I glance at my notes. “Larry Coswell at Banks and Georges.” It’s a rival firm, which just meant that Miles wanted privacy. “He wasn’t married, and I don’t think he had any kids. He just had work, so it should be easy to acquire his records,” I say. “I’m curious if there are any deposits we can trace back to a source. Of course, this was seven years ago, so we’ll see if I can even get them.”
“Miles was a good guy.” Cage shifts his weight on my desk.
I don’t like people sitting on my desk. I put my cup of coffee right where his butt is every morning.
His gaze lingers on my mouth. “I have tickets toWickedthis weekend. What do you say?”
“She politely declines,” Alexei says smoothly as he walks into the room. Tension spirals from him to me, heating my face. I want to contradict him, but now isn’t the time.
Cage pushes away from my desk. “I believe she can answer for herself.”
One of Alexei’s eyebrows rises. Today he looks every inch the mob boss, with a high-end suit that includes a jacket, all black, and stark-white shirt. No tie, though. “All right. Go ahead and answer.”
Man, I want to throw something at him. Where’s my letter opener, anyway? “Thank you, Joseph, but we’ve already had this talk. I’m not going to the theater with you.”
Cage blushes a deep crimson. “Very well. I’ll leave you to it then.” He brushes by Alexei without a word.
Amusement fills Alexei’s gaze.
“Don’t you look happy,” I say. “I turned him down because I wanted to do so, because it is stupid to date my boss, not because of you.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, princess,” he says. “Or go ahead. Go on a date with him. See how that ends up.”
I cross my arms. I still want to ask him where he was last night, but I won’t give him the satisfaction. “I’ve changed the passcode on my phone.”
“I’ll figure it out again,” he murmurs.
What an ass. “You didn’t figure it out. You watched me because I trusted you.”
“You’ve never completely trusted me, have you?”
I don’t want to play this game because he’s probably right. “Where is Ella?”
“She’s safe.”
How can I trust him when he kidnaps my friends? “What do you want, Alexei?”
His gaze heats. My nipples spring awake along with my clit. I glance toward the door. He wouldn’t. His chuckle is low and masculine. “I was busy last night and came to check on you as soon as possible.”
“Check on me?” I snap. “I’m fine. Never mind that you totally humiliated me in front of a bunch of gun-toting mobsters yesterday. How soon do you think one of them will come calling?”
He cocks his head. “We weren’t in front of them, and you needed a lesson. First, you’re fortunate said lesson came with an orgasm. Second, don’t worry about your safety. Like I said, that’s my job. I made it clear to every one of them that if they eventhinkof disrespecting you, I’ll cut out their tongues and shove them up their asses.”
“That’s descriptive.” I gulp and take a moment to run through my feelings. I’m still pissed. Slightly appreciative that he insisted upon respect from mobsters. The orgasm was spectacular. Yet his casual note of violence scares me. Although the feeling of safety, oddly enough, is a bit addictive. I haven’t felt safe since I was a kid, and Alexei plans to protect me. Am I grateful for that? Enough to go along with his actions?
Nope, I still want to shoot him. “I have work to do. Some of that is trying to keep you out of prison, although the more I’m around you, the more I think you should wear an orange jumpsuit until you’re too old to move.”
“Good,” he says. “Garik requires time to sleep. You are to stay here until I pick you up after work.”
My mouth gapes open. “You’re not here giving me orders.”
He shrugs and then slightly winces. “Take it any way you want, but I will pick you up at five and then we’ll go to dinner. We should talk about where you want to live.”
“I’m living in my house.” I push my chair back and stand. It feels better to face him on my feet even though he’s a good foot taller than I am. “Why did you just wince?” Is he hurt? I don’t care. Nope. Not at all. I hope he’s not hurt.
“I took another bullet last night—just to my outer arm. It’s okay.”
I blink. He took a bullet? “Seriously?” Surely Hendrix had closed off the back door to the amethyst servers, so no way could Alexei heal himself with the energy exchange again. “Have you been to a doctor? Who shot you?” Not that I wouldn’t have, given the chance after the debacle in the storage room.
