Chapter 7 Liev
LIEV
No one questions me when I walk into Koval Industries later that day.
I don’t wear a badge, but I give a curt nod to the security guards at the front of the building and those positioned around the lobby.
Technically I’m head of security, but once the protocols were in place I’m rarely needed on site.
Alex’s life has toned down since he met Madison.
I take the elevator up to the executive floor.
Alex’s assistant isn’t at her desk, so I push into his office without knocking.
Even though it’s Saturday, I know he’ll be here.
It’s Madison’s turn to host ‘ladies day’ for her friends, and he always stays away from his house until it’s safe to return.
Alex looks up from his laptop, vaguely irritated. “Please don’t tell me you have another emergency. I’m exhausted. Jax was up at the crack of dawn. I’m on very little sleep and more inclined to put a bullet between your eyes than deal with any more drama today.”
“Nice to see you, too.”
He scowls. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”
“I know.” I close the door behind me and lean against it. “Had a few things to wrap up before going on my sabbatical. Any word yet?”
“No, I doubt anyone will notice anything until he misses a meeting. Might be hours.” Alex sits back in his chair. His gaze sharpens. “How are you going to handle it with your mother?”
I grunt. “Don’t know.”
“You’ll figure something out.” He studies me for a beat. “You look like you didn’t sleep.”
“I didn’t.”
“Because of the girl?” he asks lightly. I don’t react fast enough, and that’s enough for him to scent blood in the water. “Who is she?”
I glare at him. “No one.”
Alex looks exasperated. “She’s obviously someone.”
“Everyone’s someone,” I say deliberately to irritate him.
“Don’t be obnoxious,” he snaps, when I stay silent. “You obviously like her.”
Did I like Sera? Somehow, it doesn’t feel like an adequate label for what’s happening inside me. But I do like her. She’s fierce and funny and resilient and strong… But she’s also fragile. I saw it clearly in her eyes.
My chest tightens as I think about last night. From the moment when I first saw her bloody and injured… then with passion in her eyes before my common sense kicked in and forced me to slow it down. Her blood was up from adrenaline. I understood that.
I’d lost myself countless times between a woman’s legs after a fight. But it’s different with her.
Even if Sera thought a quick fuck was what she needed, my emotionally stunted self recognized she wasn’t in any sort of headspace to handle it. And hurting her… adding to whatever pain she’d been through… that felt wrong on a cellular level.
“It’s complicated,” I finally say.
“Why?”
“She’s too young for me.”
Alex’s face hardens. “How young?”
“Not young, young,” I snap. “Just younger. And too…” I shrug. “Too everything to get mixed up in a relationship with someone like me.”
“Relationship?” His tone is intentionally baiting.
“This is your fault, you know,” I growl. “Apparently, you and your freaky obsessive genes are in my DNA, too.”
“I don’t think you can blame me for your DNA. I’m impressive, but I was only two when your mother would have gotten pregnant.”
“Asshole.”
“Obsessive genes, huh?” He grins. “Interesting.”
“I misspoke. I’m not obsessed, and it’s not happening.”
“Really?” Alex draws the word out mockingly. “I don’t believe you. And I can’t let you in the club if you aren’t appropriately obsessed.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Sometimes talking to Alex makes my head hurt with all of his riddles and hidden meanings.
“The ‘obsessed over our women club,’ bratan.” His smile spreads further. “Declan’s in it, and I’m letting his brothers be honorary members, but they aren’t quite as…” He pauses. “Dedicated to showing their devotion as we are.”
“You’re unhinged. You know that, right?” I shake my head.
Alex waves a hand in the air clearly pleased with himself. “Says the man who willingly walked to his death last night as sacrifice for her.”
My back snaps straight.
“Don’t even bother to lie to me,” Alex says coolly. “Now, how are we going to get your girl?”
“We aren’t.”
Alex just stares at me, and I heave out a frustrated sigh. “It’s complicated. Like really fucking complicated.”
“Logistics.”
“I’m serious.”
Alex looks annoyed. “What’s the fundamental problem?”
“I told you. She’s too young. She’s got things going on. It wouldn’t be fair to drag her into this world. She wouldn’t want it, anyway.”
Alex shrugs. “You might be surprised. I don’t see you going after a weak woman.”
“Sera’s definitely not weak,” I say before I think, and then immediately want to kick my own ass when his expression sharpens.
“Sera?”
“Drop it.”
To my surprise, he does. He swivels his chair slightly and goes back to tapping his fingers on the desk.
“Go get your girl,” he says. “You’ll be sorry if you waste time.”
“I can’t.”
“Are you looking for an excuse to stay away?”
Am I?
The average bratva marriage is based on control, power, obligation… I can’t fathom Sera in that type of environment, and I don’t want to.
Hold the fuck up! Marriage?
Then again… I study Alex. “You weren’t so sure in the beginning either. You stalked your wife for weeks before making your move.”
My cousin purses his lips. “I prefer to think of it as I was looking out for her.”
“Whatever.”
“I’m serious.”
“Your way wouldn’t work,” I say. “With what she does, she’d see me coming from a mile away.”
“What she does?” He tilts his head, waiting.
I tense. Too slow again.
“Liev.” Fucker sounds amused.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You said enough.” Alex lifts his brows. “Are you talking about Sera Worthington?”
I scowl. “How the hell did you get there?”
“I’m a genius.” He smirks. “And you weren’t exactly subtle with Brady last year. Will your sister be here? Is she helping with this?” he mocks in a high-pitched voice.
“You suck,” I mutter.
He doesn’t disagree. Instead, he taps his pen on the desk in a steady rhythm.
“That could present complications,” he says. “Her brother is extremely protective.”
“I noticed,” I say dryly.
We worked with Brady for months hunting down a group of evil bastards when the law couldn’t make them pay. He’s sharp. And underneath his easygoing personality, he’s lethal in his own way.
If looks could kill, I would have been dead the day I asked him about Sera, and he made it clear his sister was off-limits to someone like me. I hadn’t spent any time with her then… She was just a beautiful girl whose attitude had caught my eye… but now?
However, my hesitancy over pursuing Sera has nothing to do with her fucking brother.
Alex continues, “You’ll have to find a way to get close. Win them over.”
“Do I look like a teenager going to her father to ask for permission?”
“No,” Alex says coolly, “but if you’re as obsessed with this girl as your actions last night suggest—”
“I’m not going after her.”
“Can you stay away?”
“Fuck you.”
Alex stares. “Why are you smiling?”
“I’m not.” But I was. I was picturing Sera’s smile when she flipped me off.
“You are.”
“Shut up.”
He folds his hands behind his head. “You have time now with your little sabbatical.”
He’s right. And that’s the problem. With time, I’ll either forget her—unlikely—or make things worse for myself.
“What does she like to do?” he presses. “Find out where she goes and be there.”
“How the hell would I know? I just met her.”
“So, you have research to do.”
“This is insane, right? I just met her. I shouldn’t…”
Alex meets my gaze. “I knew within the first second with Madison.”
I groan and head for the door, stopping when Alex calls after me. “Let me know if you want to come to the club meeting later.”
“What?”
“I’m having drinks with the Bloom brothers in a couple of hours while their wives are all at my house. Surprisingly, they aren’t all idiots.”
I shake my head. “What the hell happened to you?”