Besting the Billionaire

by Alison Aimes

  Lily’s nails dug into his palm. “And?”

  “And, sadly,” said Morales, “those idiots have been holed up in Cuba, spending money they don’t have on drugs, booze, and women. Paul’s hiding out from creditors, and Don is doing his best to avoid his wife and her divorce lawyers, who somehow got wind of his wandering hands. My source says they’ve raised about a hundred toasts to your demise, but that’s the extent of their planning. There’s no money trail or communication linking them to the attacks. Not even a whiff of tantalizing evidence to suggest it—and we’ve dug through everything they own.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. They’re not the ones behind the attacks.”

  “Damn it. Then who the hell is?” The fear and fury Alexi tried continually to keep at bay surged almost out of control. He hadn’t been able to keep Anastasia alive. He was damn sure going to protect Lily.

  “It’s okay.” A soothing hand landed on his chest. “We’ll find out, but for now I want to concentrate on meeting the extraordinary woman who raised you. I want to focus on the good, not the bad.”

  He let out a breath, shoving the fury back down where it belonged. “You’re absolutely right.” Ignoring Morales and his scowl, he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckle. “Let’s do this.”

  Lena’s eyes were closed when they entered.

  His heart squeezed.

  She looked even more fragile than at his last visit. Her skin tinged with a gray that reminded him of the snow-capped mountains near their home, as if she was preparing even now to return there.

  “Lena?” He moved closer, his hand slipping from Lily’s as she remained by the door. “Are you up? I came to check on you. See how you’re feeling?”

  Her eyes flared open. “Not dead. That’s how I’m feeling.”

  Typical Lena humor. He forced a smile and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her pale cheek. “Not dead is a good look on you. Keep it up.”

  “I’ll do my best.” Her playful gaze slid past his and she gasped, her spine curling into the mattress as her heart monitor blared. “What’s she doing here?”

  Even knowing all he did about her past, the vehemence of her reaction surprised him.

  “She’s here to talk.” He swiveled around and held out his hand to Lily.

  “I don’t want to talk to her. I don’t want to have anything to do with her.” Lena’s voice had gone high. “I—I don’t feel good.”

  The heart monitor shrieked faster.

  He spun around. “Lena, calm down. She’s come to hear your side of the story. To see if we can figure out a solid compromise.”

  “There is no compromise.” She clutched her heart, her eyes fluttering closed. “How dare you? I thought you were grateful. But you set me up.” She turned away, her body trembling. “You abandoned me, too.”

  The sane, logical part of him knew this was an overreaction.

  But her words, similar to his own doubts, much like those Anastasia had once hurled at him, had an impact nonetheless. “I haven’t abandoned you.”

  “Pizdobol. You’re just like Russell Winslow,” Lena shrieked, her hysteria only growing. “Taken in by a pretty face. By the same pretty face. Choosing her over me and Anastasia. I thought you were different. But you’re not. You’re not at all what I thought.”

  The door slammed open. Lena’s nurse and orderly charged through.

  “Move back, please.” Tim’s voice was tight. “We need to access the patient.”

  The monitor shrieked louder.

  Alexi backed up.

  A soft touch at his shoulder startled him.

  “She’s going to be okay.” Lily’s gaze was wide with alarm. Probably an exact reflection of his own. “I’ll go. You stay and be with her.” She slid her palms upward and framed his jaw. “She doesn’t mean what she’s saying. She’s just afraid.”

  He blew out a breath, some of the tension leaving him. “Thank you.”

  She gave him a slow smile. The same determined one she’d given him when they realized neither Don nor Paul were her attackers. “We’ll get through this. She will, too. We’re fighters. Nothing else is acceptable.”

  Just like that, it hit him like a two-by-four to the head. He loved her.

  She was everything he’d ever wanted and never knew he needed.

  A woman able to stand by his side. A woman who wouldn’t give up on life when things got tough. A woman who could handle his strength and return it tenfold.

