What Alex Wants He Takes

by EM Gayle

  “I am not following you at all,” I interrupted. “What does one thing have to do with another? I’m literally a nobody, Mr. Sokolov. I don’t have money like you do nor do I care about it. And my life is not some sort of game. Although I don’t deny it is pretty messed up. But how did I start something at Ronin’s party? I wasn’t even invited. I came as a plus one with a friend from school after her date canceled at the last minute. I didn’t even know anyone else there.”

  An odd smile crossed Viktor’s face and while I had no idea where all this was leading, my gut told me it was going to be bad.

  “You do not remember Ronin? I am afraid that would be a pity since he certainly remembers you. And I’m counting on his memory to make things interesting.”

  I felt a hot flush creep up my neck and into my cheeks. I did remember Ronin. He was a bit hard to forget. Although his intensity had frightened me that night, it wasn’t until after I let him tie me up and do stuff that I began to feel that way. Not that I would tell this creep any of that.

  “I remember meeting him at the party,” I started cautiously. “He and I got a little tipsy together. I think he felt sorry for me that I didn’t know anyone since the friend I had come to the party with bailed on me five minutes after we arrived.”

  “That is all?”

  I shrugged. I was not feeding any information into this pompous asshole that he didn’t already know.

  “What difference does it make? I was there that night and still am a nobody. One person in a city of millions. What’s the big deal?”

  “You are too naïve for your own good. You met a rich man named Ronin Kavanaugh who took an interest in you and then another rich man named Alexander Woodman who also took an interesting interest in you. Did you never consider googling either one of them or both?”

  I had no idea what one thing had to do with the other. Then a thought struck me and I paused. Did this man know about the Glass Kat? Had he somehow mixed up Ronin for Jeremy?

  “Obviously there is something you want me to know. Something I’m missing, right? Why don’t you just tell me what it is so we can stop playing games? If you’re going to try to shame me for having sex with more than one man at a time, you’re wasting your time. Everything I’ve done was consensual among all parties. And the last time I checked, sex for fun isn’t illegal in America.”

  Mr. Sokolov was laughing now, his body shaking from it. Despite my words, a fair share of shame and humiliation crept into my mind to torment me.

  “I like you, Harper. You are more open-minded than most American women I meet. Most of them expect to be paid for the kinds of things you like to do.”

  My mouth dropped open and I was too stunned to shut it. He had made me out as worse than a whore. I jumped out of the chair and started to turn away when a hard grip captured my wrist and pinned it to the table.

  “I have not invited you to leave my table, Mrs. Bennett. I’d advise you to retake your seat and try to be more gracious that you are here on beautiful yacht and not in some stinky jail cell with real whores.”

  I tried to jerk my arm free, but Viktor Sokolov was more than just a pretty foreign face. He was also very strong and I couldn’t budge his grip. With the renewed realization of my predicament and the stab of fear that brought on, I sank back into my chair.

  “What do you want?” I asked. “Am I supposed to sit here quietly while you insult me? Is that what this is for? Or do you have a point?” I knew I shouldn’t taunt him, but I couldn’t help it. I might actually prefer death than to sit here and do nothing.

  “I want you to use your brain. According to your test scores you have good one. But I see no other evidence of that. You let smart mouth and big dick rule your world. In my experience it is not a good combination for a good woman. Not that I have any objection to a woman who enjoys what she enjoys.”

  I sat there feeling thoroughly confused and offended. One minute he was taunting me with clues for a game and the next he was inferring that I was a good woman. Did he have a sanity issue? Because I was beginning to wonder.

  “Why do you have so much information on me? I don’t understand your interest.”

  Viktor laughed and the sound scraped down my spine with annoyance. Maybe if he wasn’t a creepy, kidnapper everything he said and did wouldn’t bother me so much.

  “Would you care for breakfast?” he asked, waving his hand to someone behind me.

  Before I could answer, a waiter appeared at my side with a pitcher of orange juice. I wanted to say no, but after throwing up earlier and my stomach still feeling a little unsettled I decided turning it all away now might not be the smartest idea.

  “Yes, please.” I lifted my glass to the waiter, who filled it three-quarters full.

  “What about food, ma’am? We have a buffet here in the room, but the chef in the kitchen is also equipped and ready to make anything you desire.”

  As much as I kind of wanted to test that out, I chose my weak stomach over my need to rebel. “Just some toast and plain scrambled eggs please.”

  The waiter nodded and disappeared.

  I turned my attention back to Viktor to find him studying me. “What?”

  “I am looking for what has two men tied up in knots and that will cause a big fight soon.”

  I scrunched up my face. “I still have no idea what you are talking about. Is this some sort of language barrier thing? Your English is quite good, but maybe some words are mixed up?”

  His grin returned. “You are beautiful,” he said, ignoring my questions again. “And obviously smart in all things except men.”

  “Isn’t that the truth,” I groaned.

  “Do you hide your name and your past because you fear jail, Harper?”

  I nearly spit out my juice at his latest insane question.

  “Are you going to tell me how you know so much about me?”

