“I’m not saying that we should feel guilty.” Kylee bit her lip. “I just keep playing it over and over in my head trying to figure out where it went wrong.”
“It went wrong the second we decided to go after Shannon without help. We shouldn’t have done that. It was dumb and dangerous—and now we have to pay for that mistake by keeping this secret for the rest of our lives.”
“Do you think it will stay a secret?” She was obviously worried. “That motel fire was in the news, Shay. It was just a short piece in the Chronicle, but it mentioned an unidentified body. What happens when the cops figure out it’s Lalo?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I really don’t.”
“We’re so fucked,” she said with dramatic resignation. “Like seriously screwed.”
“Maybe not, Kylee. I mean, we’re talking about drug dealers and mobsters, you know? I’m pretty sure they have ways of making things like this go away. When was the last time you saw one of these guys hauled in on anything bigger than a gun charge or slinging dope?”
“I hope you’re right because I was not made for prison.”
I didn’t point out that we probably wouldn’t survive the first night in county lockup. Either one of the cholas down with the Hermanos would take us out with a plastic shiv or one of the guards owned by the gang would turn a blind eye to us being beaten to death before we made it to our arraignment. But Kylee didn’t need to hear that, and I didn’t want to think about it.
“So, um, changing the subject,” she said while reaching into the leather tote I had made her for Christmas last year, “I kind of did some research on Alexei.”
“What?” Her admission startled me. “What do you mean?”
“Look, you know I love you like a sister. I needed to be sure there wasn’t anything super sketchy in his background.”
Not wanting her digging around in Alexei’s criminal past, I said, “I already know about the sketchy things he did. I know he was in prison. I know he used to be part of the mob.”
“Obviously,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to hide his tattoos.”
“So why go looking into his history?”
“His recent history,” she clarified. “You know I keep up with the gossip and society pages. I like to keep an eye on familiar faces.”
What she really meant was that she had some serious hang-ups about the wealthy folks who had turned their backs on her and her mother and shunned them after her father’s crimes came to light. Not a single one of her mother’s country club set had lifted a finger to help them out. Sometimes I wondered if Kylee secretly had some crazy revenge plan in the works…
“So I remembered Alexei’s face in some of the big galas and charity events around town,” she said, “and I decided to have a look at his usual arm candy. It got me thinking that we really need to improve your game.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Kylee retrieved her laptop and motioned toward Alexei’s desk. “I’ll show you.”
Reluctantly, I joined her at his desk. I sat in his chair, and she stood beside me, plunking down her laptop in front of me and typing in her password. She brought up a browser window with twenty different tabs.
One by one, she clicked on them and introduced me to my competition. My heart sank as I got a good look at the incredible women Alexei had paraded around town at society events. Judging by the number of photos from the society pages and local gossip blogs, he had a very full social calendar. The same woman would be on his arm for three or four events and then a new woman would appear. My stomach ached as I imagined myself as just another in a long line of pretty faces.
And they were such pretty faces. Alexei seemed to have a type, and it worried me that I didn’t resemble any of them. They were all taller than me with knockout bodies and lush blonde or red hair. Their cocktail dresses and evening gowns put my shabby collection of thrift store finds to shame. I zeroed in on their evening clutches and shoes and jewelry. They were so beautifully put together.
Elegant.
Sophisticated.
Confident.
Sexy.
“Oh my God.” I sighed as the worst feeling in the world swamped me. Glancing down at my old, oversized tee and faded black leggings, I wanted to cry. “How the hell do I compete with that?”
Next to me, Kylee clicked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “Do you really think they look that good when they roll out of bed? Hell no! These women work their assets. We’ve just got to teach you to do the same thing.”
“How?”
“I’ve already booked appointments for both of us at Allure,” she said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “We’re going tomorrow morning. The full package. Hair, nails, makeup, waxing—”
I squeezed my thighs together. “I am not going on a trip to Brazil.”
“You are such a baby!”
“Look, I keep the landing strip tidy. My landscaping is neat.” Feeling a bit smug, I added, “I didn’t hear Alexei complaining.”
“Wait. What?” Kylee slammed her laptop closed and whirled the desk chair so that we were eye to eye. “Did you—? Have you—? Oh. My. God. You did!” She hugged me so hard I nearly came out of the chair. “Why didn’t you tell me when I walked in the door? That’s the kind of news you lead with, Shay.”
“I wasn’t going to talk about my sex life in front of Stas and Denise!”
“Well they’re not in here now and I want all the juicy details. Like all of them.” She hopped up onto Alexei’s desk. “What’s he like in bed? He’s pretty good, right? Like a Russian tiger?” She pawed at me. “Rawr!”
I tipped my head back and laughed. Blushing as I tried find the right words to explain my experiences with him, I finally said, “He’s very…generous.”
Now she looked really interested. “Tell me more!”
So I did. We sat there and whispered and laughed for the next hour. Kylee offered a handful of tips that I filed away for later. For the first time in days, I felt totally relaxed and safe. It was like nothing horrible had ever happened to us.
