Alexei (Her Russian Protector #8) (33 page)

Alexei agreed with a grunt as he raised and lowered his body using only his arms.
Up. Down. Up. Down.
He focused on the wall, keeping his rhythm steady and his pace measured. Keeping his voice low, he asked, “How is Erin doing after..?”

Ivan didn’t need him to finish that sentence. He had been away in Vegas with Sergei when their women had been attacked by cartel henchmen hell bent on avenging their overthrown boss. Artyom had taken a nasty gut shot and two to the shoulder to protect Erin. Other street soldiers had taken beatings and worse, especially the younger ones who hadn’t ever been in a street war. Roman and Danny wouldn’t be so easily overpowered the next time blood spilled in the streets.

“She’s fine.” Ivan’s clipped answer spoke volumes to Alexei. It was a response that told him to drop the issue. Arms crossed, Ivan watched him carefully, his keen eyes taking in Alexei’s form. “Looks good. Keep going.”

When he neared the point of failure, Alexei pushed through for two more dips before carefully lowering his feet and stretching out his arms.

“That was good.” Ivan tossed him the towel and his water bottle. “Walk with me.”

Alexei mopped at his face and rehydrated while they walked the length of the warehouse toward the sparring cages. Ivan’s fighters were all working toward upcoming matches so the gym was a busy place even on a Sunday afternoon. Sergei and Kir, both matched in size and strength, sparred lightly in one cage. They lingered there for a few minutes before moving to the next cage where Zel, a Croatian fighter who had been the first to join Ivan’s professional stable, sparred with a fighter Alexei didn’t recognize.

Closer to Alexei’s age than Sergei’s, Zel was nearing that point in his life where it was time to hang up the gloves. Alexei sipped his water and relaxed his stance while watched Zel fight. “I thought he was done.”

Ivan held up a single finger as if to say he had one match left in him. “This next tournament is his last.”

“Vegas?” Alexei had been planning to fly out for the fights at the Mandalay Bay, but he hadn’t realized Zel was fighting. “I didn’t realize he was on the card.”

“He wasn’t, but there was an opening and the promoter and the league wanted him in that slot.” Ivan ran his tongue along the inside of his lower lip. “I shouldn’t have let him take this one, but the money was too good for him to pass up.”

Alexei cast a worried glance at Ivan. “Is Zel in trouble?”

“He still owes money on his debt to Luka Beciraj.”

“What? After seven years? Eight years?” Stunned, Alexei did the math. “He’s still paying on that shit?”

“Interest and penalties,” Ivan replied. “You know what those fucking loan sharks are like.”

Alexei turned his attention to Zel and watched him work his floor games. Zel had one hell of a standup game, but he had always been weak on the floor. Even now, he was struggling to break free from a hold.

Growling with frustration, Ivan moved closer to the cage and gripped onto the chain link. Snarling in Russian, he barked orders at Zel. “Watch that elbow! When it hits the ground, push up into him and fucking throw him off! Use your hips! Come on!” Ivan banged his hand against the cage. “Buck! Harder!”

Alexei watched as Zel finally got a good grip on his opponents’ sweat-slicked arm and did exactly as Ivan instructed. He arched off the mat and used the momentum of his move to push the other fighter up and off of him. It was a swift maneuver that sent his partner rolling onto his back. Zel quickly pinned the other man to the mat and moved into a dominant position, earning Ivan’s clap of approval.

After a few more pointers and discussing Zel’s grappling game with a trainer, Ivan returned to Alexei’s side. He seemed troubled as he watched his fighter continue his Sunday session. “He’s losing his fire.”

The words were spoken softly, but Alexei heard them clearly. Watching Zel, he acknowledged that the Croatian seemed to have lost his passion for fighting. Of course, after the hellish year he had survived, it was no wonder. “He’s had a rough year.”

“Losing his boy broke him. That kid was the reason he fought. Now?” Ivan’s lips sank into a flattened line. “Now he just fights to clear his debt to Luka and move on with his life.”

