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He guides me over to one of the plaid sofas to take a seat, but he remains standing. “Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce my girlfriend, Willow.”
Heat rises to my cheeks at being introduced as his girlfriend. But that doesn’t stop me from whispering, “I thought we weren’t telling anyone?”
“Malishka, this is my inner circle. Their fathers are loyal to my father, so they are loyal to me. Isn’t that right?”
The four guys who followed us murmur their ascent and nod.
“It’s nice to meet you, Willow,” one of them says. “Alek won’t shut up about you.”
I laugh along with the guys, and though Alek doesn’t join in, his eyes glint in amusement. This group of friends is more comfortable around him than the Aristocrats, which surprises me because I thought Konstantin was Alek’s best friend.
But Alek is more himself among these college-aged friends. More relaxed.
“This is Mikhail, Ilya, Fyodor, and Oleg.”
“We’re from out of town,” Mikhail says, flashing a grin at me. “Just visiting.”
I have a feeling their fathers are Russian oligarchs who give Grigor Kurochkin money in exchange for power and influence in Andarusia. And I imagine they will pick up the mantle and support Alek when his time comes to take the presidency.
The very guys my father warned me not to get caught up with.
And yet, they don’t scare me. Alek is too possessive to let them lay a hand on me.
“So, what is the surprise?” I ask, glancing around the basement.
Alek nods his head at his friends, who disappear down a narrow hallway for a moment. When they return, I’m stunned to find they have two hostages whose wrists are tied behind their backs with rope. Black bags hang over their heads, concealing their identity.
Judging from their muffled groans, their mouths are taped shut.
They force the hostages to their knees, standing in a row behind them like buff bodyguards awaiting their command.
“Alek, what is this?” I ask though I’m dreading the answer.
Towering over me, Alek grabs my hand and bends over to place a kiss on my knuckles. “First, I want you to know that video was taken down.”
I blink, staring at him with a dumbfounded look. “Wait… what? How did you manage that?”
“I know the right people,” he says with a wink. “The entire website has been dismantled, and any trace of that video has been taken down—save for my own personal copy.”
His gaze darkens and he licks his lips, and the thought of Alek jacking off to porn starring yours truly is a surprising turn on.
One of the hostages groans again, which takes away from the charged moment Alek and I are sharing.
“Thank you,” I say. “You have no idea how much that means to me. Really.”
He places another sensual kiss on my knuckles, one which sends a thrill weaving through my body. But I glance over at the hostages behind him.
“But what does the video have to do with them?”
When he lifts his head, the wicked look on his face startles me. His lips curl up into a malevolent smirk, and whatever he has planned, it’s going to be disturbing.
“Show her their faces.” His words are directed at his friends behind him, but his vicious gaze remains locked on mine.
The bags are removed, revealing two familiar faces that make my insides curdle. The first one is Johanna, her mascara streaked beneath her wide eyes, which look at me in a plea for help. She screams against the duct tape covering her mouth.
The other is Chad—the same Chad I rode in the backseat of his pickup truck.
In Conroe, Texas.
