Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (77 page)

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Max

Since
I'd gotten no answer at Papa's house, I had the driver take me to Ursus,
thinking that he was probably there hanging out with his
bratán
, despite the fact that the doctor had told him to stay home
and rest. When we pulled up in front of the bar, I noticed that there were men
stationed outside.

"What's going on?" I asked the one closest to the door.

"Vladimir is here," he said and then tipped his head,
indicating that I should go inside and see him. All eyes were on me as I
entered the bar and looked toward the back room. The crowd of men parted as I
slowly walked toward where my father sat with his closest advisors. They were
all protected by his men, and the one in charge patted me down whispering,
"Sorry, Maksim, I have to." I nodded to indicate that I didn't take
it personally as one of the other men held open the door to the back room and
motioned for me to enter.

"Maksim," my father said as I walked through the door. "I
am glad you're here."

"Papa-" I began.

"Enough, I know what's going on," he said holding up a hand
indicating that I should listen rather than talk. "Maksim, I know what
that
sookin syn
Dementyev wants and I
know what needs to be done. I am prepared to go with you and trade myself for
this Miss Wallace. I can't guarantee that she will be safe, but I will do
everything in my power to ensure that she makes it out alive."

"Papa, why is he doing this? What is going on?" I asked as I
searched my father's face for an answer.

"It is an old grudge, Maksimka," my father said. "One that
began many, many years ago and one that Dementyev has never been able to put to
rest. Now, he seeks revenge for a slight that he thinks is my fault, but really
is not."

"What does he think you did to him, Papa?" I moved around the table
and sat down in the chair next to him. "What on earth could have possibly
caused him to decide that hurting Lexi would make things even?"

"Maksim, there are many things in this world that happen in the
course of a lifetime," he sighed. "Things that you don't know will
have any kind of consequence until years later. And, things that are so small
that you don't even notice that you're doing them, but those small things
become big things for someone else and years of nurturing the resentment and
hurt create a home for the wound to fester and become filled with the pus of
rage and anger. Dementyev is trying to lance the boil of his anger, and I am
his target. Miss Wallace was an unfortunate bystander in his plan."

"This is insane, Papa. What on earth could you have done to cause
this level of anger?" I pressed as I reached out and rested my hand on his
arm. Papa turned and looked at me. He raised his hand and I flinched, thinking
he was going to slap me for being too nosy; instead, he laid his hand on my cheek
and smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, Maksimka," he said quietly. "I was never a
very good father. I left the job of raising you and Kristov to your mother and
she did an astounding job of it, considering that she mostly did it alone. I'm
sorry I've been a terrible father. I did the best I could, but I recognize now
that it was never enough."

"Papa, what are you talking about?" I could feel the fear
welling up inside me. After my conversation with Babi, I knew that Papa knew
something that he wasn't sharing with me and what he was doing felt
suspiciously like saying goodbye. "What is going on?"

"We need to trade with Dementyev, Maksim," he said plainly.
Papa looked up at Feliks, who nodded and quickly left the room. I was confused.

"You're not going to meet with that madman, are you?" I asked.

"Yes, I am," he said as he pushed himself up out of the chair
and stood towering over me. "A real man takes responsibility for his
mistakes and doesn't let the innocent suffer in his place, Maksimka. I am going
to go meet with the man and get him to release Miss Wallace."

"But, Papa, if you go meet with him he's going to kill you," I
protested. "He has no intention of negotiating or hearing your apology, he
simply wants revenge for whatever it was that you did to him years ago. He will
kill you."

"He might," he shrugged. "Then again, he might listen to
me. I won't know until I try, and I can't leave Miss Wallace there to suffer
the consequences of my actions, you know?"

"Let me go with you, then," I insisted. "I can help negotiate
the meeting and make sure that he doesn't intend to cause you any harm."

Papa burst into laughter as I spoke. He looked at Feliks, who had
returned, and said, "Do you hear him? My son says he will protect me from
that maniac Dementyev! I have a good son, Feliks!" Feliks nodded and
smiled at me as he signaled to Papa that it was time to leave.