  He shrugged. “Investigation. When I saw you on boat at my party, I remembered you from birthday party with Ronin. It made me curious. So investigation. Now I know you are weakness and that makes me want to play the game.”

  “What game? There is no game.”

  “Of course there is, Harper, you just did not know it. Now I get to control it.”

  As my scrambled eggs and toast were delivered to the table, I tried to wrap my head around how I was involved in some sort of game that apparently had something to do with Alex, Ronin, me and now Viktor.

  “What kind of game?” I asked, forking a small sample of eggs into my mouth as I waited for his answer.

  “High stakes, of course. The best kind.”

  “And is it dangerous?”

  “Life is always dangerous, Harper Allison. You should know that by now. You were married to a man who reveled in danger apparently. I would have liked to draw him in as well. But with Ronin and Alexander involved, the violence will be quite high. And now that you are here with me… I will just say that I expect some level of bloodshed to occur.”

  The casual way Viktor spoke of violence and blood left me unsure what to think or how to react. Would he really be this nonchalant if he expected something horrible to happen? Although there were men with big guns onboard, so he was prepared for something.

  “Does this game have a name?” I took another bite of my breakfast because oh my God Viktor’s chef was an egg miracle worker. These were amazing.

  “Of course it does. It is a classic that goes all the way back to ancient times. Good versus evil. Evil versus evil and so on.”

  “And?” Viktor’s unmistakable flair for the dramatic was making me nervous.

  A wide grin spread across his face. “Harper dear, we are playing Brother versus Brother. Isn’t that obvious?”

  Chapter 6

  Harper

  * * *

  My fork froze in mid-air as the words Viktor uttered seeped into my mind.

  Brother vs. Brother?!

  What the ever living hell was he talking about?

  Something inside me broke a
nd my utensil clattered against the plate. My food forgotten, I wrapped my arms around my waist and fought against old feelings of betrayal that never went completely away.

  Bill Bennett had seduced me, because I had let him, and then I’d fallen in love. Not knowing that nothing he’d ever said to me was true. The man was an unbelievable con artist and I’d fallen for every lie he ever told.

  Anguish tore through me all over again, sending me back to that tiny apartment in a small town where I’d been humiliated. I was a pawn then and apparently, I was meant to be a pawn again.

  “Are you saying that Alex and Ronin are—” I couldn’t say the word. Because I couldn’t comprehend what it meant or how I might fit into this game they all played.

  “Da. Yes. Ronin Kavanaugh, the man who ate your pussy until you screamed his house down is brother to Alexander Woodman, your current lover whose collar you wear. Exciting, yes?”

  My fingers reached for the necklace I wore at my neck. It wasn’t supposed to be a collar, but we both had known what it meant. Alex owned me and he wanted every Dominant I came across to know it. Including his brother.

  “I still don’t understand. It’s just a coincidence that I met Ronin before Alex. I didn’t even know who they were, so how could I have planned it?”

  “It wasn’t you who planned it, dear Harper. You are the unsuspecting pawn. But like any game in life, there can only be one king in the family and Alexander and Ronin will fight to the death to prove it. In any way that they can. It just so happens that pussy is the ultimate leverage, especially when it belongs to a woman both men crave.”

  I shoved back from the table and tried to stand, but my legs tangled and I stumbled to the ground. Someone rushed to my side and offered me a hand that I pushed away.

  I could feel the tears building behind my eyes and I was trying to fight them with everything I had. I had seen the pleasure in Viktor’s eyes as he tore my world apart. I wasn’t about to give him more by allowing him to see my tears.

  “You are a bastard. Why are you doing this to me? If and I do mean IF any of this is true, why drag me all the way to the middle of the ocean at gunpoint and drugged to tell it to me? You could have just as easily ripped us apart in New York.”

  “No. No. Not enough. High stakes game, remember? That means boys must race to find you as they both imagine all the vile things I could be doing to your beautiful body. You see, that is the thing. They think they know me, but they do not really. So they will imagine finding your broken, raped and likely tortured body aboard my ship. They will plot my death as well as each other’s because neither will be able to figure out which one I planned this with. They will blame each other and then they will blame you. Then what will you do? Who will you trust? Neither will believe a word you say and Ronin, well, he is violent man. He will kill everyone.”

  I shook my head. This was insane. I had no other way to describe it. “You are wrong about one thing, Mr. Sokolov. Neither one will care about what happens to me. I had one night with Ronin and I never heard from him again. There is nothing between us. And as for Alex. Maybe you should have had your men ask me what I was doing standing on the street staring up at Alex’s building.” I fingered the necklace at my throat again. “Both you and I have made a horrible miscalculation about Alex Woodman. He doesn’t care about me either. At least not in the sense that you think he does. I know that for certain because I’m the dumbass that dared to use the word love.”

  Viktor chuckled as he stood from the table. “I never said this was about love, naïve girl. And maybe if you survive this, Viktor Sokolov will have taught you important lesson. Stop trying to find love. You should seek power.” He walked up to me and grabbed my hair to tilt my head back until I was looking up at him. “Pussy is power, not love. You could have had it all right between your pretty lush thighs.” With that, he released my hair and walked away. “I will leave some of my men for your protection, but I can make no promises. Brothers have bad blood between them. Not all will survive.”

