Page 66 of No Longer Safe

“You nicknamed Nana and Grandmother?” He actually smiled at that. “Never mind. They have their own car coming to get them but they decided they wanted Mcdonalds first.”

What a pair.

“As far as Ace and Carina go, he wants his penthouse to himself tonight so he can show Carina who she should be lusting after.”

My mouth gaped open. Where was I going to stay? I pressed my palm into the center of my forehead. I knew this would happen.

“He will give me the go-ahead when he’s ready for you to come home. He just wants to ensure all the rooms are completely soundproof before you arrive back there.”

Once again, I was stunned speechless. “We could have avoided all of this if you would have let me go home with that dancer.” I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted.

I didn’t know why I kept saying that either. Maybe it was that I wanted my own independence but I knew I would never find it in this big city. Did the Cristofs own everything? Just my luck.

“If you wanted to go home with someone, I wouldn’t have stopped you but it needed to be anyone but him.”

All I could do was glare at him.

He tilted his head back against the headrest. “I don’t know why thegranniesbrought the both of you there but that isn’t one of myfinerestablishments.” He held up a finger. “For one thing, they aren’t required to get checked regularly. They are allowed to do what they please after each show. My other establishments have stricter rules. Thegranniesprobably brought the both of you there because she didn’t think I monitored them as closely.”

I snorted. “It isn’t as if you own all of the strip clubs in NYC.”

He leveled me with a look and I rolled my lips.

“What?”

He shrugged. “If I don’t own it, one of my other brothers does.”

Why had I chosen to live here again?

I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was wonderful.Fantastic.

“It can’t be that bad,” his voice was low and it made me look up at him in the dim light of the car.

“What?”

“Spending time with me.”

He sounded so sad that it did something new to my insides and all of a sudden I realized I didn’t like it. I didn’t want him to be sad. I wanted him to be smirky, overly confident, and annoying. More than anything I wanted him to be annoying.

“Um,” I tilted my head. What did I say now? “I’m sorry.”

His lips curved slightly but they didn’t look amused. He closed his eyes and I took the moment to really look at him. His jaw was clenched and there was a little bit of stubble. His hair was a little messy now and no longer pushed back from his face. His eyelashes were so long they looked like they were resting on his cheeks.

“You shouldn’t stare, it’s rude.”

I continued to stare at him. “Where have you been?”

His eyes opened half-mast. “Have you been waiting on me,Malaya?”

“What does that mean?”

His gaze skirted down my body and I found myself regretting the conservative wear I’d donned earlier in the night. Quicker than I could blink, he sat up and was in my space. He brushed my hair behind my ear and I watched as he swallowed.

He shook his head slowly and leaned into me. His nose ran up the side of my neck and for the first time in forever, I didn’t think of one reason to say no—to stop what was happening. I closed my eyes and goosebumps erupted over my flesh.

The car came to a stop and we both jumped away from each other. “I hope you don’t mind, sir, but Ace texted me and let me know I could bring her home.”

Alexei’s lips parted as he stared at me. I couldn’t breathe. What was happening?

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