Chapter 33 Dante
DANTE
Someone knocked on my door a few minutes after I finished dinner. I assumed it was someone I knew because the guard who was watching the house would have stopped them otherwise. But Rafe rarely bothered knocking, and Lorenzo would have texted first.
I glanced through the peephole and saw Alex standing on my porch. Hot anger surged through me. What the hell was he doing here? I unlocked the door and yanked it open, not caring when it banged into a bookshelf.
“I told you not to come here. You need to leave now.” I tried to ignore how upset he looked.
“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”
“Yes, you are. You can tell me on the phone.”
“If you answer, which you usually don’t. This can’t wait. It’s serious. I need help, and you’re the only one I can ask.”
My anger turned to fear as I pulled him inside and shut the door behind me. What kind of trouble was he in, and was it my fault? “Alex, what’s wrong.”
“It’s Mitch, my roommate. He’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“No one has seen him for like two days. He’d set up a meeting some sketchy guy about a high-paying remote job.
It was obviously a scam, and I told him not to go, but his parents quit giving him money, and he was desperate.
Nobody’s seen him since the day he was supposed to meet that guy.
He’s not been back to the frat. He’s not been in class, and I don’t know what to do. ”
I led him to the sofa and encouraged him to sit down.
Adenine came running into the room and jumped up to join us with a little mew.
Ales was worked up and talking so fast that it was hard for me to piece everything together, but I didn’t want to stop him, so I let him continue rambling as he petted the cat.
“Randall came to my room to ask if I’d seen him, and that has to mean he’s really worried.
He’s been scared to even look at me since Rafe threatened him.
Mitch tried to get me to go meet this guy with him.
He said the guy asked if he had a roommate because he had work for more than one person.
As much as I’d like to have some money I controlled myself, I didn’t trust the situation, so I told him no. ”
Thank God Alex had that much sense. “Don’t you ever meet anyone you think is shady. Listen to your gut. And ask me. Maybe I shouldn’t let you go anywhere without me.”
“I can’t go places with you. You’re my fucking professor, remember?”
I ran a hand through my hair as I considered the implications of Mitch’s disappearance. “The man specifically asked Mitch to bring you?”
“Yes, but I don’t think he used my name or anything.”
“But you don’t know?”
I shook my head. “Dante, what do you think is going on?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”
“Are you going to send me away now that I’ve told you why I need help?”
No way in hell could I do that. “No. You’re not leaving until I figure out what happened to Mitch.”
“For all we know, he’s been on a bender somewhere, and he never even met this guy.”
“Do you really think that?”
I huffed. “No, but you can’t keep changing your mind about whether I can be here.”
I couldn’t handle his defiance right then. “Yes, I can.”
“How are you going to keep me here?
“Anyway, I have to.”
“Dante—”
“Tell me more about Mitch. He really needed money badly enough to fall for some scam?”
Alex sighed. I was sure he wanted to argue more, but he answered the question. “His parents cut him off. He was arrested for the second time this year, and they said they were done with him.”
“Arrested for what?”
“Being an idiot.”
“If that’s a crime, then I have some students and fellow faculty to report.”
Alex scowled at me. “Public drunkenness, fake ID, destruction of property, that kind of shit.”
“Are you also known to the police?”
“That’s quite a question coming from you, but no. I try to stay out of that shit. Not because I’m like morally superior or anything. I don’t need the trouble back home. I don’t think you can claim moral superiority either.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to release some of my anger. “Alex, I’ve never said I was anything but a monster. I told you to walk away, and you chose not to.”
“I’d make the same choice again.” His voice had lost the sarcastic edge, and when he met my gaze, the fear in his eyes cut right through me. “Do you think… Do you think Mitch is okay?”
“I want to say yes, but…”
Alex frowned. “What?”
“Nothing. I’ll see what I can do to find him.”
“I can help.”
“You are not leaving this house.”
“For how long? I have class tomorrow. With you.”
“I don’t give a fuck about that right now. You are not leaving this house. It’s clear I can’t keep you safe when you’re away from me, so you need to be here.”
“So after kicking me out, you’re kidnapping me now?”
I didn’t need to deal with drama now. I needed to start a search for Mitch. “If you want to call it that, you can. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”
“Can’t you have a bodyguard go to class with me?”
“You think it won’t be conspicuous for you to show up in class with a bodyguard?”
“A discreet one, not like the one you had watched me this morning.”
My stomach flip-flopped. Remington’s men were always discreet. “‘What do you mean?”
