Latvis Security Services

by Lexie Ray

  “I tend to get a lot of publicity,” Mads said. “One must do what they can to maintain a certain level of privacy.”

  “You do look oddly familiar,” she noted. “Now, where do I know you from?”

  Mads chuckled. “That could be from anywhere. As I said, I draw attention.”

  Finding him once again within the shadows, she let her eyes drift over him in a leisurely slide.

  “I can see why.”

  Mads lifted his hand and Natasha drew closer. The second as their fingers met, Mads snapped forward. With a strong grip on her wrist, he yanked the woman deeper into the shadows. He slammed her back against the wall and crowded in until she was completely hidden within the shadows. At the same time, he placed his other hand tightly across her mouth. Her shouts were muffled against his grip. She thrashed, but there was no way she could compete with his weight.

  “Natasha,” he said calmly. “I am going to ask you a few question. I want you to think very hard before you answer.” He pulled back just enough that he could stare into her eyes, watching the glint of fear that sparked within them. “It is very important, Natasha, that you do not lie to me.”

  ***

  At the first opportunity, they all crammed into the tiny car and edged behind the snowplow as it cleared the streets. The drive had been slow and each one of them was thrumming with unused energy by the time they were finally able to get back onto a main road. Jean-Claude’s warning was still ringing within Willow’s head by the time they arrived at the airport. The flight to Russia seemed far shorter than the drive, but it was still torturously slow.

  She wasn’t the only one to be caught in last night’s conversation. Only Dwayne had been able to shake it off. Mostly because he had taken that slight of being slow as a personal affront. A split second after he had woken up, Dwayne had dedicated himself to tracking Mads down. At one point, desperate for any kind of diversion, Willow had asked him what he was working on. One minute into that conversation and she was completely lost. So, after that, she had just let him do what he was doing and ignored the rest.

  By the time they landed in Russia, another mark in Willow’s passport that hadn’t occurred before, Dwayne was ready with a wealth of information. The whole walk over to the luggage claim, Dwayne went on about how difficult Mads had made it. Apparently, Mads had a lot of aliases that he actively used and, after twisting through a whole heap of knots, Dwayne had found five such ones currently in use in different hotels throughout Moscow.

  “So which one do you think we should go for?” Gwen asked.

  “Well, that’s when I upped my level of awesome,” Dwayne declared. “See, I remembered, because I’m awesome, that Mads won’t wonder too far from his point when he’s hunting because, you know, he can be recognizable in certain circles, so he will often have room service when he’s working.”

  “That’s great,” Gwen said.

  “It is. Because I hacked into the hotel computer systems to see which ones have actually had room service.”

  “And?” Jamie pressed, his annoyance starting to show.

  “Well, four of the rooms have. It’s almost like he’s running all over town trying to throw us off. Actually, that is exactly what he’s doing. I got my hands on the security footage and he shows up in each one. He’s trying to throw me off, but it won’t work! I am better than this. He cannot break me.”

  “So which one do we hit up?” Jamie said.

  “Oh, I have no idea. All of them?”

  “What?”

  “Do I have to go over how damn incredible I have been in wielding my skills as of late?” Dwayne snapped defensively as he yanked his bag off of the conveyor belt. “What I did was impressive. What have you done? Huh? How have you been helpful?”

  Jamie collected his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and smiled. “You’re sounding a little stressed.”

  “Maybe you should try meditation,” Gwen said, somehow managing to keep a straight face as she skirted her eyes towards Jamie.

  Jamie met Gwen’s eyes, barely able to keep his smile down. “Or deep breathing.”

  “I hear dancing’s good.”

  “Laughing.”

  “Neither of you are funny. You think you are, but you’re not, and you need to accept that,” Dwayne snapped.

  “You and Andrea do that all the time,” Jamie noted.

  “Yeah,” he whined. “But it’s cute when we do it.”

  “It’s really not,” Gwen said.

