by Zoey Parker
Damn. I had gotten so upset with Andrei that I hadn’t even managed to ask him about my mom and leaving in the future. Because if something came up again, I would not hesitate to leave again. If he wanted to keep me around as his surrogate, he would grant me the ability to come and go as I pleased. I signed the contract, but this was a partnership, and I was going to have some say whether he wanted me to or not.
If I had to bring Lucas next time, so be it, but I was going to go. Andrei wouldn’t stop me. No amount of money in the world would stop me from being there for my mom when she needed me the most.
Time for some digging. If Andrei wouldn’t talk to me about himself, I would just have to learn more through good old-fashioned detective work.
Some of the rooms I peeked into were boring and looked like studies or extra living rooms. Nothing worth exploring. A few rooms were locked, and that really had me intrigued. I had no idea where the keys might be, and I didn’t know how to pick a lock, so I had to pass them by, unfortunately.
The room next to Andrei’s bedroom was unlocked, which surprised me. Hadn’t one of the servants turned me away from it before when I had been looking for Andrei’s bedroom? It looked like another bedroom, but when I opened the wardrobe, there weren’t any clothes inside. It was full of nonperishables. What in the world? What was this for? A stockpile for emergencies? Feeling like a thief, I walked over to the closet and opened it. No supplies, at least not food supplies.
There were so many guns and bullets and other weapons that I gasped. Andrei had quite an impressive collection — enough to start a war. Did the guy who threatened me belong to another mob? Had I gotten myself in the middle of a mob war?
“Kelly. There you are.” Lucas appeared in the doorway, arms crossed.
I jerked back and shut the closet, my heart pounding. It wasn’t that I was afraid Lucas would do anything to me. I trusted him, even if I wasn’t sure I could trust his boss.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” he said.
“Then why isn’t it locked?” I asked, mimicking his stance by crossing my arms.
He motioned for me to exit the room and go into the hallway.
I ignored him and stayed put. “Lucas, what’s going on?”
My bodyguard shook his head and shrugged. “It’s not my place to say.”
“Please?” I begged. “Andrei’s not exactly the talkative type.”
He said nothing, his gaze dropping to the floor.
Maybe making him uncomfortable would provoke a response out of him. And I knew the perfect way to make him uncomfortable.
“He doesn’t talk to me,” I explained with a slight grin. “He just moans.”
Lucas’s face turned bright red. “Yes, well…” he sputtered.
I pointed to the weapons. “What’s all this?”
His face twisted into one of compassion. “You really should know better. You’re too naïve.” He shook his head.
I glowered at him. “He sleeps next to an arsenal large enough to do some serious damage. How can he sleep at night?” I demanded.
“Some things are better not to think about,” was all he said.
“Doesn’t make it go away if you ignore it,” I muttered.
“Maybe not, but you should worry only about how you can sleep at night, not Andrei. Come on. I’ll escort you back to your room.”
I took one last look at the weapons before following Lucas out.
You should worry only about how you can sleep at night.
It was a small wonder that my sleep hadn’t been affected by more than just Andrei’s late night activities. What exactly was he capable of? His eyes, his face…he had looked almost murderous for just a split second when I mentioned the guy who accosted me. Would Andrei have that man killed? And the one who sent him? Somehow, I didn’t doubt that.
And the terrible thing was that in that moment, I wanted both men to die. They frightened me — the guy who threatened me and the faceless, nameless one who had sent him. If they were willing to go after me, they would be willing to go after the baby.
I really shouldn’t have signed that contract, but if I hadn’t, another woman would have. Andrei shouldn’t have had the contract in the first place. Not if his life, and by extension his unborn child’s and the baby’s mother’s, was in danger. He should have taken care of the threat first.
And if taking care of the threat first cost Andrei his life? What then?
That night, I didn’t sleep a bit.
Chapter 18 Andrei
Weeks passed, and Kelly was fantastic in bed, but something was different about her, and I didn’t have the time to worry about what was wrong. To my knowledge, she hadn’t left my house again, though I did notice she was calling her mother a lot more, as well as a woman I could only assume was Aleksey’s ex and her best friend. As long as she was here, she was safe, and that was what mattered. If she felt like a prisoner, I did feel badly about that, but her being safe was more important, and maybe one day she would realize that.
I did want to keep her safe. Not just because she might already be carrying my child. Kelly was a woman I wanted to get to know. She wasn’t like the other women I had been with before, who wanted to try to use me for my power and prestige and money. Sure, I was paying Kelly, but she hadn’t once asked for more money, and had even offered to pay for food. She had laughed at the look on my face. She had felt embarrassed that I had bought her clothes, but I told her she should leave her clothes at her house. I wanted her to feel secure in knowing she could return home to her items. It might help her to adjust to the knowledge that our agreement was temporary. Once she gave me an heir, she would go back to her life with another million dollars.
