Chapter 13 - Maksim
Waking up with a beautiful woman in my arms should be the highlight of any man’s week, but the stiffness in Alyssa’s body tells me this morning isn’t going according to plan.
She lies perfectly still against my chest, but her breathing tells me she’s wide awake.
Every muscle in her frame screams “red alert,” like she’s bracing herself for impact.
I press a gentle kiss to her hair and breathe in the scent that’s become as necessary to me as oxygen before things get messy.
“Good morning, kitten,” I mumble against her temple.
She pulls away from me so quickly that I barely have time to register the loss of body heat before she’s sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to me. Alyssa has the sheet clutched around her body like armor, and when she finally turns to face me, regret colors every feature.
“This was a mistake,” she announces without preamble.
The words punch through my chest so hard I have to draw in a breath before I answer, “Excuse me?”
“Last night. What we did.” She gestures between us while refusing to meet my eyes. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. The adrenaline, the fear, being shot at… It messed with my judgment.”
“Your judgment seemed pretty clear when you were moaning my name.”
Pink paints her cheeks, but she doesn’t back down. “Sex doesn’t solve our problems, Maksim. It just creates new ones.”
I sit up and let the sheet pool around my waist as I look at her. The woman who came apart in my arms last night has disappeared, and in her place is someone who looks like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world.
“What problems would those be?”
“You’re still a criminal. I’m still someone who can’t handle being involved in your world. Nothing about our fundamental incompatibility has changed just because we had good sex.”
“Good sex?” I can’t keep the incredulity out of my voice. “That’s what you’re calling it?”
“Fine. Great sex. Amazing sex. The best sex of my life.” Each admission sounds like it physically pains her before she adds, “But that doesn’t change anything else.”
“It changes everything else.”
She stands up, wrapping the sheet more securely around herself as she moves toward her scattered clothes. “No, it doesn’t. It just makes leaving harder.”
“Then don’t leave.”
“I have to.” She bends to retrieve her bra, and the movement makes the sheet gap in ways that test my willpower. “We both know this can’t work.”
“We don’t know anything of the sort.”
“You torture people for information, Maksim. I can’t pretend that away just because you’re good in bed.”
“So that’s it? You’re going to run again?”
“I’m going to face reality. Something one of us should probably do.”
I climb out of bed, not bothering with modesty as I march toward her. She takes an automatic step back, but there’s nowhere for her to go in the confined space.
“The reality is that someone tried to kill you last night, and you’re safer with me than anywhere else. Whatever this thing is between us isn’t going away just because you decide to ignore it.”
“You’re dangerous,” she hisses out, “and I’ve already made too many bad choices when it comes to dangerous men. The only difference is that you’re better at making me forget why I should run.”
“Maybe because deep down you know you don’t need to run from me.”
“Or maybe because I have terrible survival instincts when it comes to men who could destroy me.”
The defeat in her voice makes me want to punch something, preferably Troy’s face. Instead, I reach for my own clothes and yank them on.
“Get dressed,” I tell her. “I’ll take you back to Ravenshollow. We’re safer there, and you can have some space to think this through before you make a final decision.”
She heaves out a breath and says, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We’re not finished discussing this.”
The ride back to my estate takes place in suffocating silence. Alyssa stares out the passenger window while I grip the steering wheel hard enough to leave impressions. Every mile that passes feels like she’s pulling further away from me, rebuilding the walls I thought we tore down last night.
By the time we reach the front gates, I’m ready to have it out with her properly. No more dancing around the issue; no more letting her retreat every time we get close to something real. But when I pull into the circular drive, five familiar cars are parked in front of my house like an invasion.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
“What’s wrong?” Alyssa asks as she follows my line of sight to the vehicles.
“My brothers are here. All of them, by the looks of it.”
“Oh.” She worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “Should I… Should I wait in the car?”
“No. They’ve been asking to meet you. Might as well get it over with.”
We walk through the front door to find my entire family gathered in the main living room like they’re holding court. Aleksei sits in the leather armchair that used to be our father’s, and Grigor and Dmitri occupy the sofa, while Akim and Nikolai lean against the mantelpiece.
Aleksei rises when he sees us, and his dark eyes take in every detail of Alyssa’s appearance. “We were beginning to worry.”
“Worry about what?”