  “I like it,” Willow cut in. “But that being said, Dwayne, if you don’t give me a damn address soon, I’m going to climb up there and bitch slap you.”

  Dwayne’s eyebrows shot up higher and he smiled, “You’re adorable when you’re mad.”

  ***

  For all Willow had helped Mads in the past, she was starting to realize how little she knew about how he actually did what he did. It was only when Jamie handed her an electronic room key that apparently could open almost every door that she started to think about how all of his methods might be very illegal. Although, admittedly, Dwayne hacking into private businesses should have been a blinding hint.

  She tapped the slip of plastic against the side of her hand as she rode up in the elevator. A soft ping cut the silence, signaling each floor as it passed. Every time, the sound hit her nerves like a razor wire. Up until this point, she had been working on resentment and concern. But now, with the time ticking off, reality had set in. Even if she found him, even if she could keep him in one area long enough to talk to him, why would he listen? And what could she do if he ignored her?

  As the elevator door swung open, she found herself really hoping that Dwayne would be the one to actually find him. That way, he would at least have his puppy dog eyes routine to sway Mads.

  A few people shifted around the hallways but none of them paid her much attention. Mads’ room was tucked away at the end of the hall and Willow found herself checking over her shoulder with every other step. Still, no one came after her, which seemed really odd to her even as she was grateful for it.

  She slipped the key into the lock and heard it open with a soft metallic whirl. As she opened the door, images played in her head of what might happen if Dwayne had been wrong, and if she was heading into the hotel room of someone who just so happened to share the same name as the ones Mads liked to use.

  Slowly, she inched her way inside, ready to turn and run the second something went wrong. Bit by bit, she noticed the occupant’s possessions, trying to find anything that would mark the owner as Mads. There were a couple of suits hanging up with precision and a pair of well-polished shoes placed, side by side, at the foot of the bed. It wasn’t conclusive but did make her feel a little bolder as she softly closed the door behind her.

  The blinds were opened wide. Even from the doorway, she could see the city of Moscow laid out around them, the lights just starting to come on. For now, the setting sun offered enough light, flushing the sky a deep rosy pink and turning the clouds purple. Willow had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the sight. Of course, even when Mads was quite possibly going on a murderous rampage, he still traveled in style.

  Stream seeped through the gap under the bathroom door and she could hear the steady hum of the shower. It made her bold enough to duck deeper into the room, still searching for something that would assure her that she was in the right place. Her stomach twisted with both excitement and dread as she found the occupant’s wallet and searched through the card holder. She wasn’t prepared for the spark of anger she would feel at finding his driver’s license tucked into one of the sleeves.

  The realization floored her. Her knees weakened and the air rushed from her lungs as she slumped down to sit on the end of the bed. How was it that she wasn’t ready to face any of this? The few times she had taken a moment to imagine how this reunion would go, she had pictured righteous anger and maybe a few acts of gratuitous violence. But now that the moment had arrived, she only felt lost, hovering between a dozen diff
erent emotions but unable to clutch onto any of them tight enough to name them.

  The shower turned off and the sound of the water drizzled into silence. She tapped the wallet against her thigh, registering the sound but not her heartbeat speeding up as she waited. The door opened and released a large billow of steam to the room. It was still settling as Mads took his first steps out. Rubbing a towel against his hair, he left the rest of his body completely bare.

  Willow’s whirling thoughts staggered at the sight of his flushed skin and long, lean muscle. He finished scrubbing his hair and tossed the towel towards the foot of the bed. She caught it, her eyes still taking in the splendor of his naked form. It took a moment for Mads to notice that the towel didn’t land and he glanced up. His eyes locked onto her and he froze.

  “Good evening, Willow.”

  “How are you, Mads?” she said back, her voice a sharpen edge.

  “What a pleasant surprise.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Trust me, you won’t be that pleased once you’re done.”

