Chapter 11 #2
A car blasts its horn at us as he swerves into the exit lane, cutting off a blue sedan.
“Well. Good then.” I sink back into my seat.
I’m not sure where Alexander actually lives, but we’re just outside the city limits so we should be there soon.
“You’re going to be my wife.”
I nearly choke on air.
“Are you insane? I’m not marrying you! Why would you even think that’s an option?”
“You have Marco DeAngelo looking for you, thinking you turned on him to the cops. You have a detective hell bent on being the one who takes down the DeAngelo’s looking to use you to do it. You need protection.”
“I was protected! Hundreds of miles away! You dragged me back here where all of that is happening.”
He nods. “I know. That’s why I’m going to be the one to protect you.”
“Last I checked, you don’t have to be married to someone just to let them crash at your house for a few days.”
“I told you last night; you’re mine.” He lifts a shoulder as though it explains everything.
“Yeah, during sex. You said some really hot stuff during seriously hot sex. None of that applies during non-sexy time.”
“Non-sexy time?” A small smile tugs on his lips.
“You know what I mean.” We’re off the highway now, heading down a winding road. I glance at the houses we pass and realize we are not in the heart of the city.
We are in the part of town I don’t possess enough money to visit, much less live in. Long, well-manicured lawns stretch from the road, leading up to insanely enormous mansions. Stone castles basically, tucked neatly behind gated fences to keep people like me out.
“I know you and Kaz?—”
“Kaz? This has nothing to do with Kaz. We didn’t even—” I sigh.
I am not replaying that horrible night for him right now. “This has nothing to do with anyone, other than me. I’m not marrying you, Rurik.”
He remains silent as he makes another turn, and one more until we pull up to a closed gate. I lean forward, trying to see the house, but all I see is trees.
“The house is about a quarter mile up the drive,” he says just before the gates open for us.
There wasn’t even a code box or anything. They just opened like they realized who was in the car.
“Rurik. I’m serious. I am not marrying you.” I touch his forearm gently. It’s important he understands this. “I’m not marrying anyone. Ever. Well, at least not for a long time.”
Not until I can stop tumbling head over heels for every sexy smile and dominant tone that crosses my path.
“Rurik, tell me you understand me.” I drop my hand from his arm as he continues to drive in silence.
He’s just going to be a stone wall now because he didn’t get what he wants. Very mature .
As we pull up to the house, parking behind an idling SUV my jaw nearly hits the floorboards. It’s the most beautiful house…no, castle…I’ve ever seen. Outside of storybooks, anyway.
“Is Megan inside?” My hand is already on the door handle as the front door of the house opens and woman bounds out and jogs down the stairs. She pauses only for a second and waves in our direction before climbing into the back of the SUV in front of us.
“She is, but before?—”
I don’t wait for whatever crazy thing he’s going to say next. I throw open the door and run up the steps. I’m free!
Megan’s inside, and she’ll get this Alexander, whoever he is, to tell Rurik, it’s been nice, but he can go away now.
The door’s unlocked, so I shove it open, hurrying inside into a foyer made for royalty.
“Megan! Megan!” I scream her name, looking frantically for where I want to search first. I yell up the winding staircase, since it’s right there, and then again down the hallway.
A moment later, Megan steps out of a room and is right in front of me. Well, a few feet, but right there.
“Megan!” I sprint to her, tackling her with a bear hug and squeezing her tight. “Oh, thank god!”
She’s laughing and hugging me back. But before she can say anything, a set of bear paws grabs hold of me and pulls me away from her.
“Oh god, he’s just as big as the other one!” I blurt when I’m met with the stone-cold stare of—I assume—Alexander. His expression alone could send someone into cardiac arrest .
“Alexander.” Rurik’s voice penetrates the chaos of the moment. “I would appreciate it if you would let go of my wife.”
“You have to stop saying that!” I yell at him, but at least it gets Alexander’s huge grip off me.
“What the hell is going on?” Alexander’s booming voice mirrors Rurik’s when he gets all up in his anger feelings, but it doesn’t do the same thing for me.
There’s no electricity flowing through me at the sound of Alexander’s voice.
Hmm. Weird.
Rurik shuts the front door and calmly walks over to us. Grabbing me by the elbow, he drags me to his side, throwing a possessive arm over my shoulders.
This man has a real problem with listening.
“It’s Mira.” Megan beams and rushes forward again, pulling me out of Rurik’s arm and hugging me. “I was so worried! What the hell have you been doing?”
She pushes me away just enough to look at me with a set of what I lovingly refer to as her mom eyes.
“And what happened to you?” She grabs my chin, which makes me wince because her fingers dig right into the bruise getting uglier by the day. “Your throat!”
“I’m fine! Really.” I push her hands off me.
“What happened.” Alexander doesn’t ask; he demands as he takes a protective step in my direction.
I don’t know this man in any form, but I get the feeling my connection to Megan means I have a protective barrier around me .
“He didn’t do it,” I add.
“She tried to stop a bar fight and got hit.” Rurik explains with a shrug. “I took care of it.”
Alexander gives an approving nod, like he knows what that means, and he’s appreciative.
“Was it a knife fight?” Megan demands.
“No. That was from another guy. Rurik took care of him, too.” I add for Alexander’s sake.
The muscle in Rurik’s cheek ticks. Maybe he’s not as proud of that one.
“Where have you been? Why haven’t you texted or called?” Megan’s moved on from my injuries.
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you! But none of my calls or texts were answered.” I glance at the two Russian Neanderthals glaring down at us. “Rurik wouldn’t tell me anything after he kidnapped me, other than this guy told him to do it.”
Megan laughs. “Alexander asked him to find you because all of my texts and calls weren’t getting answered. I never got a message from you.”
“I sent so many.” I go to grab the burner from my pocket, but realize I left it in my bag and everything else in the car.
“Didn’t Kaz tell you we were coming?” Rurik asks Alexander.
“He mentioned it yesterday, but I didn’t want to get her hopes up in case you were delayed.”
“You knew?” Megan turns on Alexander, who appears to have not one ounce of remorse at keeping the news from her.
“I wanted to be certain. You’ve had enough stress these past weeks, I didn’t want you to get your hopes up, only to have them ruined.” Alexander presses his lips together as he stares down at her.
“You should have told me. I could have handled it,” she argues but with less oomph.
“What’s been stressful? What’s been going on? Who is this, why are you here, and why did this mammoth get sent to kidnap me?” I fire off the questions that have been burning my brain.
Megan wraps her arms around me again, hugging me tighter than any other hug I’ve had in a while.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, and you’re back,” she whispers.
“Meg, what’s going on?” I hug her back, concerned at the gentleness in her tone.
“Let’s get wine. I’ll tell you everything.” She untangles from me, only to grab my hand and start yanking me with her.
“Megan—”
“I’m not talking to you right now!” Megan holds up a hand in the air to stop Alexander’s words and keeps tugging me.
“Who is that guy?” I ask once we’re walking down an empty hallway.
“My husband.”