“Fighting for money is dangerous. That’s how men get hurt.” He cast a look Ivan’s way that communicated exactly what he was thinking.
That’s how
we
got hurt
.

“Yes, it is.” Ivan crossed his arms again. “I offered him the money. I even offered to speak to Luka directly to see if they would write off the balance. The boy is dead now. All that money Zel spent getting them here and then paying for his son’s medical bills was wasted. Making him pay it all off now is rubbing salt in a fresh, deep wound.”

“He’s a proud man.” Alexei stated the obvious. “Would you take the money if you owed the debt?”

Ivan didn’t answer immediately. After a while, he shook his head. “No.”

“We’ll have to help him,” Alexei decided. “I’ll talk to Besian. I’ll find out the balance and then place some strategic bets when I get to Vegas. Maybe we can make Zel enough money to clear his debts and a little bit to start over.”

“Be careful with that,” Ivan warned. “The last thing you need is to get caught up in some underground gambling shit.”

Alexei grunted in agreement.

“Are you bringing her?”

“Shay? To Vegas?” Alexei shook his head. “No.”

Ivan gawked at him. “You’re going to Vegas without your new girl?”

“Our Vegas trips are always men only.”

“Not anymore,” Ivan shot back. “I’m taking Erin with me.”

Alexei wasn’t surprised, not after what happened the last time Ivan went to Vegas. “She’s your wife. It’s different.”

Ivan made a grumbling noise. “You better be careful saying shit like that around Shay.”

Alexei shifted uncomfortably under his friend’s stare. “I don’t think Shay would enjoy the Vegas scene.”

“Have you asked her?”

“It hasn’t come up yet.”

“It better come up before you step on that plane and leave her here in Houston,” Ivan warned. “You might come back to an empty penthouse.”

“It’s already empty. She moved into my house this morning.”

Ivan seemed taken aback. “You’re really moving fast with her.”

You have no idea
. Alexei wondered just how much Ivan knew about Shay and what was going on with her sister. Even though he was out of the life, he lived right on the edge and always had his ear to the ground. There weren’t many dirty deeds he didn’t hear about eventually.

As if reading his mind, Ivan said, “You should be careful with your cleaning lady.” He held up a hand to halt Alexei’s retort. “Listen to me, okay?”

Alexei relented unhappily and nodded stiffly.

“Sisters are trouble.” Ivan grasped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Take it from me. I know. They come as a package deal,” he warned. “I fell in love with Erin and married her—but that means her sister became
my
sister. Because she’s now my family, I owe her a fresh start when she finally gets out of lockup. It’s a burden, but I went into this with eyes wide open. For Erin? I’ll do anything—even if it means paying for protection for her sister while she’s doing her stretch or pushing around money and favors to get Ruby a job once she’s out. It’s never-ending, Alyosha.”

“I get it,” Alexei assured him. “Shay’s sister is—”

“A fuck up?” Ivan supplied.

“Difficult,” Alexei replied. “She’s difficult, but the girls had a hard life.” He had been thinking about Shannon and Shay during his workout. “I think Shannon did the best she could. Sometimes it wasn’t enough, but she tried. Shay loves her for that. She respects her big sister for sticking around and trying.”

Ivan shook his head. “You better be careful thinking like that. You need to snip those strings.” He made a scissoring gesture with his thick fingers. “If what I’ve heard is true, Shannon nearly got her sister killed
twice
. Don’t let her have a third chance, Alyosha. She might finally succeed.”

The chilling thought wouldn’t leave him as he gathered up his gym bag and left the warehouse. Driving across town, he couldn’t stop thinking about Ivan’s warning. He didn’t want to push Shay to cut her sister out of her life, but what other choice did he have?

When he arrived at the house, he slipped his SUV into its slot in his five-car garage and dropped his gym bag on the built-in bench in the mudroom. He found Stas eating an apple in the kitchen. “Do you ever stop eating?” he asked the enforcer-turned-bodyguard.

