Hitman's Captive: A Bad Boy Romance (11 page)

He came back a few
minutes later with a bundle in his arms, handing over a pair of jeans, t-shirt
and ankle boots to Alessa. “I don’t know if they’ll fit—”

“Anything’s better than
this - thank you.” She said eagerly, clinging to them with obvious gratitude.

He nodded, and as we
turned to leave ducked behind one of the shelves in the basement, rummaging
around somewhere before returning with a wide-brimmed hat and a pair of
sunglasses. He gave me a knowing look, and added them to the pile as I fought a
smile. Alessa looked surprised for a moment, before she caught onto their
purpose and scowled at me. I gave her an unrepentant grin and gestured towards
the door again. This time, she obeyed without objecting.

As I passed Jay with one
last smile of appreciation, he stepped in close and shook his head at me. “That
girl is going to be the death of you, kiddo.”

I faltered for a moment
before continuing behind her, not acknowledging the way Jay’s words stirred
something uncomfortable within me. I was almost certain that this time, he
wasn’t talking about her leading my pursuers straight to me.

Chapter Eight

Alessa

Leo drove us back to the
safe house in silence, brooding about whatever he’d discussed with his friend -
Jay, I think it was. I wanted to badger him with questions about what they’d
discussed, and whether he was any closer to finding whoever had killed Viktor
so that he could let me go and I could get the hell out of here.

But I didn’t think any of
that would be appreciated, and from the way his eyes had looked like they were
going to pop out of his face when I asked Jay for some clothes, I figured I’d
give him a bit of time to settle. I’d probably be more likely to get an answer
that way, anyway.

Instead, I clutched the
clothes to me carefully and let myself enjoy the relief that at least I didn’t
have to walk around looking like
this
anymore. Truth be told, I wasn’t
exactly sure they’d fit, but I’d do anything I could to force myself into them.
Even walking from the side of the house to the car had been embarrassing as
hell, and having Jay see me like that was well…gods, I’d thought I was going to
die. Leo was such a bastard.

I flicked another glance
at him as I realized just how much my attitude had shifted.

You’ve gone from thinking
you’re going to die…to worrying about dying of embarrassment. That’s a plus.
Probably.

I wasn’t quite sure when
my fear had faded to just a few tense moments, but after I’d decided to stop
resisting so much last night, I’d finally been able to fall asleep. The faint
headache behind my eyes told me I certainly hadn’t had
enough
sleep, but
I guessed it had given me some perspective. So when Leo had roused me in his
usual infuriatingly cocky way this morning, I’d reacted as I would if I didn’t
believe he was going to kill me at any minute.

And I was still alive -
so clearly, something about my instincts for murderous kidnappers must be
working okay.

He was still the world’s
biggest jerk - but unless something crazy happened, it didn’t seem like I was
in any imminent danger. Which finally ended the exhausting mind-numbing terror
and did wonders to change my state of mind.

So apart from protesting
at his jerk-like behavior, I’d gone along this morning without constantly
searching for a way to escape. If there was no immediate threat then I had time
to work out a plan properly - and if my father found me, or Leo actually did as
he’d said and let me go before I found a way out, then that worked just as
well.

It had been tempting when
they’d both left me alone in that basement full of god-knew-what - even to look
around, see whether I could find anything my father might be interested in. I’d
always been kept strictly out of his business, but now that I’d been thrown
neck-deep into it? I didn’t see why I couldn’t get involved. But that man - Jay
- had been more than a little intimidating, and I had no way of telling whether
he’d know if I snooped around. I didn’t want to risk him coming after me -
especially not if he worked with the
bratva
.

Instead, I’d focused on
more immediate concerns - like getting hold of the clothing in front of me. If
I couldn’t get away easily, at least I could make this kidnapping more
comfortable.

I snorted at the thought,
and Leo looked at me askance. I didn’t bother to elaborate, smiling to myself
instead as he finally turned back into the safe house. I’d paid a little more
attention this time, and I recognized as we moved into Union City. I might even
be able to find this place again, for my father. Of course, Leo would be long
gone by then, but at least I could offer something.

