I huffed. “No. I’m saying you made a stupid decision. What if Rurik can’t be trusted? What if he’d hurt you or taken you from me or?—”
Alfonzo crossed the distance between us, then gripped my chin, his fingers digging into my jaw. My breath hitched in my throat, and I stared at him as he ran his eyes over my face. “Worried about me, mouse?” he finally asked, his voice low and soft.
I grunted. “He could’ve killed you.”
Alfonzo’s lips twitched with an aborted smile. “You’re adorable when you’re worried about me, mouse. But don’t fret. I’d never let anyone take me from you.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead, then released my chin and sat on the edge of the bed, facing me. “Rurik and I met at the Ghost Born MC clubhouse. Neutral territory. He’d had no idea you’d been shot, and he sounds prettypissed off that someone tried to take you out. He cares about you, mouse.”
My heart clenched. Rurik never really showed he gave a damn about anyone. “Did he say that?”
Alfonzo laughed. “Not exactly, but he said he has a personal investment in you. I know what that means. He’s not taking kindly to anyone coming after you. He’s digging on his end, and we’re digging on ours. One of us will find whoever did this to you, mouse, and when we do, I’m going to take pleasure in watching the life bleed from their eyes.”
I sighed and scrubbed my hand down my face. “Do you think I can see Rurik?”
Alfonzo nodded. “I’ll reach out to him. In the meantime, how are you feeling?”
I shrugged my good shoulder. “Tired. But I don’t know if I can sleep any longer.”
“You’ll feel tired for a while,” Alfonzo said as he stood. “You lost a lot of fucking blood, mouse. Come on. Let’s get up and go downstairs. I’ll whip you up a midnight snack of cookies and milk, and then, we’ll come back up and sleep some more. Sound good?”
I nodded and slipped off the bed. Alfonzo gripped my hip and tugged me close to him. I moaned softly when his lips pressed to mine. He coaxed them apart, then dipped his tongue inside, kissing me deeply. I groaned, easily sinking into him and submitting. It was second nature to let Alfonzo take control of me and let him do whatever he wanted.
“Couldn’t help myself,” he rasped when he finally pulled back, both of us breathing heavily. “Come on. I want cookies.”
When I bravely grabbed his hand, he linked our fingers together and gave it a gentle squeeze, like he knew I needed his touch. He was the only constant I had in my life at the moment, the only reliable force I had. And I was going to cling to him with everything I had.
I couldn’t lose him, too.
Chapter Twenty
Alfonzo
Iwas never one for keeping men around. I liked to get my nut in, then send them on their way. Didn’t care much about if they even got off, to be honest. If I went in search of a man to sate my needs, then I got what I wanted. I was a selfish bastard like that.
But Maksim? My mouse? Fuck, Ilikedhaving him around. Fucking needed it, even. And waking up with him wrapped around me—his head on my chest and one of his legs thrown across my thighs—was an immediate highlight to my day. Who knew the enemy would be the one to make me soften up a bit? I was growing addicted to the way Maksim needed me.
I planned to keep him dependent on me for the rest of his life because—again—I was a selfish fucking prick,especiallywhen it came to Maksim fucking Arsenyev.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. Sighing, I reached over and grabbed it, then unlocked it to read Rico’s message.
Rico:
My office in thirty minutes.
I grunted, sent back a thumbs up, then set my phone back down. Gently, I shook Maksim, and he groaned before slowly peeling one eye open to squint at me. “What?” he mumbled. After sharing a whole pack of cookies and drinking two glasses of milk each, we’d fallen asleep watching some zombie movie. I had no doubt he still wanted to sleep, but I wanted him with me when I spoke to Rico. Maksim needed to be informed on everything that was going on.
“We need to get up, get dressed, and head to Rico’s office,” I told him. “Come on, sleepy head.”
He moaned and dropped his head back to my chest. “I don’t want to get up.”
I snorted a laugh. “Too bad, so sad, mouse. Up. Or I’ll redden your ass, and it won’t be a pleasant experience,” I warned him.
He tipped his head back to peer at me through slitted eyes once more. “Sure about that?”
I arched a brow at him. “You want to find out and see if you can comfortably sit for the next few days?” I was all for playful spanking, but I was also one for punishments. And if he didn’t do as I needed him to and he wanted to be a brat, I was all for paddling his ass. And making it hurt.
I didn’t mind brats. But every brat knew there were consequences to their actions.
He stared at me for a moment, then shook his head before pushing himself into a sitting position. “No,” he finally mumbled. “Where’s my bag? I’ll get dressed.”
