Alexei: A Mafia Love Story: Dark Erotic Romance (11 page)

Her eyes widened at the knowledge, and she was glad for the darkness that hid her shock. “You don’t like that sort of thing?”

Alexei cursed softly before turning onto his side, jerking her against him roughly. “Of course I don’t. I’ve hated that side of our business since long before I was the
Sovietnik
or acting
Pakhan
. I promised myself I’d see it ended, and I’m almost there. Only the defiance of Slava and his enclave have prevented me from completely eradicating the sale of humans in our city, at least by the Russians. The Italians still consider it a viable and lucrative business.”

His harsh tone softened slightly, and he began to stroke her back in small circles. “You don’t understand our way of life, but there are rules and protocols in place for a reason. Order must be maintained, and you must show proper respect to those above you. Refusing a direct order is a death sentence in the
vory v. zakone
,
lisichka.
If I hadn’t dealt harshly with Slava, it would have undermined my authority and left me ripe to a coupe.”

“I see.” Strangely, she did. Tara wasn’t all right with him dispensing his method of justice so ruthlessly, but she understood what he was saying. And it was difficult to muster sympathy for the murder of scum that would sell his fellow humans. “Do you kill a lot of people, Lyosha?” His nickname still felt strange on her tongue, but she liked how it sounded, and how it reinforced the bond developing between them.

“I do what I must, and that’s all you need to know. It’s my duty to shield you from that side of our life.”

She wanted to protest his words as chauvinistic, but she held back the objection. What bothered her even more was his protective attitude and the way he’d casually referred to it as “our” life. It seemed to indicate he was fitting her neatly into a compartment somewhere in his regimented life, obviously certain she was settling in to the fate thrust upon her and wouldn’t continue to fight him.

Most alarmingly, she couldn’t tell herself he was wrong with absolute certainty. In moments like these, lying in his arms and feeling more cherished and adored than she ever had with anyone before, she couldn’t muster more than a lukewarm enthusiasm for finding a way to escape back to the life she’d before.

He was changing her, and it should terrify her. Instead, she soon surrendered to a dreamless, restful sleep.

Time slipped away before she realized it, and soon she had been in his home for nearly a month. A week after the conversation about Slava, he had moved her into his room, and she enjoyed almost as much freedom as she would have had she been there completely voluntarily. If she’d been his fully willing lover, she still would have been subjected to
byki
like Yuri and Stepan and increased security measures, though she would have been able to use her phone without his presence, and she wouldn’t have had him vetting her emails daily.

She still resented the intrusion and the lack of trust, but she didn’t want to push their tentative truce. Tara hadn’t even decided if she was completely trustworthy to keep his secret if she escaped, or if he grew laxer with her security and screenings. Would she try to escape? If she did, she couldn’t visualize herself reporting Slava’s murder, but she hadn’t brought it up with him again or made any promises about not doing so.

Bluntly, she didn’t want to. Not because she didn’t think he’d believe her, but because she thought he might. If he trusted her completely, he might decide it was safe to let her go back to her old life.

Her stagnant, boring, mostly solitary life that revolved around a younger sister who was so self-absorbed that she hadn’t bothered to call or email the entire time Tara had been Alexei’s lover/captive. The thought of returning to her apartment and the life she’d led before held little appeal.

But so did confessing that to Alexei. She didn’t know how to feel or how to proceed. If she admitted she was feeling something…more for her captor, did that obligate her to embrace his lifestyle? It would possibly pave the way for something more real and lasting between them, but she wasn’t ready to take that step.

She might never be.

That was why it was wiser to maintain homeostasis, to gloss over the cracks in their relationship and embrace the pretense that she was here of her own volition, and that he wouldn’t prevent her from trying to leave if she decided to do so. Her life was a gigantic pretense, except for the nights. There was honest, real, and intensely full of passion and emotion between them, and it was the one place she never held back. She didn’t think he did either.

It was only daylight that diluted the purity of the nights and brought renewed doubts and fears. In spite of the uncertainty of the situation, she was surprisingly happy. Being with Alexei and his family made her happier than she’d ever been, and she didn’t want to leave.

When Alexei first appeared on the patio where she was working, her phone in his hand, she didn’t think much of it. With him hovering nearby, she’d occasionally made or accepted phone calls the last couple of weeks for business-related purposes, and a couple of times trying to reach her sister, who still hadn’t called her back. She was trying not to worry and allow Tonya the time she was insistent upon needing. It was only his grim expression that clued her in to a problem.