  Mads nodded slowly and swallowed thickly. “Perhaps this is an occasion for clothes.”

  Willow maintained her glare, feeling her anger rise up at his calm demeanor. The longer he remained placid, the more enraged she became.

  “May I get dressed?” he asked.

  “No.”

  His eyebrows rose, his lips quirking just a little.

  “If you smile at me right now,” she warned in a hiss, “I will hurt you. Badly.”

  “I understand that you are upset -.”

  “Why would I be upset, Mads? Because you lied to me? Or maybe it has more to do with you going on a suicide mission when I specifically warned you about it. That you would put more stock in the words of a sadistic freak than my own? No, probably the worst bit is that you didn’t trust any of us. You have successfully pissed off all the major players in your life in one go. That takes skill, Mads. And effort.”

  “It is not so easy, Willow.”

  “Oh, it’s not? Explain that to me.”

  “I need to do this.”

  “If only you had someone who could help you. Like a highly trained team that specializes in such things. Wouldn’t that have been fantastic to employ right about now.”

  “I could not ask any of you to do that.”

  “Do you not see me right here, Mads? The only difference in your stupid plan is that I had to close down shop abruptly, again.”

  “I did not ask any of you to follow.”

  “But you knew that we would!” she screamed at him, all restraint gone. “And don’t even try to deny it. You told Jean-Claude to expect us.”

  Mads released a long sigh as he shifted his eyes to the side. “Willow—”

  “Do not,” she hissed. “Mads, if you even try to manipulate me here I will make you regret it.”

  “I am not trying to,” he assured her.

  “Bullshit.” She threw the wallet onto the bed and stood up. “You know what? I can’t do this. I’m just going to call Dwayne and let him handle you.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly with annoyance. “Handle me?”

  “Well, you obviously don’t like how I handle you,” she muttered under her breath.

  Mads was quickly in front of her before she had a chance to surge to her feet.

  “What do you mean by that exactly?” he asked.

  With a weary sigh, she rushed to get to her feet, only to have him grab her arm with fingers like metal.

  “What did you mean by that, Willow?” he said sharply.

  “Oh, come on, Mads,” she said as she pulled her arm roughly away. “I sleep with you, you ask me to stay, and then you flee the damn country before I can wake you. What exactly do you want me to do with that line up? What do you expect me to think?”

  He watched her carefully, his eyes searching every inch of her face to see a million things that she would never know that she was revealing. She clenched her jaw tightly and tried to meet his gaze with everything that she wanted him to see.

  “This had nothing to do with you, Willow.”

  “Oh, right. Of course. I now remember you putting that in the note.”

  She went to push past him and he grabbed her arm again, pulling her tightly against the wall of hot flesh that was his body.

  “Do you really think that of me?”

  “What did you expect me to think?”

  “That this was something I had to do.”

  “Right. You sleep with me and suddenly it just couldn’t wait another day. Those two things aren’t connected.”

  “Well, of course they are,” Mads snapped, his grip tightening. “I finally received a taste of a future I wanted. A future with you. With us. I had to shed my past before I could embrace it. Why can you not see that?”

  Willow’s face scrunched up and she had to resist the urge to shove him.

  “How can you not see what the hell is wrong with that statement?” Willow snarled. “If we were to ever get together, to be something, do you think that you’d get to choose what parts of me you got to accept? Which part of my emotional baggage you had to deal with and which part just wasn’t your problem? Do you hear how stupid that is?”

  She did shove him then, forcing him to stumble back until his legs hit the sofa.

  “That’s not how relationships work. You don’t get to cherry pick what parts of a person you have a relationship with. It’s all or nothing.”

  “You do not know what you are asking.”

  “Right, because you’re the only person who has parts of themselves that they don’t like.”

  “It is slightly more difficult than that.”

  “No, it’s really no,” she snapped as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.

  “Who are you calling?” Mads asked.

  “Dwayne. Like I said.”

  “Do not to that.”

