Alexei (Her Russian Protector #8) (30 page)

Mine
, he thought and gathered her close.
Always
.

Chapter Fourteen

Long after Shay fell asleep in his arms, Alexei stroked her bare back and arm. His mind raced in ten different directions. What would happen once the underworld woke to the news that Lalo Contreras was dead? Would Shay and Kylee’s involvement in his death stay secret? Would the police come sniffing around for answers?

And what the fuck was he going to do about Shannon? She was out there somewhere, probably hurt and scared, and would need to be rescued. If she was smart, she would get as far away from Texas as possible. She would go north to any place not connected to the cartel and start a new life. But was she that smart? The choices she had made so far in life didn’t inspire much confidence.

Shay hummed in her sleep and turned on her side. Even before he slid closer, she was snuggling back against him. His mouth lifted in a smile as pulled her in tight and kissed the side of her neck. His smile faded when he noticed the scars crisscrossing her back. Earlier, he had felt the raised bumps under his fingertips, but he had been so fascinated by her lithe body that he hadn’t paid them much attention.

But now? Now he couldn’t stop looking at them.

He knew what they were.

Someone had struck Shay, repeatedly, with a cord of some kind. The scars curved around her back the way something flexible would when it hit skin. He didn’t have to think very hard to find a culprit for the abuse she had suffered. It was either her horrible mother or one of the scumbag assholes she had brought into their home.

Rage burned hot and heavy in his chest as he traced the thin scars. They spurred a memory he had long since buried. While imprisoned in that juvenile camp, he and Ivan had watched another boy, a weaker boy, who had been singled out by the three of their guards. For every little infraction, that poor kid had been hauled away and taken to the secret block where terrible things had been done to him.

Once, the kid had been thrown back into their dormitory cell completely unconscious and with his back ragged and torn from a whipping. The next day, Ivan had coaxed the truth from the younger boy, learning about the extension cord that had been used on him and the other terrible things that had been done. That was the day Ivan had decided he had finally seen enough of that kid limping and bleeding around their cell block.

Three nights after that, he and Ivan and a few of the older boys had led a small revolt on their sadistic guards. By sunrise, those guards had been on their way to a hospital and an unspoken agreement between the warden and the inmates had been struck. Not another kid had been touched while Ivan was there.

Staring at his hands, he could almost feel the hot blood spilling onto them. If he closed his eyes, he could smell the sharp bite of fear in the air. He could hear that extension cord Ivan had stolen smacking into bare skin. He could see the panicked stares of those guards when they had realized their days of beating and raping young boys were over and that they were going to leave the prison on stretchers.

Disgust soured his stomach. The things he had done to survive in that place…

Alexei lifted his hand from Shay’s back and held it away from her as if he feared infecting her with the darkness and shame still clinging to him. She was the most pure and good thing he had ever had in his life. If she ever found out about the horrible things he had done?

She’ll leave me.

Panic overwhelmed him. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. He would do anything to keep her. Anything.

Thinking of the unseemly way he had brought her into his life left his stomach in knots. He had been so stupid to ever think that asking her to be his mistress would work. What must she have been thinking when he’d said that last night? Had she been afraid of what would happen when he discovered she didn’t have the skills a mistress usually possessed? Had she felt pressured to let him have her tonight?

No. He didn’t believe that last one. She had been the one who came onto him tonight. She had been the one to urge him to continue every time he had hesitated. She had made the decision to enjoy this with him. He only hoped that she was happy with that decision.

I’ll never be good enough for her.

It was a troubling thought, and one that threatened to turn him inside out. He wasn’t sure how to navigate these uncharted relationship waters. He couldn’t just give her pretty, expensive things and expect her to be happy. She would need him to be open and honest with her, to talk about his feelings and to share his thoughts with her. He’d never done that with a woman before and didn’t have the first notion of how to make it work.

But I have to try.

She had given him a precious gift tonight. She had trusted him with something she could give no other man. Forever and always, this experience was theirs and theirs alone. As he drifted off with Shay in his arms, he vowed then and there to never give her a reason to doubt that decision.

Sometime later, Alexei bolted awake to the sensation of movement. Confused, he lifted his head from his pillow and saw Shay sliding out of bed. He touched her hip, stopping her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She glanced back at him and smiled sleepily. “I’m fine.” Leaning back toward him, she kissed his cheek. “Go back to sleep.”

When she got out of bed, she turned off the bedside lamp, plunging the bedroom into darkness before he could fully appreciate every sexy inch of her body. The bathroom door clicked when it closed and a faint sliver of light illuminated the strip of space beneath it. On the verge of dozing off again, he heard the shower start. She wasn’t in there very long, maybe two or three minutes, before it switched off.

A short time later, she left the bathroom and climbed back into bed with him. He reached for her in the darkness, and she cuddled into him. He smoothed his hand down the long strands of her hair. The ends were wet so he swept her hair away from her back and onto the pillow behind her. He had his suspicions about her shower, but he didn’t want to pry or make her uncomfortable. Still—he worried she might be in pain after the way he had taken her not once but twice in such a short time.

“Shay?”

“Yes?”

“Is everything all right?”

She didn’t answer immediately. “I woke up, and I was all sticky.”

There was no mistaking the embarrassment in her voice. “Oh.” Smiling, he kissed her temple and gave her bottom a little pat. “Sorry.”

She drew shapes on his shoulder. “It’s all right. I’ll…I’ll be better prepared next time.”

Next time? Shit, he started to get hard just thinking about fucking her again.
No, not fucking
, he silently admonished. It wasn’t fucking. Not with Shay. It was something more. Something better.

