The Prince's Gamble (15 page)

It took a minute or so to acclimate to the change in temperature. She dropped her head back and let the water splash onto her face and run down her breasts. Her nipples puckered into even tighter buds with the cold.

He wasted no time in taking them in his hands and tweaking the hard tips, dragging a shaky breath from her as she looked at his face. His eyes were nearly sapphire with desire. When she dropped her hand down to touch him, he shivered with need.

“Feeling the chill?” she kidded even though there was nothing but heat growing between them as they caressed one another beneath the gentle cascade of the water.

“Not at all, but I think I know somewhere else for us to explore.”

So far, it had all been delightful, but knowing Alexander, he had something even more wonderful in mind. “What do you suggest?”

“Follow me.” With a playful tug, he led her down the hall to a door with a biometric-keycard combo lock on the wall. He placed his thumb on it, and the door clicked open. He pulled her into a room that looked like pictures of the Roman baths she had seen in history books.

Frescoes of rolling countryside graced the walls, while vaulted niches gave the impression of being in a courtyard. Beneath each arch was a potted orange tree in full bloom and bearing dozens of the fruits. The painted ceiling of a skyscape had strategically placed lighting to make it look like daylight, but when Alexander touched a button, the sky dimmed to dusk and lights came to life beneath the waters of the intimately-sized pool in the center of the room.

“This is so unbelievably luxurious.” She walked toward the stairs at one edge of the pool.

“It’s my private spa. I come down here to get away from it all.”

She could understand why he would find peace here. She trailed a toe through the heated water. Steam rose off its surface in languid curls. The air was filled with the sounds of rustling wind and an occasional bird call, and was scented with the aroma from the orange blossoms on the trees surrounding the pool.

Alexander took a step down into the water and held out his hand. “Would you join me?”

She answered by slipping her hand into his and offered him a languid smile. Together they meandered ever lower into the waters until they were mid-waist.

The dusky lights in the artificial night sky and beneath the waters created a chiaroscuro of light and dark. The temperature of the water was much the same, a perfect blend that was neither too cold nor too hot.

Alexander led her deeper into the pool until they were both treading water. Then he pulled her close and urged her legs around his waist so he could support her weight.

Together they floated in that perfect blend of light and liquid. The tips of her breasts bobbed and brushed against the crisp hairs on his chest while the long length of his erection slipped and rubbed along her center.

The desire already crackling between them grew in degrees like water reaching the boiling point. When Alexander finally moved one arm from around her waist and cupped her breast, Kathleen reached down and guided him to her center.

“Are you sure?” he asked, with far more restraint than she possessed at that moment.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything, Sasha.” She shifted her hips and took him in, holding her breath with his penetration. He was a large man and it took her a moment to accommodate his length and width stretching her, pushing inward until he was sheathed to the hilt. She released a shaky breath.

He shifted then, drawing out and in, and she shuddered and closed her eyes at the sheer pleasure he brought her. But then she slowly opened her eyes because she needed to see his face. She wanted to know it felt as good for him as it did for her.

Her gaze locked with his and she had no doubts. Squeezing her legs around his waist, she kept her eyes on him as they moved together in a natural and ageless rhythm.

She clung to his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around her as every powerful stroke brought them closer to release. Standing against the edge of the pool, his thrusts grew stronger, more demanding, and she welcomed him, arching her back to increase his penetration.

She slicked her hands across the breadth of his shoulders and urged him on with soft cries of pleasure. He answered her with a rough groan, his body trembling with his own desire.

She shook as her climax came closer and closer, and then with one strong thrust, they slipped over the edge together.

“Sasha,” she cried out as she came.

“I love you, Kat,” Alexander said, and whispered kisses across her face.

With those simple words, the pleasure she had been feeling just moments earlier evaporated. Remnants of all her doubts and worries tangled together to form a huge knot in her belly. Sweet lord. What had she done?