The need to be useful and
prove my worth to my family was riding me hard now that my marriage to Viktor
had failed. I was sure my father would find someone else for me, of course -
but the thought of that was starting to make me antsy in a way it hadn’t
before. Maybe if I showed I could support him in other ways, he wouldn’t press
the marriage for alliance so hard?

A sinking feeling told me
to forget that right now. Even if I came out of this with something slightly
useful, I’d never be invited into the business itself - my father had made it
clear all my life what role I played in supporting our family.

Leo stopped the car and
we got out before I let that affect me too much. It was a concern for another
time.

Right now, I was here
doing something my father could never have imagined. Unknown place,
unsanctioned man - hell, eating junk food and ignoring his rules. I could focus
on that for now.

Did you just appreciate
your kidnapping?

That thought had me stop stock-still
at the entrance to the house, before I told myself firmly that
no, I most
certainly did not.

Leo turned back to look
at me as I stopped, frowning before I scuttled in behind him. He closed and
locked the door behind me, then gestured through to the main sitting room.

I stood expectantly as he
retrieved a laptop and sat down on the worn sofa, starting it up and completely
ignoring me.

Really?

I still wanted to know
what was going on. I coughed pointedly.

Nothing.

Leo had gone from being
unable to stop looking at me to not even glancing my way. What the hell had he
discussed with Jay?

I mean, sure, trying to
track down the men who’d wanted Viktor dead probably required a fair bit of
attention, but…I couldn’t help feeling a little irked that his interest in me
seemed to have disappeared.

Not that you liked that
attention, remember?

I flopped down on an
armchair opposite him in irritation. Maybe it was just that it had been new -
and exciting in all the wrong ways. And now it appeared Leo had been distracted
by the next shiny thing to chase.

Bastard.

Shaking my head, I
finally convinced myself to get a grip, and stood up abruptly.

“I’m going to go change.”
I announced it loudly, but Leo only gave me a brief glance.

“Okay.” He turned back to
whatever he was doing on the laptop.

Resisting the urge to
mutter in annoyance, I turned and disappeared into the bathroom down the hall,
carrying the the pile of clothes with me.

He didn’t even force you
to stay in the same room as him.

Of course, I should be
glad that his guard was relaxing. Maybe since I hadn’t tried anything on our
trip to Jay’s he was starting to trust me a little more. Or maybe it was just
that the front door was locked anyway, and my brief glance around the bathroom
told me there was nothing obvious to help me escape. Sighing, I shrugged off
the shirt of his that I’d borrowed - forcing myself to ignore the strange pang
at losing his masculine scent around me - and stripped down to my underwear.

The clothes Jay had given
me didn’t
quite
fit, but they were good enough. They seemed a little
baggy on me, but that was probably a good thing, as I could make that work. At
least they were obviously women’s clothes this time. I glanced at the hat and
glasses with a roll of my eyes, but took them back into the main room with me.

Leo didn’t look up at my
entrance, sparking my irritation again. I was
done
with waiting for him
to tell me something.

Instead, I went to stand
in front of him, putting one hand on my hip and raising an eyebrow expectantly.
“Well, how do I look?”

I wasn’t expecting much -
over-large clothes weren’t too flattering - but when he glanced up, the
familiar heat was back in his eyes. My skin prickled as I met that gaze, and I
felt an answering heat building inside.

See? This is why that
attention was a bad idea.

“You really want to know
what I think about
that
, princess?” He smiled slowly, eyes dangerous.

“Well, I…” Somehow, my
challenge faltered in the face of that response.

He put the laptop to the
side and stood up, predatory grace making my blood hot as he walked over to me,
coming close enough that our skin was only inches apart. I should step away, I
knew, but I couldn’t make myself break that gaze.

