by Alexa Davis
"Anna? Max?" I called softly. "Come back! Don't leave me!"
The silence was deafening.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Max
I came to with my face pressed to the concrete floor listening to Papa and Dementyev arguing. They were circling each other as they yelled at the top of their lungs about old grudges, but I couldn't tell who had the upper hand. I didn't want to alert them that I was conscious, so I lay there trying to get a sense of where we were before I played my hand. I could see the outer walls of the warehouse, and from where I lay, I could see a long hallway that stretched out toward the back of the building. I wondered if that was where they were keeping Lexi.
I started forming a plan as first Papa, then Dementyev, moved close to me. I wasn't sure if they were planning to fight or if this was just part of their Russian drama playing out, but as I watched them circle close to me and then away from me, I knew exactly what I was going to do. When Papa circled around near me again, I quickly tapped his shoe to let him know I was conscious. He didn't bat an eye as he limped back around the circle, but this time when Dementyev circled close to me, I quickly reached out and yanked both of his feet out from underneath him, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Nu vse, tebe pizda!" Dementyev swore as he tried to regain his footing. I reached out and pulled his feet back, sending him sprawling to the ground again, before I jumped on top of him and began punching him mercilessly. He frantically tried to push me off as he threw wild punches that missed their mark. He was yelling at his men, "Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!" I landed a punch to his gut, and he gasped for air like a fish out of water.
"Stay down!" I ordered as I wrapped my hands around his neck and squeezed.
None of the men moved a muscle as Papa limped over to where Dementyev lay on the ground, looked at him, and then spit on his face as he swore, "Zhopa!" Papa moved across the room before he nodded to the men and they moved in to lift me off of Dementyev and pulled him off the floor. He had a wild look in his eyes as if he didn't quite understand what was happening.
"What the fuck is going on? Sacha! Boris! What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded as the men pulled his arms behind him and secured them with cuffs. "You can't do this to me, Malinchenko! I will not stand for this!"
"Stop your screaming, Dementyev," Papa ordered. His voice had a cold, metallic sound to it, and I shivered as I listened to him speak. "You are a blight on the earth. You are a terrible man, who has done many terrible things. I don't believe you deserve to live, but this choice is not up to me. I'm going to leave this choice up to the people you have hurt. The people you have terrorized. They will decide what is to be done with you. And, once they do, I will abide by their decision; but first, you will receive the tattoo of the krysa. Then, you will leave this city and never return. Do you understand me?"
"You sookin syn!" Dementyev screamed. "You can't do this to me! You can't tattoo me and send me into exile for your own crimes! I won't stand for it, you lying, cheating bastard! Your wife was a whore, and your son was a bastard!"
Papa calmly walked over to where the two men Dementyev had been his loyal followers were holding him. He calmly looked at the other man and he flicked open a large switchblade that I hadn't seen him carrying. The sound of the knife blade reaching its full length sliced through Dementyev's insults and my father pushed the tip against the man's abdomen as he spoke in a voice that only I knew how much anger it contained, "You will never again speak of my wife or my sons. If you do, I will slice you open like a useless sewer rat and will gut and skin you without a thought. Do you understand me, zhopa?"
When Dementyev didn't respond, Papa pressed the tip of the knife into his abdomen with more force and repeated, "Do you understand me?" Dementyev looked at my father defiantly before he spit in his face. Papa made quick work of the man's shirt, then looked the two holding him and said, "Take him to the car. Feliks will take care of the tattoo." Then men nodded and dragged Dementyev out screaming.
I looked at Papa with wide eyes, unsure of how to respond to what I knew what a show of strength that would put him squarely back in charge of the bratán. He smiled at me as he patted my arm and said, "Go find Miss Wallace and get her out of this hellhole."
I turned and ran down the hallway to the only door that was closed. I pulled it open and found a terrified Lexi cowering in a corner. She screamed, "Get away from me!" as I charged in.
"Lexi, Lexi, it's me, Max," I said, abruptly stopping and standing stock still until she could process that it was in fact me.
"Max?" she whispered. "Did you come to rescue me?"
"Damn right, I did," I said as I reached down and gathered her in my arms, lifting her up off of the cold floor. "There wasn't any way I was going to lose my best sales associate to a Russian mobster. It's really damn hard to find good help."
Lexi wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder as I walked out of the horrible cell and took her to the car. Halfway there she raised her head and called, "STOYA! Anna! Anna! Don't leave Anna behind! She saved me, Max. She found me," she dissolved into tears as she buried her face in my neck, crying, "I thought they'd killed her!"
"She led me to you, Lexi," I said. "Anna found me and showed me where you were. She'd never left you."
"Find her, Max. Don't let her stay out here alone," she cried.
I took Lexi to the car and then ran back around to the back of the building where I found the kitten pacing and chirping. I reached down, picked her up, and tucked her under my chin as she butted me with her filthy, little head. I smiled as I told her, "Lexi is going to be so happy to see you, little girl." I squeezed her a little tighter and whispered, "Thank you for showing me the way." Her reply was a purr followed by a long stream of drool as I laughed.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Lexi
Max's driver quickly spirited us back to the penthouse, where I shed my clothes and sunk into a hot bubble bath. We hadn't said much on the drive home. Instead, both of us had lavished attention on Anna who had walked between us, head butting and purring the whole ride home. Max had volunteered to bathe her as soon as we walked in the door and I'd simply nodded and headed to my room.
