Alexandr's Cherished Submissive (19 page)

Alex buried his face against her neck, a faint shudder working through him. She curled her fingers into his silken hair, stroking the back of his head, comforting him. The bed creaked as he shifted then looked up at her, that tenderness she’d briefly glimpsed even stronger. He studied her face then pressed another soft kiss to her forehead.

Aunt Mary returned from the bathroom and ran a soothing hand over Jessica’s shoulder. “Let’s get you in bed, darling.”

When Alex tried to put her down, she dug her hands into his shirt and held tight, too afraid to worry about looking like a crazy woman. “Please, don’t go.”

His expression was uncompromising as he gently put her beneath the heavy covers. “I will not be gone long.”

“Please, please stay. Don’t go. Don’t leave me alone. I need you.”

He closed his eyes then blew out a harsh breath. “Mary, tell Peter I will be there in a few minutes.”

With an obviously troubled look, Aunt Mary chewed her lower lip before saying, “Alex…are you sure?”

Alex replied in a voice that brooked no argument. “Go. I will attend to Jessica. I assure you that I will die before I let anything or anyone harm her. You have my word.”

The pain pills must have been pretty potent because she was already beginning to feel a dulling sensation stealing over her body, over her thoughts. When Alex lay next to her, she gratefully curved into his solid warmth, burrowing into him until she was as close as physically possible. Alex didn’t seem to mind as he held her tight, whispering against her hair in Russian and placing tender kisses on her face where it wasn’t bruised. Drinking up his affection, she tried to fight the pills so she could cherish the feeling of him finally holding her like she’d wanted for so long.

She tried, but in spite of her best efforts, she was almost asleep when Oleg and Maks came into the room. They took one look at her and let out almost identical growls that would have been funny if they didn’t look so furious. It was too much of a struggle to lift her hand so she merely whispered, “Hi, guys. Don’t freak out. I’m okay. Really. I’m just a little tired.”

Oleg clenched his fists, the veins on his burly forearms standing out in sharp relief. He didn’t say anything to her, but began to speak to Alex in rapid Russian while Maks took out a cell phone and moved over to the corner of the room to make his call. Her gaze met Maks’ deep green eyes, and she flinched at how scary he looked right now. He must have realized he was freaking her out because he turned away. When he looked back a moment later, his familiar warmth had dissipated the scary vibes, but the tension remained.

She gave him a weak smile that pulled at her sore lips in an attempt to reassure him, but he didn’t return it.

Alex distracted her by growling something as he tensed behind her, but his big hands never stopping their slow caress of her back and shoulders.

With the red in his hair glinting in the dull light, Maks crossed the room and handed her his phone. “Jessica, Dimitri wishes to speak.”

Alex grew silent behind her as she held the cell up and said in a thick voice, “Hello?”

“
Devushka milaya
,” Dimitri growled. “We make this right.”

“What? Dimitri, I’m okay. Please don’t worry about me. I-I survived.” Her brain was starting to shut down thanks to the drugs, and she struggled to focus.

Alex took the phone from her and began to speak in rapid-fire Russian again. Oleg and Maks talked together, their faces tight and their body language aggressive. She wanted to tell them again that they didn’t need to be so worried, that Alex saved her, but talking took way too much effort. It was a struggle to keep her eyes open anymore, so she gave up the fight and nuzzled her face into Alex’s neck. Letting out a long sigh, she fell easily into a drugged, blessedly dreamless sleep.

Alex waited until he was sure Jessica was out before he eased her off of him and removed the robe before tucking her in. The sight of the creamy perfection of her cheek and temple already darkening with a deep bruise sent rage spinning through him. Her lips were swollen as well, the lower one split. With a soft touch, he smoothed the hair back from her forehead and placed a kiss there before standing and facing Oleg and Maks.

All tenderness fled as he locked his gaze on his men.

“Bring me to those bastards.”

Oleg grimaced. “I am afraid it is too late. They had cyanide capsules in their mouths. We think they took the poison as soon as you interrupted them.”

“Fuck.” That was a clear indication these men were not only professionals, but loyal to the bone to someone.

