Hitman's Captive: A Bad Boy Romance (9 page)

“I only keep my clothes
here, so you’re just going to have to find something that works. None of the
pants will fit, but maybe one of those will cover you up anyway.” I nodded
towards the over-sized shirts on the bed, and was met by an immediate frown.

“You really expect—”

“We don’t have time for
this, Alessa. So either pick something out, or I’ll drag you out of the house
in that towel.” I cut her off, my impatience reaching its limits and any
earlier humor leaving my voice. I simply couldn’t have her questioning and
resisting every little thing.

The horror that glazed
over her expression at my words told me that my threat had been taken
seriously, and I tried to ignore the thrum of guilt as she turned back to the
clothes awkwardly, cheeks red.

I wouldn’t have done it,
of course. Even if I could have put her through it, hauling an almost-naked
girl across the city was
not
the way to lay low. But she didn’t know
that, and having her believe me capable of everything I threatened was the only
way I was going to maintain control over this situation - my self-sabotaging
feelings be damned.

Instead of watching her
change, I walked into the bathroom and looked through the cabinet there for a
couple of painkillers. Swallowing them down with a few sips of water, I caught
a glimpse of my expression in the mirror and winced at the dark shadows under
bloodshot eyes. Hopefully the pills would be enough to take care of the
headache - fuck knew, I needed to focus today. And maybe I’d get some sleep
soon. If Jay could help me out.

Straightening, I buried
my concerns and smoothed my face back to its usual uncaring confidence, walking
back out to collect Alessa before we headed to the car.

I stopped as I saw her
standing there, looking at herself in the full-length mirror attached to one of
the walls. Her arms were crossed in front of her and the expression on her face
was wrinkled with a faint disgust as she glanced down at the over-long striped
shirt of mine that flowed to mid-thigh, where her shapely legs were thinly
veiled by the black tights she’d been wearing last night. Below that were the
killer silver heels she’d somehow managed to keep pace with me in, and - I
guessed - the only shoes here that would fit her.

The effect on me was
immediate, if not quite what I’d expected. I was getting used to the rushes of
desire that filled me every time I saw her soft figure, but it was seeing her
in my shirt that twisted something inside me. I realized for the first time
that I’d never had a woman stay longer than a night. It was what I’d wanted -
hell, I’d been the one pushing them out of the door - but it meant that I’d
never seen a face like hers as it slept, never discussed common, everyday
activities the next morning. And I’d never seen a woman in my clothing before.

A wave of possession shot
through me at the sight - the primal knowledge that she was wrapped in my scent
tantalizing me with a wave of pleasure. It was almost as if it was me wrapped
around her shoulders, stood against her back…with effort, I tried to shake off
the sudden desire to take her
.
I was almost overwhelmed by the need to
make her
mine.

Then she noticed me in
the doorway and turned with an irritated glance. “I look like a cheap hooker.”

That broke the spell and
I shook my head slightly, trying to clear the absurd thoughts I’d almost run
away with. Running my eyes down her body again, I admitted that as good as she
looked in my shirt, I could see what she meant. A smile tugged at the corner of
my lips, and I seized onto the familiar amusement as another way to stop myself
from thinking about anything else.

Casual and provocative, I
could do. Hell, even aroused and arrogant. Anything except…whatever the hell
that had just been.

I gave her a cocky smile
as I came to stand before her, watching as the heat in my expression had her
face shifting, uncertainty replacing the disgust of a moment ago, her lips
parting slightly. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she wanted me.

I reached out to tuck a
stray strand of thick black hair behind her ear, giving her a casual shrug as
my eyes glinted with my own twisted humor. “No one could mistake you for cheap,
princess.”

Her cheeks flushed in an
immediate reaction and one hand flashed toward my face. I caught the slap
before it landed, holding her wrist in the air as I felt my eyes turn
dangerous. I might have deserved it, but that didn’t mean I could let my
captive start thinking she could hit me.

The utter mortification
that crossed her face made it obvious that she’d done it without thought - and
regretted it immediately.

Good.