Chapter Nineteen

Kathleen’s body tensed and Alexander shifted away. The cloud of confusion in her eyes told him all he needed to know. He’d lost her. His impulsive words had scared her away.

Somehow, he contained the disappointment within him so it didn’t yield to anger.

He brushed his thumb along her lips. “It’s okay, Kat. I know it might be too soon for you, but I’m a patient man.”

“I’m sorry, Sasha.” Unable to face him, she buried her head against his shoulder as passion quickly ebbed.

Alexander just held her, hoping the uncertainty within her might fade in time.

When their skin became slightly waterlogged, he urged her from the pool and back to the sauna where they had left their robes. The garments were pleasantly warm as they slipped into them, and after they had donned the robes, they gathered their clothes for the trip upstairs.

He hoped she might ask him in when they reached her suite, but she didn’t. He contained his regret that the words he’d hoped would bring them closer had instead driven them apart. There was some small satisfaction, however, from the kiss they shared at her door. Long and passionate, it had her clinging to him before she reluctantly pulled away.

“Will I see you in the morning?” he asked. He imagined she might return to the FBI field office to continue her interrogation of Petrov, but Alexander wasn’t sure if they would want him there, too.

“I know you have things to do here at the casino,” she said. “I’ll call and fill you in as soon as we have something solid.”

Dismissed, he kissed her hard to remind her he was not so easy to send away. Once again she responded in kind, answering his kiss with passion before they broke apart once more.

“Good night, Kat.” He didn’t wait for her reply to walk away.

…

Kathleen was torn between calling after him and asking him to stay, and giving herself the distance she needed to deal with his astonishing declaration. Somehow she mustered the strength to close the door. She leaned against it as she recalled his words, and reminded herself of what her role was supposed to be.

Investigator. Decoy. The prince’s lover?

The latter had not ever been on her list, and yet here she was, having more feelings for him than she had ever expected. Or wanted.

She wasn’t cut out for the kind of life he led—the whirl of obligations and all that went with them. Or the family he was sure to want to carry on the Ivanov name.

None of those things had ever been in her game plan.

With a rueful smile she slipped into bed, and thought of an old saying her mother used when she was particularly frustrated.

God laughed at women who made plans.

…

Petrov slammed his hands flat against the table. “I have nothing to tell you.”

His shout echoed in the silence that followed as Kathleen stood before him, arms folded across her chest, holding her features flat and unyielding.

Petrov blew out a harsh breath and looked away from her, as if intent on boring a hole in the wall of the police department interrogation room with his stare.

Let him try. Kathleen refused to let him ignore her. In a casual stroll, she positioned herself smack in the middle of his line of vision. She bent and stuck her face close, her nose almost grazing his. “Understand this, Nicolai. We have enough to put you away for a very long time. But if you help us—”

“Do you think I fear you more than I fear—” He stopped abruptly.

“Who do you fear, Nicolai? Whoever it is, we can protect you,” she cajoled. She’d get Petrov to roll on his associates one way or another.

Petrov merely chuckled and shook his head. “No one can protect me. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask Sasha? He can tell you about his experience firsthand.”

Kathleen straightened slowly and in her earpiece she heard, “Let’s call it a day, Special Agent.” They’d been going around and around for hours now.

“You’re making a mistake, Nicolai,” she offered, giving him one last chance.

With a dead calm that sent a chill to her gut, Petrov replied, “I’m not the one making the mistake. Don’t underestimate the people involved in this.”

“In what?” she probed. Again.

He ignored her.

“Fine. It’s your life.” Driving back her unease when he just leveled that chilly gaze on her, she exited the interrogation room to where her ADIC and Detective Roman waited in the viewing area. She shot a glance at Roman and asked, “Do you think he’s referring to Stravinski?”

“Either him or someone in the Russian mob,” Peter said.

Roberts narrowed his eyes. “Not local. Petrov’s European connection, is my guess.”

“Not to mention that Stravinski is far scarier than most of the local mobsters,” Peter added.

