Midnight Alpha by Carole Mortimer

color quickly drained from her face.
    Gregori reached out to grasp the tops of her arms as she swayed unsteadily on her feet. “Stop fighting me, hmm, Gaia?” He encouraged gruffly as he took her into his arms, her head now resting against his shoulder. “I am not kidnapping you, I am taking care of you. I am not the enemy, Gaia,” he added as he sensed she was about to protest that claim. “Please try to understand that for the moment you will be safer here than anywhere else. Nikolai’s men will be outside, and he is already looking into who is responsible for the shooting,” he continued grimly. “Whoever did this to you will be made to pay for their mistake.”
    If Gregori was hoping to reassure her then he was failing miserably.
    All Gaia had wanted to do was find the man responsible for the death of her sister, and instead she seemed to have become caught up in some sort of private war between Gregori and this man Orlov. To the extent it was no longer safe for her to walk down the street or return to her own apartment.
    It was the sort of situation nightmares were made up of. The one where you were being pursued by a nameless, faceless person, who also happened to be waiting for you around every corner. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
    “I don’t want to stay here.” She rested her forehead on the warmth of Gregori’s shoulder, her arms about his waist as she began to tremble uncontrollably.
    “It’s the only place I can keep you completely safe. Ssh, Gaia,” he soothed as the tears began to fall down her cheeks, his hands a calming caress along the length of her spine. “It will not be so bad. Think of it as a holiday. My cook is excellent. There is an extensive library of books and DVDs, and also a pool down in the basement, if you like to swim.”
    Of course there was a pool down in the basement. Who didn’t have a pool in their basement?
    Normal people. People like her. Except her life hadn’t felt normal for months now, not since she lost Angela.
    “Have you been shot at before?” The tears had stopped falling but Gaia still couldn’t stop shaking. “Is it a—an occupational hazard?”
    He shrugged. “The last time someone tried to shoot The Markovic was thirty years ago.”
    “How did that turn out?”
    He gave a derisive huff of laughter. “My father and the other man eventually became…if not exactly friends, then at least allies of a kind.”
    Gaia realized he had to be talking about Jack Montgomery and the turf war that had taken place between the two men thirty years ago.
    “The Markovic?” Her teeth were chattering so much now she was having trouble speaking. “That’s you now, isn’t it? Not Gregori. Not Gregori Markovic. Or even Mr. Markovic. But The Markovic.”
    “Gaia—”
    “Never mind.” She gave a weary shake of her head. “What will happen when Nikolai finds the man who shot at us tonight? Will the two of you become friends too, or will Nikolai have to—”
    “Enough, Gaia!” Gregori knew by the tears and her almost uncontrollable shaking, and the questions she was now asking, that Gaia had come to the end of what she could cope with for tonight. “We can talk of this again another time,” he dismissed briskly. “For now I really think you need to undress and get into bed. Anything of mine would be far too big for you, but I believe there are some of Katya’s things still in her bedroom.” He nodded as he put her away from him. “While you undress I’ll go and see if I can find you something suitable to sleep in.”
    And while he was away he would try to get a grip on the desire that never seemed to be far away when he was with this woman. It had been madness to pursue those feelings earlier, but to do so now would just be taking advantage of the situation.
    Gaia’s main emotion had to be fear. Fear of being near him. Fear of him.
    It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
    “I’ll be back in a few minutes—” He broke off as his cell phone rang. He took it