  I sat dumbfounded as I watched Viktor disappear from the grand and expansive pool room. I felt like I should have said something more to stop him, but I couldn’t comprehend his game let alone what questions might give me answers. If he would even answer.

  Prick.

  I got back on my feet and surveyed my surroundings. In this room alone, there were four armed men keeping guard. And I imagined many more throughout this godforsaken yacht.

  Was this really what incredible sums of money did to people? Because Viktor was straight up crazy. I took a seat back at the table because I didn’t know what else to do. How could Alex and Ronin be brothers? They had different names, they looked nothing alike and neither one of them had made a single mention of a brother.

  Shortly after Victor left, I heard a low whining sound. It gradually grew louder until the dishes on the table began to vibrate. I surveyed the room for any signs, but in an enclosed space I could see nothing.

  “What is that?”

  I’d asked the question out loud, but it didn’t surprise me that no one answered. My guards were not talkative. I pushed back and ran for one of the big windows at the back of the room that looked like it might see out over part of the ship instead of the ocean.

  Wind whipped around the exterior as pillows flew across the outdoor deck and plants toppled over.

  “Is it a storm?”

  I flung open a door and immediately heard it. It was definitely not a storm. It was the distinct thwap thwap sound of a helicopter that moments later flew from the back of the ship.

  “Was that Mr. Sokolov?”

  I did remember reading that his yacht had its own helicopter landing pad. Was he leaving? Is that how he played his fucking games? Just set the trap and then run like a scared jackrabbit?

  I take it back. He wasn’t a prick.

  He was a mother fucking douche.

  It seemed I’d been left alone in the middle of the ocean with armed men to wait for this dumb game to play out. Well, fuck that. I was tired of being a pawn. Bill had used me as one. Then apparently Alex. And maybe even Ronin although I had no idea how. But the fucking cherry on top of this whipped cream shit show was that a goddamned Russian billionaire just thought he could kidnap, drug me and then leave me to die.

  Fuck that.

  Chapter 7

  Alex

  * * *

  He had to give props to Gerard. He’d pulled together one hell of a team in just a few short hours. His intelligence resources had gotten a hit on the GPS of Viktor’s yacht and they were currently headed in that direction to find Harper with a team of private security, all with the specialized military training they needed for this type of infiltration.

  If he didn’t fear Harper’s life depended on the success of this mission, he’d be soaking up this experience and enjoying the hell out of it. Every soldier was decked out from head-to-toe in dive gear incorporated with the kind of high tech equipment usually only the military had access to.

  Having an unlimited budget for this operation certainly got things done. Now they had to get there before it was too late. Although he refused to believe they were too late. Ronin was a lot of things, even a killer, but he doubted that he intended to harm the woman who’d caught his attention to the point he’d searched for her.

  Speaking of…

  “Gerard, we hear anything further about the investigation into Harper?” They’d gone back to the investigative team and demanded more. Whatever it took. And as per their request he had Gerard provide them with her fingerprints.

  “Yeah, I think so. I got an email notification a couple of hours ago, but have been too busy to look into it. Forwarding it to you now.”

  Alex frowned. It wasn’t like his head of security to let anything wait. Especially something this important. What if they were wrong and her background had something to do with her being taken.

  When he pulled out his phone he took note that Ronin had still not responded to any of his calls.
His gut told him that was by design. Whatever he and Viktor were up to they did not want to be found. Phone calls were too easy to trace, as were emails.

  He pushed those thoughts from his mind and pulled up his secure network that only he and Gerard had access to. He opened the email and began to read.

  The first line gave him pause. That was where her full name was spelled out along with marital status.

  Harper Allison Conrad Bennett, age twenty-six, married at age eighteen, although not legally.

  Alex shoved his hands in his hair and blew out a hard breath. One line in and already his gut was so tight it cramped.

  Married. His Harper. That was definitely something she should have informed him of.

  Half a page into the report and he wanted to fucking punch someone. Ronin for sure, but now he added her would be husband.

  No. Him he wanted to hurt far more than a simple punch. That man had a death wish and didn’t know it. His fingers tightened on his phone as he imagined personally choking the life out of the scum. Someone like him did not deserve to live.

  It was a good thing he was currently in jail, although that did not make him untouchable by any means.

  He read on and by the second page he couldn’t take any more. Harper had fled her old life, disappearing without a trace because her life depended on it. And now, because of him, she was again mixed up in a life or death situation.

  “Is this for real?”

  Gerard didn’t respond. They both knew he didn’t need to. Everyone on his staff took his requests with complete seriousness. He didn’t have a sense of humor when it came to business and they all knew it.

  “She’s been through fucking hell.” He bit back the rest of his comments as he closed the email program and logged out of their secure network. Having this information weeks ago would have been helpful. He would have tightened her security and gotten his attorneys involved.