"At the shooting range," I repeated.
My heart fell to my stomach. "Could they have made a mistake?"
"I don't think so," Tatiana said. "He was certain. Just be careful, okay?"
"Okay," I said. "Thanks for letting me know."
"You're somewhere safe, right?"
"The building I'm in has a security guard," I said, "I should be fine. But thanks."
"All right, we'll talk later in the week. Bye."
"Bye."
I sat there in the dark, staring at my cracked-open door, I heard more creaks.
It's just Adrian's wooden floor; I told myself although I wasn't so sure this time.
I creeped out and peered out into the darkness. Adrian’s shoes still weren’t by the front door. It was just me there.
Before I could think better of it, I was dialing Pierce's number.
He answered on the first ring. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I think so," I said.
"Sasha, talk to me."
"My friend Tatiana called me up," I said. "Said her cousin spotted Aleksi at the shooting range a couple of days ago."
"Is Adrian there?" he asked, suddenly on high alert.
"No," I said. "But he'll probably be back soon."
A long pause, then Pierce said, "I'm coming over."
"No-" I began, but he'd already hung up.
I sat in my bed, wrapping my arms around my legs and waited for him to show up.
35
Pierce
On the road, I dialed up Adrian at least ten or so times. I left messages and texts, but he wasn't responding.
He is obviously still pissed at you.
The important thing was that I got to Sasha ASAP. I weaved in and out of traffic, speeding insanely, but I didn't care. I needed to get there now.
If anything happened to Sasha…
My hands clenched on the steering wheel. No, I wouldn't think about that.
At the apartment, luckily the security guy knew me, so he let me in. Although Sasha took her time coming to the door.
She opened it, with tired eyes and a frown. "You didn't have to come."
"Yes, I did," I said. "It's not safe for you to be alone."
She said nothing to that, just opened the door and let me in.
I tore my gaze off the round, firm shape of her ass I could see through her sleep shirt. It was definitely not the time for that.
Sasha lingered in the kitchen. "Want anything?"
"I'm fine, thanks. About before --"
"It's fine," she said stiffly, cutting me off. "I’m beyond exhausted. I’m just going to go to bed. Thanks for coming."
She left me standing there, wondering what on earth I'd even been going to say.
I slept on the couch and hours later, awoke to the delicious aroma of pancakes.
With the light spilling into the kitchen on Sasha in an ivory white dress that fluttered around her knees, she looked like a vision.
I rubbed my eyes, looking around. "Where's Adrian?"
"Don't know," Sasha said, not looking up from her cooking.
"It was really shitty of him just to run off," I said. "Even if he is pissed at us. Something could've happened to you."
"He didn't know about Aleksi being in town," Sasha said. "Want some?"
She lifted the frying pan my way. "Definitely," I said.
"They’re my mom’s special recipe," she said, "Apple cinnamon. She always used to make them on Sundays after she dragged us to church. Even Adrian would live through the minister’s droning sermon just so he could get some of these pancakes. She used to make a huge amount too. Something like forty or fifty, so we’d get ten each. I’d even keep eating them once my stomach started hurting." She suddenly closed her lips tight. "Sorry, I'm babbling."
Her red cheeks were painfully adorable as she served the pancakes onto my plate.
“Don’t apologize. I like learning things about you.”
Sasha froze for a moment before a small smile played on her lips.
36
Sasha
I didn't say anything, only served some pancakes to myself. We sat down, across from each other. I kept my gaze on my plate, although I couldn't control my thoughts as easily.
What was Pierce playing at, going cold and insisting that we couldn't be together one minute, and the next telling Adrian that he didn't think it was just a fling between us?
And now, did he think I couldn’t see the way he was looking at me?
"Your mom had something great going," Pierce declared as he finished the first pancake. "These are the best pancakes I've ever had."
I smiled a little. "She'd love to hear that."
He smiled at me. I smiled back.
It felt stupid, smiling that big and wide just because of the man who was sitting across from me.
A lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t help but think back to the early days with Aleksi before he got mixed up with the Mob and we could sit and talk as easily as Pierce and I were doing.
I rose.
"Just remembered," I said. "I have some shopping to do."
"Right now?"
I finished the rest of my pancake and hurried to my room. "Yeah."
Inside my room, I quickly changed and then hurried out the door.
"Want company?" Pierce said.
"Sorry, but no," I said. "I really have to rush. Orders to finish, you know."
"Just be careful okay?” he asked.
Only once I was out the door and in the elevator was I able to breathe.
That I had acted like a complete fool was obvious. Why did I basically run away from Pierce just when things were going well? Was I that afraid of getting my heart broken again?
I shook my head, disgusted with myself for running like a coward. Just like I was doing with Aleksi.
Since I didn't have any real errands to do, I ended up just going to a movie. By the time I got back, Adrian was there with a bunch of packed bags.
"We're leaving," he said.
"What?"
"I talked to Pierce," he said, eyebrows rearing, mouth working emphatically. "I know Aleksi is in town. He could be on his way here now. We have to go."
"Your brother’s right," Pierce said, getting up.