His knuckles lifted my
chin as he spoke, voice low and mesmerizing. “You look stunning in a way no
other woman possibly could in over-sized, ill-fitting clothes.” His eyes
sparked with humor, and the corner of his mouth turned up as he looked down at
me. “Though I preferred your first ensemble, princess.”

I swallowed, unable to
help myself with the heat of the moment. He took his slow time looking me over,
and I was left wondering how I could have ever thought his interest had faded -
and wishing that maybe, perhaps, it would have been better if it had. Then I
wouldn’t have such traitorous feelings about it.

Then he turned and
settled back onto the sofa and I was left struggling to breathe evenly. His
eyes lingered on mine, even as he dragged the laptop back into place.

Well, at least you have
his attention now.

I cleared my throat. “So,
how did this morning go? What’s the plan now?”

The heat in his gaze
shuttered off almost immediately, and I was suddenly looking at a face that
reminded me Leo was an unknown killer,
not
someone who set my blood on
fire.

He shrugged at my
question. “I have to get some things sorted.”

Vague and unhelpful, of
course.

I started to press, but
he sent me a look that chilled any of the remaining heat between us, and I
sighed instead, glancing around the room.

“So what should I do?” I
cursed myself as I said it for how that sounded. I didn’t need him to tell me
what to do - I just wasn’t entirely used to being completely left to my own
devices. Within the confines of whatever this house provided, anyway.

“Whatever you want.” His
voice was distracted now, and I sighed again.

I couldn’t see anything
helpful as I looked around. There was no TV, so I drifted over to a shelf that
held a few books and what looked like a pack of cards.

“There’s really not much
to do here, you know.” I was pretty sure I filtered
most
of the
exasperation out of that.

“Sorry - wasn’t exactly
planning to entertain.” His voice was low and unconcerned as his brow furrowed
in concentration.

I wished I knew what had
him so absorbed, but took the hint and with a deep sigh pulled out a couple of
the books.

Crime stuff, it looked
like. Not my sort of thing, but I guess it was better than nothing…so long as
there were no gruesome murders or kidnapping, maybe it wouldn’t give me
nightmares.
Maybe.

The rest of the morning
was long and uninteresting. The book I’d picked wasn’t scary, at least, but
dull enough that I found it hard to get through and had turned to playing
solitaire on the floor instead.

By the time my stomach
reminded me about lunch, I was glad for the simple diversion.

“Hey - are we ordering
more in for lunch?” When I looked up at Leo, he wasn’t so wrapped up in what he
was looking at anymore, instead staring distantly into space.

What was wrong with him?

I wanted to pretend that
I was concerned purely to try and find some advantage, but something else
tugged at me. Whatever he was doing, he didn’t look happy about it.

He ran a hand through his
hair and shook himself as he finally noticed me, some of the life coming back
into his gaze. “Ah, there should be pasta and sauce somewhere.”

He shut the laptop and
walked over to the kitchen, rattling around the cupboards there and eventually
emerging with a couple of pans and the food he’d mentioned. I followed, more
because I was bored to death of solitaire than because he needed help with the
food.

I leaned back against the
counter as I watched, feeling a little grateful that I was eating something
other than fast food.

After giving him a good
few minutes of silence, I asked again. “So what’s the plan?”

He exhaled with a mixture
of amusement and exasperation, glancing at me in between stirring the sauce -
tomato something, from the smell and color. “What makes you think I have any
reason to tell you anything, Alessa?”

I grunted in annoyance as
I considered that - he had a point, maybe, but for some reason I’d expected to
be involved.

“I don’t know.” My tone
was somewhere between sarcastic and insistent. “Maybe because I have a very
vested interest in the outcome of all this.”

He only shook his head as
he started scooping out pasta and sauce into two different bowls. He handed me
a fork and sat down with his own dish.

I spent a nice moment
contemplating stabbing him with it, then sat down and started eating instead,
meeting an amused glance that told me he knew exactly what I’d been thinking.

He didn’t answer my
question though, and I was annoyed enough that I didn’t speak to him for the
rest of the afternoon - not even to complain at the tediousness of it all.