Page 9 of No Longer Safe

“I thought you were dating that heiress,” Ace gazed out the passenger window and seemed somewhat bored. Was this conversation for us or for him? I couldn’t tell. Everything else they said was in Russian.

Alexei lifted his hand and waved it dismissively. “She will learn eventually, that I like what I like.”

I couldn’t listen to any more of the conversation. With every word he spewed, I felt myself getting sicker and sicker. He was a womanizer and he didn’t care at all who knew it, even the woman he was seeing. What a disgusting pig. All I hoped was that Ace didn’t have the same thoughts and feelings as his brother. Were they all like this?

Chapter Seven

Audrey

Ace wouldn’t letme stay in a hotel and we went straight to his penthouse. The doorman lifted his hat to us before staring out at the street. Ace patted him on the shoulder. “This is my fiancé, Carina, she is always allowed up to the suite. This is her sister, Audrey, she is also permitted to come up when she wishes.”

The doorman nodded once, winked at me, and went back stone-cold as if he were a statue. Alexei followed silently behind us and I wondered if this was always his demeanor or if he was trying to unnerve his brother. Ace seemed anything but. He was comfortable and relaxed as we rode up in the elevator and when he unlocked the door to his home my jaw dropped to the floor. Windows spanned for as far as I could see. What seemed to be a terrace wrapped around the outside of the building and I swallowed thickly. I wouldn’t be venturing out there very often, if at all. In the left corner of the room, in what looked to be a library, was a staircase that went up and down. Carina wasn’t lying when she said this place was huge and she would probably never see her mother if she decided to live with them. I wanted nothing more than to press my nose to the glass and stare at New York City spread out before us. I imagined the bedrooms hadsimilar views and I would get to do a lot of gawking from mine. I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of Ace or his brother.

Ace picked up my bags from the floor and grinned at my expression. Alexei’s lips were curled in displeasure as he threw himself onto the massive, plush white sectional in the den. There was no TV, just expensive art hung everywhere. The kitchen was right behind it and easily the biggest one I’d ever seen. Everything was white and bright and clean. It was weird and inviting but also… sterile. It didn’t feel like a home

Alexei definitely had some nerve to sit on his brother’s couch full of stripper glitter and cheap perfume, that was for sure. But I guessed it didn’t matter as there was probably a housekeeper.

No, he definitely had a housekeeper. There was no way around how clean and dust-free this place was.

Immaculate was the better term.

“All of the bedrooms are upstairs, besides the extra guest suite. The gym is downstairs.” Ace motioned for me to follow him and when I tried to fuss about my bags, how I could carry them myself, he shot me alook. I snapped my mouth closed and followed right behind him. Carina left her bags by the door and floated behind us. I could imagine all the thoughts running through her head. She’d practically gotten into bed with royalty. Was she imagining raising kids here? Was she thinking of how she could decorate or make this space her own? The next floor had six doors, all open with lots of natural light shining from within. Ace pointed up. “Our rooms are upstairs.” He sat my bags down beside me, took the stairs two at a time, and came back up with Carina’s bags. Her eyes were practically heart emojis, bulging from her face. “You’re free to pick whatever room you’d like. There are six and each have their own en-suite bathroom, of course. Please, once you’ve chosen your room, make yourself comfortable.” He sighed and ran his hand over the back of his neck. “And if Alexei bothers you, tries to outstayhis welcome or whatever, ignore him. He will eventually go back to his own luxurious penthouse on the other side of town.”

I nodded once. Alexei wouldn’t be interested in little ole me. He was just as close to royalty as we would get and if there was anything I was sure of, I was nothing but a pauper. Carina had the looks, the body, and the brains to fit in with these people. Me? I just hoped she still wanted to be friends with me when all of this was said and done. I didn’t belong here. It was apparent by my cheap baggage that hardly survived the flight here.

I sighed and peeked through the doorways, now alone. Each bedroom looked like it came out of a magazine. They had their own themes and different plush bedding. Each bed was outfitted with mountains of pillows. How would I ever make it look good again? I ran my hand over the expensive fabrics and decided on the room with the biggest tub at the end of the long hallway. The bathroom overlooked Central Park and the tub could have fit at least five people in it. I couldn’t wait to soak away all my problems. The shower was just as large with jets and faucets coming out of everywhere. Maybe I couldn’t wait to shower first. The other bathrooms had different colored tiles to match their themes but this one was white. The tiled floors shined brightly in the sun blazing through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

I clicked through the switches on the wall until I located the one for the automatic shades. I cocked my head to the side as I watched them come out of the ceiling and slowly descend until the room was coated in darkness. I hovered my fingers over the switches again and pushed a random one. Soft music began playing out of the speakers in the ceiling. I pressed another button and a soft glow illuminated from the chandelier above the free-standing tub.

I leaned against the doorframe and hummed. This would be a very hard place to leave. Maybe if I hid under the bed, no one would know I was even here besides the housekeeper. Maybeme and her could come to some sort of agreement. I chuckled to myself and closed my eyes. This was nice. I needed this.

“You’re really weird, laughing to yourself like that.” The voice behind me made me jump and I clutched my chest as I fought for breath. Alexei smiled from the bed like the Cheshire cat. Great, he was gonna spoil all the blankets with the smell of the strip club. I wondered if the housekeeper was good enough to get glitter out. It seemed impossible to me but this house was so clean, I was sure she had her secrets.

“I’m the weird one? How about you?” I narrowed my eyes at his booted feet kicked up on the corner of the bed. His wicked grin only continued to grow and I felt my heart skip a beat. Ace was a gentleman but Alexei… Alexei was something completely different. Sin… he was all sin and shadow. “You’re the one sneaking into bedrooms and putting your feet on beds. How weird is that?”

“It’s my brother’s home.” He shrugged as he burrowed further into the bed. “You gonna change rooms now?”

Gritting my teeth, I gave him the most pleasant smile I could muster. “Why would I do something like that? I chose this room for a reason.”

One of his dark brows rose on his forehead while he tucked both hands behind his neck. He was completely at ease tormenting me like this. No wonder Ace had given me the heads-up. He crossed one foot over the other and watched me with those dark devil eyes of his.

“How would you feel if I went around rolling in your bed with glitter, cheap perfume, and my shoes on?”

His lips curled at the edges. “It depends, are they heels?”

Mortification and heat tightened my core. I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Whatever.”

With as much dignity as I could muster after that, I hefted my suitcase up and threw it down beside him on the bed. If he wasgoing to find entertainment in my company, I was going to make him very bored.

“You might as well get used to me,” He smirked. “You and I are going to be spendinga lotof time together.”

I rolled my eyes to the elaborate ceiling fan that didn’t even look like a ceiling fan. Was it for functionality or decor? Or both? I was way out of my element here, especially with the man lounging on my bed. “I doubt that, but okay.”

His smirk turned feral and my stomach flip-flopped. I needed phone sex with Brian ASAP or at least a toy to keep me company for a little bit. I could not be doing this dance with the devil. Especially not with a man who still had a wet spot on the front of his slacks from his backstage rendezvous with a stripper.

“I’m the best man, baby,” He raised both of his brows and I wanted nothing more than to punch the satisfied look off of his face. But based on how pretty his face was, he hadn’t seen a day of violence in his life and the last place I wanted to be was in the back of a jail cell without bail money.

“Uh-huh,” I hummed as I unzipped my bag and started unpacking my clothes. Thank goodness Carina went shopping for me. The last thing I could handle was being made fun of for my threadbare, teacher’s salary clothes. He tilted his chin up to get a better look into my bag and what I was pulling out. Just who did this man think he was?

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