Once submerged in the soapy water, I let everything I'd been holding back flow. I sobbed until I felt empty and then I told myself that I had to put it all behind me and move on. I was halfway through my lecture about what I needed to do to reclaim my life and how I needed to stand on my own two feet and not expect anyone to come and rescue me ever again when Max tapped on the door.
"Lexi? I've got a glass of wine and some food for you," he said. "May I bring it in?"
"Sure, come on in," I said after checking to make sure that I was fully covered by bubbles, then immediately felt foolish. Max had seen everything already; why was I hiding?
He entered carrying a small side table in one hand and a tray in the other. He set the table down next to the tub and then slid the tray on top of it before turning and heading back out the door. His hair was wet from a shower, and he was wearing only a loose pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top. He looked more handsome than I'd ever seen him, and my heart thumped in my chest before I remembered what I'd wanted to ask him the whole time I'd been held captive.
"Max?" I called softly. He turned with a questioning look on his face. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Dunno," he shrugged. "Embarrassed? Ashamed? Afraid that you'd judge me and assume that I was one of them?"
"How could you think that?" I asked. Again, he shrugged. I waited for a few moments and then quietly asked, "How did you know where to find me?"
"Dementyev made a second video after he taped you," he said as he leaned against the doorframe looking at me. "He demanded an exchange. Vladimir for you."
"So, you brought him to the warehouse to make the exchange?"
"I didn't want to do it that way," he said. "I wanted to go in guns blazing and kill him, but my father said that's not the way things are done. He made
me adhere to the vory v zakone rules and to have honor, even where there was none."
"How did your father know that Dementyev wasn't going to just kill us all?" I asked afraid of the answer.
"My father is a smart man – brutal, but smart," he replied. "He told me the plan and I trusted that he knew what he was doing. He'd been anticipating something like this for a very long time, so he'd put pieces in play that I had no idea about. Some of the men who were working for Dementyev were my father's men, they were the ones who made sure you had food and that Dementyev didn't do anything, um, really awful."
"He threatened to cut me open and watch my blood run into the drain," I whispered as I looked up at him and sank deeper into the water. Max nodded. I could see the anguish in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Lexi," he said in a voice full of pain. "I didn't know… I didn't think…"
"Max, I don't hold you responsible for mad man's actions," I told him. "He's a sick, twisted man who had a vendetta against your father. He was going to hurt anyone who got in the way, right?"
"He did," he said. "He killed my brother."
"Oh, Max!" I cried as I quickly stood up and grabbed a towel. He looked away as I wrapped the cloth around me and moved in front of him, where I laid a hand on his cheek and said, "It's not your fault. It's not your fault, Max."
"I could have prevented it," he said, choking back a sob. "I could have saved him if I'd just been there."
"Max, if you'd been there, then you'd both be dead." I held his face with both hands and forced him to look up at me.
"But I didn't protect you," he whispered. "I tried, but I failed."
"Max, listen to me," I said as I looked up into his beautiful, blue eyes. "You did everything in your power to protect me. I fired the security guard because I was angry at you for not telling me about your background. I don't think you could have done more than what you did."
"It wasn't good enough," he winced. "How will you ever be able to trust me again?"
"Max?" I stepped closer and rose up on my tiptoes so that I was only inches from his face. I smiled as I said, "I'll trust you because…because…because I love you, and that's all there is to it."
His ice blue eyes went from hard to soft in an instant, and he looked at me utterly surprised as he blurted out, "What did you just say?"
"I said, I love you, Max Malin – Malinchenko," I said in a clear voice as I quickly kissed his lips. "And, there isn't anything in the world you can do to stop me."
"Lexi." He shook his head, but I stopped him as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again. In instant, his arms were around me as he lifted me up off of the floor and held me tightly against his chest. His smile told me everything I needed to know, but when he spoke, my heart soared. "Lexi, I love you, too. I've loved you from the moment I met you. I was so afraid that Dementyev had hurt you."
"I know, but he didn't." I looked directly into his eyes.
"You can thank your kitten for the showing me where you were," he said as a still damp Anna squeezed between us and head butted our legs, demanding attention. "She was one determined little girl."
"I know, she hopped up on the windowsill after you'd disappeared and gave me hope," I told him as I looked down at the tiny kitten that was now delicately licking her fur. Max bowed his head and pressed his cheek against my shoulder.
"I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you," he whispered. "I don't think I could have handled it."
"Max, I'm here now," I said as I cradled his head in my hands and kissed his hair. "I'm okay."
He lifted his face and looked at me before slowly lowering me to the floor. My arms were still around his neck as he gently cupped my face and bent to kiss me. The touch of his lips sent sparks shooting through my body and reminded me of all the ways in which I wanted him. His lips were soft, but insistent as he slowly began running his hands down my sides. He scooped me up and carried me to the bed, his lips never leaving mine.