None of the other women would have offered to pay for food. They would’ve expected it. Some might have demanded designer clothes and jewelry and to get their hair done every other day. I honestly thought Kelly didn’t realize that some of the clothes I had bought her were top of the line, not that she wore clothes for long once I came into her room. She asked nothing of me and willingly gave me her body.
I wanted her to be safe, of course, but I did not want her to feel like I was preventing her from living her life. It was a fine line, and the only place I could guarantee her safety was within these walls. Surely she must realize that. Through Claire, the nurse I hired to watch Kelly’s mother, I knew the mother remained in the dark about Kelly’s job. Kelly was smart to keep her mother out of it, and while I was sure the thought of asking for her mother to stay here had crossed her mind — and I was sure I would tell her yes if she were to ask — I commended Kelly for keeping her mother away. Kelly didn’t know everything about me, especially not why I needed an heir so badly, and I didn’t want that to change, but she had to realize something wasn’t right. Better for her mother to not come here and possibly become a target, too. Yes, I would keep her mother safe here, just as I was keeping Kelly safe, but her mother was not going to become involved.
Just in case, I’d assign a bodyguard to them. He could pose as Claire’s chauffeur. Vasilev had already had a man move on Kelly. If he wanted to get to me through her or her mother, it would be better to be prepared than to be caught with my pants down and my cock buried deep in Kelly’s pussy.
I just hoped Kelly wouldn’t grow to resent me for keeping her here. If she did…well, it couldn’t be helped.
Like it or not, I had other pressing concerns to worry about, as well. In these weeks, I hadn’t been able to get any useful information on Mikhail Vasilev, and I was beyond pissed. The thought of him getting one up on me was enough to make my blood boil. I couldn’t handle the stress of it all. Vasilev had to have had a reason to wait until now to come back, but I had no idea what it was. For a decade after my parents died, I had lived under a different name, something that had always bothered me, but the men who had survived the attack on my father’s mob insisted, so Vasilev would not realize I had lived. When I turned eighteen, though, the decision to reclaim my birthright demanded
I also reclaim my surname. But that had been fourteen years ago. What would make Vasilev wait so long to make a move against me? If I were honest with myself, it wasn’t until my early twenties that I relaxed. I thought for sure that if Vasilev were going to make a move, it would be sooner rather than later.
And maybe that had been the simple reason for Vasilev to appear now. He figured he would lie in wait, lull me into a false sense of security, and then make his move. After all, I hadn’t immediately learned about his return to my city. Someone had alerted me to his presence, and for all I knew, since the person hadn’t named themselves, that person could very well have been sent by Vasilev himself.
I had upped my security, hired more men, had eyes and ears on every street, especially his place of employment. I hadn’t gone over there to see him for myself. Didn’t think it would be wise to. I needed to keep a somewhat low profile, though I wouldn’t stop living my life and conducting business. I wouldn’t keep Kelly from her mother or her friends, just like I wasn’t going to keep myself from doing what needed to be done in my own life.
When Vasilev made his move, I would know. But he had to know that. Must have anticipated that I would seek him out and beef up my security. Every move I made, he could have anticipated. Like it or not, I couldn’t help feeling he had the upper hand.
So far, he hadn’t tipped his hand. He was waiting for something, but no way would he wait forever. I thought maybe he would move quickly after Kelly had been threatened, but that hadn’t been the case. I was too uneasy to relax, though. I wouldn’t relax until my revenge was completed.
That afternoon, Aleksey finally showed up. His phone calls had been infrequent, mostly because there had not been much in terms of news for him to share, but also because I didn’t want him to risk blowing his cover. No news meant good news.
Apparently now he had news and I hoped it was good, given that he had just come straight here without a phone call first.
I brought him to one of my studies and closed the door behind us. “Well?”
“Got some intel for you. Fresh. From last night.” He gave a leering grin as he stared off in the distance.
“From the girl you seduced?” I deduced.
“Yeah. Mikhail’s youngest daughter. Jacquelyn.” Aleksey smiled viciously.
“And?” I was anxious, and I curled and uncurled my fingers. I hated feeling so on edge. I couldn’t relax. Maybe Kelly could give me a massage later.
“We’re in luck. I’m in. Jacquelyn is determined to ignore what her father dictates, which made seducing her that much easier.”
“I don’t need details about how she is in bed,” I growled.
“I’m getting there.” Aleksey’s grin grew.
“Are you sure you can trust her? That she isn’t playing you?”