“The team has located some minor overseas connections to Stravinski, too,” Kathleen said. “Maybe there’s more going on than what we’ve found so far.”

Roberts paused to consider their comments, then inclined his head in the direction of the door. They followed him into the hall where Roman instructed the police officers outside the interrogation room to take Petrov back to his holding cell.

Then Roman led them back to his office where they had moved some of the evidence they had collected from Petrov, including a cell phone which sat, tagged and bagged by the locals as evidence.

Roberts raised the phone. “We’ve had a few calls here from a local number. We’ve traced them to a pre-paid card purchased in Atlantic City.”

“Petrov’s contacts trying to reach him, probably. He still has a shitload of their money,” Peter commented.

“We need someone to take Petrov’s place,” Kathleen said. As her ADIC looked toward the detective, she jumped in. “If it’s Stravinski, he’s probably already familiar with Detective Roman.”

“Definitely. Besides, I’m not the one who can give them access to their money.”

A cold chill gripped the pit of her stomach since she knew who could.

Roberts realized it, as well, and shook his head. “I’m not comfortable with Ivanov being involved in this any further.”

Kathleen was taken aback with the undercurrents in her boss’s tone. “Sir, I hope you’re not saying you don’t trust Ivanov. He’s been totally cooperative.”

He arched a brow and glared at her. “Are you sure you’re being one hundred percent objective, Special Agent?”

Stiffening, she drew on all the resolve she possessed. “I won’t deny that the time I’ve spent with Prince Alexander has brought us close personally. But I can separate that relationship from my duty, sir. I have no doubt that the prince is not involved with Petrov or his cronies, or with anything else illegal.”

Peter did not hesitate to chime in. “I can vouch for him, too. Alexander is as clean as they get, ADIC Roberts.”

Her boss nodded and laid the cell phone back on the table. With a cold stare at her, he said, “Are you willing to bet your badge on it?”

She shouldn’t have been surprised it had come to that. She had practically invited her judgment to be called into question thanks to her personal feelings for Alexander. But despite those feelings, she had no hesitation about the man she had come to know.

“Yes. I’d bet my badge, and yours, too, sir.”

…

It was hard for Alexander to just sit there across from Kathleen, seeming impartial, after being summoned to the FBI field office. He listened to her boss lay out what they were asking him to do, concern twisting his insides to knots. It wasn’t just the danger to him personally. It was the risk to Kathleen’s career if he didn’t quash her ADIC’s doubts about him.

In a way, he wished that Peter hadn’t told him about those doubts. It would have made it possible for him to refuse the request—something he could no longer do, because of his feelings for Kathleen.

Even if she hadn’t been able to meet his gaze from the moment he had walked into the room.

“So let me get this straight. You want me to call whoever has been contacting Petrov and convince them to accept me as his replacement.”

“Or, at a minimum, make a one-time deal to return their money,” ADIC Roberts explained.

With a quick nod of acceptance so he couldn’t give himself time to reconsider, he said, “I’m in.”

Roberts unbagged the cell phone and slid it across the table. It was only when he reached for it that Kathleen finally met his gaze, confusing him with the emotions staring back at him. For a moment, it seemed that she was hoping he would back out—but not because she doubted him. Because she feared for him. That fear, as scary as it was, gave him hope that her feelings for him ran far deeper than what she’d admit to.

As he handed over the cell phone, Roberts said, “We’ve put a bug in it. It will let us not only listen to whatever is said over the line, but also allow us to engage the microphone to hear any nearby conversations, even if the phone is not in use.”

Alexander dialed the number he was given. A mixture of relief and anticipation swept through him as someone answered immediately, in Russian.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

He likewise responded in Russian. “This isn’t Nicolai. The Feds took him away from my casino yesterday.”

“
My
casino?” There was a pause. “You’re telling me you’re the fuckin’ prince?”

“Yes, although regretfully not fucking anyone at the moment. Maybe later, if I’m lucky. And you are …?” He waited, hoping the man would identify himself. From his accent, Alexander decided that he was lower class, likely from the countryside, much as Stravinski’s background indicated.

