Alexandr's Reluctant Submissive (9 page)

“I did not,” he whispered back.

She had to close her eyes for a moment from the heartbreaking intensity of his gaze, a choked sound escaping her, and was saved from further embarrassing herself by the elevator dinging at their floor.

Rya’s eyes were suspiciously wet as she wiped at their corners, and Dimitri’s face might as well have been carved from granite.

Maks was waiting for them outside the elevator and she blushed when he winked at her, but was relieved that he wasn’t giving her that hot stare that made her antsy.

Rya began to talk in a fast, excited voice. “Okay, so I wasn’t sure what to do for Tatiana’s room, but the girl is set for clothes for like the next ten years. I went shopping with Gia, that’s Ivan’s wife, and a couple of Alex’s cousins. Alex…well, Alex is the first one among our group of close friends to have a child so we might have gone a little crazy. Anything that you don’t want, please let me know, I won’t be offended if something isn’t to your or her taste. There are a couple shelters in the area that could use whatever you don’t like, so nothing will go to waste.”

They reached a set of black double doors with curving steel handles and what looked like a thumb pad next to the door.

Catching the direction of her gaze, Alex said, “We will set you up in the system later. Right now I want to show you our home.”

To her surprise, Dimitri and Rya stayed in the hallway. With a small smile, Rya tugged on Dimitri’s hand. “Well, we’re going to, uh…do some stuff that we have to do. It’s been so nice meeting you, Jessica, and I cannot tell you how happy I am that you and Alex are back together.”

“Thank you.” She barely got the words out before Dimitri snatched her up into another huge hug.

He released her then pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Do you think I could meet my niece tomorrow?”

“Only if she’s not too tired,” Rya quickly added. “I know how cranky kids can get during travel and she’ll probably be wiped out.”

“I think she would love to meet you, but Rya’s correct, she might need a day to settle in after all the excitement.”

Alex began to slowly close the door. “Goodbye, Dimitri. I need to make love to my wife, so fuck off.”

It shut on their laughing faces while she turned to scold Alex. “That was rude.”

The words died in her mouth as she caught sight of the short double staircase leading up to what looked like a huge sitting area with an amazing view of Moscow through the floor-to-ceiling windows. One wall was dominated by a large bar with elegant white cloth and black wood chairs, along with two huge and comfortable-looking sofas, which had been set up on a giant Persian carpet. The sitting area was separated by some neat-looking curved black coffee tables inlaid with strips of white. The room managed to somehow be modern and inviting, something probably achieved with the help of a killer interior designer and an unlimited budget.

“Holy moly,” she murmured and held Alex’s hand, pulling him with her as she walked up the stairs, taking in the artwork tastefully adorning the open space, the sculptures on the low coffee tables, and all the delicate things an active little girl would accidentally destroy.

She bit her lower lip, trying to figure out how to approach the need to child-proof his home.

“Alex, this is all so beautiful, but…”

“You do not like? We have other options if this does not please you.”

She turned to find him studying her and knew she was doing a shitty job of hiding her apprehension. “No, no, it’s magnificent. It’s just that there are so many…fragile things. I-I’m afraid Tatiana might break them. I’d try and keep her out of this room, but there really isn’t anywhere to put a baby gate on those big stairs.”

He took a step closer, crowding her with his body. Alex was like a massive tiger, all muscle and bulky grace. He gently cupped her face then rubbed his firm lips against hers. “I will have anything removed that could be a danger to her. I do not give a shit if she destroys every inch of this home, it is just things, but I do not want her hurt.”

It was hard for her to let go of the habit of being the only one who could protect Tatiana. She battled with the need to double check the rest of the house, but then caught sight of the eight-foot-tall bulletproof glass barriers going up around the porch. They would still get fresh air from above, but would be surrounded on all sides. Alex had said that special glass could withstand a direct RPG attack, but she’d rather not experience that fact firsthand. The panels were massive and she wondered how he’d gotten this done so quickly. Then again, if this apartment was anything to go by, Alex wasn’t hurting for money. If he just sold the modern art masterpieces scattered about he’d be set for a couple lifetimes.

