Alexandr's Reluctant Submissive (11 page)

“Thank you, I am.”

Unexpected warmth softened Kostya’s normally cold expression for a moment. “Will I get to meet her at some point?”

Alex glanced at his watch with a frown, noting that it had been almost two and a half hours since he’d sent her into the salon. “Yes, she should be arriving soon.”

Luka kept his eyes on the front door to the club, his posture agitated. “How long does it take to dye a woman’s hair?”

Alex was wondering the same thing. He was getting a gnawing sensation in his stomach as time stretched on. Logically he knew his wife had Maks rabidly guarding her every move, and that this building was incredibly safe, but he wondered if he’d ever feel completely calm without her by his side. His heart began to speed up and he had to fight down a feeling of panic that urged him to go to her, now, to rescue her before something bad happened while she was out of his sight. The emotions were so powerful that his hands trembled, and he gripped them into fists. Dimitri caught his gaze with a questioning look but Alex couldn’t reassure him. Not when his mind screamed that his wife was about to be taken from him again.

Movement caught his attention as the front doors to the club opened and Jessica shuffled in with a wounded look on her face that had him bolting upright from his seat.

As soon as she spotted them, she schooled her features into a pleasant but strained smile and began to make her way across the room at a more normal pace. Her deep auburn hair flowed down her back in a straight sheaf and his heart stuttered at the sight of his beautiful wife. Seeing her true hair color soothed something inside of him, some jagged edge that kept poking at his heart. Memories of that glorious fire spilling over his thighs as she arched her back and rode him hard had his cock twitching. As she got closer, he noticed the little line between her eyebrows was there, a sure sign she was irritated. Maks trailed behind her, a furious scowl twisting his thin lips, and all of Alex’s internal alarms began to go off.

Before he could say anything, Luka let out a loud whoop and leapt from the table, his light-brown hair in a disarray of spikes from constantly running his hands through it. Jessica’s smile became real when Luka swooped her up, his hands at her waist as he twirled her around before giving her a huge hug. Her feet dangled off the floor as she wrapped her arms around his necked and hugged him back.

Jessica squeaked when Ivan grabbed her from Luka, placing two loud, smacking kisses on her cheeks before stealing one from her lips. She laughed and shoved playfully at his chest, her smile fading as Ivan said something to her. With a soft expression, she cupped his cheek and nodded, her gaze holding his while they spoke. It took a great deal of restraint to keep from going over there and taking her from them. Rationally Alex knew he was acting like a fool, but on some level he still felt like she could be snatched from him at any moment.

They laughed over something before Ivan set her on her feet, then Dimitri stepped in and gave her a big hug. He held up a long strand of her hair and she batted his hand away, her giggle warming Alex’s heart.

When she turned to face their table again, her titled blue eyes, glowing like neon, caught his and he arched a brow at the anger that tightened her lips and narrowed her gaze. The look she was giving him was far from happy and he could practically see the flames of her Irish temper burning below the surface of her porcelain skin.

Confused by what the hell was going on with his mercurial wife, he moved quickly to her side. She saw him coming and stepped away from Dimitri, her shoulders going back and chin up before she marched in his direction. When they reached each other, she stopped and gave him that fake smile he hated. It was all teeth, no warmth. More like a snarl than a smile.

Her voice practically dripped ice as she gave him a sarcastic, “Hi, honey.”

Not even bothering to hide his concern he said, “What is wrong?”

“Nothing.” She spit the word out at him and he was pretty sure she was grinding her teeth.

“You are upset.”

“Not at all,
darling
.”

The way she said “darling” was far from endearing, more like a curse. “Jessica, you are not being honest with me.”

“No, I’m choosing not to discuss this right now because if I do I’ll end up screaming at you in your little club, and that wouldn’t look good in front of your friends. While we were apart, I brushed up on proper
Bratva
etiquette so when Krom came for me, I’d be ready to be a better wife to you.”

“You are already perfect wife for me.” He wanted to reach for her, but with her temper up she was apt to bite him. “Please, tell me what has upset you.”

