“You do that.”
I stood up, and Eric thrust one of his business cards at me. “If you hear from your sister, you need to call me.” He stared down at me, and I tried not to look away, desperate not to reveal my guilt. “That friend of Ruben’s? Edgar? His neighbor called in a disturbance, but when the police went inside his apartment, you know what they found?”
I shook my head slowly, not wanting to hear Eric’s answer.
“Six fingers and a cracked computer monitor with his blood and hair on it,” Eric said in an ominous tone. “That’s it.”
I didn’t even want to think about what had happened to the rest of Edgar. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I’m telling you this because your sister is in deep shit, Shay. This is so much bigger than the dog fighting a few weeks ago. This is bigger than even the drug dealing Ruben does.”
“I don’t know anything about Shannon or Ruben or this Edgar guy. That’s not my life, Detective.”
“You better hope to hell it isn’t,” he warned. “If I’m knocking on this door looking for you, who else do you think is coming next? Lalo? Those men who hassled you at your house and totaled your car?”
Eric was so far behind on this case. I almost felt bad for him. He had no idea that Lalo was dead or that Ruben and Shannon had double-crossed him. He probably assumed Ruben was dead and maybe even thought the same thing about Shannon.
Stay out of it, Shay. Don’t say a word. You have to protect Alexei and Kylee.
“I’m a big girl, Detective. I can take care of myself.”
“No, you can’t.” Eric’s mouth flattened into a grim line. “But that mobbed-up boyfriend of yours can.”
For a long moment, we simply stared at one another. Eric must have sensed that I wasn’t going to say anything else. He turned on his heel and marched toward the front door. I let him out, and he left without another word.
Thinking of what he said about other people coming to look for me, I locked the door and switched on the security system. Feeling ill at ease and worried about this new complication, I went in search of Alexei. I finally found him in a room connected to his home gym.
It was like walking into a high-end spa with the honey-colored travertine and glass walls and doors. There were potted plants and miniature trees in the corners of the room and plenty of comfortable seating. The French doors along the back wall overlooked another part of his property that I wanted to explore when the weather wasn’t quite so bleak.
I stepped into the pool room and watched Alexei gliding through the water. The rectangular pool was narrow and long and perfect for swimming laps. It seemed a bit wasteful to me to have two pools, and I didn’t even want to think about the upkeep costs of an arrangement like that. More and more, I suspected Alexei’s money wasn’t just from his dealerships and that trucking company he owned. There was no way he was clearing enough money from those businesses to live like this.
But I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know where the money came from. I remembered what Stas had said. I shouldn’t ask questions, right? Maybe Stas had the right idea. He had obviously figured out a way to survive in the shadowy world Alexei had once lived in and I would do well to heed his advice before I found myself in even more trouble.
Not wanting to disturb Alexei while he swam, I sat on one of the lounge chairs near the pool and waited. It was no hardship watching him. His powerful body cut through the water at a steady speed. I envied his ease in the water. Swimming had never been a skill I had tackled. Even now, water deeper than a bathroom tub made me nervous.
I hadn’t been sitting there long before Alexei noticed me. He paused at the far end of the pool and wiped the water from his face and eyes. His happy expression turned to one of concern, his forehead furrowing with worry when he had a good look at me. After Eric’s mini interrogation, I didn’t have the energy to smile and look pretty.
Alexei swam to my side of the pool and rested his forearms on the tile deck. “Malysh? What’s wrong? You look upset.”
I held up the business card. “Eric Santos was just here.”
Alexei’s expression turned stormy. “The detective? He was here? In my house?”
Even though he hadn’t raised his voice, I could tell he was upset. “Yes.”
Alexei swore under his breath. “You shouldn’t have let him inside, Shay. It’s not safe to have the police poking around in our business.”
Hearing him call this mess our business made it seem somehow less daunting. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. He was standing on the front porch, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to let him walk away without answering.”
“It’s all right. I know this is new territory for you. The next time you see Eric, you tell him that you’re not talking to him without a lawyer.”
