grew insanely aware of how close we were standing. “Okay.”
“Bring your clothes to me when you’re done. I’ll get rid of them.” He started to back away but stopped. “Where are your keys?”
“To the house? In my purse. Why?”
“I’ll need you to give them to me so I can stop by your place to get your things.”
The idea of Alexei going through my bedroom and picking through my drawer of boring undies wasn’t one that I relished. “I can pack my own things.”
“That’s not happening.”
“But—”
“Shay, you aren’t leaving this apartment until I’ve secured your safety. Whatever you need? It comes through me.” He must have sensed that I wanted to argue with him because he quickly changed the subject. “Come find me when you’re done.”
Left alone in the master suite, I walked into the bathroom and closed the door. After stripping out of my clothes and his jacket, I stood in front of the marble vanity and stared at my reflection. My face wasn’t as badly bruised as I had feared it would be but my throat would bear Lalo’s marks for days.
I ran my fingers over the marred skin but it wasn’t the phantom sensation of Lalo’s ugly hands that caused goose bumps to rise on my flesh. No, it was the memory of the way Alexei’s hands had felt on me. A part of me despaired at the notion he might not ever touch me like that again.
“So what happens now?” My whispered question barely registered in my ears.
What would happen with Shannon? Would Lalo’s men come after me? What about those skinheads who had tied me up and planned to leave me beaten and bloodied in that parking lot as a message to my sister?
My reflection didn’t have the answers I wanted but I had no doubt Alexei would. If I wanted to get out of this mess alive, I had to trust him.
He’ll take care of you.
If you let him…
Chapter Six
Alexei closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the closed bedroom door. All that separated him from Shay, from the woman that had turned him inside out and left him craving the one thing he could never have, were two thin slabs of wood. Two simple, unlocked doors kept him from the woman he wanted more than anything in the whole wide world.
Leaving her alone in that bathroom had taken every ounce of his self-control. If it had been any other night, he would have stripped her bare and pulled her into a shower with him. He would have lathered up his palms and glided them over her supple curves and then carried her to bed. The very idea of learning every secret, ticklish place on her body with a swipe of his tongue left him lightheaded and aching.
But not tonight.
Tonight she had been through so much. She needed space to decompress. She needed to cleanse away the horror she had experienced. His only goal tonight was to make sure that Shay felt safe and secure. Whatever the cost, he would give that to her.
He pushed off the door and made his way to the office where he opened the safe hidden in the credenza and removed an envelope of cash. He tucked it into his back pocket, closed and locked the safe and left the office. Back in the kitchen, he washed his hands and treated the scrapes on his knuckles from that bastard’s teeth. As he rubbed in the ointment, he thought of all the ways his actions tonight might play out. Mueller might be a racist but he wasn’t stupid. He would try to leverage his threat against Shay to make a deal.
But Lalo? Lalo was the real problem. Newly anointed as the cartel’s top man in Houston, he had a taste for power and the added pressure to prove his worth as a boss. He wanted respect, and if it got out that a tiny little thing like Shay had knocked him the fuck out while his entire crew of thugs and enforcers stood outside? He was going to be a laughingstock.
Alexei placed both palms on the counter and leaned hard against it, dropping his head and closing his eyes as he tried to work out the angles. There was something else about Lalo
“Bring your clothes to me when you’re done. I’ll get rid of them.” He started to back away but stopped. “Where are your keys?”
“To the house? In my purse. Why?”
“I’ll need you to give them to me so I can stop by your place to get your things.”
The idea of Alexei going through my bedroom and picking through my drawer of boring undies wasn’t one that I relished. “I can pack my own things.”
“That’s not happening.”
“But—”
“Shay, you aren’t leaving this apartment until I’ve secured your safety. Whatever you need? It comes through me.” He must have sensed that I wanted to argue with him because he quickly changed the subject. “Come find me when you’re done.”
Left alone in the master suite, I walked into the bathroom and closed the door. After stripping out of my clothes and his jacket, I stood in front of the marble vanity and stared at my reflection. My face wasn’t as badly bruised as I had feared it would be but my throat would bear Lalo’s marks for days.
I ran my fingers over the marred skin but it wasn’t the phantom sensation of Lalo’s ugly hands that caused goose bumps to rise on my flesh. No, it was the memory of the way Alexei’s hands had felt on me. A part of me despaired at the notion he might not ever touch me like that again.
“So what happens now?” My whispered question barely registered in my ears.
What would happen with Shannon? Would Lalo’s men come after me? What about those skinheads who had tied me up and planned to leave me beaten and bloodied in that parking lot as a message to my sister?
My reflection didn’t have the answers I wanted but I had no doubt Alexei would. If I wanted to get out of this mess alive, I had to trust him.
He’ll take care of you.
If you let him…
Chapter Six
Alexei closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the closed bedroom door. All that separated him from Shay, from the woman that had turned him inside out and left him craving the one thing he could never have, were two thin slabs of wood. Two simple, unlocked doors kept him from the woman he wanted more than anything in the whole wide world.
Leaving her alone in that bathroom had taken every ounce of his self-control. If it had been any other night, he would have stripped her bare and pulled her into a shower with him. He would have lathered up his palms and glided them over her supple curves and then carried her to bed. The very idea of learning every secret, ticklish place on her body with a swipe of his tongue left him lightheaded and aching.
But not tonight.
Tonight she had been through so much. She needed space to decompress. She needed to cleanse away the horror she had experienced. His only goal tonight was to make sure that Shay felt safe and secure. Whatever the cost, he would give that to her.
He pushed off the door and made his way to the office where he opened the safe hidden in the credenza and removed an envelope of cash. He tucked it into his back pocket, closed and locked the safe and left the office. Back in the kitchen, he washed his hands and treated the scrapes on his knuckles from that bastard’s teeth. As he rubbed in the ointment, he thought of all the ways his actions tonight might play out. Mueller might be a racist but he wasn’t stupid. He would try to leverage his threat against Shay to make a deal.
But Lalo? Lalo was the real problem. Newly anointed as the cartel’s top man in Houston, he had a taste for power and the added pressure to prove his worth as a boss. He wanted respect, and if it got out that a tiny little thing like Shay had knocked him the fuck out while his entire crew of thugs and enforcers stood outside? He was going to be a laughingstock.
Alexei placed both palms on the counter and leaned hard against it, dropping his head and closing his eyes as he tried to work out the angles. There was something else about Lalo
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