Chapter Eleven – Alex
What the fuck is going on? I spat at the three men before me. I didn’t need to ask, it was already pretty damn clear what was happening. But I needed to buy time to figure out how I was going to take all of them on – and how I was going to get her out of here in one piece.
I knew something was off as soon as I had stepped up to take my shift. Something different about that apartment, something...quiet, removed. Something nagged at the back of my mind until I eventually cracked and went to check on Olya – only to find that she was missing from her bed.
Panic had kicked in at once. I knew I had to find her. Where the fuck could she have gotten to? What the fuck was going on with her? Why would she leave without telling us? As though I didn’t know the answer to that – as though I didn’t know for damn sure how much she hated having to have the two of us around. This was her way of rebelling, but I wasn’t going to let her get away with it, not in the middle of the night when I knew anything could have been happening to her.
I thought about waking Solomon up, but I knew he would have kicked off into high-gear panic, and that was the last thing I needed. I wanted to keep my head in the game and deal with this myself. And I could. I just needed to figure out where she had gone to and get her back. Easy, right?
That’s what I had to tell myself. I found the number that she used, and called it a few times, to no avail – either she wasn’t picking up because she didn’t want to talk to me, or she couldn’t. Fuck!
I kept my cool, breathing hard as I tracked her phone’s location to a club a few streets away. She was likely just out with a few of her friends. Nothing bad had to have happened. I was likely overthinking all of this, letting my imagination run away with me...
But I couldn’t stop it. My mind was filling with memories of the missions I’d been on as part of the military – the men I had seen die, their bloodied bodies scattered across dusty streets, never to go back to their families, never to see the people they cared about ever again. That was what could happen if I took my eye off the ball.
And if something happened to her...I knew I would never be able to forgive myself.
I drove out to the club, jumping red lights, only focused on one thing – only interested in getting her back to the apartment in one piece. I would chew her out when I got her there, but right now, all that mattered was making sure she returned to me, safe.
Screeching the car to a halt, I was about to rush into the club – when I heard something, a shout, a voice I recognized at once. Olya.
I bolted around the back of the club, where a narrow alleyway led away from the back entrance – normally, it would have been occupied by bartenders finishing their shifts, smoking after a long night of work, but now, instead, three men waited in the dark shadows.
One of them had Olya.
She was fighting to escape his grasp, but he had her arms pinned to her sides with ease – the other two men were providing cover as he dragged her towards a sleek black vehicle, parked at the far end of the alleyway.
Hey!” I yelled, and I rushed towards him, not able to think twice before I made my move. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?
The man didn’t loosen his grip on Olya for a second. He looked me up and down.
Stay the fuck out of this, pretty boy, he snarled at me, shifting his weight so I could see the gun tucked down his pants. I took a step towards him, eyes darting to the weapon at his side. I needed to move fast. I wasn’t armed, and if he clocked that, then I was in trouble...
Alex, please, Olya begged me, trying to kick at her attacker once more – and the sound of her voice, so desperate and helpless, brought something out in me I hadn’t felt before. I lunged for the man holding her, grabbing his arm and twisting it up behind his back as I snatched the gun from him – Olya leaped away from him, and I spun around, pointing the barrel at his foot and pulling the trigger.
The sound of the bullet leaving the barrel exploded around us, ringing in my ears – and, as it cleared, I heard the howl of pain her attacker was letting out, the leather of his shoe shattered, the bullet buried in the top of his foot. He collapsed to the ground, and I lifted the gun, aiming it at the other two men before me.
Get the fuck out of here, I snarled at them. They exchanged a look and then took off into the night – knowing better than to try and mess with me. I tucked the gun into my pants and grabbed Olya’s hand. She was staring, wide-eyed, at the man on the ground before her; I knew it was only a matter of time before someone came out of the club to see what was going on here, and I didn’t want to hang around to be caught next to an injured man like this. I knew how it would look, and I wasn’t going to try my luck.
Come on, I told her urgently. Her face was pale, her lips parted, as though she was trying to talk some sense into herself.
