Chapter 97: Chapter Forty-Two

Alice

I was starting to get nervous. Not that Ax wasn’t extremely distracting.

Ax added more locks.

Same thing happened the next day.

Suffice it to say his family life sounded so normal it was almost strange. He held guns most of the day, helped torture people, and then at night read Goodnight Moon to his two boys.

I stirred my straw around in my drink and yawned just as Andrei stomped toward me with so much aggression in his eyes I actually shrunk back a bit.

“Thanks, Ax.” His voice was off.

Something was wrong.

“Andrei?”

He pulled me against him, held me there so tight that it was hard to breathe, and then he leaned back just enough for his eyes to lock on mine. “I missed you.”

Why did it seem like he was saying goodbye?

Like he would miss me when I was standing right there?

“Ax.” Andrei’s piercing gaze didn’t leave mine. “No interruptions, especially the Italians, things can wait… just a while longer.”

I frowned. “What happened?”

“We got the information we needed, and I shot your brother between the eyes because he was about to attempt to say your name only after bringing Chase to the brink of mass homicide.

“So, I’d say it went well.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Are you ready for our dinner date?”

I let the truth wash over me.

My brother was dead.

The monster had finally killed him.

And I was relieved. I was more than relieved. I was grateful, thankful, and I refused to feel like a bad human being because my brother’s evil was no longer present on earth.

I sighed in relief and clung to Andrei.

He exhaled against my body and pulled away. “Dinner?” Again, he prompted, like he wanted to get out of there.

Afraid. He seemed afraid. Maybe that’s why I didn’t recognize it at first, because he’d never shown me that emotion before.

“Actually…” I held him close and kept him there.

I was going to seduce Andrei Petrov.

I was going to take every last inch of him and breathe life into him.

I was going to give him the control he so desperately needed.

And I would give him everything.

Not because he asked me to.

But because I suddenly realized he needed me to, he needed it. His eyes were unfocused again as a few people walked by us, the Italians.

I nodded to them.

Phoenix gave Andrei a look that I couldn’t discern.

Dante stopped while the rest of them walked past and said their goodbyes; his eyes met mine and then Andrei’s.

Before I knew what was happening, Dante was leaning in and pressing a kiss to my cheek and whispering, “Make it count.”

I had no idea what it meant.

All I knew was that they knew something I didn’t.

And that Andrei’s death grip on me intensified to the point of pain.

“Let’s stay in.” I turned around abruptly. “Let’s order pizza or something?”

Andrei’s frozen face morphed into a frown. “I promised you a date.”

“A date just means we’re doing something together. Let’s do something together here... home.”

His blue eyes softened. “Home?”

“Our home.” I nodded, feeling the word in my soul as it continued to repeat in my head over and over again. Home. The monster had given me a home.

Tears filled my eyes.

He leaned over me and pressed a searing kiss against my mouth. “Even if I was killed tonight—I would never regret you, Alice.”

“See.” I leaned back. “Romantic.”

“Shhhh,” He winked. “Don’t ruin my sordid reputation, dorogaya.”

I reached up and patted his cheek. “Nothing but a teddy bear.”

He barked out a laugh. “Tell that to Ivan.”

“Ivan?” Did I even want to know?

Andrei wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we walked side by side out of the club and down the hall to the apartment.

“Shot him twice in the chest, and under the chin just to make sure it was quick, lots of blood. Used to be a good man until he turned.”

“Why do men turn?” I asked, genuinely curious. “In this business I mean. Is it just for money? Power? I mean what’s the point when your life is on the line?

Andrei didn’t answer. He silently unlocked the door, his face a mask of indifference as he showed me in, closed and locked it behind me. “You really want to know?”

“Yeah.” I crossed my arms and shivered, despite the fur coat. “I do.”

“Contentment.”

It wasn’t the answer I was expecting.

“I surprised you.” He flashed me a half smile as he leaned back against the door. “You expected me to agree with you?”

“Maybe?”

His gorgeous smile grew. “You have a lot to learn, Alice. A man with idle hands, a man without a purpose, is not a man at all.”

“He is less than, and he knows it, so he will do anything to fill that hole.”

It was so deep, so wise that I didn’t have an intelligent response other than to lean toward him, wishing he’d say more.

Andrei held out his hands like he was getting ready to cup water. “In my world, a man was built to do two things.” He reached for my hand, and then he held his other hand out and turned it over.

“To hold those he cares for closer than his own heart, and to work to the bone for their happiness, their contentment.

“A man who has lost this has lost his purpose.” He dropped my hands and shrugged out of his leather jacket. “Elena belonged to Ivan first.”

“They were married, in love, my father took one look at her and stole her, said it was just business.

“She became my stepmother, a young stepmother, and Ivan let him because he lacked the power to stop him. So, he did what any man would do when a wrong was done against him.

“And Elena?”

“She was never the same. Then again, neither was he.” Andrei hung his head and whispered something in Russian before turning to me. “Enough talk about death and purpose. I owe you a date.”

I didn’t see the blood on his shirt, but I’d noticed it on his cheeks and on his neck. “It doesn’t bother you? Other people’s blood?”

He smirked like it was a cute question. “It means they’re no longer a threat.”

“Well, I guess that’s one way to think about it.”

“I don’t waste energy thinking about the dead, they don’t matter. The living, however, do.” He took a step toward me. “Any more questions or can I shower?”

“I remember a time when you yelled at me for asking you questions,” I pointed out with an arched brow.

“I remember a time when I would have done anything for you to ask more. Wait, that was thirty seconds ago. I would talk to you until my voice was hoarse, but I can’t.”

“I like that plan,” I whispered.

He kissed the top of my head. “Good.”

And then he was sauntering away from me, his lean muscled body moving through the living room like a freaking panther.

I exhaled and shook my head. He was too much and not enough all at once, because when he was with me I wanted more, and when he left me, my heart threw itself into chaos, worry.

I looked down. If he was changing, should I too?

Frowning, I went to my room and flipped on the closet light. Everything was either too fancy or not nice enough.

Hanging behind a few dresses were silk pieces of lingerie.

They were blood red.

One of them was a gorgeous red babydoll nightdress. It went to my mid-thigh and wasn’t see-through but definitely looked like it wasn’t for going out.

With a smile, I looked over my shoulder and then back at the silk. I touched it with my fingertips and imagined how it would feel against his skin, maybe instead of hurting he’d feel pleasure.

I was doing this.

I wasn’t the same woman who had walked in these doors.

He’d made me different.

And I wondered as I slowly stripped out of my dress, if I knew all along, if that’s why I smiled when I was held captive.

Because I knew I would fall in love with my jailor.

Madly.

Deeply.

Irrevocably.

In love.