“I’m going to miss seeing you at work.” Kylee pouted. “It won’t be the same.”
I had to roll my eyes at her dramatic pout. “We text and Snapchat all day long. I’m sure we’re going to see each other every day.”
“I’ll have to ask your sugar daddy for gas money,” she teased. “The drive to your new palace is going to burn through my gas budget.”
I thumped her leg. “He is not my sugar daddy!”
“Shay?” Stas knocked on the door to the office. “You have a delivery.”
“I bet it’s something totally ostentatious,” Kylee guessed as she hopped off the desk. “Probably twenty dozen roses or a car.”
I wouldn’t put it passed Alexei to do something like that. Kylee followed me out of the office and down the hall toward the noise coming from the front door. When we rounded the corner, I nearly tripped over my feet as the boxes came into view. Moving boxes labeled in large red block letters were being carted into the house by men wearing the colors of Spider’s M.C.
“Holy shit,” Kylee hissed. “Is that everything from inside your house?”
Dumbfounded, I nodded. “I think so.”
“Why are these strangers packing up your house?” Kylee seemed just as confused as me. “I figured we would do that when you were ready.”
“So did I,” I murmured in disbelief.
Alexei had officially gone too far.
I didn’t know what to say as I stood there and watched my entire life come into Alexei’s home in hastily tossed together boxes. The thought of strangers going through my personal things made me feel queasy. Worry gripped me. What about my supplies? My tools? My unfinished client orders?
Stas approached me with cautious steps. “This wasn’t my idea.”
“I’m not upset with you,” I assured him. “Did Alexei tell you this was going to happen?”
Stas nodded. “But I guess he forgot to
tell you.”
“Obviously,” I muttered.
“Where do you want all these boxes to go?” Stas gestured to the men waiting for instructions.
I want them to go back to my house.
But it was too late for that. The boxes were here, and judging by the crew that had delivered them, Spider didn’t want me back in one of his properties. I cringed inwardly as I imagined the amount of trouble I had caused him. He tried to run a safe, clean park, and my sister and I had brought not only those skinheads onto his property but the police, too. He was probably in a rush to get rid of us.
With a resigned sigh, I glanced over the boxes and formed a plan. “Put the ones with my name on them in the hall outside the master suite. The ones labeled with leather or handbags or tools can go in Alexei’s office. All the others can go into the empty room at the end of the hall.”
Stas picked up a box and led a line of men upstairs. Kylee stepped closer and gave me a supportive smile. “Well, this got awkward real fast.”
“Sorry about that,” a familiar female voice remarked.
I glanced back at the open front doors and noticed Marley coming into the house with a smaller box. She set it on the nearest stack. With an apologetic expression, she explained, “Dad called me this morning and asked me go over and box up your things. I didn’t realize that you hadn’t asked for help until we got here. I am so sorry, Shay.”
“It’s okay, Marley.” As long as I had known her, she had never struck me as the nosy or intrusive type. She was uncommonly generous and kind and would have dropped everything to come to the house to help pack up my things if she thought I needed help. “We’re fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“I was really careful with your stuff,” Marley promised. “I made sure I personally boxed up your private things and Shannon’s. I also wrapped all of your handbags in tissue paper and put your tools in bubble wrap.” She opened up the box she had been carrying to show me. “See?”
“Thank you,” I said as I poked through the box containing my collection of secondhand leather punches and stamps. She had done exactly as described, and I was thankful for her care with my things.
“I wasn’t sure what to do with all the furniture, the food in your refrigerator or the potted plants around the house.”
“I’ll take care of them.”
Marley hesitated. “Dad wanted me to tell you that he has new renters moving in next week so he needs the place cleared out as soon as possible.”
I could tell she didn’t want to be the messenger so I let her off the hook. “I understand. It’s just business.”
“It sure as shit shouldn’t be just business,” she argued. “Not with you, Shay. You’ve lived down the street from me for nearly four years. You were a wonderful neighbor, and I don’t want you to think that you did anything wrong. It is so hypocritical of Dad to want you and Shannon out of the park when he’s…well…you know.”
“I know.” I had often wondered how Marley had turned out so normal when her family was even more dysfunctional than mine.
“Um, well,” Marley glanced at the men coming back downstairs, “I’ll run the unpacking of the truck and make sure we’re out of your hair as quickly as possible.”
“There’s no rush.”
After Marley stepped outside to direct the men, Kylee stepped up beside me. She glanced at her watch. “I’m sorry, Shay, but I’ve got to run. I have a marketing lecture and then I’ve got work.”
It felt strange not to be thinking about work and the long night of cleaning, bending, lifting and sweating ahead of me.
“Listen, I’ll text you later, and we’ll figure out our plans for tomorrow, okay?” Kylee air-kissed my cheeks. Lowering her voice, she added, “You better lay down the law with that Russian of yours. He’s hot as hell and the sweetest sugar daddy you’ll ever find—but he can’t do shit like this,” she gestured toward the boxes, “without telling you.”