“I don’t have a lawyer, Alexei.”
“You will. Tomorrow morning, I’m getting you one.”
“That seems a bit extreme.”
“Do I need to remind you of all the shit that’s happened since Friday? You need a lawyer.” Running his fingers through his wet hair, Alexei asked, “What did Eric want?”
“He was looking for me. Apparently, I’m missing.”
Alexei cursed again. “And he came here because…?”
“I guess there’s a rumor about you and me going around,” I said with a sad smile. “People like to talk.”
“Yes, they do.” Clearly unhappy to be the subject of the underworld rumor mill, he asked, “What else did Eric want?”
“He knows that Lalo and I got into an altercation at the Arena. He has video evidence.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. But he doesn’t seem to know about anything else.” I didn’t want to say the words, and I didn’t need to because Alexei understood.
“None of it?” Alexei seemed surprised.
“He warned me to be careful about Lalo. He also told me to call him if I see or hear from Shannon or Ruben.”
“He doesn’t have the faintest fucking clue, does he?” Alexei shook his head in disbelief. “Well that’s good news for us.”
“I guess.”
“It is,” Alexei assured me.
“Eric told me to tell you that he’s going to visit you at the dealership tomorrow.”
Alexei snorted with amusement. He wasn’t the least bit intimidated. “As if he can rattle me with a threat like that!”
“Alexei,” I said pleadingly. “Please be careful. I’ve known Eric a long time, and he is not the sort of man to let things go. He’s like a dog with a bone, and if he thinks there’s a chance you’re involved with this whole mess, he will make your life a living hell.”
“I’d like to see him try,” Alexei replied, totally unfazed. “He doesn’t scare me. My relationship with Eric goes back years. Back to the days when he was a patrol cop.” Clearly interested in my history with Eric, he asked, “How do you know him?”
“Eric was the first cop to bust Shannon. That was way back when Mom was still around,” I said, my brain bombarded with memories I didn’t want. “He also responded to some of the 9-1-1 calls when things got out of hand between Mom and her boyfriends.”
“I’m sorry that you had to go through that, Shay.” The tenderness in his gaze was enough to make me forget all about Eric’s visit. “You deserved a better childhood than that.”
“I survived it, and I’m better for it.” In so many ways, I believed that. “You had a rough start in life, too. You didn’t deserve that either.”
“Most of the rough things in my background were my own fault.” Not wanting to talk about his past, he held out his hand. “Come into the pool with me.”
I gulped and shrank back. “No, thank you.”
“Come swim with me, Shay.”
“I don’t have a bathing suit.” I stated the obvious and gestured to my leggings and sweater.
“We’re alone in the house. Take it off, and get in the water with me.” He ran his hand through water. ?
??It’s warm.”
Feeling embarrassed, I realized I couldn’t come up with enough excuses and finally admitted, “I don’t know how to swim. I never learned.”
Alexei’s eyebrows arched with surprise. “As hot as it is here in the summers and you never learned to swim?”
“There weren’t many pools in the neighborhoods I grew up in,” I said somewhat bitterly.
“Take off your clothes,” Alexei all but ordered.
“What?”
“Strip.”
Biting my lip, I thought about telling him no but he had that gleam in his eye. Slowly, I rose to my feet and started peeling out of my clothes. Naked and feeling vulnerable, I stood in front of him.
“Come sit on the edge of the pool.” He patted the space right in front of him. When I hesitated, he promised, “I won’t pull you in or try to do anything stupid like that. Just come sit here and put your feet in the water.”
Trusting him, I did as he asked and sat on the cold tile. I slipped my feet into the pool. The warm water lapped at my calves. It felt nice, but I was terrified of going in any deeper.
As if sensing my fear, Alexei put his hands on my waist. “You’re perfectly safe with me, Shay.”
“I know.” I rested my hands on his shoulders. “I’m just afraid.”
