Chapter 34 Alex
ALEX
The pain in Dante’s eyes made me ache. “I’ve hated being separated from you. I missed you so bad, but I never doubted you did this to protect me. No one has ever cared about me like you do.”
He kissed me gently, but I longed for something rougher.
“I missed you too. I’m going to fix this. I’m going to find Mitch and find out who was following you. This has to end now.”
If my friend’s life wasn’t in danger, I would have insisted he show me just how much he’d missed me, but that had to wait. If Ivanov or his allies had really kidnapped Mitch, we had to find him fast. If he were still alive. “What if they… What if they killed him?”
Dante’s expression hardened. “Then they will suffer, but let’s pray he’s all right. He might just be doing something stupid. He might not be with Ivanov’s men.”
“How likely is that?”
Dante sighed. “Not very.”. He let go of me and stepped back. “I’ve got some calls to make. You’re about to meet my older brother and see Rafe again.”
“Does Lorenzo know about us?”
He shook his head. “No, and this meeting is not going to be fun.” He gestured toward the kitchen. “Get something to eat and sit down. I’ll take care of it.”
I did as he said, knowing he didn’t need me to argue.
I was sure his older brother, who’d taken care of him, wasn’t going to like finding out he was fucking a student.
I hurried back to the living room with my snack, needing to hear as much of their conversation as I could.
But by the time I got there, I only heard Dante say, “I’ll see you soon,” before ending the call.
He was using his neutral voice, which meant he was pretending to be calm.
“Was Lorenzo okay about everything?”
“I asked him to come here, but I didn’t tell him why I need him.”
“And he didn’t ask?”
“He asked, but I told him it was an emergency, and I’d explain when he arrived.”
I envied how close Dante was to his brothers. “Would he come no matter what if you asked?”
“Yes.” He held up a finger, asking me to wait, and placed another call.
“Rafe, I need you at my house, ASAP.” … “Yes, but I’ll give you the details when you get here. Lorenzo is coming too.”
I heard Rafe whistle through the phone.
“Enough. Just get moving.” He ended the call and met my gaze again.
“All of us would come if the others asked. We don’t need a reason.”
“That’s amazing. I can’t imagine my family reacting like that.”
“I would come for you anytime.”
His words were comforting but somehow also hot as hell. “How long will it take them to get here?”
“Not long enough for me to do what I want to you.”
Had he read my mind? “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
What was I doing? Mitch was out there potentially being tortured, and I was thinking about sex. “I… I know this isn’t the time. I’m sorry.”
Dante shook his head. “I want to put you on your knees, fuck your mouth, then tie you to the bed while I take your ass. If you think anything will take those ideas out of my mind, even knowing Ivanov is looking for you, you’re wrong, but I have enough self-control to wait.”
I swallowed hard. “Um, yeah. Me too, but hearing you say that doesn’t make it easier.”
He smiled. “I wouldn’t have lasted much longer, not seeing you.”
“Really? I thought you were invincible, always able to do whatever you decided.”
“I wish that was true.”
“You went up against a predator. You knew you could be killed, but that didn’t stop you.”
“I did, but as you can see”—he tilted his head toward his injured arm—“I’m not invincible.”
“I wish you were bulletproof.”
“Me too.”
I followed him into the kitchen, where he made a plate of snacks and pulled out a bottle of wine and one of whiskey, adding them and some glasses to another tray. “My brothers are always hungry, and they’re going to need a drink when I tell them what’s going on, or at least Lorenzo will.”
“How much is he going to hate me?”
Dante growled. “Not at all if he knows what’s good for him.”
“But he’ll be angry about us?”
“Yes, but he will also get over it. Nikolai isn’t just staying with him because it’s safe there. Lorenzo sleeping with him kicked off the trouble between our family and his.”
“Oh fuck.”
Dante smiled. “I think he fell for Niko as fast as I fell for you.”
I stared at him, head spinning. I couldn’t have heard right. “What?”
The doorbell rang. And Dante went to answer it without saying another word. Was he serious? Did he mean…
“I have someone you need to meet.” Dante walked into the room with Rafael and another man, who I’d have known was his brother even if he hadn’t told me.
Lorenzo gave me a scathing look, and I froze. “You said this was family business.”
Dante glared at him. “It is.”
“Then what is he doing here?”
“Lorenzo, this is Alex. Alex, this is my older brother.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I managed to push the words out past the lump in my throat.
“Why are you here?”
And I thought Dante could be rude.
“He’s here because he’s under my protection.”
Lorenzo narrowed his eyes. “Dante, are you serious? He’s a student, isn’t he?”
“I am,” I answered. Dante gave me a look that told me to let him handle this.
“Alex is mine.”
“Are you seriously fucking a student after Remington called in a favor to get you a job at Dumonde?”
“I am, and you are fucking the son of our enemy.”
“Don’t. You told me to—”
Adenine picked that moment to saunter into the room, tail high in the air. We all watched as she jumped on the couch and then onto Alex’s lap.
“I forgot to tell you he finally let the cat come in,” Rafe said.
Lorenzo sighed.
I could feel Dante’s anger. “I did tell you to keep Nikolai, and now you can accept Alex and sit the fuck down and listen to the reason I called you here.”
“How much does he know?” Lorenzo gestured toward Alex.
