Keep Me Safe (11 page)

I huff, snatching my hand free. “She attacked me, Kane. You didn’t see her. I did. I’m making the call.”

***

He never could resist her. So when she
had turned up at his security gates that night, although surprised by her sudden reappearance, he had immediately indicated for her to be let in, despite the lateness of the hour.

She had swayed those irresistible hips across the room knowing each slow step tortured him, making his cock ache for her. Natalya Asmik
, the mistress of his brother, Georgy Bortsov.

“What do you want, Natalya?” He had asked but he already knew the answer.
Of course he did. She played both brothers so well.

“I missed you, Alexei. I couldn’t stay away.” She climbed onto his lap, trailing nibbles across his jaw. He had groaned deep in his throat.

“Wait.” He eased her off him. “Why did you attack the journalist? And the girl…..was that you,too? I need answers, Natalya.”

She had pouted, running a slow scrape
of her tongue across her bottom lip, teasing him. She folded to her knees before him, looking up with those violet, almond eyes. “Later, Alexei. I promise. But first I have a little gift for you.” And with that, she unzipped him, placing her sweet lips around the head of his cock.

***

Alexei Bortsov grimaces as the memory floods his mind behind his clenched eyelids. Natalya had put him here, in this hospital bed….tried to kill him. He nods to himself. He cannot escape the truth. He had been lost in her….rocking his cock into her warm, inviting mouth….when the first furnace of pain had catapulted through his entire body. As the second wave struck, unconsciousness came.

Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie
~ Russian Proverb.

He almost smirked as the words left his mouth.

“Did you say something? I didn’t catch it.” The nurse stopped as she made to exit his room.

He shakes his head. “I was talking to myself. Can you ask the Police Officer on guard to come in please?”

Moments later, the door opens with a man framed in the doorway. Alexei leans his aching body in his direction. “Can you get a message to DCI Jack Mercer? Tell him I need to speak with him…..and tell him to bring Sky Sinclair.” He whispers, croakily.

He slumps back into the bed, closing his eyes. Within a short few minutes, sleep
seduces him.

***

DCI Jack Mercer shots a look at his partner, DCI John Keaton as they pull up in the driveway of Meadow House in Kingston upon Thames. He had thought it would be better to not inform Kane in advance that they were here to collect Sky and take her to the Chelsea and Westminster. But now he was having second thoughts about his decision.

John Keaton grins. “You should have told him. You know that now, right?”

“State the fucking obvious, why don’t you?” Jack growls.

John raises both hands in surrender. “Just saying. Well, let’s get this over with. Just remember to duck!”

A few short minutes later, Jack Mercer finds himself in the unenviable position of nose to nose contact with a very angry Kane. For a brief second, Storm
and Dalton consider letting this confrontation run its course, before Brains intervenes. Reluctantly, they pull Kane away.
Pity though, this looked like turning into some early afternoon entertainment….and besides, Jack Mercer had it coming.

Jack Mercer treads carefully. “She will be with us the entire time. And there is a uniformed guard on the door. Remember that this is my case,
Kane. And if she is happy to go, then so be it. Alexei won’t talk without her. We need her there.”

I nod reassuringly towards Kane. “I’ll be fine. And the sooner we can move the investigation forward, the better. We are all stir crazy here.”

Kane scrapes a hand through his hair. He shoots a look at his team. “Ok, fine. But let me take you. Jack and John can follow in their car.”

I shake my head and sigh. “Fine. Whatever.
I’ll go with you. Anything for peace”

***

Despite the greyness of his pallor, Alexei Bortsov is a very attractive man. And he oozes confidence and power, all qualities that draw women to him like moths to a light bulb. Five minutes in his company and I find myself also magnetically pulled in. He has not really spoken yet apart from the usual cursory introductions and general pleasantries.

He beckons for me to sit closer to him. I do so as he reaches to take my hand in his. He thumbs across my knuckles before speaking. “Sky, tell me you are safe. I am afraid for you.”

“I’m safe.” I nod.

“And you understand that I am not the one who wants to bring you harm?”

“I think so. I mean, yes. I do.”

Jack and Kane exchange frustrated looks. Jack speaks first. “Alexei, tell us what you know. We don’t have long before you’ll be too tired to talk and need to rest again. We’re not risking Sky’s safety by to-ing and fro-ing at your beck and call.”