“No.” Stas crunched a huge bite of apple between his teeth. He gestured toward the ceiling with the fruit clamped in his hand. “She’s upstairs.”

“You can head out,” Alexei said. “We’ll be fine for the rest of the day.”

“Same time tomorrow?”

Alexei nodded. “You can work for me until you find a different position or Nikolai decided he needs you somewhere else. I know this isn’t how a man with your skillset wants to spend his days.”

“It’s the best job I’ve had since I joined the family. Even with all the shit that went down last night,” he added.

“If you hear anything about Shay tonight—”

“I’ll make sure you know,” Stas interjected. “But I wouldn’t worry about it. Those secrets died with Lalo.”

“Let’s hope they stay buried,” he muttered.

After walking Stas out and locking the door behind him, Alexei went upstairs in search of Shay. He found her curled up on an armless upholstered chair in the master bedroom texting with someone. He didn’t want to accuse her of talking to her sister so he held his tongue and waited for her to say something.

“It’s Kylee,” she explained and flashed him her phone as if to prove it. “We haven’t said anything about last night. We’re just talking about normal things. I wouldn’t say anything that might get us all in trouble.”

“I trust you to be safe.” He spotted her suitcase still sitting where he’d left it. “Why didn’t you unpack?”

She seemed to shrink back into the chair. “Well…”

“Shay.” He pinned her in place with a no nonsense look. “What’s wrong?”

“There weren’t any hangers,” she said, her excuse sounding feeble to both of them.

“I’ll pick up some more tomorrow. Until then, you can borrow some from my side.” He could tell that wasn’t the real reason she hadn’t unpacked. “What’s really going on here?”

When she didn’t answer immediately, he crouched down in front of her and gently took her phone from her hands. He tossed it onto the bed and held her hands instead. Capturing her gaze, he said, “Talk to me.”

Hesitantly, she admitted, “It made me too nervous.”

“Nervous? Why?”

She swallowed anxiously and dropped her gaze, staring straight down at her lap as if embarrassed. “I’ve been interested in you for so long, and I used to fantasize about something like this happening. About you asking me to live with you,” she explained. “And now I’m
here
in
your
home and we’re together. and I wanted to be excited and optimistic about us—but then I remembered why I’m here—”

“You’re here because I want you to be here,” he cut in quickly and drew her gaze. “You’re here because I care about you and because I want to share my home with you.”

“My sister—”

“Isn’t part of the equation, Shay,” he insisted. “If this was just about keeping you safe, I would have left you in the penthouse. You were perfectly safe there.” Leaning forward, he kissed her tenderly. “You’re here because I wanted you in my life.” He kissed her again and relished the way she responded so sweetly. “You’re here because you’re special to me.”

Her dark eyes lit up as he described her as being special to him. “You’re special to me, too.”

This time, she was the one who kissed him. Her small hands slid along his arms, over his shoulders and up the sides of his neck until she clasped his face. He let her have control, surrendering to her searching tongue and her soft, soft lips. After his workout, his legs were killing him in this cramped, crouched position, but he didn’t dare move or complain. He would let his toes go numb before he ended this kiss.

When Shay shifted her hold on him, he answered her silent urging and put a knee onto the chair. He shivered when her hands slid under his loose T-shirt and stroked his bare stomach. The memories of her hands on his body last night were so new and fresh. Making more of them sounded like a very good idea right now, but he desperately needed a shower.

Shay eased off their increasingly more erotic kisses and smiled up at him, her expression relaxed and happy. Running her finger along his chin, she murmured, “This chair is too small.”

“I’ll buy us a new one tomorrow.” He nibbled at her amused grin. “The biggest, widest chair in the store.”

“Or we could just move to your big, comfy bed,” she suggested seductively and tapped his chin.

“Or,” he nipped at her finger, “I can show you why this chair is the perfect size and height.” Her dark eyes sparked with interest and excitement. Taking that as permission, he gently pushed on her shoulders. “Lean back, baby.”