Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
QUINN
Ishould be paying attention to the Russian and his kaleidoscope of emotions and reactions.
And I am, because I literally find it hard not to stare in wonder at him, but my focus is split in a three-way tie.
Never have I been so consumed, and/or distracted, by three men.
Three men who are opposites of each other.
It’s an odd sensation, being so attuned to each of them.
It’s as natural as breathing. There’s no coiling anxiety inside me because of them, but my world is avalanching because of all the factors outside of our control.
In that regard, it feels like there’s an endless number of people, places, situations, and things all conspiring against me.
Kade’s cinnamon scent brings me endless comfort. When he is near, my mind doesn’t race as much, and I feel calm and warm inside.
Santiago is as irrational and brash as the Russian Alpha. His blazing ego, coupled with his deeply ingrained confidence, is making him blind to the fact that he shares many of the same traits as the other Alpha. And it should be a turnoff, but I am besotted.
He sauntered back in with a hard look on his face, hiding the triumphant smirk on his face when he handed me back my engagement ring and a hoodie off my bed.
I don’t need the extra layer, since being around him is like standing in the sunshine after surviving a bitter cold winter, but the ring is another matter entirely.
I had to walk past the drama happening near the back door to wash away the evidence of Santiago being a man of his word.
He said he would come on my ring again, and he did.
I know I’m super sensitive to his usual amber scent, but over it, I can also smell his pleasure drenching Sergey’s ring.
I doubt anyone else would pick up on it, but I won’t take that risk.
I am also making a point when I wash his obvious reminder of our connection. I told him things would have to change if he was to stay, and that’s what I’m doing.
And then there’s him.
I turn around, resting my butt on the sink as I dry my hands on a tea towel and watch the Russian.
I don’t understand a word he is saying, and his presence is like a punch in the throat—impossible to ignore.
He is being completely over the top, even a little unhinged, in his method of getting information from the attacker, but it only makes him more attractive.
I have no doubt some people would be turned off by the way his scar seems to become even more obvious when he’s angry, but not me.
Nothing so far has made me question if I need therapy because of my attraction to him. Not even when the Russian used his heel to make my kidnapper talk; it took the knee joint popping until the man started answering.
A ringing cell phone breaks the tension. Santiago steps to the Russian, handing him the intruder's phone. From where I am, I can see the name flashing on the phone registering on both their faces. One looks triumphant while the other pales.
The Russian turns quickly to me and shields his eyes with his hand.
The message, no matter the language barrier, is obvious.
And while some would avert their eyes and avoid the scene, I stay and watch because it’s a fitting end to the whole encounter, which luckily for me could have ended way, way worse.
As soon as I nod my head, he squats down and answers the phone.
Like before, the conversation is impossible to understand, but the threats he makes are evident. He finishes speaking and holds the phone out for Santiago to take. It’s easy to see where this is going; the interrogation is over. The way it ends is strangely without much emotion or noise.
The man who attacked me raises his chin before nodding once.
There are no more words spoken before the Russian presses the nozzle of his pistol against the hand that touched me and shoots.
The gunshot makes me jump, even though I knew it was coming.
He doesn’t immediately kill the man. From my perspective, it looks like he wants the man to feel the pain of his injuries, the humiliation of his failure.
It feels like time stretches until the Russian decides the man has felt enough.
He grabs the man around the head and pushes him forward before shooting him in the back of the head, execution style.
I make a noise, and the three of them twist to look at me.
Kade moves towards me first and comes over, offering his hand to lead me out of the room.
His hand dwarfs mine, and the little tingle I always get when he touches me races up my arm.
I plant my feet, though, watching as the Russian picks up the phone and says something to the man still listening before ending the call.
“What is going on?”
The Russian looks at me, and I swear I see things in his eyes that shouldn’t be there, but in the next second, I’m left face-to-face with the Alpha who acted like I was invisible after my room got destroyed.
“Not your business. Take your guards and go to your sitting room.”
I hate being told what to do and spoken to the way he just spoke to me, but we’re all stressed and only human.
“Please, don’t treat me like that. It’s been a shocking day all round.”
Something in him thaws. And I wait, with Kade holding my hand, Santiago by my side, Roshka in the space between, and the Russian’s mood levels out.
“He likes you,” he says after a few minutes.