"About most things," Adrian said pointedly and darkly, his low-browed glare at Pierce and I leaving no doubt as to what exactly he was referring to.
"Anyway, Pierce is going to drive us to a friend's house in New Jersey."
"I'm telling you," Pierce said to Adrian. "My chalet is off the grid. Remote. In the middle of the trees. It's the best place."
"We are not staying in your chalet."
"Come on," Pierce said. "Be reasonable. Do what's best for Sasha."
Adrian rounded on him with a face like a raging bull. "Do what's best for Sasha? Are you shitting me? You shouldn't even be here. I'm just letting you stay on the off chance that if Aleksi and his boys show up, we’ll at least have a fighting chance to escape or something." He shook his head, muttering to himself, "I should kick your ass.”
“Then do it,” Pierce said.
Adrian and I both looked at him like he was crazy.
“No, seriously, if that’s what it’s going to take for us to work through this bullshit, then just go ahead and kick my ass. I deserve it.”
37
Pierce
We went out to the balcony.
"It's the last time I'm going to say this," I said, "But I never meant for this to happen. I tried not to give in. And, this is gonna sound like bullshit maybe, but I really like your sister."
Adrian looked at me with skeptical brows. "Oh yeah? Prove it."
"How am I supposed to prove it?" I said. "You want me to admit that I thought once I was with her that that would be the end of it, and it wasn't? Not by a long shot? Fine, then I'll tell you that. Do you want me to tell you how many times I’ve had to stop myself from calling her up, how many times during my day I think, ‘Hey, Sasha would probably think
this was funny.’ All with a woman who I've known less than two weeks? You want me to tell you all that? You want me to tell you how, even now, with just as much as I'm afraid of your reaction and how you're going to take it, I'm equally afraid of hers?"
Adrian stared at me for a long moment, his face softening just a fraction. Then, shaking his head sadly, he said, "Damn. You have it bad brother."
"Look," I said. "I screwed up. Betrayed your trust. Okay? I know that. Right now, though, this isn’t about me. It isn't about you. It's about Sasha. You've been to my chalet. Tell me you know somewhere else that would be better and we can take her there."
Adrian was silent.
"Adrian," I said. "Come on. I don't even have to stay there with you. Just go there with Sasha. I can hire some guys to patrol. It'll be safest up there. I can stay here; call up some friends."
"We’ll go to the chalet," Adrian finally said in a flat voice. "You can come too."
Back in the entranceway with Sasha, who was packing some last-minute things, Adrian said, "I have graciously decided to allow Pierce to come along. And we’re hiring out some help for extra protection."
Sasha frowned. "And do I get a say in any of this?"
"Nope," Adrian I chorused together.
38
Sasha
"You're kidding me," I said as Adrian ushered a woman into the chalet.
He'd insisted on Pierce and me driving up with some guys who were going to help with security, while he drove himself, and now I saw why. The motherfucker brought a date. As she’d stepped out of the car, I’d done a double take.
"Tatiana?"
"I told you I had my own beau in the wings," she said with a wink.
"But, Adrian?"
"Why not?" she asked, hand on her hip. "When he heard I was in town, he quickly called me up. Now it’ll be more like a vacation and less like hiding out."
"I guess," I said dubiously.
I still wasn't sure how I felt about all of it. It was tiring, Aleksi running my life though I knew that Adrian and Pierce were just trying to look out for me.
On the car ride, Pierce and I had made pleasant enough conversation, although we’d danced around talking about the only thing that mattered, really. Us.
"Oh yes, we definitely will," Tatiana said, with enough confidence for both of us. "There's a hot tub. There's a sauna. There are satin sheets." She winked at me again, and I just shook my head.
"If you think I'm even going to be entertaining the thought of you and my brother. Yeah, just nope." I shuddered.
Tatiana laughed heartily, patting me on the back. "My dear girl, don't be silly. That ship has come and gone. Why do you think Adrian and I were so late?"
I gaped at her, just then noticing that the buttons of her blouse were in the wrong holes.
I took refuge in the room I was staying in. Pierce had wanted me to stay in the master bedroom, while he'd stay in the main guest room, but I didn't want any of that. Besides, this one was at the far end of the house, more private and far away from the others.
I sat there, forcing myself to check my phone. Lately, there'd been a spike of fear in me every time I glanced at it as if another message from Aleksi might appear at any minute. Then again, maybe now that he was actually in New York, he figured that it was best to lay low.
I swallowed. What would he do to me when he did catch up with me?
It seemed difficult to believe that the Aleksi I knew would actually harm me.
But then again, the man I been with at the end hadn’t been Aleksi. Not anymore.
I needed to remember that the man he was now was capable of anything.
The rest of the day, I kept mostly to myself. I even managed to sneak away for a nice walk in the forest.
With the fresh pine-scented air filling my lungs, the leaves gently rustling in the breeze, and birds chattering to each other in the trees, I almost felt like things were all right. Like I was as free as I longed to be.
A crunch of leaves behind me startled me, and I swung around to find Pierce standing a few feet away.
"I didn’t mean to startle you. Adrian is petitioning for a game of Truth or Dare," he said. "Just wanted to warn you."