“They had guns with the serial numbers scratched off, but nothing else to identify them and no tattoos. However, they knew enough about Peter’s security setup to avoid being seen on the exterior cameras. With as busy as the sidewalks are right now, the men were able to blend in and get to the alley without anyone being the wiser. Peter’s contacting his associates to see if any of the police cameras in the area caught anything.”

“How did they know she would be out there?”

Maks looked down at his phone. “Someone must have been watching her from inside and tipped them off.”

“Do you think anyone that works for Peter was in on it?”

Maks shook his head. “We questioned all of them. They were genuinely shocked and saddened by what happened to Jessica. None of their reactions were staged, but we are having them followed home to make sure.”

Alex spared one more glance at a sleeping Jessica before looking back at Maks. “Stay here with her.”

He nodded and stopped talking into his phone. “Luka says there has been no chatter that they’ve intercepted back home about Jessica. Everyone is too busy trying to deal with your father’s sudden need to push for more territory.”

Alex gritted his teeth, unable to deal with thinking about the mess his father, Jorg, was creating back home which Dimitri was trying to clean up. Jorg was on a tear to expand their western flank, territory that was held by the Boldin and Lerche
Bratvas
, while the rest of his advisors were attempting to talk him out of it. Most of them were good men, but they’d become his father’s advisors because of their extreme loyalty. They would do anything for Jorg, and eventually, if Jorg wanted more territory, they would support him.

Alex knew he’d have to go home at some point to try and make his father see reason, but right now, his only concern was Jessica. The memory of following her out into the alley next to the pub with the intention of making her talk to him, only to see her delicate body being abused by two big men as she struggled, sent another burst of adrenaline through him. He wished those bastards were still alive so he could show them what true suffering was.

“Come on,” Oleg said in a low voice. “Peter is waiting for us.”

With one last look at a sleeping Jessica, Alex followed Oleg past the two men guarding the door and down the hall. They waited for one of Peter’s men to key in the code for a solid steel door with no handle. They were ushered into a large, windowless room with a massive circular dark wood table in the middle and enormous flat screen TVs on three of the walls.

Peter’s war room.

Alex approached the table where Peter was thumping his fist against the aged and scarred wood, his face red as he shouted about finding out who the fuck these men were. Mary stood behind his chair, her hands clutching the back as she watched Alex and Oleg, her blank face giving nothing away. Dressed in an elegant pale ivory blouse and tailored gray slacks, she looked like she should be running some business empire, not one of the most feared gangs in Europe. Mary was a sweet armful of a woman with an easy smile, but she was just as ruthless as her husband, and Alex never forgot that in his dealings with her.

Peter took a deep breath and turned to Alex, his face grim. Three of his men bustled about the room, talking quietly in the background. He glanced behind him. “All of you, out.”

They waited for Peter’s men to clear the room, but before the other man could speak, Alex asked, “Who did this to her?”

“Take yer fuckin’ pick. I’ve got enough enemies to choose from.” Peter growled and thumped his fist again. “Someone came into my territory, my fuckin’
home
, and almost took my niece!”

After giving Peter’s shoulder a squeeze, Mary studied Alex. “What we need to think about is what they hoped to accomplish by takin’ her and why. If we can figure that out, we can narrow down a list of possible suspects. While the kidnapping could be the work of one man, I don’t think it is. This is too organized, too precise.”

Alex’s thoughts spun as he turned the situation over in his mind. Normally, with his years of training in espionage and tactics, he was able to view things from an objective angle. Right now, however, his main concern was Jessica, and that was interfering with his ability to stick to pure logic. If there was an open power play being made for Peter’s territory, it would mean this place could soon be a war zone.

“Attacking family is personal, insulting.” Oleg said from behind him.

Peter nodded, closed his eyes and let out a long breath, then opened them again. “I want ta’ send Jessica back home to the States, ta’ keep her out of this, but I’m afraid it is already too late. It will be even easier for them to hit her there, and she can’t very well live with one of my men guardin’ her twenty-four/seven without attracting attention. Plus the American police might get involved, and that is the bloody last thing we need.”