“I told you, we’ll talk about it later. You say that to me all the time, how does it feel when I say it to you?”

Lowering his voice, he stepped close enough that he could smell the unfamiliar scent of the salon’s shampoo. “I do not speak of things in order to keep you safe.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not speaking of this in order to keep from kicking you in the balls in front of your company. I haven’t forgotten the lecture you gave me about the role I need to play in public. I’m not stupid and I’m pretty sure that us fighting would not be good for your image.”

She was correct, but he was having a very hard time giving a shit who was there. Something wasn’t right and she was going to tell him, now. Before he could respond, she unclenched her jaw and turned on her heel, her voice bright as she said, “Isn’t that Kostya Boldin? He’s much better looking in real life. Kinda has that rock-star vibe going for him with that hair and those piercings.”

Maks, who’d joined them at some point, grunted. “Dimitri, get our girl a couple shots.”

Turning her anger on her bodyguard, Jessica snarled out, “I’m fine.”

“Either you go and drink, or I spank you for not allowing me to take care of those
blyads
.”

She flinched as if struck, then glared at him. “I said I’m fine and you will not do anything to those women. I’m a big girl and I can handle myself. It’ll take more than a couple catty bitches to hurt me.”

Rage filled Alex as Jessica’s lower lip trembled.

Ivan stepped between them and looped his arms around Jessica’s neck while giving Alex a look that clearly said “back off”. “Come, is time to celebrate, to drink. My wife is out with Rya right now, buying things they claim are essential to any little girl’s bedroom. Like a four-story dollhouse or maybe a pony. They did mention going to Tusya’s estate to look at his Gypsy Vanner herd. Beautiful horses, intelligent. Would be good gift for little girl. You had horse growing up, yes?”

“What?” Jessica blinked. “Uh…yeah. But horses require a lot of care and upkeep. And they won’t fit in an apartment building.”

“Do not worry, my Gia is smart. If she buy you horse, she buy you stables and workers to go with it.”

By this point they were at the table, where Jessica snatched up one of the full shot glasses and slammed it down before shaking her head at Ivan.

“What happened?” he asked Maks in Russian as they moved closer to the now empty bar. The servers were long gone, having been no doubt ushered out by Dimitri the moment he caught Jessica’s mood. Alex glanced at the armed men standing guard at the front doors before looking back at Maks.

The muscle in his solid jaw twitched and he smoothed his hand over his dark-blue tie, something Alex knew he did to help soothe his temper. “Evidently one of your ex-mistresses was there, along with a friend you had also fucked, and they talked about you. They did this in an area of the spa that men were not permitted in, otherwise I would have stopped them. Jessica tried to pretend it did not upset her, but she is a bad liar.”

Guilt assailed him at the thought of his wife hurting because of his actions. “Who was it?”

“Ulyana, and that woman she brought to your yacht with her.”

“Fuck.”

She’d been his mistress for a few months last year, but he’d quickly tired of her obvious manipulations to be something more than his submissive. A stunningly beautiful woman from an old Russian family, she’d had delusions that she could seduce him into making her his wife. Worry consumed him as he considered how catty Ulyana could be and his skin prickled as anger tightened his chest at the thought of Jessica having to endure that bitch.

“I told you to stay with her at all times. You should never have left her alone. What were you thinking?”

A conflicted look crossed Maks’ hard face as he smoothed his tie again and shifted. “She ordered me to stay out. Said I could search the rooms first, but that she would not have me ‘lurking around like a serial killer’ while she got a body wrap. We argued, but eventually she convinced me to compromise. After making sure the back rooms were secure, I gave her the privacy she needed. It never occurred to me that the women there could be a danger in more ways than one. I know I should not have left her alone, but I did not want to push Jessica. She has had much to deal with and I wanted to give her some time to process all that has happened. It is our job to protect her when she is fragile, to guard her and make her feel safe. In this, I failed.”