"Warn me?" I said. "So, I can hide out here in the forest?"
Pierce shrugged and held out his arm. "As long as you're okay with having company."
I didn't take his arm. I just stood there looking at him, while he stood there looking back at me.
He shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Listen, not to sound like a broken record, but I didn’t want things to turn out like this."
I didn't say anything. There were too many different responses in my head fighting for supremacy.
A furrow of frustration appeared on Pierce's brow. "What do you want me to do, Sasha?"
"I don't know," I said simply.
His hands came out of his pockets still clenched, but one of them held what looked to be a necklace. He held it out, with a look on his face that was difficult to place. "Here."
I accepted it gingerly. As soon as I got a good look at it, I smiled. "This is for me?"
He shrugged. "I saw it in a store the other day and it looked like you.”
"Thanks," I said.
Pierce looked like he might smile. "Are you coming?" He gestured to the sky. "It's getting dark, and I'll bet that if we don't come back in a few minutes, Adrian will traipse out here to find us himself."
I sighed. "Yup. He would probably do that."
So, we went back into the house together, to find my brother decked out in a ridiculous neon-pink speedo. I averted my eyes, only to find them land on Tatiana, who was wearing a frilly one piece in the same neon pink color.
"You guys matched your bathing suits?" I asked incredulously.
"Oh no," Tatiana said with a little chuckle. "We were just laughing about that. We ended up wearing the same colored bathing suit, without even meaning to."
I managed a weak chuckle, which Pierce echoed.
"Well," Adrian said, as he got out a bottle of wine, "Are you guys gonna get in your bathing suits?"
"Just give me a minute," I said.
When I came back, dressed in my striped two-piece, I had to stop for a minute. It was a good thing Pierce's back was to me. I’d seen him naked, for God's sake.
So why was it, that it continued to surprise me just how great a body he had? He had the kind of super-toned torso that movie stars trained for months to get. It didn’t help that the face he had was just as handsome as the body.
Adrian and Tatiana were already in the tub, passing the wine bottle back and forth. When I got in, Tatiana offered it to me, although I declined.
I’d already made a drunk fool of myself enough times with Pierce, thank you very much. Not to mention that I didn't need Adrian going into overprotective, older brother mode, either.
So, in the tub, they drank, and Pierce and I kept a respectable distance away from each other, as Adrian and Tatiana chatted easily.
As much as it weirded me out, seeing my brother with an old friend, it wasn't like I could talk after what had happened with Pierce. I had to admit, watching them together, that even though it was probably just one of Adrian's epic flings, they did look good together.
They both had an easy sense of humor; quick to laugh and have fun.
"Who wants to play Truth or Dare?" Adrian said suddenly.
Tatiana bounced up and down in the water eagerly. "Ooh, me!"
Pierce and I exchanged an unenthused look.
"Do we have a choice?" Pierce asked dryly.
Under the water I felt, his foot graze along mine.
"Nope," Adrian said surely, downing some more wine. "Okay, I'll go first. Tatiana, I dare you to kiss me."
"That's not fair," she protested. Although the next second her lips were plastered on top of his and they were full on making out. Pierce cleared his throat once, then twice. Only when he got up to go, did Adrian finally tear himself away.
&nb
sp; "All right, all right. Tatiana, your turn."
"Do you want us to go, so you guys can have a private game?" I asked him significantly.
"No," he said gruffly. He was probably thinking that Pierce and I unsupervised was not a good idea either.
There was a devilish glint in Tatiana's wide-set brown eyes. "Adrian," she said primly. "I dare you to run naked around the entire chalet."
Adrian balked. "But --" he looked to Pierce. "Aren't the security guys stationed outside this place?"
"Yeah," Pierce said, smiling himself.
"What's the matter?" Tatiana said and simply. "Afraid?"
The next second my brother was stepping out of the tub, his face set and determined. "Terrified," he said deadpan. "Just watch me."
He started to pull down his bathing suit bottoms, and I looked away.
As he ran, I could see a pale figure racing around the chalet from the corner of my eye, as Pierce and Tatiana howled with laughter. Even I had to giggle a bit.
"I knew he’d do it," Tatiana said between laughter.
"That’s Adrian," was all I could say.
We heard some shouts and whoops as he ran around, maybe from the security guards as they laughed at Adrian’s antics. A minute or so later, he was back by the tub pulling on his Speedo and clambering back in.
"Whose turn is it?" I asked.
"Mine," Tatiana said happily.
"But-" I began to protest.
"I dare Pierce to kiss Sasha," she said, grinning evilly.
Adrian looked like he could strangle her.
None of us moved.
"What?" she asked, hand on her hip, meeting his murderous gaze. "You're allowed to dare me that, but I'm not allowed to dare them that?"
"It doesn't matter," my brother said through gritted teeth. "Because that’s not how the game works and it's not your turn and-"
I didn't hear the rest of what he said, because the next instant, Pierce's lips were on mine.
Oh wow. I hadn't realized how much I'd been missing them until they were there.
Men in Charge: A Contemporary Romance Box Set Page 82