“It’s okay to be afraid.” He touched his lips to mine in a sweet kiss. “This water isn’t that deep. I’m standing flat footed right now.”
The water hit him mid-chest, but with our height difference, I was pretty sure it would cover my head.
He must have been reading my mind. “If you wrap your legs around my waist, I’ll hold you up.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wrap my legs around your waist, huh?”
He laughed. “Humor me.”
Swallowing anxiously, I nodded. “Okay.”
Alexei enveloped me in his strong arms and lifted me off the edge of the pool. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he gently lowered me into the water. “I’ve got you, ptichka.”
Even though I knew he never would, I begged, “Please don’t let go.”
“Never,” he promised and kissed me again. Floating in the warm water and safe in his arms, his sensual kiss ignited my passion like a spark to dry tinder. His incredible body, hard and honed, supported me so easily. He flicked his tongue against mine, and my thighs tightened around him in response. There was a flutter in my lower belly, and I moaned against his mouth.
Pulling back, I gazed down at him and whispered, “I have a feeling I’m not going to get that swimming lesson.”
“Probably not,” he agreed, a relaxed smile playing upon his lips. “But there’s always tomorrow.”
As Alexei kissed me again and slid one of his big hands down to cup my bottom, I had a pretty good feeling we wouldn’t get to the swimming lesson tomorrow either…
Chapter Eighteen
When Alexei’s alarm sounded early the next morning, he did the unthinkable. He slapped the top of the annoying machine until he found the button to switch it off and then curled around Shay’s lithe body. She made a soft, kittenish sound as he kissed a lazy line from her shoulder to her neck and up to her ear. He didn’t want to wake her so he left it there and simply held her until her breaths deepened and she relaxed completely.
Long conditioned to be out of bed before the sun, he wanted to linger in bed with her this morning. The thought of being separated from her during the coming day was almost too much to bear. A small voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he was the boss and he could take the entire day off if he wanted. Those were the perks of running his own businesses.
But that was a slippery slope. He’d seen what happened to businesses run by absentee owners. If he gave in to the urge to call off and stay in bed with Shay today, Tuesday would be even harder and Wednesday damn near impossible.
Deciding to skip his usual morning run, he closed his eyes and breathed in her feminine scent. Flashes of their evening together taunted him. Once he had her in the pool with him, it hadn’t taken him long to show her all the different ways they could enjoy the water. They had ordered delivery and kicked back in his media room to watch the Food Network which was, apparently, her favorite channel. She started to nod off during one of the cooking competitions so they had cut their night short.
It wasn’t a particularly remarkable night, but he had enjoyed it more than any other night he could remember. Sitting there next to Shay in his media room, he had realized just how lonely he was and how empty his life had become. In his drive to amass more wealth and more expensive things and his desperate need to keep himself walled off from other people, he had starved himself of the most necessary things for a man.
When Shay had placed her head in his lap and dragged his arm over her waist so she could hold his hand while watching television, he had experienced the strangest yearning sensation. Like a lump he couldn’t swallow, his emotions had balled up in his throat. She would never understand how something so innocent could affect him in such a way.
“You’re going to be late,” Shay murmured sleepily.
“I have plenty of time to get to work.” He nuzzled the back of her neck and stroked her stomach through the thin cotton nightshirt she wore. “Hear that rain hitting the windows? I have no desire to lace up my running shoes and splash through that when I can stay right here with you for another hour.”
Shay interlaced her fingers with his and dragged his hand under her shirt. “I have an idea how you can still burn some calories here in bed with me.”
Laughing softly, he nipped at her earlobe. “Show me.”
Shay guided his hand to her bare breast. He could feel her heart beating as fast as a hummingbird’s underneath his fingertips. With her hand resting atop his, he caressed her silky skin. He cupped her breasts and brushed his thumb over her nipples, feeling them pucker and harden as she breathed a little faster and shallower.