She was right. It was a conversation I didn’t look forward to having with him, but it had to be done.
When Stas and I were finally alone in the house an hour later, he shut and locked the door. Leaning back against it, he crossed his arms in front of his broad chest and asked, “What now?”
“Now?” I exhaled roughly. “Now we’re going for a drive.”
Stas groaned but didn’t try to stop me. Shoving off the door, he said, “Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter Twenty
Stretching his tight neck, Alexei waited for the red light to turn green. In the passenger seats surrounding him, his marketing manager argued with his general manager about Alexei’s expansion plans. They had spent the last two hours visiting a dealership in Sugar Land that he wanted to buy. The owner was ready to retire and had no children interested in the family business. To Alexei, it seemed like the ideal situation.
He didn’t want to get pulled into the back-and-forth so he kept his focus on the wet streets. The rain was starting to pick up again. Spending the night at home with Shay was the perfect plan for weather like this. He planned to build a fire and open a bottle of wine to set the mood. He hadn’t had a chance to properly seduce her yet. Tonight was that night.
When they reached his main dealership, Alexei parked in his spot and asked his team members to pull together their thoughts in emails. He already had his mind set on buying the Sugar Land dealership, but he wanted to give himself a day or two to consider any differing points of view. He usually had good instincts, but he valued their opinions, even if he didn’t care for the back-and-forth bickering.
Two steps into the dealership, he was pulled aside by his stand-in F&I manager who wanted him to sort out a salesman who had fucked up a deal by promising a rate and down payment that was way outside the customer’s credit worthiness. Getting in between the supervisor and salesman reminded him exactly why he had a finance and insurance manager who usually handled these issues. But Donna was on maternity leave until after the New Year and somehow it fell on Alexei to mediate the disagreement.
“Enough, Dale!” Alexei said with some exasperation, cutting off the salesman who wanted to argue every single point that his supervisor brought up. “You fucked up with this customer. Own it like a man.”
The salesman nodded and curtly answered, “Yes, Mr. Sarnov.”
Exhaling roughly, Alexei glanced at James. “Give the customer the promised rate and down payment. We’ll eat the difference.”
Alexei pinned the salesman in place. “I’m giving you a pass today. Pull this shit again? You’ll be joining the unemployment line.”
“Yes, sir.”
Alexei motioned toward the door of the supervisor’s office. “Go.”
Alone with James, Alexei asked, “Other than this, how is he? He came in with the new group we hired in August?”
James confirmed it with a nod. “Dale’s a pretty good salesman. He’s not top of the pack, but he’s up there. I think maybe he’s not suited for this lot. He would be better at one of our pre-owned lots.”
“Call Tommy. Ask him if he can take Dale for a week or two. Make sure Dale knows we aren’t punishing him.” Alexei could already hear the complaints. “Let him know that we’re trying to find the most successful fit for him.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Alexei left James’s office and crossed the main sales floor. He felt his pocket vibrate with a text message notification but didn’t answer it. His attention had been pulled toward the all too familiar face walking through the double doors. Blin.
Never one to back down from confrontation, Alexei strode toward Detective Santos and held out his hand. “Eric.”
“Alexei.” Eric gripped his hand with a strong shake. “Do you have time to talk?”
“Of course.” Wanting to control the situation, he gestured toward the second floor. “Come up to my office.”
“Sure.”
Alexei led Eric into his office and offered the detective a beverage t
hat he declined. After closing the door, Alexei took his seat and pushed aside a stack of paperwork that needed his signature. “I suppose you’re here to talk about Shay.”
Eric got comfortable in his chair. “You don’t want to hear what I have to say when it comes to you and Shay.”
“Then keep it to yourself,” Alexei suggested.
Eric cracked a smile. “There’s the Alexei I’ve known for ten years.”
“Almost twelve,” Alexei corrected and settled back into his seat. “As I remember it, we never had problems, Eric.”
“We never had problems because you respected the rules.”
“I still respect them.” He steepled his fingers and stared at Eric. “Do you?”
Eric’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not a dirty cop.”
“I didn’t say you were.” But Alexei knew that Eric had gone rogue with Nikolai when Vivian had been kidnapped. He might not have put on Kostya’s black apron, but he had watched the former FSB operative do the dirty work.
“I’m not here to play mind games with you, Alexei.” Eric sat forward. “I know what your crew is like when it comes to protecting your women. You’ll keep Shay safe—but what about her sister?”
“What about her?”
“We know she checked into that motel that burned down on Saturday night. She used one of her well-known aliases to get the key. There was a body in the room.”
Playing along and pretending he didn’t know, Alexei asked in a voice laced with concern, “Was it Shannon?”
Eric shook his head. “It’s a man. We don’t have DNA back yet. The body was stripped and unrecognizable.”
“Ruben?”
“I doubt it. Ruben was a big dude. This body was smaller and thinner.” He paused. “I’m concerned it might be Lalo Contreras.”