HIGHLANDER: The Highlander’s Surrender Bride (Scottish Alpha Male Pregnancy Romance) (4 page)

Chapter 1

“Come on, Alexei, one more job, and then you can leave clean.” The man on the other end of the line said in a heavy Russian accent, making Alexei shake his head in consternation.

              “That’s what you said last time, Sergio. And the time before that. I told you, I’m out.” His own deep voice carried an equally thick accent, although his was slightly more rural. He preferred not to think of his lowly past. Nothing more than another mouth to feed in a family of thirteen, left to fend for himself as his drunk of a father spent most of his time buried in a bottle, and his mother had to turn to less than savory means to support them all.

              The first time he had heard the word
Bratva,
or the brotherhood as the Russian mafia like to call themselves, Alexei was only seven years old. His mother had gotten in deep, too deep, taking clients in an area controlled by the
Bratva,
and they weren’t about to let some country prostitute eat into their business.

              They had stormed into their house, killing his father and two of his brothers before his mother could make the deal. Alexei for her life. As the youngest, he would be the easiest to train, to turn into whatever they wanted. They had taken the deal, and Alexei had never seen his family again.

              He pushed the memories away, shoving them deep into the black corners of his mind that he refused to look at. Despite his rough childhood, it had made him the man he was today, and had also given him the means to amass a vast fortune. He had climbed quickly up the ladder in the mafia, mostly due to to his extreme cleverness, innate understanding of business, and pure luck.

              He couldn’t even count the number of times he had been at the right place at the right time, told the right lie, or met the right person, all because of his luck. Just thinking about it had him superstitiously digging the little metal medallion depicting Saint Christopher from beneath his expensive black button down shirt and kissing the back before tucking it safely away.

              The first two million he had made had been the result of a series of desperate gambles that ended up paying off. He had just turned eighteen. Now, a decade later, Alexei had turned those millions into billions. He always took the greatest risk, because those were the ones that paid big. If you play small, you win small, he thought to himself as he toyed with the small glass paperweight on his massive black oak desk.

              Sergio’s rough laughter cut off his rambling thoughts. “You never really get out, Alexei. I know that, you know that. The only difference is that I accept it.”

              “I’ve given the
Bratva
more than my fair share. How many people have brought in more cash than me, eh?”

              “It’s not about the money, Alexei–.”

              Alexei snorted in derision and disbelief, and Sergio hastily corrected what he was saying.

              “Okay, well, it’s not
just
about the money. It’s about your…abilities.”

              Alexei couldn’t help but roll his dark blue eyes, even though he knew the other man couldn’t see it. They were a superstitious bunch. And they believed in Alexei’s luck as much as he did. The only problem was, he had gone straight. It had taken almost twenty painful years to dislodge the Mafia’s vicious claws and he really didn’t want to be back under their thumb. It was a very dangerous place to be.

              “Will you at least listen to what the job is before you say no?”

              Alexei sighed, knowing he had no real choice in the matter. It seemed like every time he thought he was finally free, they found a way to reel him back in.

              “Fine, go ahead…” He sighed.

              “Okay, so it goes like this. There’s a politician, who owes some money…”

              Alexei listened with half an ear as Sergio explained the situation, making noises whenever it was appropriate as he picked up the paperweight again, staring sadly at the picture of the woman that was trapped forever inside it. There was only one thing that his luck seemed to always fail him. Love.

              Chloe strode purposely down the cracked sidewalk, her freshly minted security pass gripped tightly in one hand. Her black high heels clicked aggressively as she glanced at her watch, and practically began jogging up the hill.  She could see the capitol building now, but she was still a good ten minutes away, and fifteen minutes late for her meeting with senator Shields.

              “Watch out!”

              Chloe grunted as she hit something solid, very solid. And warm. And so deliciously masculine it took her a moment to realize that she had an entire cup of coffee dripping down the front of her cream colored pea coat.

              “Damn it!” She swiped the handful of napkins out of the man’s hand, uselessly dabbing at the dark liquid already staining her jacket.

              “I am so sorry.” He said in a Russian accent so heavy it took her a minute to process his words.

              “No, please, it was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention, and I am so late,” Chloe looked back down at her coat, “and so screwed.” What was she going to do now?

              “Here, take this.” He immediately shrugged out of his thick wool coat, a deep black that made his dark blue eyes look like the ocean. Not that Chloe had ever seen the ocean in person, having grown up in Washington D.C. her whole life, but what she imagined it would be like. Mysterious, fathomless, and ever shifting.

              Before she even realized what he was doing, he had helped her out of her still dripping coat and had her wrapped in his clean, warm one. She took a deep breath, inhaling the dark, masculine smell of him. Chloe took a step back, for the first time really looking at the tall stranger she had plowed into.

              His sharply chiseled features jutted from his face like a mountain hewn by hard winds and bitter cold. It was a strong face, full of character and charm, and sexy as hell, she added to herself. Her own big amber eyes swept over his jet black hair, long, but slicked back, looking like he had run his long fingers through it more than a few times. His lips were full, and quirked into a lopsided smile as he watched her watching him. His dark, ocean blue eyes filled with humor, and some hidden heat that sent an answering flame shooting through her body.

December was a cold month in D.C. but Chloe suddenly felt overly warm, and had to resist the urge to fan her face with a hand, feeling her normally dark brown skinned cheek flush a pretty scarlet. The look in his eyes deepened to something else. Hunger.