Alex knew his friend hadn’t really done anything wrong, but his anger was once again straining his strict control. As he struggled with the need to throttle Maks, he realized having Jessica back in his life was a double-edged sword. She brought his long-dead heart and emotions back to life, but it had been so long since he’d had to deal with them that he was becoming overwhelmed. He had to be strong, for both their sakes, and while he’d like to explode at Maks for being so unwise, he managed to keep his stance relaxed, aware of Jessica watching him closely.

“This will not happen again.”

“Do not be foolish, of course it will happen again.” Maks raised his hand, quickly adding in a hushed whisper, “I do not say that to be cruel, but it is true. There have been many women in your life, and you have not avoided sleeping with women who move in your social circles. You need to talk to Jessica about the women you’ve been with during your time apart. Be honest with her, prepare her for the inevitable bitches who will resent her, envy her. They will seek to hurt her just to fill their own empty lives, to drive you apart for the sheer spite of not being able to capture your heart. Women can be cold, cruel creatures who can eviscerate a man’s soul. Just look at my own mother.”

The thought of anyone as venomous of Maks’ mother getting near Jessica made his hands clench into fists as adrenaline fed into his bloodstream. “I will kill anyone who tries to hurt her. Male or female, I don’t care.”

Studying Alex, Maks titled his head to the side and gave him a half-smile. “While I appreciate your idea, it would be in bad form to kill off all your ex-lovers. Now, if Jessica were to want someone taken care of, I would be more than happy to help her get rid of the body.”

Alex snorted at Maks’ droll tone, the anger slowly draining out of him. “This is true.”

With a sigh, Maks shook his head, his green eyes an odd color in the blue-tinted lights, then turned slightly so he could watch Jessica. Alex followed his line of sight and his chest hurt as shame pierced him. While he knew that he had nothing to feel guilty over—he’d thought she was dead and had never loved any of his sexual partners—he couldn’t help but know the idea of him being with another woman hurt her.

He really did not want to discuss his active sex life over the past few years, but Maks was right. They would run into more of his ex-lovers and he didn’t want Jessica caught unprepared. Besides, if she’d checked on him at all over the years, she would have seen pictures of him with various women on his arm. None for more than three months, but an endless parade of women who he’d mindlessly fucked. BDSM had been the only way he could connect with a female, and even then he’d had rules set in place before he took any woman, the number one being that they must never mistake his friendship for love. Their affairs would be a mutual satisfaction of their lust between friends, nothing more, nothing less.

Somehow he had to make Jessica see that those women were his dark past, and she was his glorious future.

After doing another shot, Jessica smacked Dimitri on the arm while Ivan roared with laughter at something his brother had said. He studied his wife’s face, the fall of her hair, the ways she’d changed yet still remained the same. When their gazes met across the bar, her smile slipped a little bit and she lifted her chin, blatantly snubbing him to the point that Maks chuckled.

“It is nice to see that she still has her strong spirit.”

Turning back to the table, Jessica nodded as she listened intently to something Kostya said. Whatever the other man was talking about irritated Ivan and Dimitri, but they didn’t interrupt the young Boldin heir. When Jessica snarled something at the other man, Alex was at the table before anyone else in the room could twitch, hauling Kostya out of the booth by his shirt.

“Alex!” Jessica shouted in a shocked voice. “What the hell are you doing?”

When Alex looked over at her and saw her staring at him with fear, he immediately dropped Kostya, who jerked at his suit while holding his hand up to his bodyguard, who had materialized from the back corner of the room. “What did he say to you that made you jerk back like that?”

Her lips narrowed and that familiar determined look came over her exquisite face. Without regard to his size, she shoved at Ivan’s shoulder. “Move. I need to have a word with my husband.”

Barely hiding a smirk, Ivan moved out of her way with an elegant bow. She ignored him, her angry attention totally focused on Alex. Without raising his voice, he said, “I want everyone out. No one comes in until I give the all clear.”

Maks’ smug look would have normally been enough to irritate him, but his attention was totally captured by the ethereal creature clenching her fists as she stared up at him. “You have anger management issues.”

The hard tips of her nipples pressed against the fabric of her shirt and he didn’t care if they were stiff because of arousal or anger, either way it made his blood rush through his body, a heated wave that awoke the beast inside of him that was ravenous for her.