Page 19 of Vienna Bargain

Not that she would need to, because eventually the truth of what she’d been doing here would come out, but when exactly that would happen…well. It could be a matter of days, it could be months.

For now she was stuck, well and truly stuck.

Two weeks, six days. She had to make it that long without telling him anything he couldn’t know. If she could get ahold of her phone she might not even have to make it that long. The best-case scenario was that the HPA transfer had worked and the people she worked with had the information they needed and were currently taking action. If her part, and by extension Alexander’s part, was done, she’d only know about it if she had her phone.

And if it was done…she’d be able to tell Alexander everything.

She wanted that, wanted it so much that it was a looping fantasy she couldn’t ignore.

In the fantasy she’d slide onto his lap, take his face in her hands, and tell him to shut up and listen. She’d tell him everything, he’d apologize, maybe grovel, and then they’d make love.

Not scene. Not have sex.

Make love.

She was such an idiot.

“Mr. Wagner,” Ruslan said as he walked up, “Mr. Schroeder was unable to provide us with information about the security system.”

Alexander looked at Ruslan for a long moment. “Because there isn’t one.”

Finn made a pained noise.

Jakob, who seemed to like being the lead and doing the scouting, jogged down the front steps of the Russian opera house entrance and across the smooth, circular drive.

Finn and Ruslan met him halfway, Ruslan keeping his head turned so he could keep an eye on her and Alexander. “It’s a maze,” Jakob said in German. “We need the security plans.”

“No security system,” Finn said.

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

They kept talking, and she only caught every third word.

“Follow,” Alexander commanded.

Alena jumped as if he’d just thrown a bucket of cold water over her. She turned, ready to lay into him for ordering her around like a dog.

The words died on her tongue. The camaraderie and amusement from looking at the house was gone.

Alexander’s eyes were cold, his smile tinged with cruelty. He remembered exactly how much she hated one-word orders…which was precisely why he’d done it.

Alena ground her teeth together and dropped her gaze. A sign of submission, when what she was really doing was hiding her anger. She didn’t want him to know he could get to her so easily.

Alexander started for the steps, and Alena followed. Rather than walk beside him she stayed slightly behind. Once again, on the surface it was submissive, but in practice it gave her a few more moments of privacy to compose herself.

The guards broke apart and surrounded them—Jakob in front, Finn to Alexander’s right, and Ruslan behind her. Jakob opened the door, Finn stepped in, one hand raised to prevent them from following him.

After a long moment Finn stepped out of the way. She followed Alexander, and when the three-meter tall doors closed behind her, Alena couldn’t suppress the shiver of fear that worked its way through her.

All she had to do was survive the next three weeks. Three weeks as Alexander Wagner’s BDSM slave.

Terrifying, degrading, and thanks to her fucked up psychological makeup…arousing.

The numbness returned once they were inside, and she embraced the lack of emotion. Alexander spent a half an hour speaking with the people—whom she assumed were staff—who’d been waiting inside the huge foyer when they walked in. Oddly enough, it seemed like the excessive and fanciful composition of the exterior didn’t carry through to the inside, which was simple and elegant. The floor was pale marble with blue and gray veins, the walls paneled on the bottom half and painted creamy white above.

The grand double staircases, which curved around the edges of the foyer and met at a second floor balcony, were beautifully carved and glossy with care and polish. She looked around again, noticing other details indicating that time and skilled work had been put into the interior.

The four male staff members—three of whom were the men who’d driven the cars to the dock—all had beards with varying amounts of gray. They were speaking with Ruslan as Alexander conversed with the three women. The youngest of the three was clearly dressed to impress in a navy cocktail dress and strappy heels with an Instagram-ready full face of makeup.

---