“Stop talking about Alex like he’s not here. I won’t have you disrespecting him. I could go straight to Remington with what I need, but I thought you would want to know that Ivanov is still in town.”
“What?”
“I’m not one hundred percent certain, but my gut tells me it’s him.”
Lorenzo glanced at me and then back at Dante. “This is family business. Your student doesn’t need to be present.”
Dante looked ready to explode, and I was fucking tired of Lorenzo being such an ass. Did he always act like this? It seemed like Dante idolized him, and I couldn’t understand why.
“My roommate is missing, and someone—maybe Ivanov—is following me. I am involved in this, and I’m going to stay.”
Dante looked at me. I thought he would be angry at me for speaking up, but he smiled. So I kept going.
“I’m not trying to entrap your brother or anything. I have no intention of telling anyone what I’ve been doing with him. He’s shown more concern and care for me than anyone else in my life, and I don’t want him to get hurt again. I’m not after his money either. I have plenty of that myself.”
“You shouldn’t be involved with him at all.”
“Would you like for me to have said that to Nikolai?” Dante asked. “Would you like me to call him and talk about it now?”
Lorenzo sighed, and the anger seemed to drain out of him. He sank into a chair across from me. “What nightmare are we in now?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Dante said.
He explained how I’d been drugged, and I’d suspected Randall, but Randall had denied it, even when Rafe threatened him. Wait? Did he think Ivanov was responsible for that? But I hadn’t even been to his house then?
Lorenzo narrowed his eyes at their younger brother. “You’ve known about this?”
Rafe raised his hands in surrender. “I didn’t know Ivanov might be after Alex. I just knew about Dante and Alex. They’re cute together.”
Lorenzo blew out an exasperated breath. “I don’t know why I put up with either of you.”
“Because no one else would put up with you,” Rafe said.
Dante rolled his eyes and continued. He told them he had sent me away after he was shot, wanting to be sure that if Ivanov came and tried to get revenge on us, he wouldn’t know about Alex.
“You didn’t have guards on him?” Lorenzo asked.
“I had him watched at night, and if he left campus, but someone else was following him everywhere he went. I think it was Ivanov.”
Lorenzo turned to me. “Describe the person.”
I told him what I’d told Dante, but he wanted more details. “How tall? How thin—scrawny or just not overly muscular or fat?”
“I’m not that good at guessing height, but I’d say six two or so, and he was thin like he ran long distance.”
Lorenzo ran a hand over his hair. “Fuck. It could be him.”
“Not the hair though, but it would be easy enough for him to wear a wig,” Dante said.
“Did he have a beard?” Lorenzo asked.
“No, he was clean-shaven, not even scruffy. I got the impression he was trying to look younger than he was.”
“He has quite the baby face when he doesn’t have a beard,” Rafe said.
This was not looking good.
Dante told them about Mitch: what he’d said about the job and how long he’d been missing.
“I don’t like this,” Lorenzo said.
Rafe snorted. “No shit.”
“We’ve got to assume it’s Ivanov and be ready for him to come for all of us.”
Lorenzo scrubbed a hand over his face. “I know. I’m just not ready for another fight this soon.”
“None of us are. I’m still doing most things with one arm.”
I glared at him. “You’re not supposed to be using it at all.”
Rafe laughed. “See? They’re good together.”
“Good luck getting him to listen,” Lorenzo said. At least he didn’t seem angry with me anymore.
“We need to find Mitch and figure out what is going on,” Dante said.
Lorenzo nodded. “And you need someone on Alex at all times.”
“Alex isn’t leaving my side until we know what’s going on.”
“You understand the risk you’re taking with your career.”
“Yes, but I won’t risk his life.
“Maybe we should send him and Nikolai to Uncle Bébé’s house,” Rafe suggested.
I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay with Dante.
“Let’s see what we can learn tonight, and I’ll consider it.”
“We’ll have to bring Remington in,” Lorenzo said. “And I’ll need more details about Mitch and where he might’ve gone, anything you can think of that might be relevant.”
“I’ll tell you anything I can think of, and I can ask the guys at the frat if they’ve got any more clues.”
Dante shook his head. “You’re not leaving the house.”
“I can text or call them.”
“Fine. We should pull anything we can from CCTV camera and try to get a close-up of the man who was following you.”
I wished I had more details for them. “If I’d known it would matter, I would have paid more attention, or if I’d known Mitch might be in serious trouble.”
Dante sat beside me and put his arm on my shoulder, pulling me to him. “We’re going to find Mitch, and we’re going to track down Ivanov or whoever is behind this.” He placed a kiss on the top of my head, and Rafe whistled.
“Did you ever think you’d see that?” he asked, looking at their oldest brother.
Lorenzo smiled for the first time that night and shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”
“I deserve a chance to be irresponsible,” Dante said. “Just like you do.”
“You’ve held it together through a hell of a lot.” He rose and held his hand out to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Alex.”
“Thanks. I don’t want to hurt your brother or your family. Even if I did, I’d have better sense than that.”
Rafe snorted. “Fuck right you do.”
“Tell me everything,” Lorenzo said.
Dante held my hand. “Would it be better to get Remington on the phone?”
Lorenzo sighed. “I wish we could handle this ourselves, but yes.”