I hum a response, glaring at the fluffy beast because he knows we’re talking about him. His tail swishes over the floor, and since it’s so freaking long, it’s hard to miss. “Honestly, I haven’t decided if I like him yet. He keeps scaring me.”
“He is just doing his job.”
I wait for him to look at me, this strange-as-fuck thing between us getting harder to ignore by the second. “And I get you were just doing your job, but I should know what we are up against. Or should I expect to get attacked by every person I meet here?”
He shrugs, a small smile ghosting over his lips before it disappears under his seriousness again. “Probably.”
“Really?”
“Mr. Petrov is a very successful and powerful man.”
“Surely, then, he’s the one that should be targeted and not me.”
Santiago clears his throat, his face a mask. He is in full guard mode. “You keep saying you’ve been attacked by more than him.” He points towards the dead man.
“You have not shared with them what has happened?” The Russian’s question is obvious, much like the hint of frustration in his voice.
“When was I meant to? They arrived mid attack, and then we were caught in the middle of another situation. While it was your return, I didn’t know. And it’s not like I can go into it now, with a dead body in the kitchen, of all places. It’s not hygienic.”
The Russian looks at me in the same way Santiago does.
Horrified. But then I realize my faux pas.
Neither of them knows I’ve got an iron stomach after working at the hospital, and it’s not something I want them to know.
I mean, the Russian should know, but at the same time, he clearly doesn’t remember me from the clinic.
Kade is there, covering my tracks. “She makes a good point. I’ll help you get rid of the body, then perhaps we can all sit down and figure out what is going on. I’m Kade, by the way.” My Beta sweetheart, who is now my Beta bodyguard, holds out his hand.
The Russian eyes the gesture distastefully, keeping his hands buried in his pocket, but at least introduces himself. “Aleksei, Sergey’s second-in-command.”
Aleksei. I store his name for later. It’s clearly not the right time for me to be working through anything, ie. Crazy chest flutterings, after finding out the name of good looking Alphas who bite.
Santiago doesn’t offer his hand when he introduces himself.
I realize they are, once again, mirroring each other.
I mean, it is a typical Alpha move, making things happen how you want them to, as opposed to how things should be done.
But whenever there are two strong Alphas in the same room, there will always be this push-pull dynamic until one of them asserts control and the other relinquishes it.
It doesn’t take years of studying anatomy to see that is never going to happen here.
Then it gets a little awkward as Aleksei and Santiago stare each other down, because as soon as they do, their scents fill the room.
Because they are both genetically compatible and fucking stunning Alphas, I respond.
No matter how hard I fight it, my body’s responses kick into gear.
My cheeks pinken in a rush of color, my scent starts to leak, and a spike of need has my nipples tightening.
I recognize it happening, and it’s more horrifying than watching the man get shot. Not really, because that was gruesome, but on a personal front, this rates right up there.
Ignoring them as best I can, I pull open the back door, and the blast of freezing cold air blows their scents away. The icy conditions also douse the flames they unwittingly started.
My sudden departure brings a flurry of activity. The two dogs suddenly appear by my side, and I get herded over to the far corner of the walled garden to a seat. Kade follows them, a big snow jacket in his hands. Once he’s zipped it up and tucked my hair into the hood, he disappears too.
The snow might not be falling, but the weather is turning nasty, though it’s not bad enough to drive me inside. Pulling my feet up onto the seat, I wrap my arms around myself and watch the dogs do their thing, while inside the house, Kade, Santiago, and Aleksei work together.
The fresh air and their being away gives me a chance to regroup, then sort through everything that has happened, and it’s been a lot.
Naturally, my thoughts drift to my sister, Marco and Deena, and how life could be and should have been.
I wouldn’t trade having them in my life for anything, but I do wish for a simpler life.
The world I grew up in is pretty similar to what I assume the crime world is like.
Full of alliances and secret trysts, it’s a playground where old and new, real and imagined, grievances are aired by powerful men who want it all, no matter the cost. Deception is common, and decency doesn’t exist. Ironic, really, that now I’m the one deceiving and ignoring my moral compass on my own quest of vengeance. But it is what it is.
“Quinn!” Kade calls out from the doorway, waving me inside.
And I realize how much I’d zoned out. I hadn’t even noticed the dogs shuffling in closer, lending me their heat. Similarly, I was unaware I was no longer alone out here. Aleksei is leaning against the wall near the door, looking like a GQ model.