Chapter 27

Hana placed her hand on top of mine, stopping me from standing, and she laughed. That, more than anything, stopped me.

“Well is that so strange? You are asking me questions about my ex-husband. As you surely know, the divorce is recent, and quite messy. We have no children and to be blunt, I would be happy if I never laid eyes on him again. I don’t know why you expect me to have information about that man which his own mother doesn't have,” Hana told the detectives.

“And how about his father?” detective Dundam asked, looking at me.

“What about me?” I asked, feeling considerably more relaxed after Hana’s performance.

“Do you know where your son is?”

“No, I do not.” I had no issue about lying to the police, and for all I knew, Simon wasn’t living in the same place where I found him last time. If he had any brain, he would have moved location.

“And you are helping Miss Bishop because?” the detective asked.

“Because my son has put her in a bad situation. I love my son, but I can also admit he has his flaws,” I told him. Detective Monroe hummed as he took notes.

“Miss Bishop, have you heard the name Otto Aksakov?” detective Monroe asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“You have? When?”

“The first time I heard it was when the other detectives came to visit me a couple of weeks ago. It seemed important so I asked Hunter if he knew who he was. He told me enough for me to understand what kind of man Otto Aksakov is,” she said.

“And your ex-husband never talked about him?” detective Dundam asked.

“No, never.”

“What do you know about the company Mr Hunters started?” he then asked.

“It does import and sale of luxury items. From what I understood when we were married, the company was doing good,” Hana said.

“And you Mr Gardner? Have you any knowledge of your son’s company?” I looked at detective Dundam and managed a smile.

“No. Unfortunately my son and I aren’t close,” I said. Under the table Hana took my hand as if to comfort me. I found it sweet that she bothered with me when she was the one that I should be supporting. But I would never turn her down. So I let her know I appreciated the gesture by grabbing her hand a little tighter and not letting it go.

“If you know who Aksakov is, then you know he is not a man you want to be involved with,” detective Monroe said. Hana nodded. “If he, or your ex-husband tries to contact you, give me a call and we will help you,” he then said, sliding a business card across the table to Hana.

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” Hana said, picking the card up with her free hand.

“Would that be all?” I asked. It looked like detective Dundam was about to speak, but his partner cut him off.

“Yes. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us,” detective Monroe said. I didn’t like that I needed to let go of Hana’s hand as we stood up. But I did and helped her out of her chair. We walked the detectives back towards the elevators and stopped when we came to the waiting area outside my office. Detective Dundam kept walking towards the elevator, clearly in a bad mood. Detective Monroe paused and smiled at us. “I hope you don’t take my partner's grumpiness to heart. He still hasn't gotten over the fact that he was knocked out by a woman that barely reaches his shoulders. I’m sorry I missed the whole ordeal, but the detectives that collected him from your place made sure to take several highly entertaining photos,” he told us and chuckled.

“Oh my,” Hana said, a slight blush on her cheeks.

“He will get over it once he has found and removed all of the five hundred copies of the photo of him laying in a pool of his own drool that I have spread around the precinct. Have a nice evening, and please call if you hear anything,” he then said. Hana nodded and he gave us a little wave as he strolled after his partner. While we waited to hear them leave, I texted the men that were on guard duty in the reception to make sure the detectives left the building. I didn’t trust them not to ‘get lost’ and snoop around, especially Dundam. When we heard the elevator ping and then the door closing a moment later, Hana released a breath she had been holding and her body relaxed. I understood her relief, but with the detectives gone, so was my last excuse to keep in contact with Hana. I needed to buy myself more time. I needed to try and figure out if she felt the same pull to me as I did to her.

“Hungry?” I asked.

“A little,” she confessed.

“I think we have leftovers in the kitchen, let's see what we can find,” I told her and led her to the other set of elevators. We walked into the large kitchen and I headed for the walk-in refrigerator. I was on a mission to feed Hana. It took me a moment to realise she was not walking alongside me anymore. I stopped and looked back. Hana stood in the middle of the kitchen and I could almost see stars and rainbows shooting out of her eyes.

“This is amazing. I didn’t know you had a kitchen like this in here,” she said. I looked around at the mostly stainless steel covered kitchen and shrugged.

“Jason and I go a long way back with Chef. Once our business started to pick up we hired him to make sure our men always had good food to eat. He makes sure there is always food around and that there is food that is easy to grab on the go or if you need to do a stakeout. When we built this place, we just let him design the kitchen,” I told her.

“It’s amazing and I can see how it’s designed to make the flow in the kitchen as good as possible,” she told me. I looked around again, but I had no idea what she was talking about, and just needed to nod and hum.

“You're into kitchens then?” I asked as I resumed my mission to find food.

“Not really, I do appreciate a well designed kitchen. But the last two weeks I have been going around to restaurants and big kitchens in my area to find one I can rent when I need it,” she explained as she followed me.

“Why?”

“If I’m to start a catering business I need an approved kitchen. It would be too expensive to install a second kitchen in my apartment, and truth be told, there is no room for it. It makes more sense to rent one when I need it. But it hasn’t been easy. Either they are horrible kitchens or the rent is sky high. I won’t be able to make a profit if I bake in a kitchen like that,” she told me. That was when I got the most brilliant idea.

“Why don’t you rent from us?” I asked.

“What?”

“You said it’s a nice kitchen, I’m sure Chef won’t mind.” The last part was a bit of a white lie. “And we will be happy if you pay our rent in baked goods,” I added.

“Really? It feels like I would be taking advantage of you. You have already done so much.”

“Don’t even say it. It’s not an issue. It’s here if you need it. Just let Chef know so he can plan accordingly,” I said. I watched as her face lit up with a brilliant smile. The irritated calls I would get from Chef was worth it if I got to see Hana smile like she was now. Then she threw herself around my neck and hugged me tightly.

“Thank you! Thank you! You don’t know how much this means to me,” she said. I was confused from all the emotions she was evoking. Her smile and joy made my chest swell with pride, her body pressed against mine in a way that made me aware of every curve of her body. It made other parts of me swell. And finely the tears in her eyes made me wonder why she was so moved by a simple act of kindness. It made me sad to think that this was something unusual in her world.

“It really isn’t that big of a deal. But how about I come and get you tomorrow after you get off work and I can take you here and introduce you to Chef,” I offered.

“That’s sweet of you. But you don’t have to come all the way to my apartment. I’ll take the bus. No one is out to get me and my feet are all better,” she told me. She didn’t realise that she still had her arms around me and my arms had gone around her to secure her to me.

“It’s not a big deal, I like the time it gives me to unwind from work,” I said. She looked at me for a long while and I had no problem keeping a happy smile on my face.

“Okay,” she agreed. She took a deep breath in as if to rid her from tension in her body. That is when she remembered the position we were in. I watched the blush creep up her neck and spread over her cheeks. She looked adorable. “Sorry,” she whispered and lowered her arms. I missed them the instant they were gone.

“It’s okay, sweetness,” I said. I held back the impulse to kiss her nose and let go of my hold around her waist. “How about some food?”