Bad Nerd Falling Read Online Free PDF Page A

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