I held her wide-eyed
gaze, feeling the pulse at her wrist beating rapidly as she waited for my
reaction. The air felt tense and dangerous between us, and I knew it was all coming
from me - there was only one way my body responded to a threat. But with her,
that tangible threat in the air was all that was needed, and I let a few long
moments pass like that. When it became obvious I wasn’t going to say anything
else, she took a breath and jerked at the wrist I was holding.

I let her go without a
word and she backed away from me, rubbing her wrist subconsciously and glaring
at me. For some reason, that eased some of the tension that had built. I’d
needed to make it clear that I wouldn’t tolerate that behavior, but I would
have hated it if I’d cowed her completely.

Distancing myself from
that unsettling thought, I gestured Alessa towards the door and tried to focus on
my meeting with Jay. I needed to stop provoking her and concentrate on
business.

Maybe that cocky response
was instinctive when facing a sexy woman with so much passion - but it wasn’t
worth risking my life over. And that’s what this would come down to if I didn’t
get my head on straight.

She’s nothing. A hostage.
Irritating. Inconvenient. Focus, and you’ll be free of her soon.

Chapter Seven

Leo

Alessa stayed silent as
we made our way through the city, staring out of the window and giving me a
chance to think ahead to what I was going to tell Jay.

A glance at the dashboard
told me that - surprisingly - I wasn’t going to be late. That was a plus - Jay
was a stickler for timekeeping and I needed him on my side. On the other hand, I
was taking Alessa to him, which I was pretty sure would override any of the
benefits simple punctuality provided - especially considering her attitude and
my complete failure to even attempt to curb it.

It would be dangerous for
him to be linked to me in her eyes, and more importantly, linked to the
kidnapping of an Italian mafia boss’s daughter - and I had no doubt she’d be
happy to tell her father every little detail. I hated putting Jay in that
position, and if I wasn’t so sure his Russian
bratva
connections would
protect him from any form of Italian retaliation then I wouldn’t do it - even
if she’d proved that leaving her alone at the safehouse again would be a
terrible idea. Still - Russian connections or not - he was going to be pissed
about it.

We were over halfway
there, driving with the sun glinting at us through crowded buildings from its
position just above the horizon, when I heard Alessa’s stomach from the seat
next to me. That quickly reminded me of my own, and brought me out of my
concentration long enough to realize I was hungry too. Another glance at the
dashboard told me we had enough time to pick up some breakfast and I tilted my
head at Alessa.

“There’s a Drive-Thru up
ahead - want to grab something to eat?”

She seemed to come out of
her own reverie, and responded with an amused glance, seeming to forget for the
moment it was
her kidnapper
she was talking to. “More junk food? My
father would kill me.”

I raised an eyebrow at
that - seemed like a strange thing for him to care about. Then again, I knew
very little about Antonio Santini. Instead of commenting, I just shrugged and
gave her my best rebellious grin. “Well, he’ll never have to know, princess.”

She laughed, and the
lightness in it stirred something inside me as she gave me a quick once-over. “
Ohh
no
, I plan on telling him all about it, Leo - and blaming you for every
last bit.”

I felt a smile tugging at
the corners of my lips and shook my head, turning the car into the fast-moving
queue of vehicles.

“Keeping record, are
you?” It didn’t surprise me, though I was impressed that she’d relaxed enough
to start joking about it.

“Of course. So far
force-feeding me junk food falls somewhere below the kidnapping, threatening to
kill me, handcuffing me, forcing me to share a room - hell, a bed - waking me
up at the crack of dawn, calling me a hooker…” Her brow puckered and she paused
for a moment, as if thinking, “You know what, maybe the junk food isn’t so bad
after all. He’ll probably be distracted by the time we get to that - should be
safe enough for you to get me something with eggs and bacon here.”

I smothered a laugh as
her request came just as we pulled up to the counter. I gave our order, shaking
my head at her and wondering at the hint of merriment in her eyes. She didn’t
even seem like she was considering shouting murder and kidnap out the window.

