Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
“Project number one,” Alexei announced, opening pale beech double doors leading onto the most fabulous penthouse on top of an iconic building in London.
He owned the entire building. Of course he did.
Amber’s head was still spinning. They’d spent the night and most of that morning making love in her bed-sit, which, Alexei had assured her, was a lot more comfortable than his grandfather’s traditional yurt, the portable round tent covered with woven tapestries and animal skins they had used when they were inspecting herds of animals on the steppes.
She wasn’t entirely sure whether to be flattered or not by that comparison, but she got his drift, and they had certainly raised the temperature of the room.
The penthouse had been designed and equipped by a professional interior designer—a good one—and it was practical, comfortable, and luxurious. “But this is beautiful,” she exclaimed, staring around. ‘From your description of your sterile homes, I had an image of Colditz in my mind.”
Alexei laughed. “I’m glad you like it. You can see the Shard and St. Paul’s Cathedral from the balcony, where you’ll find a lap pool and a fire pit for cool evenings.
There are numerous individual local shops around here too, as well as theaters and concert halls just around the corner.
There’s a cinema room behind that door, that looks like the interior of a particularly luxurious cave—”
“And a Christmas tree in the hallway,” she said, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. “You had the penthouse dressed for Christmas,” she said, her eyes glowing with warmth. “ You knew you’d get me here, didn’t you?”
He shrugged. “I thought I might.”
They entered a glorious entertaining room with double-height, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the River Thames, where there was another Christmas tree, even bigger than the first. “It’s amazing what you can do with a single phone call,” Alexei confessed, clearly having difficulty hiding a grin.
“It’s amazing what you can do with a single phone call,” Amber argued, exclaiming with happiness as Alexei swung her into his arms.
“And a whole army of Christmas mice,” he pointed out, turning her to face a shelf where they’d been arranged in family groups. “Do you like it? Your opinion matters to me.”
“I love it. Not sure if we’re going to need pest control for the mice, but it feels like a privilege to be in such a beautiful home.”
“It isn’t a home yet,” Alexei argued. “It’s nothing more than a two-dimensional magazine shoot without your energy.
Could you change it, warm it, give it your own special touch—maybe make it your headquarters in London?
There’s quite a big office in the back, so it wouldn’t intrude on the main living area. ”
Amber held up her hand. What do you mean, my headquarters?”
“I want you to be part of our organization—I know nothing less would satisfy you. I also want you to organize my life—our lives. You can have all the help you need. That goes without saying.”
“Live here?”
“While we’re in London. As I mentioned, I do have several other properties across the world for you to work on.”
“One property at a time, please!” She laughed, a little incredulously. “I can’t take this in.”
“But you do like this apartment?”
“It would be hard not to,” Amber admitted, “but I don’t need a place as big, or as fabulous as this.”
“But we do,” Alexei insisted. “Won’t you allow me to give it to you?”
“What?”
“It would make me very happy,” Alexei admitted. “It would make my Christmas very happy if you would accept this apartment as a gift.”
“A…” She tried to speak, but no words would come out.
“I take it that’s a yes,” he said. “Don’t look so shocked.
We’ll need to hold fund-raisers to get the great and the good involved in our various projects, and while I’d love to tell you that the great and good would be just as happy assembling in my grandfather’s yurt, I think you’d be more inclined to believe me if I suggest we entertain here.
We can have a cozy home somewhere else. Well?
What do you say? Will you join me in the biggest adventure of your life?
Will you help me in my fight? Will you be more than my wife and my love, will you work with me? ”
Amber laughed. “You certainly know the way to a girl’s heart. At one time, men like you would say, marry me and you’ll never have to work another day in your life.”
“And you’d accept that?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you’d walk out that door, and I’d never get an interior designer free of charge.”
They lay entwined on the sofa in front of a weirdly designed cutting-edge open fire. Perhaps she would take a hands-on approach to the design aspects of Alexei’s properties, Amber concluded as they gazed out over London, spread like an improbably fantastic wall hanging behind the fire.
“I feel bad that I haven’t got you a gift,” she murmured, snuggling into Alexei’s chest.
“You underestimate your powers of attraction,” he assured her.
With only the fairy lights on the Christmas tree and the state-of-the-art concealed lighting to cast a soft glow on Alexei’s naked skin, he had never looked more beautiful. “You,” she said, propping herself up so she could stare into his eyes, “are a very bad man.”
“And you,” he countered huskily, “haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”
When he turned her beneath him and sank satisfyingly deep, she was tempted to believe him.
They made it to bed eventually—to yet another room with the most fantastic view of London, as well as the stars and the moon overhead, casting a soft glow like a convenient lantern.
Before that, they had trialed the huge marble bathroom, where surfaces were firm and cool and stable, the water was at a perfect temperature, and Alexei’s stamina was infinite.
“I’ve got two things for you now,” Alexei told her as he carried her to bed. “First this,” he said after setting her down.
“But this is beautiful,” Amber breathed as she took in the intricate painting of a polo player and his horse on the small enameled box. There was a girl in the painting, sitting on the fence with her face turned toward the polo player.
“These enameled boxes are traditional Christmas gifts in the part of Russia where my grandfather lived,” Alexei explained. “I commissioned it in the hope that you wouldn’t be sitting on the fence by the time I gave it to you.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You took quite a chance.”
“The first of many,” Alexei agreed, turning serious. “I think you should look inside the box.”
She lifted the lid. “Two keys?” She frowned as she pulled them out.
“The first is for this penthouse,” Alexei explained. “It’s my gift to you. And the second is for a property I’m buying in your old neighborhood. The owner very kindly allowed me to have a key cut before we sign the contract.”
“I don’t understand.”
“While I was waiting for you, I identified a building in your old neighborhood that I thought would make an excellent women’s refuge.
I’m guessing you’d like to run it, and the best way to do that is if you own it outright.
You can campaign, write articles, join us on missions—though I’m not so keen on that last—”
“All or nothing,” Amber insisted firmly.
“Then, let it be everything,” Alexei said, throwing up his hands in complete surrender. “Welcome to the Blood and Thunder team. You are hereby inducted into the hardest, fastest, most successful team on the face of the earth.”
Taking the box from her hands, he took Amber on the ride of her life.