He sat at the table beside her on the other wrought iron bistro chair, still holding her phone. When she held out her hand for it, he didn’t relinquish the device. She frowned at him. “What’s going on?”

Alexei sighed, still not giving her the cell phone. “Your sister texted you this morning around three a.m. I didn’t tell you when I found the message later this morning, because I wanted to check out some things first.”

Her stomach clenched, and she prepared herself for the worst. “What’s wrong with her? Is she all right?”

Alexei lifted his shoulder as he finally passed over her phone, the text message already opened. She read aloud the cryptic communiqué with a frown.
“Meet me at “Evelyn’s Bar” between seven and seven-forty-five p.m. It’s the only time I can get away. Please be there.”
She looked at Alexei. “She signed it with her name, but that’s not her phone number unless she’s changed it.”

He nodded, pointing to the phone. “There’s a second message too.”

She scrolled down, eyes widening as she saw the next part of the message, sent eight minutes after the first one. It read:
Don’t reply to this message. If he knows I used his phone, he’ll kill me.
With a gasp, she set her phone on the table and clutched his hand. “What did you find out? You said you looked into something. What was it?”

“I sent Yuri to check on her, and she hasn’t been hanging out with her friends or been to your apartment for the last week or so, according to the neighbors. She hadn’t been coming into the club either, but I didn’t know that ‘til today. To be honest, I didn’t really notice until I started checking to see if she was all right and realized she hadn’t been there. Tonya didn’t bother to call in, and she didn’t show the nights she was scheduled. Your sister has never done that, even when she was out of her mind on heroin.”

She nodded, finding it a strange juxtaposition about her sister, who could be the world’s shallowest, flightiest girl, but had an amazing work ethic even when she was a drug addict. She wouldn’t have missed work without calling unless something was very wrong. “I have to go tonight to meet her. Please, Alexei?”

He scowled. “I’ll go.”

She glared at him. “She asked me to come for her, and she’s my sister. I need to do this. Don’t you think you can trust me enough for this? You’ll be right there with me, won’t you?”

His expression softened slightly, though he still looked stern. “It’s not a matter of trust,
lisichka
. I simply won’t have you endangered, and we’re going into the situation blind. It’s out of the question that you come along.”

“No, it’s out of the question that you’re trying to cut me out of this. If it were your sister or Lev, you would want to be there.”

He nodded. “It’s a different matter though.”

“Why? Because you’re a man?” she asked sarcastically.

“No, because I know how to handle myself and defend myself. I can use a gun. Can you?”

Slowly, reluctant to affirm his assumption, she shook her head. “No, I can’t use a gun, but it doesn’t matter.”

He harrumphed at her. “Your safety and protection doesn’t matter? And you wonder why I’m not letting you go?”

“It doesn’t matter because you’ll be there to protect me.”

His shoulders sagged slightly, and he heaved a sigh. “Fine. You can come, but you’re waiting in the car.”

“Yes, Lyosha.” She spoke meekly, wanting to assure him she would obey his dictate about staying in the car. Whether she actually did or not depended on the situation when she got there, but since she had just gained his agreement, she didn’t want to risk having him change his mind.

“So obedient.” His lips twitched. “That’s not very convincing.” He spoke indulgently, though his eyes were still shadowed with concern. “All bullshit aside, Tara, I expect you to listen if I tell you something tonight. Do you understand me?”

She met his gaze, keeping her expression open. She nodded her agreement, and she fully intended to try to follow his directions, because he knew far more about this sort of situation than she did. She also knew that he wasn’t as emotionally invested in her sister, simply because he couldn’t be. His top priority would likely be keeping Tara safe, while her top priority would be extricating her little sister from whatever mess she’d entangled herself in this time.

***

It was late spring, and the days were growing longer, but it was still almost dark by the time they were in place at “Evelyn’s,” which turned out to be a seedy little bar on the opposite side of the city, near the harbor. Alexei had the driver stop the limousine across the street, where they were afforded a clear view of the front of the bar, thanks to some sort of tinting on the window that completely obscured the view in, while allowing a clear view outward.

They sat there for five minutes with no sign of anyone coming or going before she shifted restlessly on the seat beside him. “I have to go in, Alexei. She’s expecting me, and she’s probably inside.”

He shook his head. “You’re not going in there, Tara. I won’t have you in harm’s way. I’ll go see if I spot her. She knows me, and she’ll definitely recognize me from the club, since I’m her employer. I’ll bring her out to you.”