They processed it quickly
enough, and we only waited a few minutes to receive two double-egg and bacon
baps. I handed her one, and then gave her a mock-serious glance. “You know, I’m
not quite sure it’s fair to label this
force-feeding.
”

She took a bite, giving a
moan of enjoyment that had my pulse stuttering, then pretended to think about
it over the mouthful. She swallowed, and it was all I could do not to watch the
graceful arch of her neck.

She raised a finger to
her mouth, tapping gently and giving me an opportunity to refocus - on her
full, slightly glistening lips. “Mm, maybe not. You could always come with me
and defend your case?”

I snorted as I unwrapped
my own bun one-handed, keeping my eyes on the quickly growing traffic around
us. I wasn’t sure what had changed her mood, but if she could deal with
everything that had happened with this sort of lightness, the woman was
stronger than I’d thought. Or maybe she just needed a little relief from the
tension and stress, and joking about it made it less threatening. Either way, I
found myself smiling as I drove the last few miles and we finished our
breakfast without further comment.

It was only when we
turned in towards Brighton Beach that I realized Alessa’s comments had
distracted me from some of my anticipatory tension at seeing my old mentor
again, and my mood sobered as I glanced around. The
Bratva’s
influence
here was obvious, from the Russian signs on cafes and shops to the groups of
rough-looking Eastern European men hanging around. Jay wasn’t a member of any
of the New York City mafia groups - which was the only thing I was counting on
to stop him from turning me over immediately - but he was working closely
enough with the Russians these days that he kept an old house here.

Alessa glanced around an
uneasy caution, and I decided to seize on it to make this trip a little easier.
“You know where we are, Alessa?”

She looked back at me,
trying to cover the anxiety there with a sarcastic response. “I’ve lived in New
York City my whole life - I think I know Brighton Beach. Especially since—” She
cut herself off, clearly thinking better of whatever she was going to say.

“It’s the base of your
family’s rivals.” I finished for her, and she looked away, the discomfort there
obvious. I could tell how much she wanted to know what we were doing here - and
get some reassurance that I wasn’t intending to hand her over to her father’s
potential enemies. She might have been at the center of building an alliance
with them, but after the way that had gone, she probably knew as well as me
that the chances of her having friends around here was low.

I let her sit on it for a
few minutes, navigating the streets easily enough and turning us towards the
rougher parts before I continued. “So, we’re going to visit a friend of mine. I
reckon he’s okay, but the area he lives in…it’s not so nice. Most of the folks
‘round there probably don’t know how to treat a pretty girl right - and
counting on your daddy’s protection might not work so well around these parts,
either.”

Silence met my words for
a good minute, and I could feel Alessa’s cool gaze on my skin, even as I
refused to look over at her.

“So what you’re trying to
say is
don’t run off,
right?” Her sharp comment finally broke the
uncomfortable silence.

“Yeah, pretty much.” I
gave her a casual shrug.

“Fine. Message received.”
It was muttered and resentful, but I refused to feel apologetic for it. I had
enough to worry about, and if we could get through this without an escape
attempt, it was worth frightening her a little.

The last few minutes of
the journey passed in silence, and for once her irritation slid off me easily
as I focused on parking just opposite the old house and shutting off the car. I
gave her a pointed look before I got out, but just received a stony glare in
response.

“I said I got it. I’ll
stick with you.” She pushed open the door abruptly, making my body tense
instinctively, but she just stood waiting for me. With a quick breath to relax,
I let myself start believing her a little.

I hated situations like
this, where I wasn’t in full control. That was why I only did jobs alone, and
kept to myself. I could trust myself, and I’d never met anyone else worthy of
that. Even willing accomplices were unpredictable at best - and having a
hostage
seemed to make everything impossible.

Too many variables. Too
many things to consider, work out and mitigate - and all before they even
occurred to her to think of. My mind was hurting from only two journeys with
the girl - I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.

So as I slipped out, I
decided to take her at her word - here, at least. She had been honest-to-god
scared of the men we’d seen around here, and I could use that. It would give me
one less thing to worry about.

