Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(110)

For a second, she could remember the smell of the earth, pungent and rich, and Fatos’ smile when he saw her fear.

Even if she were still angry, she would rather be safe and angry than buried alive again.

Grabbing her cup of tea, she walked back inside, grabbing her phone from where it was charging next to the bed and punching in the number she knew from memory. There was no guarantee he would answer, or even be of any help with the way she had treated him when she had seen him last, but at least she could try.

Klaus was already finicky by nature. There was no telling how he would react.

The line rang for so long that she feared he wouldn’t answer, but as she was about to hang up, he finally picked up.

“Speak.”

Alex rolled her eyes as she balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear as she packed her bag for rehearsals. “You should really learn proper phone etiquette.”

Klaus was silent for a beat, the smile clear in his voice as he said, “Didn’t think I’d be getting a call from you.”

“Yeah, well I wasn’t expecting to make this call, but I think I’m being followed.”

“You call the Russian?”

She sighed, long and hard. That had been her first instinct because that was what she would have done, but she was stubborn and refused to bend. Mishca would be the last person she would call if there was a need.

“No, I called you.”

“I feel honored, really.”

“Don’t you want to do something about it, or do I need to handle it on my own?” she asked, nearly ripping the zipper as she closed the bag.

“Oh, calm your shit. Tell me what you know.”

“I don’t know. Some guy was outside my place last night. I didn’t really see him, but it was kind of obvious he was there. Then, I got flowers after my performance the other night.”

“That’s nice. I wish I got flowers after I did my job. Only thing I ever get is more death threats,” Klaus said, sounding like he was talking to himself.

What the hell? “Why aren’t you taking this seriously?”

“Trust me. If I thought you were in danger, I would. To me, this just sounds like you have a stalker. I could take care of that too, you know, for a price.”

Frustrated, Alex thought about hanging up on him. “I can’t believe there was a time when I actually thought you were a decent person.”

“If you didn’t still think that, you wouldn’t have called me.”

She hung up on him and once again found herself staring down at the screen, her finger hovering over the ‘contacts’ icon. Once, she had contemplated deleting Mishca’s numbers from her phone but realized that was pointless considering she had committed all of them to memory.

But…she still wasn’t ready to call him.

Pocketing her phone, she walked back into the living room, closing and locking the balcony doors behind her. Robbie was finally awake, groaning as he nearly rolled off the sofa as he turned over. He might have drunken himself into a stupor last night, but he was still up early.

He looked around wide-eyed, trying to get his bearings, only relaxing when he caught sight of Alex as she walked by him.

“Did I sleep here?”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “I don’t think it would have been good for anybody to carry you home in your condition. Do you want some coffee?”

He mumbled an affirmative, carefully rising to his feet as though he thought he would tip over at any moment. “Where’s your bathroom again?”

“Down the hall to your left.”

Alex was busy pulling down two mugs from the cabinets, grabbing creamer and sugar, when she heard Robbie’s exclamation and the sound of Loki’s low growling. Hurrying after him, she did her best to hold in her laughter when she caught sight of him. Robbie had his hands up, his arms shaking, but that did nothing to appease Loki as he remained alert and in place, just a second from springing forward and latching onto Robbie’s neck.

“Loki, behave.” Alex stepped around Robbie, patting Loki on the head. “You know better. Don’t worry about him, Robbie. He’s just not used to new people.” Or he just didn’t like Robbie, but she didn’t want to tell him that.

As he went on, she led Loki back into her bedroom, giving him a treat before closing the door after she left.

Back in the kitchen, she waited for Robbie to rejoin her before she poured them both a cup, fixing hers the way she liked before passing him the creamer and sugar. He looked less dead now, but she didn’t doubt that by tonight’s show, he would look relatively normal.

“I think your dog hates me,” Robbie said as he took a sip of his coffee. “Every time I come over here, he’s always waiting to take a bite out of me.”

Alex shrugged, not bothering to make any excuses.

“What time is it anyway?” he asked looking around them for a clock.

“Not too early. We still have a few hours before rehearsal.”

He gave her a heart-stopping smile, but it didn’t do anything for her. She almost wished it would…

“Want to go out to the market with me?” Before she could answer, he amended that. “We’ll have to stop by my flat first…if that’s okay.”

Alex wasn’t really in the mood to spend the next four hours alone in her apartment before she was meant to go to the studio, so even if it wasn’t with Robbie that she wanted to spend time with, she found herself agreeing anyway.