Page 58 of Trapping His Assassin

I mean, couldn’t Roman cut him some slack?

“With the loss of your eye, I hope you’ve learned a valuable lesson.” Roman adjusted his cufflinks with blood-soaked hands, after throwing the gore-covered spoon on the tray with a bang. “Do not make me take the other one.”

The doctor rushed to close the new wound on Benedikt’s face. Roman plopped the eye in a jar. His poor uncle slumped to the floor while the doctor worked on him. “What are you planning on doing with that?”

Roman laughed. “I know a woman with quite a collection that would appreciate this one.”

Confused, I tilted my head. Roman leaned forward and placed a bloodstained kiss on my lips.

“Maybe one day you can meet her.” He grabbed my hand and led me out of the terribly lit basement of horrors.

I think I’d prefer solitude. Whatever psycho-alpha female Roman wanted me to meet would have to catch me first. I liked my life like I liked my animals.

Alive.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Roman

Punishing my Uncle Benedikt had hurt me more than it hurt him. Now, I was down a man, and I had to put up with my pseudo-psychotic father, Alexie Petrov, instead. Benedikt got what he deserved. I had wanted to kill him. However, Alexie and Viktor vetoed that.

When both brothers agreed on refusing something, I sensed it was misguided.

It was my wife. My wife. Goddamn. She was magnificent. When she told me her history, I wanted to burn the world down. But her strength blew me away. She was like me and yet so different. If it weren’t for Alexie, I’d probably still be on the streets. But not Valentina. She not only could take care of herself, despite what her history would portray, but she was also an advocate for those weaker than her.

These pesky feelings were driving me wild.

Something so innocent shouldn’t consume me with want. And despite what Valentina would think, she’s innocent. I was the devil compared to her. Now though, I was a driver, holding up a sign that spelled Alexie’s name wrong.

Served him right for thinking he could fly back at the drop of a hat with no warning. I bet, as soon as he got here, he would act as if he was in charge. But the truth was that Alexie had been gone for months, with Sloane, at a specialty treatment center for fertility in the Czech Republic. And while he was gone, I was in charge. It would be an adjustment now that he was back.

A few people trickled out of the terminal, and I fixed my hat. Since Alexie demanded I be the one to pick him up, I made sure to dress the part too, borrowing an outfit from our actual driver, Yuri.

Alexie emerged from the hallway, his steps unsteady. I glanced behind him, expecting to see Sloane, but she was nowhere in sight. He brushed past me and let out a loud burp. The scent of vodka wafted off of him, causing me to cover my face with my hand.

“Hurry up, I’m on a tight schedule here. Got to get back to mymalishka.” Alexie marched out of the airport, without even glancing back to see if I was trailing behind him.

I motioned all around him, wondering where his bags were. I clenched my jaw, and balled my fists, while speed-walking to catch up with him.

“That would’ve taken too much time, and as I said, I’ve got to get back to my woman,” Alexie said, as if he heard me speak the sentence out loud.

My father always knew what I was saying now. That counted for something, even if his parental skills were lacking.

I signed shorthand to him.

“Don’t you think you’ve been gone long enough?” I didn’t want to ask this question. I would rather sit in silence with Alexie, but if I didn’t question him, his paranoia would make him question me.

That was the last shitstorm I wanted to be dealing with.

Alexie could get suspicious of me once he was safely back in Russia. I did not doubt that Viktor would keep him busy, and he would no longer have the luxury of getting revenge on me.

If I was being honest with myself, then I would acknowledge that Alexie made me pick him up because he was punishing me for Benedikt. I wasn’t going to maim a family member, without facing some kind of consequence.

While this may seem small, I hated being at Alexie’s beck and call. It was a pet peeve of mine. I chuckled at the phrase. A few years ago, I said that to Alexie, and he was so confused that he shrugged and said, “Sounds like abuse.”

“No.” Alexie’s voice brought me back to the parking lot of the airport, as we walked to the car. “Nothing is more important than getting Sloane pregnant. I want a boy.”

There was a tense pause between us, and I unlocked the car and slid into the driver’s seat, before he could try and steal the keys from me. Alexie slid into the passenger’s seat and closed the door.

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