have to somehow answer for this towerless, so at least as a husband.

Exactly at 9 o'clock they stood in the doorway of the registry office of the rural district center. Spartacus called his army friend early in the morning. And he helped him to arrange things quickly through his connections. After that he picked up his bride, who was not worried about anything. And they quickly rushed back.

One hundred dollars wasn't quite enough. They had to add the same amount, and they were signed. The bride and groom had to bring a certificate of pregnancy as the basis for the urgent registration.

When he was told about it, Spartacus almost refused, but Nadezhda drew him aside and promised that it would not come to the baby.

– I hope not, – he muttered incredulously.

About an hour later they were pronounced man and wife and issued a marriage certificate.

In her worn jeans and slightly dirty blouse, the bride still looked adorable. He stared at her for a while, then shook his head and walked to his car.

– I never would have thought that my bride would leave the registry office in jeans and with a ponytail on the back of her head instead of a veil…

– Whew! Well, you're my angel savior! – Nadia exulted, getting into an old UAZ.

And a proper outfit and motorcade! He smirked at his thoughts and started the car engine.

– Where are we going? – his new wife asked.

– To my house, – he said and glanced at her, added sarcastically, – to meet my mother-in-law and father-in-law.

– Are you serious?

– Do you want your dad to get suspicious?

– No, sure, you're right… but what would I do there?

– Live.

– For real?

– Yeah, for real. Like my wife. And get ready to work, darling. No one's going to let you lie on the stove.

– Are you kidding me?! We're not really married!

– Well, that's only for you and me. But for the rest of us it'll be a real marriage. – He paused and said, – Either that or get a divorce, and I'll go to your father myself and tell him everything, especially since I know the address and his name.

– No, no, calm down, there is no need to go anywhere and tell anything, – panicked the girl. – Let's better agree on what we tell him about us. You know, when we met and stuff.

– Good idea, – agreed Spartacus. – When did you come from America?

– Over two months ago.

– Did you ever leave the house, go to a friend's house, sleep over, etc.?

– No. Went to my mom's cemetery, that's all.

He looked at her and mouthed words of condolence.

– Thank you, she died when I was ten years old.

– From what?

– She got pneumonia.

He sighed heavily and stroked her shoulder. Nadezhda looked at his hand and he immediately took it away.

– My father died, too, when I was that age.

– And you said I'd have to meet my father-in-law.

– I have a stepfather.

– Oh, okay, I'm sorry.

– It's okay.

– I'm sorry, too. What did your dad die of? – A girl asked sadly.

– There was a fire in our house. He dragged my mother and me out, and then he was rescuing the cattle. And a burning beam fell on him. Everything burned. And my stepfather took us in afterwards…

– You don't like him?

– I'm neutral towards him. He doesn't hurt my mother and I don't resent him.

– Did he treat you like a son?

– I wouldn't say that, – Spartacus said, straining his memory, his forehead wrinkled and his eyebrows pulled together on the bridge of his nose. – My father was my boxing coach; unfortunately, he died a few years ago, too. But Uncle Pasha didn't particularly stress me out, and I was fine with everything. He even taught me a lot of things…

– About what?

– To understand cars, to fix them. He was a car mechanic all his life. Build the house, and do everything around the house. He doesn't drink, he's a regular guy, a hard worker. But he has weaknesses, we all have them, – he added, and smiled slyly.

They came to a small farmstead with a straight high fence, over which hung thick green branches of bushes and trees. They could see that the garden was well maintained and in bloom.

– Welcome home, wife! – with these words, he got out of the car and walked around it, then opened the door for her.

She blushed slightly and put her hand in his palm and followed him.

– For everyone we are a real couple, so don't frighten if I touch you, – he spoke softly and opened the gate.

– Mom, is Uncle Pasha home? – he turned to his mother, who was hanging up the laundry outside.

– Hello, – said the girl, not resolutely.

The woman froze in place, mouth ajar. And just as faintly said hello in response, glancing at the clutched hands of the young.

– Mom, meet Nadia, she's my wife. – Spartacus quickly muttered and rushed towards the house, repeating his question – so he's home or not?

– What do you mean son? – She asked me, confused.

– I said, is Uncle Pasha home?

– Who is it, I don't understand? – mother asked the question as she came closer.

Nadezhda, a little frightened, began to hide behind her husband's back.

– And this, Nadia, is my wife, – repeated Spartacus in a direct tone, as if it were a dog or a motorcycle that he had accidentally purchased.

– What, such a wife? – didn't understand the woman, circling around them. – You didn't tell me you got married and why I'm seeing her for the first time?

– It just so happened, I'm sorry, – the guy spoke, hugging his wife. – We just got married today. She is pregnant and we had to hurry…

He regretted saying that as his mother immediately smacked him with the wet towel she held in her hands. He released the girl's fingers from his and, covering his head with hands, darted away. Mother followed him.

– How many times have I warned you to stay away from girls?! But you knocked someone up?!

– I love her, – Spartacus shouted and ran out into the street.

Nadezhda stood like a stone in the middle of the yard and did not know what to do now.

– And you're not bad…! – said Stepan, coming down to her and looking at her from all sides.

She wrapped her arms around herself and cringed a little at his scrutiny.

But after a minute she felt again the strong embrace of Spartacus, who led her into the house.

– Know your place, boy, this is my woman! – With these words he pushed his half-brother aside a little and went up the stairs into the house. Her mother shook her head grudgingly as she looked after them.