Alex stared at me like I was crazy. “I came to your office and tried to tell you how I hated being followed everywhere. I didn’t want someone in my business all day long if I didn’t even know why.”
Nausea tightened my throat. “You saw someone following you everywhere you went?”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Weren’t you listening?”
I’d been so angry that he’d come to my office. Had I missed that he was in danger? What kind of protector was I? “I thought you were exaggerating. I have had someone watching you at night and generally checking on you, but I haven’t had anyone following you everywhere. Describe the man you saw.”
Color drained from his face. “Wait. You don’t think it was someone you sent?”
I shook my head.
“I need to lie down,” Alex said.
I helped him lie back on the couch. “Do you need some water?”
“I don’t know.”
I got him some, and after a few sips, he gave me a description.
“He had thick blond hair. He was taller and thinner than I’d expect a bodyguard to be. He looked like he was in his late mid-thirties, but he was trying to blend in with students.”
“Fuck.” No way. It couldn’t be. Right under our noses.
“Who is it?”
I didn’t want him terrified. “I can’t be sure, but I’m going to find out.
” Thoughts raced through my head. The primary one was that I’d waited too long to talk to Lorenzo, to tell Alex how I felt.
And now everything was coming crashing down on me.
Ivanov might be after Alex. He might have been following him around campus, and I’d sent Alex away.
Ivanov could have taken him, might have planned to if Alex hadn’t left campus before dark.
Alex pushed himself up to a seated position. “Dante, tell me what the fuck is happening.”
Could I? “It’s a long story.”
“I’m here and I’m listening.”
He deserved to know. “My family had some dealings with a group of Russians.”
“The Russian mafia?”
He was really going to make me tell it all. “Yes. My brother Lorenzo was sent to negotiate with one of their men.”
“Negotiate what?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
“Nothing is irrelevant if I’m in danger. I should know why.”
“The man, Dimitri, sold weapons. We were negotiating a sale.”
He narrowed his eyes, studying me, but he didn’t ask more questions.
“During this meeting, Lorenzo found out Dimitri had sold his own son to another man.”
“Sold him?” Alex looked as sick as he had before.
“He said the money was in exchange for permitting Nikolai to marry Ivanov’s daughter, but in reality, Ivanov planned to use Nikolai for…”
Alex looked like he might pass out. “Oh my God.”
“We got rid of Dimitri, and I was shot in our attempt to eliminate Ivanov.”
“What happened to Dimitri’s son?”
“Nikolai is with Lorenzo.”
Alex nodded, then froze. “Wait. You said the man you were after escaped the other night. Does that mean Ivanov is out there somewhere?”
I didn’t want to say it, but I had no choice. “Yes.”
“Oh my God, and that’s why you think I’m in danger.”
I nodded. “I was hoping he didn’t know about our association, but I needed you protected.”
“So some maniac that buys people could be after me, and you didn’t tell me.”
“Yes.” At this point, there was nothing to do but tell the truth. “I didn’t want to scare you.”
“You just wanted to break my heart by sending me away.” He sucked in his breath. “I… I didn’t mean…”
He stood and walked away from me. “Alex.”
He shook his head. “Don’t.” I tried to give him a few moments to think, but part of me wanted to scream that it had broken my heart too.
He paced around the room, and I worried he’d make himself sick. Then he stopped and met my gaze. “You… You don’t think that Mitch… that this man that he went to meet… Could it have been Ivanov?”
“Yes, and except for the hair color, the man who was following you might have been him too.”
Alex swayed. I wrapped my good arm around his waist and pulled him back against me. I was relieved when he didn’t fight me. “I don’t know. I hope not, but I’m going to find out, and I’m going to keep you with me so he never gets close to you again.”
“Mitch could be his prisoner. He could’ve been sold to someone. I can’t believe this is happening.”
I put Alex and Mitch in danger. This was my fault. “I told you I wasn’t a good person to know.”
I thought he’d finally agree with me, but he turned in my arms and glared at me. “No, it’s not you. It’s the people you were fighting. But you shouldn’t have hidden this from me.”
Alex was trembling, and I hated seeing him so scared. How the hell was I supposed to know what to do? I’d never had a fucking relationship. I wasn’t sure this was a relationship. I wasn’t sure what this was.
I pulled Alex to me. “I’m sorry. I don’t really know what I’m doing here. I was trying to do the right thing to protect you, but I fucked up.” Admitting how wrong I’d been felt like it would kill me, but Alex deserved honesty.