His fingertips brushed her cheek. “Come, sit. As I have promised you, we must talk.”

Shit. Part of her wanted to just ignore the outside world and live in a little bubble of ignorant bliss with Alex. That was kind of how their marriage had been and she wondered if she was falling back into bad old habits or if she just naturally felt comfortable with Alex making the majority of the decisions in their relationship. Either way, if he was attempting to be honest with her, she needed to pay attention.

After they sat together on the damask couch facing the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over Moscow, she picked at the bright red-and-blue throw blanket on the curved back of the couch. “Okay, what’s going on? Why did you drug me? What was that ambush about?”

“I drugged you because my uncle Petrov has made a…change in his will.”

“Is that supposed to make some kind of sense to me?”

His gaze darkened and he gave her that “irritated Master” look that instantly had her nervous. “If you will listen, I will tell you. I was not finished.”

She pantomimed zipping her lips and he shook his head with a smile.

“I have missed your impertinence.” Taking her hand in his, he tugged her closer until she was almost in his lap. “It was well known that my uncle Petrov’s son-in-law was going to inherit the Dubinski
Bratva
, but he was shot in the head yesterday and is slipping in and out of a coma.”

“Oh no! Is he okay?”

“Will probably make full recovery in time, but is no longer fit to lead the Dubinski
Bratva
. That means there will have to be a new successor to my uncle’s empire, and there are many of my friends and associates being considered for the position. Petrov never had any sons, only daughters, and the youngest is unmarried. Even if she were married to suitable man, she has expressed a desire to stay as far away from the
Bratva
life as possible.”

“So what does this have to do with you?”

“My uncle has requested me at his side as part of his council for choosing his heir. Timing is bad, I want to spend every moment I can with you, but I cannot refuse this. He needs me and I owe him more debts than I could possibly repay in a lifetime. Beyond my personal reasons for attending, whoever heads the Dubinski
Bratva
will have control of the majority of not just Moscow, but Russia as well. He will have to be smart, wise, brave, and ruthless man—but not monster. If my uncle choses poorly, it could endanger you as well as my people and that is unacceptable. Dimitri and I have worked hard to give our people and those they love safety, and a life worth living, like my uncle does with his people. I will not allow that safety to be taken from them or you.” He took a deep breath, his hands clenching. “There were people at the meeting that I do not want even catching one glimpse of you. And there were things said that if you had heard, they would have viewed you as a threat to be eliminated. That will never, ever happen.”

She closed her eyes, unable to stand the pleading look on his face, as if he was begging her to understand. The selfish part of her just wanted to rage at him for already getting her messed up in this criminal bullshit, but this situation was not her husband’s fault. He had done his best to protect her, gone to insane lengths to keep her well-guarded and happy. Looking back, she now appreciated how hard he’d worked in order to win her heart when he already had a life filled with so much stress and responsibility.

But knowing what was in the balance if her husband failed felt like a physical burden, and she sagged beneath the weight of once again having to put her desires on the back burner for the sake of other people. If only God had made her just a little more selfish, she could have insisted that Petrov could go fuck himself, that she and Alex had just reunited, and that they deserved time together—uninterrupted as a family. But there was no way she could live with herself if people died because of her selfish wants. Perhaps it was better they have a little time apart to process each other, to come to grips with the monumental shifts in their lives.

She tried to tell herself that her heart wasn’t breaking at the thought of leaving his side for any amount of time.

Tracing the lines in his forehead that she’d never seen before with her fingertips, she let out a soft sigh. “Do what you need to do in order to keep us safe. I know you wouldn’t leave me if it wasn’t important.”

“Leave you?” He surprised her when his nostril’s flared in anger before growling out, “No, is unacceptable. You will come with me. While you may not be able to sit on council with me, you could learn much from my aunt Vera. She is greatly admired in the world of the
Bratva
for being a woman of worth—smart and loyal. I know she will like you because you are very similar.”