“I’m positive. She hates him almost as much as you do. She hinted that her father had recently bought a large cache of weapons. I asked her why he felt the need to go all balls to the wall, guns a blazin’, and she said she had a feeling Daddy owed someone a lot of money.”
Interesting. Why come here if he was having money issues? And why buy weapons instead of giving that money over to whomever he owed it to?
“Did you learn anything else?” I asked.
“No.” Aleksey shook his head. “She didn’t know anything more.”
I slowly nodded. Good. This was good. Could be better, but still, this was a start. If I could find out to whom Vasilev owed money, I could use that against him and possibly ruin his entire family.
Maybe things were finally looking up.
Chapter 19 Kelly
I finally had that talk with Andrei about my mom
“This job isn’t supposed to take you away from your life,” Andrei said. He had tucked some hair behind my ear and caressed my cheek. We had just finished having sex — it hadn’t felt like fucking in a long time now.
“So I can visit my mom?” I asked for clarification.
“As long as you are safe about it.” He wagged a finger at me.
My stomach had tightened at the word “safe.” Nothing about Andrei screamed safe. In the bedroom, that was fine, but with his future child, with my mom, with me even… I sometimes didn’t know what to think, what to feel. “I’ll take Lucas with me,” I offered.
He made a face. “Lucas and Kiril, too.”
“Kiril?”
“Yes. Safety in numbers.”
“I don’t need—”
“Please. It would set my mind at ease.”
He wasn’t begging, but he wasn’t cold or demanding either. He really wanted me to be safe.
Me or my uterus? Did he only see me as the woman he wanted to impregnate? Or did he see me, Kelly, the woman? The distinction was important to me, but did it matter to him at all?
“How often can I go see her?” I pressed, figuring it would be better to learn the limits now, before they became an issue.
“As often as you would like. I won’t keep you from your mother.”
“Thank you.” I felt so surprised, and then I felt guilty for being surprised. I had expected him to deny me, especially because of my being accosted. I thought he would say he had provided my mom with a highly qualified nurse and I should be grateful my mother was also benefiting from this arrangement, that he hadn’t had to pay for the nurse at all.
But no. He was being gracious and kind and it was times like this when I found it so easy to forget who he was. Which was dangerous. I could never forget that. I couldn’t help thinking the more time we spent together, the more I would fall for him. Because he was the kind of guy I would go after. A bad boy. A hot one. A rich one. And one who cared enough about my mom to help her out. I had never before met a guy quite like Andrei before.
“I asked around.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to make sure your mother had the care of the best doctors.”
I glowered at him. “I might—”
He held up his hand. “Don’t misunderstand my intentions. I was trying to help.”
I crossed my arms. “And what did you think when you realized I had already made sure she was seeing the best doctors in the area?”
“I thought all the more highly of you considering I know you were struggling before we made our…arrangement.”
I blushed at his praise. “Just because money had been an issue doesn’t mean I was willing to allow my mom to have less quality care.” It hadn’t been easy, but I had done everything I could for her. Once I got fired, I thought maybe it might be time to switch to a cheaper doctor, but I hated myself for even thinking it. This was my mom, my only family. I would have given up everything for her to continue to have her best chance at recovering.
“Your mother must be one hell of a woman to have raised a daughter like you,” he murmured.
Now that was very high praise. It would be the perfect opportunity to ask him about his own mother.
Except he continued talking.
“I don’t know how you feel about this, but because of the guy approaching you…” He glanced away, but I saw his jaw tighten and his hands curl into fists. He hated that I had been accosted, and something inside of me shifted.
“What did you do?” I whispered. Had he hunted down the man and killed him? What would I think if he had? What if that man came back and wanted to send another message to Andrei — this time not with words but my dead body?
“I gave your mom a chauffeur as well as the nurse.”
“Chauffeur or bodyguard?” I asked pointedly. I didn’t know how to feel about this latest development. While I appreciated the gesture, I hated that there might be a need for my mom to have the bodyguard.
He had smiled widely at that. “Both in one.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“Don’t worry about it. And…I won’t keep you from your friends either,” he added.
That had surprised me. Twice now, he had shocked me. “You know about Stacy?” The moment I asked, I felt silly. Aleksey had probably mentio
ned me, and if he had, he probably hadn’t said anything good about me…or about Stacy for that matter considering he had dumped her. But if that had been the case, why had Andrei given me a chance? Why had he agreed to me being his surrogate? And did this mean that if Aleksey had a role in my getting this position, I shouldn’t hate him like I did? It was so strange. I had been so against Aleksey for Stacy, but here I was, with Andrei. Well, not in a real relationship with him.
Real enough for me to need a bodyguard.
Real enough that I needed to guard my heart.