Papa nodded and followed him out to the car where he waved me off saying,
"I take care of my own business, Maksim. I don't send my son to take care
of what is mine and only mine. But bless you for trying." With that, Papa
slammed the door shut and waved goodbye.

#

I
ran to my car and hopped in back, telling my driver to
follow Papa's vehicle from a distance, and we drove through the darkened
streets of Wicker Park. It wasn't long before we pulled up near a run-down
warehouse in a seedy section of the city. There were weeds growing several feet
high around the place and with all of the trash piled up around the edges of
the building, it looked like no one had entered it for a long time.

We parked a discreet distance away and I watched as Papa got out and
crossed the parking lot to a door in back. He knocked and stood there for a
minute before the door swung open and a hand reached out and grabbed him,
roughly pulling him inside. I quickly opened my door and made a move to get out
and run across the parking lot, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"Don't do it, Maksim," Feliks said, shaking his head.
"Vladimir needs to take care of this himself and if you go blazing in
there, it will humiliate him in the eyes of the
vory v zakone
and his
bratán.
Let him try to talk some sense into that maniac, Dementyev."

"But you can't let him go in there alone!" I shouted.

"We didn't," Feliks grinned as he patted me on the shoulder.
"Your father has been sending moles into Dementyev's organization for
years, and most of the men on the inside right now are part of your father's
organization, not Dementyev's. We're crazy, but we're not stupid,
Maksimka."

"You are all insane," I exhaled. "But what about Lexi?
What about her safety? How is she supposed to know who is good and who is bad?
And where is she, anyway? I need to find her!"

"We have no idea where she is," he admitted. "Vladimir is
going in to see what he can find out about the situation. Hopefully, he can
convince Dementyev to release Miss Wallace without having to play his hand, but
if he has to, it could get ugly. Your father can’t get what we need, then Miss
Wallace may be collatoral damage."

"Collatoral damage? Collatoral damage? You guys are assholes! She’s
not collatoral damage! We need to figure out where they're keeping her!" I
yelled as I stormed off. Feliks didn’t try to stop me.

“It’s the price of business, Maksimka!” he called after me.

The building was enormous and there was no way to figure out where they
might be keeping her without inside information. I ran a hand through my hair
as I cursed under my breath and when I looked up, I saw something moving in the
weeds on the far side of the building. It stopped and then started again.
Thinking it might be a stray animal that had found a way into the building, I
wondered if I followed it whether I could find a way in so that I could search
for Lexi. Keeping my eye on the moving weeds, I ran around the back of the
building and waited to see where the stray would go next.

"C'mon, c'mon, show me a way in," I said in a low voice. At
that moment, a small animal came bursting out of the weeds headed straight for
me. It looked like a rabid rat, and I backed up prepared to stomp on it if it
got too close, but then I heard a familiar chirp. I shook my head, thinking I
was imagining things, and I heard it again. There was a small but distinct
chirp coming from the rat that was rushing toward me. "Anna?" I called
wondering if I was officially crazy. "Is that you, little girl?"

She flung herself at my leg and head butted my foot as she purred
furiously. I bent down and scooped up the dirty, wet kitten and held her up to
the light. "What are you doing here, little one?" I asked as she
reached out and patted my face. "Lexi's here, isn't she?"

Anna chirped and patted me a few more times before I decided to put her
down and see where she'd go. She quickly turned and led me to a wall that had a
row of windows at chin height for me. I peered into the first one. It was dark
and empty, as were the next three, but when I looked into the fourth one, I
knew I'd hit pay dirt. Lexi!

"Lexi! Lexi!" I whispered loudly, afraid that if I shouted, I'd
attract the attention of the guards on the inside. I was aware that there might
be patrols placed on the outside of the building, but I since I hadn't seen any
while observing, I assumed that the forces were gathered inside with my father.
"Lexi!"

"Max?" I heard a voice call out. "Is that you? Max? Or am
I hallucinating?"