Flushing beneath his praise, she couldn’t help the little happy thrill that he wanted her with him. Hell, he could have said his aunt had PMS and hated Americans and Jessica still would have gone with him. The thought of being more than a few rooms away from Alex was unacceptable.

“I would love to go with you.”

Closing his eyes, he let out a frustrated growl. “That means I do not have time to fuck you properly.”

“Why not? Though right now, I’d even take an improper fuck from you.”

His fingers wrapped around her waist and tightened. “Where we are going, there will be many influential and famous people. It is important you look good, not just because I wish to show off your beauty, but because you will be a walking legend among them. The woman who came back from the dead.”

Groaning, she buried her face against his throat. “Do you think they’ll be mad at me that I let Jorg chase me off?”

“
Nyet
. Every person there knows how my father operates. His cruelty has been felt by them all in one way or another. My uncle Petrov lost his beloved sister to the Novikov Curse.  He revealed to me in our late-night talks after I’d thought I lost you, that there was not a day that went by where he did not feel guilt for not protecting her well enough. If it turned out his sister had actually been hiding, not dead, all these years, he would have been nothing but happy. You will be welcomed by them with open arms.”

“Yeah, ’cause everyone wants to hang out with Lazarus at a party,” she muttered into his chest.

“We do not have to face them until tomorrow, but I have a favor to ask of you before I fuck you to sleep.”

A shot of heat went straight between her legs and she squeezed her thighs together as blood rushed to her sex. “What is it?”

Taking a strand of her dark-brown hair between his fingers, he held it up and curled it with a distant look softening his harsh features. “There is salon downstairs. I would like them to dye your hair back to its original color.”

Heat rose to her face as she ducked her head. “Does brown look bad on me?”

“Nothing could look bad on you, but do not wish to return to red?”

“No, no, I can’t wait to stop dying my hair. Seriously, having red roots with dark hair is weird. And if I don’t color in my eyebrows I almost look like I don’t have them. It’s just that, I wonder if Tatiana will be upset by the change. I mean, I’ll look different.”

“You will have hair that matches your daughters. I think she will be all right. Please, Jessica, do this for me.”

“Why do you want my hair back so bad?”

“I hate the fact that this color you wear is not something you chose to do, but rather because my father forced it on you. His visible stamp on your body is abhorrent to me.” His dark brows drew down and he did a quick scan of her body. “I will be back,
dorogoya
.”

“Huh?”

He left her sitting on the couch, her gaze following him as he went up yet another flight of stairs to the left of the sitting area.

Puzzled and tired, she pulled a lock of her hair forward and studied the color. The dark brown, which she hadn’t minded for years, suddenly drove her crazy. Great, every time she looked at herself now she’d think of Jorg Novikov. The urge to get her hair done as quickly as possible filled her and she sat on the edge of the couch, her gaze darting in between examining the apartment then watching as Alex quickly crossed the room with a subdued smile.

He held a rectangular case that was embossed with the familiar BVLGARI stamp.

“After your death, I thought of selling your collections, but I could not bear to part with something that had touched your skin.”

With her heart in her throat, she could barely swallow as Alex knelt before her. “I kept all of your jewelry in the hopes of someday giving it to Rya and Dimitri’s children. I thought you would have wanted that.”

“Oh, Alex,” she managed to choke out, reaching for him.

“Hush,
radost' moya
. No tears. I need you to wear something for me.”

Her eyes and nose burned as he opened the lid to reveal her Winter’s Night sapphire set. The snowflake necklace made up of diamonds and sapphires sparkled in the sunlight and she sighed, caught up in the memory of wearing this set in Paris. They’d still been new to each other at that point and she’d been drunk on his love the entire time they were there. Spending a week with Alex in the City of Lights, and making love until dawn broke over the fabulous view of the River Seine from their luxury hotel suite, were some of her most treasured memories. The night after going to a decadent Parisian BDSM dungeon, he’d taken her dancing at an old and exclusive jazz club, where they’d swayed together for hours together, oblivious to the world and utterly wrapped up in each other.