Page 7 of My Russian Protector

As badly as I want this girl, the timing just isn’t right. She’s too shaken from what happened, and I don’t want to downplay her feelings by resuming my seduction.

I help her to bed and place the covers up over her. I kiss her forehead and tell her, “I need to stand watch tonight. I want to be ready if they return.” I pull a chair up beside the door and take a seat.

It’s going to be a long and frustrating night.

4

POSITIONS OF POWER

ANNA

Iknow that I should be more worried than I am about someone sneaking around our motel room, but I’m more bothered by the fact that Alex is now sleeping in a chair beside the door. We started down a dangerous path, and now I’m obsessed with learning what’s around the next corner.

When he pressed me down on the bed, he could have done anything to me. I was ready to give myself over completely to his will. Right now, we should be busy exploring this new and exciting aspect of our journey, but he chose to keep me protected over satiating his desires, and that makes me even more attracted to him. This wasn’t at all what I expected, but as he sits there asleep, I can’t take my eyes off him.

The sun comes up and I close my eyes to pretend I’m sleeping when I see him rustle in the chair. I hear him walk across the room and close the bathroom door. Moments later, I feel his weight on the edge of the bed. My body tingles as he touches my arm and gently shakes me.

“Wake up, princess. I’m going to round up some breakfast,” he tells me.

I open my eyes and smile at him. “Good morning.”

“Morning. In towns like this, the restaurant opens early to catch the first shift at the factories. I should be back in a few minutes.”

“What’s the hurry?” I ask. “If you give me a minute, I can come with you.”

“No. You stay here. After last night, you don’t leave this room,” he declares.

“Am I a prisoner? I’m the one paying you, remember?”

“And I will do the job that you’ve paid for, but you agreed to follow my orders, remember?”

“I don’t see the problem here. I’m not a threat to anyone. I don’t even have anything anyone would want,” I try to argue.

He grins and says, “You have exactly what men want. But besides the obvious, if someone else is looking for your father and they spot you, they might think you know where he is. They could decide to take you for ransom if they know that he has money. If you want me to find your father, you need to cooperate. Make things harder for me and I’ll take you back to Moscow.”

He puts on his jacket and leaves the room so I spring into action. I’ll prove that there’s no danger to me out there and then, maybe he’ll let me help him. I put on my pants, jacket, and shoes and step out of the hotel room door. I shake off a mild sense of panic, chalking it up to paranoia caused by his overprotective nature.

The hallway is empty as I make my way to the stairs. I stop at the landing and listen for voices coming from the lobby. Satisfied with the silence, I descend the stairs. I hurry through the vacant lobby and out the front door.

I look up and down the street trying to locate the restaurant. I don’t see Alex on the sidewalk so it must be close. The factory is North and there are houses to the South, so I decide to walk toward the factory.

Two blocks from the hotel, the restaurant comes into view and I pick up my pace. I take a step off the sidewalk to cross the street and a black car speeds beside me, forcing me back onto the sidewalk. It screeches to a stop and two men get out before I have a chance to react. They’re burly men in black suits, and I step back as they approach me.

“What do you want?” I ask but they don’t respond. They pin me against a wall and the taller man grabs me by the arm. I pull back but he’s too strong for me and begins to drag me toward the car. I dig my heels into the ground and bear down with all of my weight, but I just can’t put up enough resistance and decide to scream at the top of my lungs for help.

He pulls me closer to the car as his companion opens the back door. Still screaming, I scratch and claw as he pushes my head down and attempts to shove me inside. This is it, I tell myself. I disobeyed Alex and now I’m going to pay the price. Tears flow from my eyes, and my body weakens as I begin to come to terms with my fate.

“Hey!” a voice shouts from down the road followed by two loud gunshots. The man who was holding me drops me to the ground and pulls his own weapon from the waist of his pants. My instincts tell me to run but as I stumble to my feet, the other man grabs me by the throat to prevent my escape.

The other man fires his weapon and someone returns fire. The bullet pierces the man’s pant leg and blood erupts from his thigh. He falls to the ground and Alex comes around the side of the car. He leaps in the air, kicks the man’s gun out of his hand, and kicks him square in the jaw. The man’s head bounces off the side of the car and his limp body falls in a heap.

Alex picks up the man’s weapon and walks toward me. The man who is holding me yells, “Back away or I’ll snap her neck!”

Alex continues to march forward. “Let her go, Zameski,” he tells the man.

“You’re out of the business. Why are you here, Alborov?” the man asks in reply.

“Let her go and we can discuss it or hold on to her and watch me kill you. Your choice, old friend,” Alex glares at him, his voice dangerously low. “Dirusky is already bleeding out. Would you like to save him or join him?”

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