  She began to hit the buttons, unable to get through the full number before Mads pull the phone out of her hands and tossed it over his shoulder onto the bed.

  “This is between us.”

  She scoffed. “What ‘us’ Mads? There is no ‘us.’”

  “Do not say such things,” he said in a low, strained voice.

  Straightening her spin, she lifted her chin and met his eyes with a steely gaze. Mads didn’t look away although his hardened resolve began to slip. She swallowed thickly but couldn’t work down the lump in her throat.

  “What do you want, Mads?”

  “You.”

  She flung her arms wide. “What does that even mean? You want me? To what? Just play along and slip into your bed whenever you have in itch?”

  “Of course not,” Mads snarled.

  “Well, let’s have a look at the evidence, shall we? You don’t tell me when you make a drastic decision that affects both of us. You don’t put any stock in my opinion. You don’t trust me as much as you trust my psychotic ex. You think a note is an okay means of telling me that you left the country. Yeah, I’m not letting that go. Did I mix anything up? What exactly do you see ‘us’ meaning?”

  Mads’ jaw clenched. “I had to do this alone.”

  “No, you did not. You chose to.”

  She tried to push past him to grab her phone and Mads shifted to block her. Frustration and pain rose up within her and she pushed harder against him. Still, he held his ground, leaving her pressing into his solid form. His arm wrapped around her, enclosing her in a tight hug. She squirmed back and he tightened his grip, pressing his face deep into her hair.

  “Please, Willow.”

  His hands cupped the back of her head, coaxing her to look up at him, to meet his pleading eyes.

  “I am sorry,” he whispered as he lightly scattered kisses against her temple. “Please, forgive me.”

  “See, you don’t mean any of that.”

  “I do,” he promised as he folded himself around her, his touch growing desperate and needy. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  With each touch and
passing caress, each brush of lips and whispered breath, Willow felt her resolve slipping away. Clinging tightly on the last shreds of her hands she wrenched back and glared at him.

  “You’re not stupid, Mads. You wouldn’t have thought that I’d be sleeping when you got back.”

  “But I had hoped you would still be there.”

  “You had thought you could lure me back no matter what you put me through. I’ve had relationships like that before. I’ve been around men that tried to foster co-dependency and ones that tried to turn me into someone they wanted. I’m not doing that again.”

  “I will not ask you do.”

  His fingers played with her hair, tightening until her scalp tingled, and he tilted her face up to his mouth. Their lips touched and all of her anger and frustration sparked into a hungry, wanton lust. Clutching his shoulders, she drove her body against him as she pressed harder against him. Mads toppled back under the abrupt movement and landed hard against the bed. Willow eagerly followed, crawling onto him, straddling him as she lapped into his mouth. His hands slipped under the layers of clothes separating them, hungrily seeking out her skin. Within moments, his skillful hands had removed her shirt and were roaming over her back with abandon.

  “This does not get you out of this,” she muttered into his mouth, her words disrupted by his needy kisses. “I’m still really pissed at you.”

  “I understand.” His words ended with a high-pitched groan as she reached down and wrapped her hand around his hardening cock.

  He bucked into her grasp, mouth growing slack as he still tried to maintain the kiss. His trembling hands worked on the fly of her jeans, hurriedly shoving them down her thighs. She moaned against his neck as his hands began to massage her thighs, pulling her closer as he coaxed her legs wider. The solid material of the denim dug into her legs as she tried to straddle him, the effort and squirming resulting in little more than driving them both mad with the promise of contact.

  With a flash of movement, Mads rolled them over. Willow bounced as her back hit the mattress, the movement suppressed as Mads draped himself over her. His aching cock slipped along her hip, leaving behind a slick trail of pre-cum as he squirmed her jeans further down. Pushing back, he yanked her shoes off and tossed them over her shoulder. Vaguely, Willow was aware of them hitting the wall but it seemed to sound like it was coming from a world away.