Ultimate Vengeance (Wanted Men Book 4) (8 page)

While Sacha swallowed her tears and swooned over her best friend’s support, Justin checked a text. “Peggy’s meeting me at the office first thing tomorrow. She heads our family law division,” he supplied when Sacha gave him an inquiring look. “With her on it, your case is won.”

Her
case
. Could it really come to that? She couldn’t see it. “I cannot afford to pay for her services.”
And Alekzander will make it so not one scheduled meeting takes place.

He shrugged. “I wasn’t aware payment had been discussed.”

“Then it should be because as I said, I do not have the money to pay for an attorney.”

“Done. Discussed and taken care of all in the same conversation. Sheppard, Lupin, and Sheppard will offer pro bono legal services to you because you’ve given the founding father’s grandson an uncorrupted, wholesome place to hang out when he isn’t working.” Justin winked and raised his beer in a toast.

Angela laughed while Steve paced.

“What does that mean?” Sacha asked, wondering if he’d hung out in a not-so-wholesome place at one time. That would explain his wide knowledge of bad words.

“It means they’re taking your case on for free,” Angela said, misunderstanding the question. She stood.

“Yeah, and earning disapproval from the fucking Russian mob,” Steve added under his breath.

Sacha’s blood ran cold as she too got up and placed her empty mug on the coffee table. Steve was right. What was she doing here, allowing them to make light of this? She couldn’t ignore how grave her situation might become if things went wrong.

“Steve is right. I cannot involve you in this.” She slipped her purse over her shoulder and lifted Lekzi’s bassinet, careful not to wake her yet. She would need to eat before she was out for the night, but hopefully, Sacha would have enough time to prepare for bed before then. “As I said earlier, I will keep it simple by having this meeting with Alekzander in the morning. If I see that he plans to pursue me, I will have to leave.”

“It won’t come to that,” Justin said confidently.

Steve shot his friend an impatient look and went over to stand behind Angela. Before he spoke, he brought his hand around and covered his wife’s mouth. His skin appeared pale next to her dark complexion. The contrast was distractingly lovely.

“Since nobody wants to say it like it is because they don’t want to risk hurting your feelings, Sacha, I’ll be the asshole here. You’re being naïve, and quite honestly, blind as shit. You’re not dealing with an old high school sweetheart who works in an insurance office and plays golf on the weekends. You’re dealing with a man born into one of the most ruthless Russian organized crime families to exist in the last hundred years, who just so happens to own a multi-billion-dollar company
on the side
. Overachiever much?” he snorted with a roll of his eyes that made Sacha want to slap them out of his head. “He’s not going to frown and wave his finger in your face if he finds out you had his kid and kept her from him for months and months. He’s going to lose his fucking mind because you stole from him something those guys live and die for; their family. Plain and simple; he’s going to destroy your little fucking life. And that’s only if he’s not in the mood to kill you and dump your body in the Hudson so he can take his daughter and raise her to be the next Russian mafia princess. And anyone who gets in his way will join you in that watery grave. All of you wake the fuck up to the reality of this situation. He’s stationed guards here not to protect her but because he wants her. There are goddamn mobsters surrounding our fucking building right now!” he spat as he pointed to the muted TV. “They probably have semi-automatic weapons under their five-hundred-dollar coats! If you think there’s still a possibility that you can take Tarasov’s child and “leave,” you need to give your head a shake. What you should be doing right now, is praying.” With that, he released his wife’s mouth and stormed across the room. He didn’t slam the bedroom door but closed it quietly. He might be angry, but he was still aware enough not to frighten the two babies in the house.

“You’re right,” Justin said to Angela. “He should write a book or something.”

“Right?” she said, bobbing her head in an I-told-you-so fashion.

Neither was fazed by the outburst.

Sacha was shaking.