Reaching back, Shay slid her smaller hand into the loose shorts he liked to sleep in and discovered his hardening cock. She stroked the length of him, coaxing him to grow harder and longer. As he kissed her neck and shoulder, she pushed back against him, rubbing her tight little ass against his dick in a daring way.
Never one to turn away an invite like that, Alexei grasped the bottom of her shirt and dragged it up her body. Shay shifted so he could remove it and helped him when he tugged on her panties. It didn’t take him long to kick off his shorts.
Skin to skin, they kissed passionately. He couldn’t get enough of this woman—my woman—and wondered if she had any idea of the powerful sway she held over him. Like a witch, she had enchanted him and held him right in the palm of her hand.
When Shay arched onto her back and tried to wrap her legs around his waist, to draw him inside her and get the satisfaction she craved, he made a low warning sound and lifted off her nubile body. He manhandled Shay, drawing an excited laugh from her, and flipped her right onto her belly.
Shoving aside her hair, he nibbled her nape and kissed across her shoulders. She wiggled her bottom, and he gave her a good smack, causing her to yelp and hiss. But she wasn’t daunted by that brief bite of pain. She pushed back even harder, almost as if to test his resolve. He answered her teasing wiggle with another swat and another.
“Alexei!” Desperation filled her voice. “Please.”
“Please what?” He skimmed his lips down her spine. Those scars crisscrossing her back still hadn’t been discussed, but they would have to be soon. For now, he put them out of his mind and concentrated on the beautiful, sexy woman begging him to fuck her.
“I can’t take anymore,” she said, nearly breathless. “Don’t make me wait.”
“Kotyonok.” Smiling, he brushed his mouth over her back. “Patience.”
He nudged her thighs apart and cupped between them. Shay inhaled a ragged breath of excitement, the sound urging him to continue. She was already wet for him when he probed her with one finger and then two. Dropping her head to the ma
ttress, Shay moaned as he worked her with both hands, thrusting into her pussy with two fingers on hand and strumming her clit with the other. She swiveled her hips, and he moved his hands at a faster pace until she came with a strangled groan. Her back bowed as she rode his fingers until the last burst of bliss left her.
Gripping her hips, he hauled Shay onto her knees and pushed them apart. He sheathed himself with one swift thrust. She clawed at sheets and rocked back against him. He took her easily at first, enjoying the leisurely pace and sweeping his hands up and down her back. The grey light creeping through the windows washed over her body, but it wasn’t enough to highlight the sensual curves he’d grown to love so much.
Cloaked in shadow, he ran his palms over her perfect ass. Wondering if she might be interested in one of his favorite bedroom activities, he dragged his thumb between her plump cheeks and then circled the tight pucker hidden away there. She gasped when he touched her so intimately, but she didn’t pull away or tell him to stop.
Permission granted, he drew lazy circles around it, applying a subtle pressure, but he didn’t try to penetrate her. She wasn’t ready for that yet, and he’d only hurt her if he tried to slide in dry. But he could tell by her excited breaths and movements that she liked the way it felt. She was definitely curious, and he intended to help her explore that curiosity soon.
Alexei slid his hand along her waist and down the slope of her lower belly until he touched her clitoris. She bucked against his hand, and he grinned devilishly. She responded so beautifully and easily. The combination of his deep, measured thrusts and his rubbing fingers was enough to push her over the edge again.
Her orgasm felt incredible for him. The sensation of her snug pussy gripping him as she cried out his name made his balls ache. Dropping his hand, he gripped her hips and took her faster. She jerked on the sheets, her fingers fisting around the fabric as she met each powerful thrust. Deeper. Harder. Faster. He chased that burning, throbbing pull building at the base of his spine.
Taking her hair in one hand, he pulled her head back, gently but with some force, and bit the side of her neck. He wanted to leave a love bite right there, a little mark to remind her that she belonged to him and that she drove him fucking crazy when they were together. Shay’s shocked gasp was the trigger for his orgasm. Buried deep inside her, he closed his eyes as a pleasurable bolt rocked him.