  She was a warrior, a scrapper, a fighter, and best of all, she was his.

  He grasped her hand, the words burning in his chest, not right for the moment, but never more certain. “You’re right. We’ll work it out. We won’t let it be any other way.”

  Rising on tiptoes, the woman he’d underestimated from the start pressed her mouth to his in a soft kiss. “Just remember. You’re nothing like Russell. You’re more than enough. I should know.”

  Then she was gone.

  And he was left with the nurse Meg, the orderly Tim, and Lena, all of whom glared at him as if he was the worst kind of traitor.

  Still, a weird sense of peace flooded through him.

  All because of a woman he’d met at the wrong time in the wrong place who made everything right.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Lily’s feet pounded the pavement, her pace a grueling one, as if she could somehow outrun the look of hate on Lena’s face or the torn expression on Alexi’s.

  It had been hours since the disaster at the hospital, and Alexi had texted several times, but things still weren’t good. Lena was still close to hysterical and refusing to talk to him.

  Plus, if that wasn’t enough to contend with, now that Paul and Don Pierson had been located and interrogated and were no longer the main suspects, the police had returned their focus to one man in particular. The one man with the most to gain from her resignation as CEO: Alexi Kazankov.

  “You training for the Olympics or something?” The wheezing sound of Ted’s voice had her slowing down.

  Rob, the guard who usually accompanied her, was sick. Five paces in, it had become clear her new running partner wasn’t much of a jogger.

  “Whoops.” She shot him an apologetic grin—or as close to one as she could muster under the circumstances. “Sorry about that. No Olympics this year.”

  Unless they were awarding a medal in outrunning her problems.

  I could so win that.

  What she couldn’t do was wrap her head around who could be behind the attacks if it wasn’t Paul or Don Pierson…

  The wheezing at her side increased.

  “You okay?” She took another look. Her running partner wasn’t much older than her, but the bulk of muscle beneath his T-shirt suggested he might be more of a weight man than cardio kind of guy.

  “Stitch…left side.” His hand dug into his side as he loped forward. “No worries…it will go away.”

  She slowed her pace. “Are you sure? We could walk.”

  “No.” He waved her on. “All good.”

  But two paces later, he was listing more to the side, his breathing narrowed to a troubling hiss.

  “Why don’t you rest for a second and then catch up?” she offered. “I’ll just run to the end of my route and then circle back. It’s less than five minutes.”

  “No need. I—” He stopped short. Bent over. And heaved up his dinner—inches from her sneakers.

  “Yikes.” She leapt to the side, her own gag reflex kicking in. “You okay?”

  “Go, go.” He groaned the words, his hand waving her on as he heaved again. “Just…need a…moment.”

  Full of pity, she sped up. “No worries,” she hollered over her shoulder. “Take as long as you need. I’ll just loop up a ways and then come back. Give you time without an audience.”

  A few feet away, the air felt fresher, cleaner. She drank it in as she picked up the pace, making her thighs burn.

  Poor guy, but he’d be okay. She’d give him a sec
and then circle back and call for a car. Some fluids and bed rest and he’d be as good as new.

  But what about her? How the heck was she supposed to fix her mess?

  “You were warned, bitch.” Out of nowhere, the menacing rumble rolled across her spine, accompanied by the pounding of shoes—moving way faster than her own. “Resign now or it will get worse.”

  She whipped her head around, but it was too late. Something solid hit her back. Stealing her breath. Launching her forward.

  She landed hard on her hands and knees. Her palms not quite enough to slow her body’s momentum, her chin bouncing on the curb.

  A gasp of pain escaping, she scrambled onto her ass—in time to see a broad-shouldered figure in black, one who looked all too familiar, sprinting away, his form quickly swallowed by the darkness.

  Then she saw the spilled file on the pavement. She’d been so caught up in her own fall she hadn’t even heard her attacker throw it to the ground beside her.

