The Bratva King's Kidnapped Bride - Page 45

“Yes,” he grunted, then half turned to give me a commiserating look. “Your husband is more powerful than you know. Way richer than you can imagine.”

“I get it,” I sighed. “Corporate espionage can be a real bitch.”

“Something like that.”

I let him off the hook and didn’t try to make any more conversation as we drove toward the charity, which was fairly close to downtown. It made me think about Aleks’s high-rise apartment where we’d first started our wild journey. Then I was reliving our first night together, shaking my head at the memory of how appalled I was that he’d straight out demanded that I marry him. The fake kidnapping—well, I supposed it was real, but deep down, I had enjoyed every second of it, even back then.

After Jenna and I were forced to fend for ourselves, I had to put aside my childish fantasies about Aleks. We lived on the other side of town, and as much as Nataliye continued to try to include me in her parties, or tried to meet up with me to hang out, I had to juggle my part-time jobs and never had time. I had to accept I might never see her father again.

Was it fate that put us back together, sending me to his club to dance away the humiliation of begging for my job back and the sting of being demoted?

No, I wasn’t going to waste any more time, and was determined to put Aleks in a better mood. As soon as I dropped off the lunches, I was going to skip the presentation and head straight to his apartment. Surely, he wouldn’t turn down a request to meet me there for an afternoon quickie. Or, not so quick. As busy as he was, hopefully, he wouldn’t be able to resist. Then, we could get things back to the way they were. The way they should be.

We were still a few miles from the charity and traffic had slowed to a crawl. I was lost in spicy thoughts about the rendezvous with Aleks when an unknown number popped up on my phone. Since I occasionally got special orders that I’d send onto the delivery guys, I didn’t think twice about answering.

It was a chipper-sounding woman, saying she was from one of the investment firms that I normally delivered to.

“We were really looking forward to them coming today,” she said. “It’s our secretary’s birthday, and she loves your lunches. I know we probably should have ordered them ahead of time, but the guy’s been coming every day, so I just assumed there’d be no problem.”

I apologized profusely, glancing at the insulated container on the seat beside me, another one in the trunk. She said they only needed a dozen meals and was all but pleading for it to be possible. I didn’t want anyone to get in trouble for the fact my employee was a no show, and I hated to think someone’s birthday party might not have food. There would still be plenty to take to the charity, and the building was on the way, so I agreed.

Sergei didn’t like the change in plans at all. “Did you recognize the number?”

I shrugged. “No, but why would I? I can’t put every random person who calls for an order into my contacts, can I?” When he didn’t see the obvious sense in this, I told him I’d been delivering to that firm for years.

With his eyes still on the road, he snapped his fingers. “Hand it over.”

There was no use in rebelling and having him pull over until I complied, so I rolled my eyes and gave him my phone. We were traveling at a snail’s pace as he found the last number that had called and pressed it, putting it on speaker.

“Andrews and Waterhouse Investments,” the same sunny voice I’d just spoken to rang out.

Sergei ended the call and handed my phone back, his scowl never once wavering.

“It’s barely six blocks away,” I said. “We’re not moving on this road, anyway.”

“Fine,” he said after a long moment, narrowing his eyes at me in the rearview mirror.

I couldn’t help giving him a smug look in return, sick and tired of all the cloak-and-dagger nonsense. I shouldn’t have had to jump through so many hoops to make a simple delivery.

Instead of returning my triumphant look with his signature glare, he only stared at me solemnly for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. There was real concern in his eyes that I’d never seen before, and it wiped my smug smile right off my face.

I couldn’t wait to get Aleks alone. Not just for the reconciliation I was longing for, but I needed him to explain to me what the sudden level of paranoia was about once and for all.

Chapter 26 – Aleksandr

Time seemed to stand still as I waited with the phone pressed to my ear. Lev stared at me, then at the dead man at our feet. He had no further arguments or reassurances that this was random, or just some form of escalation of the ongoing battles with our enemies.

They had somehow found out that Katie’s lunch box business was under my protection, and now, after torturing her delivery man to death, I feared the worst. That they knew she was my wife.

My everything.

And I couldn’t find the courage to tell her the truth, or even apologize for acting like a complete ass. As the phone seemed to ring endlessly on her end of the line, I truly believed I might have been having a heart attack. I wouldn’t be able to breathe again until I heard her voice.

“Aleks?” She finally answered, and I staggered back to lean against the convenience store wall.

I nodded once to Lev, who also seemed to be frozen as he waited to see if our hunch was right. When I couldn’t find words for a moment, Katie repeated my name, asking if I was there. Her voice was tentative, maybe a bit annoyed with me still. She had every right to be mad as hell. She could have been screaming expletives at me, and I still would have been overjoyed to listen.

“Are you okay? Where are you?” I barked. All thoughts of apologizing flew from my mind since I was consumed with her safety.