“How the fuck did you get this phone?” the man demanded.

“My security chief was able to pocket it before the Feds noticed. My people protect me. Can you say the same?”

A long silence followed. For a second, Alexander feared he had lost the other man, but then Petrov’s contact jumped back on. “What do you want?”

“I think the better question is, how do you get your money back?”

“How do you know it’s my money?” Doubt laced the man’s words and Alexander grimaced. That was quickly noticed by both Kathleen and her boss, who raised their hands with different gestures. Her boss’s said “slow down” while Kathleen’s upraised palm provided reassurance.

Drawing in a deep breath, he brought steel and conviction to his words. “Since Nicolai’s father is too smart to trust him with that much money, I figure you’re the stupid fuck whose cash is sitting in my casino.”

A stream of Russian expletives followed, but then the man said, “You don’t want to mess with me, Ivanov.”

Unsure of just how much to push, he said, “You’re right. I don’t want to mess with you. I want to work with you.”

There was an even longer hesitation on the other end of the line. “How do I know you can be trusted?”

There was that pesky trust thing again. Alexander raked a hand through his hair, and provided the only answer he could at that moment. “Consider this. With a few keystrokes, Nicolai’s quarter of a million could be on the way to my private Cayman Islands account. But instead I called you.”

Another pregnant silence filled the line before Petrov’s contact finally answered. “I need to talk to my associates. I’ll call you back at seven.”

Before Alexander could say another word, the call disconnected.

He laid the phone on the table and glanced toward Kathleen and Roberts. “I’m not quite sure he bought it.” He then translated the conversation for them and told them when the man intended to call back.

“What do we do now?” he asked.

“You had him on the phone long enough to triangulate cell towers. Hopefully he won’t ditch that prepaid for a different one,” Roberts said.

“You also have to make things look as normal as possible until they call,” Kathleen said. “That means going back to the hotel and sticking to your regular routine.”

He glanced at his watch. Since it was nearly three o’clock, that meant a walk around the casino floors and a staff meeting with Jim at five. “I’ll head back. Do want to go with me?” He directed his question at Kathleen.

She shot a nervous look at her boss, but he confirmed she should return with a dip of his head.

“I’ll drive you,” Alexander offered, and was glad when she didn’t offer any fight. He suspected, however, that it had more to do with proving to her boss that they could still work together than any change in her view of their relationship.

When they got to the parking deck, Kathleen just stared at his metallic black Bentley convertible. Was he kidding? With its sleek styling and gleaming chrome, the car was sure to turn heads anywhere he drove it.

She should insist on exchanging the Bentley for something more serviceable and infinitely more discreet. But when she met his gaze, it was clear that was not an option.

“Don’t you have anything less conspicuous that you could drive the next couple of days?” She dropped down onto the seat of the low-riding car after he opened the door for her.

“There’s the Rolls, the Escalade, or a limo if you’d prefer? They’re all bulletproof, by the way, which your car is not,” he remarked casually.

Not rising to his bait, she said, “The Escalade will be fine.”

“I’ll make the arrangements.” The Bentley started with a throaty purr, and he drove it out of the parking spot onto the street at a sedate pace. Once on the highway, he freed the power in the engine and increased their speed.

He handled the car much the same way he did everything else. Competently and with finesse. His large hands rested on the steering wheel and stick shift, and as he changed gears, the car responded with a low, sexy hum.
Kind of like she had
.

As they sped toward the hotel, the tension in the car grew with each passing mile until she could no longer sit there silently.

“I want to thank you for helping us out.”

His gaze never wavered from the road. “It’s not as if I had much choice.”

“We could have handled it with our own people,” she replied, although in truth, using Alexander had given them capabilities they would not have had with anyone else.

“But then I wouldn’t have cleared my name, would I?” He shot her a glare from the corner of his eye.

“Alexander, I have no doubt that you’re not involved.”