Trusting a Stranger. Kerry Connor

told you, she’s not like that.”

      “Uh-huh,” Jensen said into his coffee cup, his disbelief coming across loud and clear despite the muffled sound. “But seriously, you need to rethink your involvement with this woman. No good can come of it. Trust me, you do not want to be involved in this.”

      No, Luke agreed silently, his heart sinking, he didn’t. Unfortunately, he already was.

      The biggest question was why. The world was full of sad stories and people in desperate situations. All he had to do was watch five minutes of the news to see them every day. He’d never been remotely inspired to come to the aid of any of them. But now he was faced with this woman, asking something that wasn’t in any way reasonable for one person to ask of another.

      And the “no” that should rise to his tongue so easily failed to come.

      Perhaps it was because the problem had been so directly laid at his feet. There wasn’t a question of what might happen or the possibility that someone else might pick up the ball and run with it if he failed to. Viktor had brought the situation to him and laid it out in a way that left him little choice.

      If you don’t do this, she will die.

      It shouldn’t matter. He shouldn’t care about her. He still didn’t really. But that didn’t mean he could live with this woman’s death on his hands. Didn’t mean he could stand by and essentially kill the last member of Viktor’s family.

      “You know better than anyone that blood is not a requirement for family.”

      As much as he didn’t want to be involved, as much as he wanted to say no, as much as it would surprise anyone who thought they knew him, it seemed he wasn’t quite cold enough to allow that to happen.

      THE SOUND OF THE DOORBELL came out of nowhere, the noise loud and jarring, scraping against Karina’s already-raw nerves. Seated on the couch in Viktor’s living room, she sent a nervous glance toward the hall to the entryway. She knew there was little chance Solokov’s people would come right up to the front door and ring the bell, but there were other threats that might. Threats that seemed even more imminent at the moment. Government officials. Immigration officers there to send her home.

      To Russia.

      To Solokov.

      She waited nervously as Viktor made his way to the door, waited for his reaction to whatever he found there.

      “It’s Luke,” he said, no doubt for her benefit, before she heard him open the door.

      The announcement did nothing to reassure her. Instead, it only served to intensify the tension gripping her insides. She’d barely slept last night, the cold, unyielding face of a stranger looming too large in her mind. She and Viktor had both been waiting for a telephone call, expecting Luke Hubbard to deliver his answer that way. She didn’t know what it meant that he’d instead chosen to come here himself, a mere day after hearing their request. Did it mean he’d decided to do it, or that he’d simply come to deliver the bad news himself, having the courtesy of telling them in person? What did it mean that he’d chosen so fast? And what answer did she really want to hear?

      Karina rose slowly from her seat, feeling not as though she were about to face an attorney, but a judge, one prepared to deliver his decision to her fate.

      Luke Hubbard stepped into the room first, his eyes immediately finding hers. He said nothing, simply stared at her. She searched his expression for some sign of what had brought him here, what his decision was. He remained as unreadable as she remembered, his eyes cold as ever.

      Viktor moved into the room behind him. “Well?” he prompted.

      “I want to make a few things clear first.”

      She frowned uncertainly. “Okay.”

      “You have to agree that as soon as the danger to your life is over, we will terminate the marriage.”

      He’s agreeing to the marriage, she thought, the shock so severe she merely felt numb from it. There was no room for relief, or unease, or anything else. The shock was too great.

      “Of course,” Viktor said when she didn’t respond.

      “I need to hear it from her,” Luke said, never taking his eyes off her.

      “Yes,” she made herself say. “I agree.”

      “You’ll sign a prenuptial agreement.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a large brown envelope. “Naturally you should read it first. It guarantees that when the marriage ends, we will each leave it with only what we brought into it.”

      He held out the document to her. She accepted it, scanning over the words on the first page without really seeing them. It hardly mattered what it said. She was only bringing one thing to the marriage and it was all she wanted from it. Her life. To live.

      “Of course.”

      “You’ll have to move into my house immediately after the ceremony to make it believable.”

      “I know.” It was as they’d discussed.

      For a long moment, he simply stared at her again, saying nothing. She wondered if he was changing his mind. He hadn’t agreed yet, not really.

      She held her breath, not certain what she wanted him to say next.

      He nodded sharply. “Then let’s do this.”

      Karina barely had time to react when Viktor clapped his hands. “Good. Now that that’s settled, we can’t waste any more time.”

      “Agreed. We’ll need wedding rings.”

      “Done,” Viktor said, surprising her. She watched him move to a nearby desk and retrieve two small boxes. He flipped them open, showing the contents to her and Luke. A plain gold band and another with a small but lovely diamond.

      “Were you that positive I would agree or did you have someone else to ask if I didn’t?” Luke asked.

      “I thought it best to be prepared for anything,” Viktor said. “We don’t have any time to waste.”

      “Agreed,” Luke said. “We’ll do this today.”

      “Today?” Karina echoed, eyes wide. Even Viktor seemed surprised.

      Luke shot her a glance. “Is there a reason to wait?”

      “No.” Of course there wasn’t. It was just happening so fast. Two minutes ago she hadn’t even known his answer. Now they would be married today, perhaps within hours.

      “There’s no waiting period to be married in Virginia,” he said. “With any luck, we should be able to find a chapel where we can have the ceremony. I’ll call my assistant and have her find one. She can call us on the way with the information. It would look better if we did that rather than have it done at a courthouse or a justice of the peace. The marriage might seem more genuine if we went to all that trouble to be married in a religious setting.”

      “Good idea,” Viktor said.

      “Should we go?” Luke asked, looking solely at her. And it occurred to her that, in a way, he was now asking her to marry him.

      Her earlier doubts about whether she could go through with this even if he agreed came back in a rush. If she wanted to stop this, now would be the time to do it.

      Agreeing to this would mean placing her life in this man’s hands. She’d done it with Sergei, and to a lesser degree Viktor. But they were practically family. This man was a stranger. A man she knew nothing about but the little Viktor had told her. Including the fact that Viktor trusted him. Was that enough?

      But it wasn’t as though she could turn back now. It was she who had asked him. And there were no other options available to her. This was her only chance. The stranger or certain death.

      So why did the choices seem equally perilous?

      She