Max gently set me on the bed before he peeled away the towel. I blushed as his eyes traveled across my body, taking in every inch before he looked into my eyes and smiled.
"You're so beautiful," he told me as he traced a path from my lips down to my breasts, where he slowly circled one of my nipples as he leaned down and kissed me again. He sat up and then pulled off the tank top he was wearing before sinking down on the bed next to me. He propped himself up on his elbow as he used his free hand to slowly explore my naked body.
"Max…" I said as I stroked his cheek. His response was to lean down and capture one of my nipples between his teeth and lightly nip at it. I moaned as other hand slipped between my thighs and cupped the warmth that radiated from between them. He took his time as he teased one nipple and then the other before returning to my lips and kissing me deeply. I slid my hands down the length of his long, lean body, stroking his skin as I kissed him back.
I could feel his hardness pressing against my thigh as I arched my back, pressing my bare skin against him. He murmured something I couldn't quite understand and then kissed me harder as I tugged on the waistband of his pants. He quickly withdrew his hand from its warm place between my thighs and shed his bottom layer before lowering himself down on top of me. He pushed up with one hand and gently nudged my thighs apart with his knee before lowering himself again.
I could feel his shaft resting between my slick, swollen lips as he slid up and down, coating himself in my wetness. I moaned more insistently as I spread my legs wider and reached down to guide him to the edge of my needy opening. He smiled as he hovered over me, teasing me as he slipped the tip in and then withdrew it over and over.
"Max, Max! Oh, please! Please!" I begged as I looked up at him with wild eyes. He bent down and slowly kissed me as he finally slid his entire length deep inside of me. The sensation was overwhelming and I gasped as I felt him filling me so completely. A long, low moan escaped from my lips as he buried himself in me and held completely still as he slid one hand between our bodies and began lightly stroking my clit. The delicious agony drove me to the edge of desire before I knew it.
"Max, please, please. I need it!" I cried as I felt him slowly moving his fingers over my swollen bud. He smiled, but continued playing as though he hadn't heard me. My pulse raced, and I felt the blood flowing through my veins, making my skin more sensitive and aware of his touch. Max played my body like his own personal instrument, slowly and deliberately with great care and attention to every detail. I'd never surrendered myself to anyone like this and when I finally gave in and submitted, he began moving his hips ever so slowly.
The rhythm was excruciatingly slow and I could feel him stroking my inner walls as he pulled back until just the tip of his shaft remained inside me. And, with one quick thrust of his hips, he quickly buried himself deep inside me again. I cried out as he did it again and again, feeling his length and thickness dragging across the sensitive nerve endings deep inside my body. I could feel myself becoming more and more aroused as he maintained his slow pull back and quick thrust in. I was wet and wanting, and I begged him to go faster and deeper.
"I love watching you when you're aroused," he whispered into my lips. "There's nothing sexier than your desire."
"Max, please," I said in a ragged voice.
"Please what?" He grinned as he continued his movements. I moaned when he held still for a moment. "Tell me, Lexi, please what?"
"Max," I looked into his eyes, allowing him to see the bare need in my own as I replied, "Take me, now…"
He paused for a moment, nodded, and then pushed himself up so that he was, again, positioned just at the edge. He kissed me deeply as he thrust into me fast and hard. I groaned into his lips as I felt him quickly push in and then withdraw. I braced my feet against the mattress and lifted my hips to meet his thrusts and drive him deeper and deeper.
Soon, we were both moaning as our hips moved together in a rhythm that pounded out our insatiable desire. I could feel the sweat dripping off
his skin and splashing onto mine as we raced toward our climax.
"Do it, Lexi, do it," he said as he felt me begin to tighten around him. "Take it, I want to feel you let go and fly. Come for me, baby!"
His words set off the chain reaction and I let go. I could feel the wave moving through me as it spread out from my core and reached every nerve ending in my body. I screamed as the orgasm cascaded from inside to outside and I gripped Max's arms and slammed my hips up against his to try and force him all the way inside of me. I could feel my inner muscles contracting around him hard and strong as he continued his driving rhythm until he, too, pushed the limit and released. Max's groan came from somewhere deep inside of him as he thrust into to me one last time and then lay there throbbing while I pulsed around him, milking his shaft and drawing out everything he had to offer.
When we'd both reached the other side, he slowly withdrew and collapsed beside me, wrapping his arms around my now cold body. He drew up the covers and pulled me tightly to his chest as he kissed my head and whispered, "I love you, Lexi Wallace. God, how I love you."
"I love you, too," I whispered as I tipped my head up to kiss him. "More than you know."
Then, with limbs entwined, we fell into a deep, deep sleep.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Max
It was dark when I woke up, and I had no idea whether it was morning or night. I looked down at Lexi sleeping soundly next to me. She looked angelic with her hair spread out across the pillow, and when I leaned down and kissed her forehead, she stirred slightly and a small smile spread across her lips. When I thought about how close I'd come to losing her, felt a lump form in my throat and I swallowed hard to push it back down.