Their gazes met for less than a second but the moment seemed to drag out, time slowing immeasurably as she felt trapped, unable to look away.

              “
kogda zvezdy vyravnivayut…
” he murmured, his deep voice soft, and slightly husky in the midmorning air.

              “What?” His whispered words pulled her out of her trance, and she took another step back, overwhelmed by her intense reaction to a complete stranger.

              “Oh, it’s just something I say sometimes, when I’m feeling lucky.”

              “Yeah, and what is that?”

              He took a deep breath, and then released it on a huff of cold air before slowly answering, staring into her eyes.

              “It means ‘when the stars align’…”

Chapter 2

Chloe took a rattled breath, looked down at her watch and shrieked. “Oh my god! I am so, so screwed!” She started running back toward the capital building, the man left standing, staring at her with dark blue eyes already forgotten as she rushed to now twenty minute late meeting with the senator.

“Hey, wait!” the accented voice called after her, but she just kept running, trying to still her racing heart. She finally made it, flashing the security badge she had clenched in her hand, and hurried inside the building.

Alexei stopped, panting, just as the dark angel disappeared into the security only area of the capitol building. Her image was seared in his mind, his body twisting painfully with arousal at the stark image of her staring up at him with big, almond shaped amber eyes, high, regal cheekbones, and that sinful mouth. That mouth was made for doing things that had his entire body tensing again.

He shook his head, trying to banish the distracting image. Quickly, he walked up to the security desk.

“Hello, I was wondering where that woman was going? About this tall,” he held his hand up to the middle of his well-muscled chest. “Long dark hair, beautiful eyes.”

The security guard chuckled, then shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t tell you that.”

“On, no, it’s not what you think!” he protested, holding up the cream colored, coffee stained coat still clasped in his hand. “She dropped her coat, I just wanted to return it.”

“Well, if you want to leave it here, I can return it to Ms. Smithson when she comes out.”

“No, that’s alright,” Alexei said with a charming smile that never failed to get him what he wanted. “I think I’ll just wait and return it myself.”

The guard just shook his head again ruefully before waving him back away from the secure area. Alexei took the coat and wandered over to a fountain that had long since been shut off during the winter months, and sat on the edge of its empty pool to wait.

              “Thank you so much, Senator Shields, that interview was…quite informative.” Chloe put away her notes and the tape recorder, her mind already whirring with ideas for the article. She stood, and took his offered hand in an overly firm handshake. “And again, I apologize for my tardiness.”

              “Please, Chloe,” He had insisted on calling her Chloe half way through the interview, talking to her as if she were a star struck teenage girl instead of the multi-award winning political journalist that she was. “Think nothing more of it. I look forward to reading your article.”

              Chloe just smiled as she grabbed the oversized wool jacket, and walked out of the room. Unfortunately, she didn’t think Senator Shields would be as pleased as he might hope after ready her scathing report of his poor foreign policies and the many bills he had try to put through to raise taxes on the lower class, as well as raise wages for himself. He was one of the highest paid senators, and yet, passed less than a quarter of the bills as many of his fellow senators.  It just didn’t add up, and if Chloe was good at anything, it was hunting out the truth, no matter where it led her.

              And it had led her into some pretty messy situations in the past. But you couldn’t be a good investigative journalist without taking a few risks, at least that’s what her mentor had always told her. And Chloe had found it to be true over the past few years of working for herself.

              She walked out of the building, memories from her past rising and falling in her mind, and didn’t even notice when the large blond haired, blue eyed man stood up from his seat at the turned off fountain, and began following her.

              But after a moment, she felt a prickle between her shoulder blades, her gut instinct telling her that something was about to happen, something big. Chloe had learned to always listen to that instinct. It had broken some of the biggest stories in her career. The feeling intensified, sending shivers over her entire body, and she stopped, right there in the middle of the sidewalk. She cast her amber colored gaze around, and it collided with dark blue.

              She paused, irritation and desire warring as he threw her that lopsided half smile that had made her toes curl in her high heels earlier that morning. Chloe tilted her head to one side, examining him as he neared. Damn, the man was sexy, she would give him that.

              “Are you following me?” She demanded, a touch of humor coating her voice like honey.

              He chuckled as he stopped just a foot away from her, standing closer than he should have, and she hated that her breath grew weak.

              “No, I’m not following you.” He stated, his accent rolling towards her in the chill, winter D.C. air. He held up her coat, which she hadn’t even realized he had still been holding when she had bolted for her meeting. A light blush suffused her dark cheeks.

              “Oh.”

              “Oh? That’s it?” He chuckled again, and her body tightened in desire at the husky sound. This man was downright dangerous. “No, ‘you stole my coat’?”

              “Well, you did steal my coat,” she threw him a mysterious smile. “But I stole yours, so I figured we were even.” Hesitantly, she shrugged out of the coat, instantly missing its warmth, and the musky, masculine scent that emanated from it. She took back her own, trying to ignore the shock wave that flew through her system at the accidental brush of their fingers. She noticed the hungry gleam in his ocean blue eyes. Maybe not so accidental.

              “Meet me tonight.”

              Chloe shook her head automatically. “I don’t think so.”

              “Come on, go out with me.”

              “Thank you for returning my jacket.” She said as she took a few much needed steps backwards, away from his magnetic charisma. It would be so easy to say yes to him, she thought.
Which is precisely why I’m saying no
. The thought churned through her head, but she regretted it even as she turned to walk to where her car was parked several blocks away.

She was sure she could feel his blue eyed gaze staring at her the entire walk.