Page 20 of Vicious Rule

Sasha turns in her seat and touches my arm. “You promised you wouldn’t do anything to Andre. He’s a very nice guy who does a great job guarding you. Don’t fire him or punish him just because he’s always been nice to me. Promise me you won’t.”

I want to ask her what she plans to do since the car is moving far too fast for her to jump out in a fit of anger at me, but I don’t. I have to admit I don’t appreciate one of my guards lusting after her any more than I do my goddamned brother acting like her personal savior tonight.

But to keep the peace, I won’t do anything to Andre. “Fine. He’s safe. For now. One slip up, though, and he’s gone.”

That’s not enough for her, though. No, she has to push it. I swear sometimes I have to wonder why I’m crazy about her at all.

“No way. I want him to be safe in his job permanently. He’s done nothing wrong, and he always takes care of whatever you assign him to do, Alex. So promise me you won’t fire him for any reason.”

I look over at her and grin. She really is far too kind about that guard and my brother. “And if I don’t promise?”

She calls my bluff immediately. “Then I won’t pretend to be madly, passionately in love with you for your business partner’s sake. You choose.”

Begrudgingly, I admit she’s won. This time.

“Fine. Andre is safe. Happy now?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her smile. “Actually, yes.”

I swear this woman is going to push me too far someday.

Sasha heads toward her room since it’s nearly three in the morning by the time we get back to the villa, and all I can think about is falling asleep. Rarely do I get to sleep alone, but after tonight and the deal I made with her, I guess I’ll be doing that a lot from now on.

Jesus, that’s a depressing thought.

Andre catches me on my way to my room, and as he explains something about the guards needing a better way to communicate than the walkie talkies they currently use, I study him and wonder if Sasha likes him at all. He’s not a bad looking guy, I guess. Tall with dark hair, he has what I think some women would like. His face is a bit doughy, but I bet those muscles of his are what women focus on.

“So I thought I should mention it to you,” he says before falling silent.

Since I wasn’t paying attention to most of what he had to say, I simply nod like I’m mulling over his idea. “Tell you what. Bring me all your ideas tomorrow afternoon and I’ll see what can be done.”

He doesn’t seem to pick up on the fact that I haven’t been listening to much of what he said and smiles before he wishes me good night. As I watch him walk toward the side of the villa where the guards stay, jealousy spikes inside me. Sasha really cared that I didn’t do anything to this guy. Why?

She doesn’t tend to be a sentimental sort of woman. Why the hell does it matter what I do to Andre or any of the guards?

Suddenly, any thought of sleep disappears from my brain, replaced by the questions that are swirling around in my head about Sasha and Andre. She couldn’t possibly want him. He’s not her type. She needs a man who wields power. He’s just a guard, and most of the time he’s more of a gopher for me. That kind of guy would never be enough for her.

Maybe I’ll have him transferred out of the villa and to the factory site I use for shipments. The foreman over there is always telling me he needs more workers. Andre looks like he’d fit the bill perfectly.

Ok, now that I’ve figured out what to do with him and still keep my promise to Sasha, I can get some sleep. I close my bedroom door behind me and begin to strip out of my clothes, tossing them onto the floor as I walk toward the bed. Maybe I’ll sleep in this morning. I could use a break. Between handling my father’s business and working with Nico on our side deals, I’ve definitely been putting in far too many hours. A little extra rest will do me good.

I fall into bed and close my eyes, loving the coolness of the sheets against my skin. This is why I sleep nude. The gentle sound of the waterfall outside my window in the courtyard below eases the stress from my body after a long day full of hassles.

And then just as I begin to drift off to sleep, I hear someone knocking on my door. Whoever it is must have a death wish. If I have to get out of this bed to deal with some bullshit, I’m going to kill someone.

“Go away!” I bark and roll over to find that feeling I had before I was interrupted.

A second later, I hear the door open and can’t believe there’s a person in this goddamned villa who has the balls to ignore my order to leave me the fuck alone. Where did I leave my gun? This son of a bitch needs to learn a painful lesson.

I sit up as my eyes fly open and rage courses through me. “Get the fuck out!”

Through the darkness, I see a figure. Clearly, this person has a death wish. I’m fine with giving them what they obviously want, so I lean over to grab my gun off the nightstand.

Sasha comes out of the shadows and glares down at me. “Alex, it’s me. What the hell are you doing?”

“What do you mean what I’m doing? I’m trying to fucking sleep. What are you doing here?”

Her expression tells me she’s as confused as I am at this moment, but I can’t imagine why. She’s the one intruding on my privacy, not the other way around.

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