"It's me, Lexi! I'm here to get you out! I'm coming!" I assured
her as I looked around for something I could use to break the window frame
with. I dug through the weeds, coming up with a host of useless items before
realizing that there was probably a tire iron in the trunk of my car. I raced
back and popped the trunk, grabbed the tire iron, and called to Feliks, "I
found Lexi, I'm going to get her out of there!"

"Max, wait! No!" he yelled as I took off running back to the
window.

I made quick work of the window frame and soon smashed the glass that
kept Lexi trapped inside the room. I reached my hand inside and whispered,
"Grab my hand, I'll pull you out!"

Just as I felt her fingers closing around mine, a voice from behind me said,
"Oh no, no, Malinchencko. That's not how this works," as a pair of
hands grabbed my arms and wrenched them around behind me. I heard Lexi let out
a terrified scream just before the world went dark.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Lexi

As
I lay on the
floor trying to fight back the tears, I thought I heard Max's voice. I shook my
head as I reminded myself that no one had any idea where I was and that there
was no way he could have found me. I was imagining things that were never going
to happen, and I should simply prepare myself for the moment the crazy blond
man came back and slit my throat just to watch me bleed to death. This set off
a new wave of tears and I choked back sobs as I tried not to picture my own
death.

"Lexi! Lexi!" I lifted my head and listened carefully.
"Lexi!"

"Max?" I called back. "Is that you? Max? Or am I
hallucinating?" I was afraid to dare to hope that Max had come to rescue
me, but I also knew that it was what I wanted more than anything. Max called
back that he was going to find a way to break the window and get me out before
he disappeared again. I wasn't sure if I could trust what I thought I'd heard,
so I dropped my head and tried to call up all of the happiest moments with Max.
Doing this brought images of Anna to mind and again, I began sobbing as I
recalled how callous and cruel the man who'd shot her had been.

A few minutes later, I heard Max outside the window pounding on the frame
with something metal, and after a few minutes, the window broke and air came
streaming in. I looked up expecting to see Max peeking over the edge of the
windowsill and instead, I saw a pair of beady eyes and a lecherous grin looking
down at me. I recoiled in horror and pressed myself against tightly against the
wall.

"Your boyfriend is out cold, little girl," he cackled.
"Did you think he was going to rescue his damsel in distress? He's an
idiot who deserves to die."

"No!" I cried as I reached out toward window.

"Aw, sit down and shut up,
suka
,"
he spat. "No one wants to hear your pitiful wailing."

He disappeared, and I could hear sounds of a body being dragged across
the hard ground getting further and further from the window. "Oh,
Max," I whispered. "Please be okay." I dropped my head into my
hands and began crying silently. All hope was lost. Now, we were both going to
die at the hands of a mad man. Suddenly, I heard a small familiar sound. It
seemed so out of place here in this dark cold dungeon that I assumed it was my
imagination, but the second time I heard it, I looked up to find Anna perched
on the edge of the window, looking down at me and chirping. Her fur was wet and
incredibly filthy, but she was alive.

"Anna!" I cried quietly. "You're alive!" She chirped
and head butted the cement bricks as if to encourage me to join her on the
ledge. "I can't get up that far by myself, little one," I said
shaking my head. She chirped more urgently as she paced the ledge so I stood up
and reached up to pet her. She head butted my hand and began purring, and I
began crying again. "I'm never getting out of here, Anna. You need to go
somewhere safe and hide. Find a nice family to take care of you. I love you,
little girl."

Anna shot me a look as she turned and hopped off of the ledge and
disappeared from view. I felt my spirit drop as I watched the window, waiting
for her to return. After a few minutes, I gave into the fact that she'd done
what I'd asked and had disappeared to go hide somewhere safe. I tried not to
feel sorry for myself, but I did. I wanted my life back! I wanted Anna and Max
and our happy life at the store and in the penthouse. I didn't want to die on a
dirty mattress in a cold, dark room.

"Anna? Max?" I called softly. "Come back! Don't leave
me!"

The silence was deafening.