Zoe looked up and down the hallway. There was a guard at the far end of the hall and another at the opposite. They weren’t close enough to hear, but Zoe still didn’t want to have this conversation with people nearby.
“Come on.” She dragged him into her room and closed the door. She didn’t care if someone reported her dragging Aleksei into her room to Maxim. He knew their relationship was strictly platonic, even if he didn’t know Aleksei was gay.
“I’m flattered, sweetheart, but you know you’re not my type.”
“Why are you here, Aleksei?” she asked, lowering her voice for good measure.
“Well, I was in the hallway. You’re the one who dragged me into your room, attempting to convert me or make your boyfriend jealous. One of the two. So really I should be asking you why I am here.”
Normally Zoe found his dry sense of humor funny, but right now it was annoying. She needed to get out of the mansion. The longer she wasted time, the harder it would be to sneak back in at the guard change.
“Aleksei, I’m really not in the mood for your sass right now.”
Aleksei dropped his grin and looked at her with calculating eyes. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. You’re acting differently. Ever since Logan showed up.”
She debated telling him the truth, but a voice in the back of her mind told her to stay silent. She may trust him, but there was a chance he would tell Boris. Then she would be killed. “I’m just stressed after seeing Viktor.” It wasn’t a complete lie. She had hated working for him for the few months that she had.
The man was a leech that treated women no better than trash to be discarded when done. That was one major difference between him and Maxim. Maxim only dealt with drugs. Viktor was into human trafficking and picked several of the women they had found for his own personal harem and then discarded them when he grew bored of them.
Aleksei seemed to accept the story. “So it’s true then. Maxim is going to forge an alliance with Diego Fuentes.”
“Nothing has been decided.” If Leo had his way, yes, but it was up to Maxim, and he wasn’t keen on the idea. “Maxim has reservations for good reason. Viktor is setting up a meeting with Diego to go over all the fine details before a decision is reached.”
“What are your thoughts?”
“Neither can be trusted. I have this feeling that something more is going on. That we are only being given half the picture and it will be too late by the time we see it whole.”
Aleksei nodded as if he agreed. “Boris seems more on edge too. Everyone in this house is. It’s like everyone is holding their breath at the same time. I feel I have to walk on tiptoes.”
“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since Logan took your place as my driver.”
Aleksei made a face like he had swallowed something sour. “I was demoted to security by the library.”
That didn’t make any sense. “No one ever goes there.”
“Exactly,” he exclaimed. “It’s so boring standing by a door no one ever goes to. The most interaction I’ve had in two days was seeing your beau last night.”
“How many times do I have to say he’s not my beau?” She honestly didn’t know what to call Greg other than a distraction at the moment. A sexy distraction.
“You can say it as many times as you want, but I have eyes in my head. You’ve gotten down and dirty with him.”
“Aleksei,” she gasped in horror and looked around, even though they were alone in her room.
“I can see it in your eyes. They get all doey when I say his name. Did he show you his anaconda? Wallpaper the closet? Heels to Jesus?” He smiled, knowing this kind of conversation made her uncomfortable.
“Oh my god, stop.” She held up both hands to stop him. Zoe didn’t know if she should laugh that he knew all those stupid references to sex or be offended. “Did you just steal two of those references from a movie?”
“I did, but that’s beside the point. You had sex with him. I know you two have been doing the horizontal tango. It’s written all over you.”
“So you’re saying I have a giant tattoo on my forehead that says I got laid by Logan Grant?”
“Ha, so it’s true. I was only guessing. Hoping.” Aleksei hopped on her bed, resting on his side, his head propped on his head. “How was it? Tell me everything. Every detail. Was he big? He looks big in all the right places.”
Yeah, hard pass. She was not going to tell Aleksei about sex with Greg. Some things just needed to remain personal.