Alexei grunts his dissatisfaction. “Alright, alright.
I can give you a name. I don’t know if she planned this on her own…..I doubt it. Part of me is still reluctant to tell you. If it was just me alone that was the target, I would not tell you. You understand? I would sort this out my own way. But after the attempt to harm Miss Sinclair…..it had got out of hand.” He breathes heavily, resting for a moment.

“
Got out of hand? So the prostitute was just collateral damage….is that what you are fucking saying?” John Keaton growls. “Tell that to her family!”

Alexei shakes his head sharply. “I have not forgotten her. She was happy and alive when I left her. She was drinking champagne, dancing……I did not harm her. Whatever you think of me
, I am not a monster. There is one person who was also there that night……and also the night that I too was poisoned. My brother’s mistress…….”

I interrupt him. “Natalya Asmik?”

Alexei snaps his head in my direction. He nods quietly.

I press on. “
You are certain it was her that poisoned you? Did you see the syringe….or…..?”

“
Unfortunately, she was the last person I saw before the pain and then blackness……it can only have been Natalya. We were alone in my study.”

“She attacked you?” I try to urge him quickly as I see him tiring.

“No, she did not attack me. She made it easy to distract me……use your imagination.” He leans his weary head, his eyelids beginning to flutter.

“Alexei! Alexei!” Jack Mercer barks towards him to press on. “
Is Georgy behind all of this? Is he pulling Natalya’s strings? Why would your brother want you dead? Money?”

Alexei shakes his head softly, never leaving the comfort of the pillows. “To stop me……”

I clasp his hand tightly, leaning my face to his. He mumbles inaudibly. I press my ear close to his mouth. “Alexei…..to stop you? To stop you doing what? Please try.”

He whispers so softly that I can barely he
ar the words. “Your papa, Sky…..I know who killed him……” The words fade away into slurs as he loses his fight against consciousness.

His words hit me with the force of a freight train.
My legs collapse beneath me as retched sobs convulse through me. I fall across his body as my own screams echo in my ears. Words spew from my mouth “No! Alexei…..tell……me……wake up……wake…..” I try to shake him awake as Kane lunges at me, pulling me away and lifting me into his arms. I wrap myself around him crying into his neck. “He must tell…..he must……”

***

I don’t remember getting into the car or the drive back to the Safe House. I do remember lots of voices surrounding me as I was carried inside and taken into a bedroom. I do remember not wanting to let go of the arms that held me as I clung to their comfort. I do remember his soft kisses on my neck as I was pulled tightly against him and soothed to sleep.

Chapter Sixteen

Kane brushes a loose tendril of hair from my face before softly placing a tender kiss on my forehead. He cups a hand under my chin thumbing my bottom lip. I offer him a quiet, watery smile.

“I brought you a cup of tea. Or I can make you something else?” He smiles kindly.

I shake my head. “Tea is fine. Did you stay with me all night?”

He nods. “Do you want to talk about Alexei? Do you feel up to it? Jack is downstairs. I can tell him to come back later if you want to rest.”

I pull myself up. “I don’t really want to, to be honest. But putting it off will only prolong what I’m feeling right now. And it isn’t just about me. I need to do this for my mother too.” I walk into the on-suite and splash my face with cold water.

As I pat myself dry, Kane is leaning against the door frame. His face is etched with confusion. “I don’t understand. Your mother? What did Alexei whisper to you?”

“You really don’t know? Didn’t I say anything last night?”

He shakes his head. “Lots of words, but
they were all jumbled. Fucking hell, Sky, what did he say to you?”

I wrap my arms around his waist and inhale his smell. I reach up and brush a small kiss on his lips. I begin to pull
his t-shirt away from his body. “Is this fresh today?”

“It’s clean on this morning, why?” He raises an eyebrow.

I pull it over his shoulders and begin to pull it over my head. “Can I borrow it? Maybe, in some symbolic way, it will pass on strength.”

“It’s a bit late to ask. You’re wearing it
now. But if it’s what you need, be my guest. You sure you’re up to talking to Jack?”

***

Jack Mercer looks more jaded and weary than I have ever seen him. That makes two of us.
Unusually, he abruptly stands as I enter the living room. His face is marked with concern. He and Kane share a nodded greeting as he leads me into a chair. The others then seat themselves until we are all settled. I feel like I am on display.

Jack coughs lightly. “I’m concerned that you are too involved in this investigation, Sky. We need to pull you back. You have been invaluable but you need to leave it to us now.
And yesterday…..”