Olya, now, I snapped, and she finally looked back at me. Fear flashed in her eyes – this was the first time she had seen me use my skills, and I figured it must have come as a shock to her. But, if anything, I hoped this would drive home to her just how important it was that she play by our rules. One night without us, and look at what had happened – if I had arrived even a minute or two later, she would have been stuffed into the back of that car, being driven off to God only knew where.
I marched her back to the car and opened the door, and she slipped into the front seat with no protest – she knew better than to piss me off right now, after what she had pulled. I pulled us away from the club, praying to God there were no cameras out the back where I might have been caught firing that shot. I might have to call in some favors from people I knew in the local police department, old colleagues of mine from the military who’d be willing to cover for me when I explained the situation.
Gripping the wheel tight, I glared at her in the mirror. She didn’t meet my gaze.
What the fuck were you thinking? I demanded. I needed her to explain it to me. Needed to hear it, right from her lips, what she had been planning when she had walked out of that apartment and gone out on the town without telling us. How did she think all of this was going to go down? How did she think it was going to work? She was crazy. And she was lucky that things hadn’t gone any worse than they already had.
I just wanted to get out for a while, and see my friends, she muttered, shaking her head. I...I didn’t think...
Why the hell do you think your father employed us in the first place? I pointed out. You think it was just for the hell of it? You think you’re not in danger out there, the daughter of an Antonov?
I can see that now, she shot back, her voice taking on a sharp edge. I flexed my fingers on the wheel, trying not to let my anger get the better of me. But this bratty attitude she had...God, it pissed me off, stirred something in me I didn’t know if I could control.
Something in me I had promised Solomon I would be able to handle.
Yeah, you pull something like this again, we might not be able to get to you in time, I warned her. And then...
I trailed off. She shivered. I could see the cold horror of the situation hitting her then, the reality of it sinking in. She had gotten away with it this time, but she might not be so lucky if she tried something like this again.
We drove the rest of the way back to the apartment in silence, and when she climbed out of the car, I could see she was still shaking slightly. As I followed her up the stairs, I noticed, all at once, a few marks on the top of her arms – in the shape of his fingers, the man who had been holding her.
As she pushed the door open, I felt another flare of anger hit me. Anger at him, not at her – anger that someone else had laid hands on her, someone else had touched her. It wasn’t right.
She glanced over her shoulder at me as we entered the apartment together, seemingly noticing the look on my face. She frowned.
What is it?”
I nodded to the marks on her arm.
You’re going to bruise.
She glanced down towards the spot, just above her elbow, where he had been gripping her, and her face sank.
Shit, she muttered, and she rubbed at the marks like they could be removed with a little elbow grease. I...I don’t know...
Fuck, Olya, I cut her off, reaching out to brush my fingers over the glaring red marks on her skin. You know how much danger you put yourself in?
She glared up at me but didn’t pull back.
Yeah, I get it now, she fired back. I get it. I know I shouldn’t have been so stupid, but I-
If something happened to you, I replied, moving towards her, drawing her closer to me. You don’t know what that would do to me.
She stared at me.
What, you would lose your job? she demanded, shooting the question at me like she was daring me to contradict her. I shook my head. The adrenaline was still coursing through my system from the attack I had managed to shut down earlier, and right now, it was all focused on her – focused on this woman, standing before me, this woman who I wanted more than I could make sense of. This woman who’d been hurt because she’d left me – this woman who drove me crazy, in every sense of the word.
You know it’s not about that, I told her. Her eyes flickered with something – understanding. I knew she got it. I knew she understood what was going on inside my head. Both of us could feel it, hanging in the air between us, but we couldn’t quite put it into words. Not yet.
Then what is it about? she breathed. The question lingered in my mind. All my good sense was telling me to pull back, walk away from this, stop this before anything else happened, but I knew it didn’t work like that. Not with her. Not here, not now, not when it felt like the heat between us might burst into flames at any moment.
I can’t lose you, I told her, voice low. It took a moment to get the words out, but the moment they had passed my lips, something softened in her expression. Like she finally got it. Like she finally knew.
And, before I could say another word, our lips crashed together in a passionate kiss that I had been craving since the moment I had first laid eyes on her.