She stared at the door Steve had just hidden behind and tried not to show how livid she suddenly was. How
dare
he voice such a warped, negative representation of Alekzander’s character? So biased and…Hollywood! Her daughter’s father was so much more than a successful businessman who’d been born into a family with questionable ties. He was strong, protective, loving. He was affectionate and warm, and generous and thoughtful. He was witty and funny, and he’d been her very best friend as well as a considerate, incredibly erotic lover. And, yes, he was a member of the Tarasov Bratva, and a cheating, womanizing jerk. There was no denying that. But that
was not
all he was.

Pulling up the bassinet and cradling her daughter that much more protectively, as though sheltering her from what had, so unfairly, been said about her father, Sacha went to leave. She was furious with herself for feeling insulted on Alekzander’s behalf, but it was there, and she couldn’t pretend otherwise. Not to herself.

Angela touched her arm as she made it to the door, her smile careful as she slipped Lekzi’s diaper bag over Sacha’s shoulder. “Don’t be upset by what he said. He’s not used to this kind of thing. My dad’s friends were forever sitting around our kitchen table eating my mom’s amazing creations. Sure, now we know they were gangs and la familia, but at the time, they were just dad’s friends. What people see on the surface is rarely what is.” She looked back at Justin, who was by the window, texting once more. When she came back around, she took Sacha by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “How did you feel when you saw him?” she whispered. “For real.”

Sacha didn’t mean to be honest, but when she opened her mouth, it just tumbled out. “It was awful. Seeing him was awful and wonderful and terrifying and maddening. I felt as if I had woken from a dead sleep. I would not admit this to anyone but you because it sounds so silly and dramatic, but I did not realize how broken I was until he reappeared to kick around the pieces he left behind.”

“Oh, baby girl.” Angela pulled her in, and they hugged for a long time. For once, Sacha didn’t feel awkward and pull away. “I’m so sorry you love him like that.”

Sacha nodded but was unable to speak. She did love him “like that”, and she was sorry, too.

“I couldn’t help but get the vibe that Tarasov thinks you and I are bumping uglies,” Justin said as he came over. “If it helps tomorrow, play on that. I don’t mind if you use me to drive him away. If he thinks we’re involved, will he respect that, or fight it?”

“I do not know,” she lied. Alekzander would not take that well.

“The option is there. If you want to throw a boyfriend at him, I’ve dated my share of women. It’ll seem legit.”

Sacha was surprised by that. “Really? Are you…interested in…I mean, I do not want to pry, but…”

Justin chuckled and pulled her in to kiss her temple in that way he always did. The rage that had entered Alekzander’s eyes when he’d seen the gesture at the restaurant was what had sent Sacha fleeing.

“My boy/girl dates were for my father’s sake. And…others. I don’t go around advertising how attractive I find David Beckham, but I certainly don’t bother anymore with the pretense of admiring his wife for anything but her business acumen.”

Sacha gripped the bassinet handles with one hand and hugged her gorgeous friend. “I will keep my eye out for a wonderful partner for you,” she promised.

“Introduce me to your brother and we’ll be all set.” He said with a wink as he reached for the door.

“You are the closest thing I have so that would be impossible.” She waved at Angela and missed the profoundly touched look Justin gave her as she walked out into the corridor.

A chill flashed down her spine when she saw Grigori standing guard near the top of the stairs. He was big, grim-looking, and a few years older than her.

She quickly made sure Lekzi was still asleep and well covered. If the baby were to open her eyes and look at any one of Alekzander’s men, they would know immediately who her father was.

Alek was itching to text Maks again to ask for an update. The last
fuck off and let me work
he’d gotten was thirty minutes ago. Guy must have something by now, he thought, looking at his Piaget as he, his uncle, and Dmitri crossed the lobby of the building Alek and Sacha had seen for the first time during a snowstorm. Alek had told the real estate agent they’d take the unit the minute he’d seen Sacha’s eyes light up at the view. After signing something he hadn’t even scanned, he’d sent the woman on her way, shooing her out into the hallway and toward the elevators. He and Sacha were christening the place before that lift had any chance of reaching the lobby.

“Evening, Mr. Tarasov.”