“I will take care of her,” Alex declared before he was even aware the thought was in his head.

Mary stiffened. “No.”

Peter glanced up at his wife, “Mary…”

“No,” she repeated in a heated voice. “I’m not stupid, Alex. I see the way my niece looks at you, how you are around each other. That little girl adores you, or at least the man she thinks you are, and you’re going to break her heart. She needs a nice, normal husband who can give her a family and a safe home.”

Ignoring the fact that Mary was right and Jessica did deserve the kind of life he could never provide, Alex snorted. “You took her away from normal and safe when you brought her here. Is late now to be worried.”

“How dare you—”

Peter held up his hand. “Enough, Mary. We knew the risk when we invited Jessica ta’ stay with us. We knew it might make her a target for our enemies, but we took the chance because we both needed to see her, to spend time with her. I know you care for her, deeply, but she is not a child, and I won’t drive her away by trying to control her life. You’d have to be blind not to see that Alex cares for her, and even though I can think of a million men I would rather see my niece fall in love with, Alex’ll be able to keep her safe until we deal with this and neutralize the threat.”

“He may keep her body safe”—Mary glared at Alex—“but her heart is another matter. I know your reputation with women, Alexandr, both here and in Russia. I mean no disrespect, but you have no business messing around with an innocent child like her, playing games with her emotions she’s ill equipped to handle. She deserves better than to be the toy of a man who will leave her without a second thought once he decides their time is up.”

Alex leaned forward, anger tightening his muscles. “
Nyet
. I play no games with Jessica.”

She rolled her eyes, and her tone was biting. “Please.” she hissed. “I heard from John what you did, what you said. You won’t let Jessica date someone else, but it’s okay for you to go around fuckin’ everything that moves. And let’s not forget the Novikov Curse.”

This time Peter stopped his wife. “Enough, Mary.”

“But, Peter, you know—”

“I said enough!”

Mary let out a little gasp, her eyes wide, obviously unused to Peter yelling at her.

Every word she said was true, yet Alex already knew what his course of action was. His time to get his world as ready for her as possible was up. Jessica was his, and he would do whatever was necessary to keep her safe. The sooner Peter and Mary realized that, the better.

His thoughts cleared, and his indecision fled, the plans forming and falling into place, not just for keeping her safe now, but forever.

“I will be taking Jessica to Rome with me in a few days while I take care of some things. She will have around-the-clock protection, and I will introduce her to some of my business partners. Men who owe me and will help me keep her safe.”

“Excuse me?” Mary shrieked, but Alex cut her off.

“Know this, I plan on marrying Jessica one day and making her my wife.”

“But-but...” Mary stuttered and looked to Peter, who was watching Alex with a grim expression. “You hardly know her!”

“I know her better than you think. All this time I have spent with her has shown me a woman who is a treasure for right man. I am that man.” He gave Mary a level look. “It was not you she begged to stay with her; it was me.”

“You arrogant-”

Mary looked ready to totally lose her temper, but before she could continue, Peter interrupted, “Enough, Mary. It’s done. We’ve known from the first time they saw each other that Jessica was taken with Alex and hoped it would fade, but we both know she’s in love with him. I won’t make the mistake of history repeating itself, tryin’ to keep them apart.” He sighed and rubbed his face. “Take care of her, Alex. She’s one of the last family members I have left, and even though I haven’t known her long, we love her very much want only the best for her.”

“Nothing is more important to me than Jessica. I will guard her with my life.”

They discussed some strategy and began to go over contingency plans. After this was done, Alex didn’t bother returning to his home to change. Instead, he went straight back to Jessica’s room. Maks was on the door, and to Alex’s surprise, Luka was there as well. His friend looked tired, and his thick, normally well-styled, light brown hair was mussed, but his hazel eyes were deadly serious when they met Alex’s.

“Your woman is safe, sleeping inside.”

He was itching to get to Jessica, but it was important to let Luka know Alex appreciated his support. “How did you get here so fast, my old friend?”