The Bed You Make
Chapter 24, concluded
Yuri Petrov stepped out of the inky blackness of the secret passageway. The new Mrs. Cassadine had finally departed the room, marking her return to her husband's suite of rooms. She was none the wiser to his presence.
During the Mistress' encounter with Helena Cassadine, Yuri had been convinced his presence in the passageway would be exposed. The older woman's mention of his name was her taunt to her son that she knew Yuri was stationed just inside the hidden doorway.
He hadn't cared much for allowing Helena Cassadine to enter Wyndemere uncontested. But his employer had been adamant about the matter. A private encounter with his mother was inevitable for the new Mrs. Cassadine, Stefan argued. Better that it occur under circumstances of their orchestration, he insisted.
There had been only one moment that had given Yuri pause - when Helena Cassadine rose and moved toward the Mistress. He'd pointed the muzzle of the German-made Luger at a spot just below Helena's right shoulder blade. The shot would not have killed her. It was merely intended to incapacitate Helena before she had the opportunity to do damage to the Mistress. Thankfully for Helena, Yuri hadn't been forced to go that route.
Content that Dara was secure in the master suite, Yuri ducked back into the secret passageway and made his way toward the launch where Stefan and Helena were headed.
Helena Cassadine was the main bone of contention between Yuri and his employer. On that particular subject they disagreed as vehemently as two such politely spoken men could. No raised voices, no angry gestures … just unshakeable determination that their positions on the matter be clearly understood.
Yuri understood Stefan's position perfectly. In an encounter with Helena, the head of Cassadine security was to take no chances with the safety of the heir, Nikolas, or the safety of the new Mrs. Cassadine. Encounters between Helena and Stefan, however, were to be left handled between the two.
Yuri's position on the matter of Helena Cassadine was equally plain. It was a stand he'd taken ever since the Cassadine dowager had poisoned, incapacitated and then had the helpless Stefan thrown over the side of her yacht to die. Yuri would never again doubt the woman's ability to do whatever she felt necessary to get what she desired.
The irony was that Helena accepted Yuri's willingness to remove her as a threat in a way that her son did not. She had no choice. It was a truth the quietly determined guard allowed her to see in his eyes each time they met.