“You disappeared from a crime scene without backup. Akim filled us in on the basics.” His eyes slide back to Alyssa. “You must be the woman who’s caused such a stir in our brother’s life.”
The way he addresses her makes me wince. Aleksei’s idea of charm could freeze vodka.
“This is Alyssa,” I offer when she doesn’t respond. “Alyssa, these are my brothers. Aleksei, Grigor, Dmitri, Akim, and Nikolai.”
She manages a small wave that doesn’t fool anyone. “Nice to meet you all.”
“The pleasure is ours,” Grigor responds with a bit more friendliness in his voice than our eldest brother. “We’ve heard quite a bit about you.”
She glances at me with raised eyebrows. “All good things, I hope.”
“Mostly,” Akim interjects with a flirtatious grin that makes me want to throttle him. “Though Maksim’s been pretty tight-lipped about the details.”
“There’s nothing to be tight-lipped about,” Alyssa replies with a shrug. “We barely know each other.”
The statement feels like a slap across the face, especially after what we shared last night. From the way my brothers all turn to look at me, they caught the subtle dismissal, too.
“Well,” Dmitri breaks the awkward silence, “any friend of Maksim’s is welcome in our family.”
“That’s very kind, but I should probably…” Alyssa glances toward the staircase with obvious longing. “I have some things to take care of upstairs. If you’ll excuse me.”
She disappears before anyone can protest, leaving me alone with five sets of knowing eyes.
“Charming girl,” Nikolai comments once her footsteps fade. “Bit skittish, though.”
“She’s been through a lot,” I defend without a second thought.
“So we gathered.” Aleksei settles back into his chair. “Care to elaborate on what exactly happened last night? Akim’s report was somewhat lacking in details.”
I look around the room at my brothers, all of whom wear variations of the same expectant look.
These are the men I’d die for, the ones who’ve always had my back, no matter what stupid situation I’ve gotten myself into.
But right now, I’d trade them all for five more minutes to work things out with Alyssa.
“Someone leaked our location to the Serpents. They hit the bus terminal with a coordinated attack, six shooters minimum. Professional operation, well-planned.”
“How did they know where to find you?” Grigor asks.
“Good question. Either they’ve been watching the house more closely than we realized, or they have inside information.” I pace to the window, where I check the grounds out of habit. “The timing was too perfect to be a coincidence.”
“What about the woman?” Aleksei’s tone remains neutral, but I catch the underlying concern. “How did she handle herself?”
“Better than expected. No panic, followed orders, kept her head down when it mattered.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I turn back to face him, meeting his stare. “What did you mean?”
“I meant, how is she handling being dragged into our world? Because from what I just witnessed, she doesn’t seem particularly comfortable with the situation.”
“She’s adjusting.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” Akim snorts. “She looked like she wanted to run screaming from the room.”
“Can you blame her?” I snap. “You all show up here unannounced, interrogating her like she’s a suspect instead of a guest.”
“We weren’t interrogating anyone,” Dmitri protests. “We were being polite.”
“Your version of polite would terrify a nun.”
“When do we get to actually spend some time with her?” Nikolai questions. “The women are dying of curiosity.”
“You don’t.”
“Come on, Maksim,” Grigor interjects. “We can’t protect her if we don’t know what we’re dealing with. And based on last night’s attack, protection is going to be an ongoing concern.”
“I can handle her protection.”
“Like you handled it last night?” Aleksei’s question carries just enough edge to make my blood turn hot. “Because from where I’m sitting, you both nearly died.”
“We didn’t die. That’s what matters.”
“What matters is that the Serpents are escalating, and it has something to do with her. This stops being a personal matter the moment they target our family.”
“She’s not family,” I point out
“Isn’t she close enough?” Aleksei asks. “She’s sharing your home.”
“It’s more complicated than that,” I admit.
“It usually is,” Grigor observes. “But complications don’t make feelings less real.”
I scoff and ask, “What feelings? I barely know her.”
“Right,” Akim drawls. “That’s why you’ve been walking around like a lovesick teenager. That’s why you risked your neck to chase her down at a bus terminal. That’s why you’re ready to fight all of us just for asking questions about her.”
“I’m not ready to fight anyone,” I retort with a squeak in my voice.
“Could have fooled me.”