She was about to continue arguing when a slight figure suddenly appeared on the sidewalk, shoulders hunched in a defensive posture that suggested the person was trying to protect him or herself. As the figure grew closer to the light pole near the front of the bar, her red hair came into view, and there was no mistaking it was Tonya. She paused just inside the circle of light cast from the streetlamp, still hugging herself as she looked up and around, her eyes scanning the area in search of something. In search of her, Tara knew.

When she saw the bruises on her sister’s face, anger consumed her, and she wrenched open the door and scrambled out before Alexei could stop her. She heard him cursing behind her as he clambered from the car, and she broke into a run, partially fleeing him, but mostly reassured that he was only a step behind her and had her back.

He reached her a second after she reached Tonya, and he was cursing heavily. She ignored him, batting away the hand he tried to put on her shoulder as she grasped her sister’s upper arms gently before pulling her into a hug. “What happened to you, baby?”

Tonya sniffled, and suddenly she was crying ugly tears, the kind that shook her body and had her making rasping, sobbing noises with every inhalation and exhalation.

Alexei put his hand on Tara’s shoulder, and this time she didn’t shrug him away. She appreciated having his presence, especially when she saw what someone had done to her little sister. She had no doubt Alexei would deal with the matter. “What happened?” she asked again as she eased away from her sister enough to take the handkerchief Alexei extended and use it to wipe her sister’s face. She was gentle around the bruises, wincing when she saw the seriously split lip that must have made it difficult to eat, talk, or drink. “Who did this to you?”

Tonya’s lips wobbled, and she shot an uncertain glance at Alexei before looking back at Tara. “You brought my boss into this?”

Tara’s hackles rose at the snippy tone, but she struggled to stay calm. Before she could reply, Alexei put his arm around her waist, his hand on her hip. “What affects Tara affects me.” He spoke forcefully and confidently, making it plain that he wasn’t there for Tonya but for her. She didn’t know whether to be annoyed at the macho display or to be pleased that he was making it so clear to her sister that Tara was the primary concern for him.

Tara blinked, her shock almost laughable. “You’re with Alexei Varnakov? No way.”

“Why not?” barked Alexei before she could ask the same question.

Despite her own personal troubles, Tonya apparently could still indulge in a moment of amusement, because she giggled slightly before wincing when her lip split further. “It’s just my sister is such a goody-goody, Mr. Varnakov. It’s impossible to imagine her with anyone like you. I mean, her last boyfriend was an IRS auditor, for chrissakes.” She giggled again. “You’ve gone from tax inquisition to tax evasion, sis.”

As quickly as Tonya had started laughing, she burst into tears again. Tara ignored the ribbing and hugged her baby sister again. “Tell me what’s happening to you, baby?”

“William Tarlington is what happened to me. I told you about the guy who paid me to spend time with him?”

Struggling to hide her disapproval, since she had already made her sister aware of how she felt about such actions, she simply nodded.

“He kept wanting to see me, and he seemed so nice, and he just…he was so generous with his time and money. He bought me all kinds of gifts, and he made me feel safe and loved. When he asked me to move in with him seventeen days ago, I put my own plans on hold, called my realtor to tell her not to make the final negotiations for the condo I was buying, and I leapt at the opportunity.”

“When did it go south?” asked Alexei.

Tonya shrugged, looking helpless and far younger than her twenty-three years. “I’m not really sure. It was almost from the moment I moved in, I guess. He was really controlling and possessive, but at first I thought it was sweet. I thought it was because he must really like me a lot, and I didn’t realize it was a bad thing, you know?”

Alexei nodded, as though empathizing, since he probably didn’t have direct knowledge on how abusive relationships progressed. Tara didn’t either—not counting her dysfunctional, but not abusive, relationship with Alexei—a fact for which she was grateful, even as she wished she had more knowledge about how to help her sister. “What happened?”

“About four days after I moved in, I was having a conversation with a neighbor, and he totally flipped his lid. He told the neighbor to never come near me again—and this guy is like forty years older than me, and not someone I would ever flirt with—and dragged me into his apartment.

“He lives in a really swanky place, with a doorman and private elevators, so I didn’t put up much of a fuss. I didn’t understand what he was planning, and I didn’t want to make a scene. I mean no more of a scene than he’d already made confronting the neighbor in front of the apartment building on the sidewalk.

“Inside the apartment, he screamed at me and called me horrible names, and he accused me of trying to cheat on him and replace him with a richer boyfriend. I guess the guy I was talking to was really loaded or something. I don’t know.” She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “Anyway, he hit me. I mean not just once, but several times. He told me I was his now, and if I didn’t like it, he would hit me until I did. I immediately agreed with him, hoping it would calm him down, but that just seemed to make him angrier.”