AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come. We’ll talk in there.”
I lead her to the bathroom and run the shower, gently easing the robe from her shoulders, strangely proud of the marks I left on her body. I was rough, and the bruising is coming out and as I spin her around, I pull her flush against me.
“Please forgive me. It’s not every day your father dies, and I reacted badly. I didn’t mean to treat you like that, but all I wanted was to be inside you.”
“Why?” She stares at me with compassion, and I stroke her face lightly and lean my head against hers, whispering, “I don’t deal with emotion well. There is something about you, Serena Vieri, that draws me to you. Like a magnetic force that I couldn’t resist if I tried. When I heard the news, my first thought was about my mother and then you. I needed you for some reason, and that scares the hell out of me. I don’t need anyone, but I did need you. Idoneed you.”
Her eyes are wide and filled with emotion as she strokes my face and whispers, “Thank you. I thought...” She breaks off and shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter, but thank you for clearing that up, at least.”
She smiles softly, and it makes me happy, and I lead her half in the shower and place some soap on a flannel and proceed to wash her by hand.
“My father was a good man.” I start to open up to her, which again surprises me because I never talk about family—ever.
“No, scrub that. He was a great man who made billions by clever decisions and a lot of luck along the way. He was ruthless but fair and we were brought up to respect others and yet distance ourselves from emotion. Business was the only thing that mattered, and it always came first.”
My mind wanders back to my childhood, and I smile at the happy memories.
“We were a tight family. Close in age and there were five of us.”
“Your poor mom.” She laughs softly and I nod.
“It must have been hard, but she never complained. We were a happy family, we always have been, but we were brought up to be tough where it counted.”
I continue to care for her, loving the intimacy between us, and say softly, “My father had many enemies. He was too ruthless not to, and we soon learned to protect ourselves. Mikhail, my younger brother, excels at intimidation and took over the security aspect of our business. I’m sure you understand what that job involves.”
She nods. “Perfectly.”
I shrug. “He is also on his way back from Australia, so Regina has escaped death this time.”
I add with a hard glint in my eye. “For now, anyway.”
I rub shampoo through her hair and massage it in carefully and say with a hard edge to my voice.
“So, I need to keep you close. I will not send you to your destination without protection. That is why you must accompany me to my family’s home, and I apologize in advance for that.”
“I see.”
If anything, her face drops and I am compelled to say, “I can’t let you walk away from me, Serena because as it turns out, twenty-three hours is a drop in the ocean to the time I want to spend with you.”
She looks up and stares at me with an expression I can’t place and then she whispers, “Thank you for telling me that, Alexei. It means a lot. More than you know.”
I merely smile and carry on cleaning her up, my mind wandering back home, wondering if I’ll be able to cope with what will happen there.
CHAPTER16
SERENA
Alexei has withdrawn again and as we dress back in our traveling clothes, we do it in silence.
He is preoccupied and I know better than to attempt conversation. He is grieving and I suppose I would be the same and all I can do is to be here for him as he was for me. It touched me when he said he wanted to protect me. He doesn’t owe me that.
I’m still convinced I wasn’t the intended target, but that all seems like a lifetime ago now.
All that matters is getting him through the ordeal that is sure to be waiting for him and I can’t deny that I am interested in seeing his life first-hand. The Romanov dynasty. Why do I like the sound of that so much?
Our wild adventure has turned a corner and is heading in a different direction, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I was kind of counting on twenty-three hours of reckless behavior before normal life resumed.
Now it’s a continuation of that, but in a very different place. I have never been to Russia before and it kind of scares me. I don’t know why because I’m not one prone to fear anything. I suppose it’s the unknown, but at least I will have Alexei watching over me.