  Fingers trembling, she slid the top paper out. Then the next. And the next. Bile burned at the back of her throat.

  Copied police reports from her arrest. The mug shot from her time in jail. Francoise’s hospital records. Fragments from the weakest, most pathetic time in her life.

  It didn’t take a genius to understand the message. Resign or these would be sent to the press and the board. Resign or everything she’d spent her life trying to erase would be exposed forever.

  Her gaze caught on the logo stamped on the flap of the file. Kazankov Industries.

  No wonder the file was thorough. There was only one man who always did his research to such an extent.

  The world spun—and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place as her heart crumbled at her feet.

  For the first time since this whole mess began, she knew who was behind the attacks.

  She’d seen her assailant when she visited Lena.

  Any hope she and Alexi could work things out vanished.

  Chapter Thirty

  “Where is she?”

  Lily’s head popped up, her eyes going wide.

  The deep roar was audible even through the closed office door. “Get the fuck out of my way.”

  She slammed her finger down on the intercom. “It’s okay. Let him through.”

  She’d hobbled back to her security guard after picking herself off the ground and, together, they’d called for a car. Ted had wanted to call the police. She’d refused, determined to keep the whole mess as quiet as possible.

  Apparently, though, keeping something like this from Alexi Kazankov was impossible.

  She was still a few feet away when the door banged open.

  “Are you okay?” Two large hands closed around her forearms, the soothing faint scent of oak and cinnamon surrounding her as his mouth pressed to her temple and he breathed deep.

  Despite everything, her stupid heart fluttered. “I’m fine.”

  “When I heard…” He held tighter. Without her heels, he towered over her. Made her feel safe. Protected. Cared for.

  Because that was kind of man he was. One who guarded and defended and did whatever needed to be done to make sure those he cared for were safe.

  That knowledge hurt a heck of a lot worse than a couple of skinned knees.

  “Really. I’m fine.” She pressed her palms against the hard steel of his chest and pushed—too hard—her ass hitting the edge of the desk, knocking her off-balance.

  She wasn’t ready. She’d thought she’d have more time to steel herself.

  Still, it was now or never—and never wasn’t an option. “You need to go. Guards talk.”

  “These won’t.”

  She tried to move away.

  His hands landed on either side of the desk, caging her in. “What’s wrong?”

  She cleared her throat. Fought to remain unaffected. “You can’t intimidate everyone into doing what you want.” Not what she should have said, but the words wouldn’t come.

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” His thumb ghosted just above her chin, his touch far gentler than she would have expected, given the tension pouring off him. “Your poor chin.” His narrowed gaze dragged over every inch of her body, from her skinned knees and up, his voice husky as he asked, “Where else are you hurt?”

  The skimpy shorts and T-shirt she was wearing suddenly didn’t feel like much at all.

  She licked at lips gone dry. “Honestly, I’m—”

  “When I find out who did this, I promise they will pay. Badly.”

  “Alexi, stop.” The use of his name worked, drawing his attention back to her face. “You need to go. Now.”

  There. Done. The right words.

  He stared at her anew, his expression hardening. “Look, I know this is scary and rough—and a hell of a hit on top of what happened at the hospital with Lena earlier. But you said it yourself. We’ll get through it. Together. I’m going to hunt down the bastard who did this to you and destroy him. I swear it.”

  “No.” She held up a hand, silencing him. “Don’t make that kind of promise.” Her voice had gone brittle and sharp. “Don’t make a vow you can’t keep.” That I can’t allow you to keep.

  His expression blanked. “Are you saying you don’t trust me to protect you?”

  “I’m saying I can take care of myself. I want to take care of myself.” Weeks ago, she’d said similar words to him, and they’d been true. She’d thought she was alone. That she could only depend on herself. He’d showed her something different. Been there for her in a way no one ever had.

  Which was exactly why she was shutting him out now.