He flashed the peace sign at the familiar face behind the reception-slash-security desk but didn’t stop to chat about his sudden reappearance after more than a year-long absence. They rode the elevator up and entered the place he’d once loved coming home to. It smelled of lemons; a result of the cleaners he still had coming in once a week. But it was quiet as a tomb. Fitting.

Was he touching her right now?

Alek’s jaw locked as he forced the thought back into the box it kept escaping from. The sinister feelings that came with it rode low under the surface of his patience. He was doing pretty well. Not obsessing. Keeping a clear head. But that goddamn attorney’s presence was drilling a hole in the top of his skull, and that agonizing buzz wasn’t letting up. He doubted it would until the issue was dealt with.

Had Sacha told Sheppard what Alek had done to her? Did Sheppard know Alek had been her first—and would be her only—love?

If not, he soon would.

The sweepers had left the lights on, and a golden glow lit up the foyer, highlighting the polished tile stamped with an elaborate T intertwined with an uber-feminine U—a gift he’d presented Sacha with on their six-month anniversary.

He put his coffee and the apples he’d picked up at Starbucks on the table beneath a gilded mirror, and after hanging up their coats, he collected his sustenance—braced himself—and went through into the main room. It was an open concept unit with a long island separating the living area from the kitchen. A darkened hallway branched off leading to the bedrooms. The dining area sat neglected in an alcove surrounded by windows.

Seeing the place through his eyes tonight was nothing compared to how he’d seen it the last time he walked out the door. It had been through a flood of moisture because he’d known he was leaving behind a home full of beautiful memories he’d vowed to treasure forever. At that point, he’d seen Sacha twice at the small hotel where Maks had tracked her. He’d gotten but two brief glimpses of her, both in the evening when she’d opened the door to accept a food delivery. The urge to go to her had been crippling, and because he knew he would eventually cave, he’d cut himself off and put Sergei on guard duty. The guy had been in denial about his family’s death and had been begging for something to do. Since Vasily had refused to place him, Alek had. And he’d lived to regret it because his cousin had lost track of Sacha the day she checked out of the hotel.

“Nostalgia’s a funny thing.”

He lifted his head to see he’d stopped next to one of the end tables that held a conch shell he and Sacha had brought home from the only trip they’d taken together. He’d wanted to see her in a bathing suit so he’d taken her to St. Barts for a week. Straight up porn. That’s how he would describe those curves in her red bikini. God, the things they’d done together that week. His angel may have been an uncertain, hesitant virgin when he’d met her, but her ability to learn and learn well had turned their alone time into one hell of an enjoyable thing.

“Yeah, it’s, uh…yeah.”

“You’re curiously well-contained considering what Sacha might be doing right now.”

The brutally direct observation had the air whooshing from Alek’s lungs in a painful burst, made worse because it came from his uncle. Anger had him revealing himself in a way he would only ever do with this man.

“And you think bringing that out in the open is going to help me keep a lid on the fucking horror trying to escape that dark, fucked-up place inside me right now? Do you think I’m not smothering the goddamn possibility of them being together as quickly as it repeatedly bobs to the surface? I want to go stand over Maks with a fucking whip and demand he works harder and faster to get me what I want. This shouldn’t be taking him so long. But at the same time, I
don’t
want to know where she is because I’m concerned the minute you leave me alone, I’ll be rolling up in front of her place with my fucking trunk lined and ready to transport an innocent man’s bludgeoned body to a bog in Jersey.”

He slammed his treasured apples on the end table next to his coffee.

“I want to rip through this motherfucking city and wreak havoc until that goddamn woman is standing before me. I want to clear the way, and then do you know what I want? Who I’ve become?” he demanded, breathing roughly. “I want to experience the pleasure of having her come to me all on her own. Like the self-entitled asshole I am, I want to sit like a fucking king on my throne and have the angel I’ve been searching for crawl up and take her place on my lap because she knows that’s where she belongs. And that’s where she wants to be. I want this to be a done deal so I don’t hurt anybody along the way. But there’s also that part of me who’ll happily kill a thousand men if that’s what it takes to get to her.”