Feeling her shiver from the chill in the room, he reached down and grabbed the covers. She burrowed into him when he dragged the sheet and duvet over their naked bodies. Almost shyly, she tucked her leg over his in a search for the most comfortable position. He placed his hand on her thigh in a reassuring gesture, wordlessly letting her know that this was all right.

It didn’t take him long to fall asleep again. Like Shay, he was exhausted from the last two nights. Unfortunately, he was programmed to wake early. He lingered in bed with Shay for half an hour before carefully extricating himself. Wanting her to get some much-needed rest, he tucked the covers around her and gently kissed her cheek before backing away from the bed.

He took a shower in the guest bathroom and changed into the clean set of workout clothes in his gym bag. While he waited for his coffee to brew, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had forgotten something important. Halfway through his first cup, it suddenly hit him.

No condom.

Twice.

What were the odds that a woman who wasn’t sexually active would be on birth control? Not very high. Thinking about everything he had packed for Shay, he didn’t remember seeing any pills in her bathroom or bedroom. She didn’t have any in her purse either.

It would figure that innocent, virginal Shay would conceive a child on her first night of lovemaking. That was the way these things usually worked. Worried that she would wake up and regret what they had done, Alexei decided he would do the one thing he could to make this right. He found his phone and texted Stas who answered back mere seconds later that he was already in the parking garage downstairs.

A few minutes later, Stas was at the front door, a fast food bag in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He headed straight for the kitchen, dropped his bag on the counter and retrieved Shay’s phone from his pocket. “I was up early so I went by the friend’s house to get Shay’s phone. There weren’t any missed calls.”

“Did you hear anything last night?” Alexei finished his coffee and put the cup in the sink. He pocketed Shay’s phone for now.

Stas shook his head. “I went straight home.”

“And this morning?”

Stas shrugged out of his jacket. “People have noticed Lalo is missing. I’ve heard a few different theories. Some people think Shannon and Ruben killed him and ran. Others think Lalo killed Shannon and Ruben and is laying low. The one that I heard more than the others is that Hector Salas came to town to clean up Lalo’s mess and whacked Lalo, Shannon and Ruben. Everyone knew that Lalo was skating on thin fucking ice with Hector. After that bust for the dog fighting? The books were opened on how long Lalo would last.”

“And Shay? Her friend? The motel?”

“Shay and Kylee were never there. You were never there. I was never there. Besian and his crew weren’t either. Last night didn’t happen.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Alexei grumbled. “I’m going out for a little while. I won’t be long.”

“We’ll be fine.” Stas dumped the contents of the bag onto the counter, sending Egg McMuffins and hash browns rolling across the granite.

“Don’t let her eat any of that horrible, greasy shit if she wakes up before I’m back,” Alexei warned. “I’ll make her a proper breakfast.”

“Whatever.” Stas stuffed a greasy hashbrown in his mouth.

Annoyed by the sound of the guard’s chewing, he pointed toward the closed bedroom door. “Don’t bother her. She needs to get some rest. The last few days have been difficult for her.”

Stas swallowed his mouthful of food and reached for his coffee. After a quick sip, he said, “I’ll be quiet.”

“See that you are,” Alexei replied, his mouth settling into a frustrated line. “And no more of your bullshit, Stas. I don’t know what you said to her yesterday—and I don’t want to know—but if I come home again and you’ve upset her, I’m bouncing you back to Nikolai.”

Stas wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and balled it up in his big fist. “I didn’t say anything to hurt her purposely. I just—I wanted her to understand what she’d done.”

“That’s not your job. She’s mine. If she needs a lesson in the way the world works, I’ll be the one who gives it to her. You keep your mouth shut and stop filling her head with stories that scare her. Shay and I? We have our own way of doing things.”

Stas eventually nodded. “You’re the boss.”

Fucking right I am
, Alexei thought crossly. “Don’t let anyone inside the penthouse while I’m gone.”

“I’ll keep her locked up tight for you.”

Alexei shot Stas a warning glance before gathering up his phone, wallet and keys and leaving the apartment. He waited in the hallway until he heard the deadbolt engage. On his way out of the building, he questioned whether Stas was the right fit long-term. He seemed to be a man who was used to getting his hands dirty, not following a nice woman around town and keeping her safe.

Maybe it was time to look for a permanent solution to the issue of Shay’s security. This thing with Lalo and Shannon would blow over soon enough. Of that, he was sure. Nikolai and the other bosses wanted last night’s secret to stay buried. Only a complete idiot with a death wish would say anything. He just had to get Shay through the tension of the next week, and everything would be all right.

But he did have enemies. He would never fully escape the underworld or the awful shit he’d done in that past life. Some grudges never faded. Now that he finally had someone that he loved in his life, she would be a target. He needed to know that she was safe.

As he drove home, he considered calling Dimitri. His security company had survived its bumpy start and was now among the most highly regarded in Texas, but hiring a team from Dimitri might be overkill. He could just imagine the look on Shay’s face if he hired a pair like the two that Yuri had following his beloved Lena everywhere.

Shay seemed willing to let him coddle her to an extent, but he had no doubt she would push back if tried to attach retired SAS or SEALs to her. She didn’t need hardcore security guards with special ops backgrounds. She needed one or two men he trusted to keep her safe, to drive and escort her around town.

Alone in his house, he changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt and slipped into a comfortable pair of boots. Standing in his master bathroom, he eyed the empty second closet that was part of the suite. He walked over to it and opened the door. It had been designed for a woman with plenty of rack space, built-in shelving for shoes and even a marble topped island for storing lingerie.