I gestured her over to
me, and we walked quickly towards the building on the opposite side of the
street. I opened the gate on the white picket fence that fronted it and led us
through into an overgrown front garden. Jay might spend most of his time here,
but he didn’t seem to care about his front yard any more than the other rough
bastards in this neighborhood.

Instead of walking up to
the front door, I strode through the tall grass towards the side of the
property, offering an arm to Alessa as she started to struggle with her heels.
She grimaced at it but accepted anyway, and I tried not to notice the way it
pressed her body up against mine as we walked over to the bulkhead door built
into the side of the house. As far as I knew, Jay did actually live in the old
house above, but since I’d only ever seen the basement of this place, I
couldn’t exactly be sure. He certainly confined his business dealings to the
large, underground space.

I knocked sharply on the
door and then opened it without waiting for a response, walking down the stairs
with Alessa following behind. I took in the large, open space at the bottom as
I moved through the different sections of it. The corner that formed a
makeshift office - complete with filings cabinets and cupboards - was almost
enough for it to appear an ordinary basement at first glance. But then that
disappeared the moment you glanced to the side and saw the weapons lining the
walls around a small training area. My fingers lingered on the punching bag as
I passed through, looking for Jay between the organized clutter of the large
space.

I’d only sparred here a
couple of times, but it was enough to remember the endless days of training in
my youth. Jay might not have always been kind, but he was effective - and
though the jobs I’d done for him for years were more than enough to return the
favor, I still held an appreciation for what he’d made me.

The other parts of the
basement held various items I could only guess the purpose of, reminding me
that Jay was a lot more than a simple killer for hire. It didn’t surprise me
that he’d always been able to have his pick of the mafia and mob groups around
- even I didn’t know the real extent of his skills.

“Jay!” I yelled when I
didn’t find him in the main room of the basement. He might let me in this far
without objection, but he wouldn’t be so generous with the few rooms that
branched off from this space.

There was noise from up
ahead, and then one of the doors past the
office
section swung open, Jay
grunting as he came out. He looked much the same as when I’d seen him a couple
of months earlier - brown hair lined with streaks of silver, an unkempt growth
of stubble across his chin and a face carved with strong lines. I didn’t think
that face had changed since I was a kid, and it narrowed in on me now.

“Leo. Want to tell me
what this is all about—” He stopped as he spotted Alessa, who was hanging back
behind me, then his eyes went wide as he turned to stare at me. “What the fuck
is Alessa Santini doing with you?
Fuck.
Don’t tell me you’re caught up
in—”

“Jay—”

“And why the fuck did you
bring her
here?!
” Fury swept over his face, and I took a deep breath.
Yep, that was about the reaction I’d expected for turning up like this.

He strode forward as I opened
my mouth to speak, taking my arm and interrupting me.

“No. Not here. Come with
me, and we’ll talk about this.” His tone made it obvious just how pleasant
that
would be, but at least he was still offering to talk.

I glanced back at Alessa
to see an amused smile she didn’t quite cover quickly enough, but she accepted
my pointed look without saying anything. I didn’t think she’d try and run off,
not after what we’d said earlier. And despite her fiery attitude, she seemed to
instinctively realize that there were things I wouldn’t let her get away with -
not when we were out and there was real risk involved.

Letting out a short
breath, I turned away from her and followed a tense Jay through a narrow
parting and into a secondary office, which he quickly shut the door on before
rounding on me.

“This
trouble
better
not be about Viktor Kovalski, Leo.” His grey-blue eyes narrowed at me, and I
ran a hand through my hair.

“I—”

“How could you be fucking
stupid enough to take a job on the premier crimelord of—”

“Fuck it, I didn’t
take
the job. I was set up, Jay. No way was I gonna take a job like that. I took
a job on some harmless financial guru—”

“If you were enough of an
idiot to fall for a set up, I see even less reason to help you now it’s all
come crashing down.”

I ground my teeth in
frustration. This was Jay to a tee.

You’re only worth
something if you’re good enough. Fast enough. Strong enough. You’ll just be a
two-bit street rat until you prove yourself - and keep proving yourself. Slip, and
you’ll be right back in the cold—