  “What’s going on?” A frown twisted his beautiful face. “Is this about what happened earlier with Lena? I know today was rough, but the idea of you and me isn’t an easy thing for her to accept. I thought you understood. Anastasia was her everything, and to see me with—”

  She held her up hand. “I understand. Believe me.” More than you know.

  Sliding to the side, she hobbled behind her desk, determined to gain some physical space—and keep herself from crawling back into his arms.

  He watched her withdrawal with narrowed eyes.

  She did what needed to be done. “You and I are not going to work.”

  “What?” The single hissed word was an exercise in control. Just like the man himself.

  “I’m done. It’s all too complicated. This…this latest mess with Lena only confirmed what I was beginning to suspect.” She forced the words out, each one more painful than the last. “You and me? It’s too hard.”

  “Bullshit.” He stormed toward her, grabbing her shoulders and hauling her close. “You’re not someone who just gives up. You love me. I know it. Just like I love you.”

  Her breath hitched.

  He loved her.

  It was everything the trailer trash girl from the sticks had longed for and never thought would happen.

  He loved her.

  It was more than the broken girl who’d survived Francoise and hidden away with Russell ever believed she deserved.

  He loved her.

  “I’m sorry, Alexi.” Willing away the sharp pain in her chest, she drew on every bit of hard-ass Kazankov ruthlessness she’d learned. “I don’t want you. You can’t keep me safe, and you can’t give me what I need. I’m done.”

  His hands dropped to his side. “Fuck you, Armageddon.”

  “We had a good ride, though, right?” Her voice was a rough rasp, the pain almost more than she could bear, her legs shaking so hard she could barely stay upright even with the help of the desk. “We had fun. Pushed each other to be better. I just…I just can’t be with you in the end.” The first truth out of her mouth. “It won’t work.”

  All her life had been about her own survival. Clawing and scratching her way to some semblance of control and power. Proving to all the doubters that she was worth something.

  But Alexi Kazankov had changed everything. He’d challenged her and enraged her and thrilled her and made her
a thousand times stronger than she would ever have been without him.

  It was the only reason she was able to give him up now.

  “I’m going to accept a job offer from Reid Finn and join his European firm.” She forced a smile. “You told me when we first met to travel. Now I’ll have the chance. Live life. Get my nails done. Have fun. Be free of a hostile board that doesn’t want me. The only consideration I ask is that you ensure Jim and Jessie and any other current Winslow employees are allowed to keep their jobs.”

  His gaze darkened, as if he was starting to believe. “That’s really all you want?”

  She cleared her throat. “Yes.”

  She wouldn’t get the guy. Or the job. Or the respect she’d always craved. By any measure, she was losing everything she’d ever wanted.

  But she’d never counted on love. Or what she’d be willing to sacrifice for it.

  “What about all that bullshit about never being a quitter?” He snarled. “About fighting to the end? Or even your promise to Russell? Was all that bullshit as well?

  “I’m well aware what I’m doing is a betrayal of my promise to Russell.” One more failure to add to the long list.

  “You and I were becoming a team.”

  “Turns out that’s not what I want.”

  “Because I failed Anastasia? Because you think I can’t protect you? Because that’s bullshit.”

  “You need to go.” Her voice shook. It was getting harder and harder not to tell him what she really felt.

  “I upset Lena for you. I screwed up all my plans for you.” His voice was a low hiss. “Now you decide you don’t want any of it? That you just want to take the easy route? That some sorry excuse for a businessman like Reid Finn can give you more?” The side of his fist slammed down on top of her desk, making her jump. “I can’t believe I actually thought you were something more.”

  Her heart shriveled. He was looking at her as if he didn’t know her. As if he never really had.

  She swallowed hard. “You won. Isn’t that enough?”

  “No.” His beautiful face was grim, his blue eyes dark with shadows as he backed away. “Thanks to you, it really isn’t enough anymore.”