Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(44)

The disposable phone in his hand looked breakable, like it was just one squeeze away from being crumpled metal, but instead of crushing it, Luka finally took the call, holding up his finger as he left the room.

Alex stayed at the counter, letting him have his privacy as she finished her breakfast. She did wonder, as anyone would, what kind of call it was. Mishca was more careful now than he had been before. Not to say that he wasn’t careful before, but extra precautions had been put in place since Vlad had turned out to be an undercover FBI Agent.

He wasn’t gone for long, a few seconds at most, but in that short amount of time, the moment between them was broken.

“I’ve gotta run. I won’t be gone long, but you’ll be on your own for a bit.” Despite how tired he obviously was, his gaze was intense as he held her face in both of his large hands, forcing her to look up at him. “Promise me you’ll stay here until I get back.”

“Luka—”

“Promise me.”

She sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to let her go until she did. “I promise.”

His shoulders visibly relaxed, but his eyes didn’t lose their intensity. Tilting her head down, he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead.

“Take it easy. I’ll be back soon.”

It was almost comforting in a way, watching him walk away, knowing that he believed in her enough that he didn’t think she would go out and try to find something. She had no intention of seeking out Snow, not after what Luka described, but knowing that he trusted her enough. No matter how small that trust was, it meant a lot to her.

He let her go, glancing over at Loki with a sharp look that obviously was a silent command. While he went upstairs to change clothes, she finished her breakfast in silence except for the occasional movement of Loki.

Alex was just rinsing her plate when Luka came back down, looking marginally better than he had before. He crossed the room, reaching to pull her toward him, surprising her as he enveloped her in his arms. He didn’t say anything, at least not with words, but the way he held her, his arms tight around her, told her everything that those words never could.





21

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Dead Bodies





Luka couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so poorly…no, he could. The night he’d gone to the dive bar out in Brooklyn and had run into Bastian. That night had stuck with him for far longer than he expected because, while he’d thought to see any of them again—especially someone who had played such a big role in shaping who he was—would be easy since he wasn’t the same person he’d once been, that didn’t mean it didn’t have a residual effect on him.

But even then, it had been easy compared to the last few days. Worry ate at him while he was awake and because of it, when he did actually pass out for the few minutes that he did, he was too wired to fall under. It was no wonder he’d finally clocked out this last night considering he’d been up for nearly seventy-two hours. He hadn’t even felt when Alex had moved from his side, and he was usually a light sleeper. When he’d finally woken up and saw the door open, panic gripped him, and he’d went storming out of that room as fast as his feet could carry him.

He hadn’t meant to scare her when he’d kicked in the door, but her showering had been the last thing on his mind of possibilities of what she could be doing on the other side of that door.

And worse, when he finally got his eyes on her, water streaming over every naked inch of her, drugs had gone right out of his mind. It wasn’t like he had never seen her naked before—once accidental, the other because she just wanted to get a reaction out of him—but like each time before, he had to remind himself why pursuing anything with her was a bad idea. Now more than ever. She didn’t need him taking advantage of her when she was obviously going through some shit. Now that there was a possibility that Fatos was hanging around, that only made things more complicated. But for a moment, as he stood there and looked at every part of her, a strong need to take her to his bed filled him.

Even though he knew it was wrong, having those thoughts of her, he still couldn’t get the image out of his head and with it came a strong need.

Before now, he had been successful in his attempts to stay away from her with a hell of a lot of effort, not to mention Natasha, but even when she crossed his mind, he couldn’t imagine going to her.

How many nights had he lain awake thinking about what Alex was doing and who she was seeing. It plagued him constantly, but he had managed to be there for her without compromising her.

It just wasn’t enough, and he knew, even if they hadn’t discussed it, that this was going to happen. Whether he wanted it to or not, the question was how long was he going to continue to fight it.

“Get in here!”

Mishca was obviously in a mood, but Luka was far too tired to try to talk his way out of it. He’d stayed off the grid for the last four days or so, helping Alex through the worst of her detoxing, but he could only avoid his boss for so long, and judging from the pissed off expression aimed his way, there was no doubt that Mishca knew about what happened at the compound.

Luka stepped into the office, shoving a hand through his hair to push it back out of his face. The door was slammed and Mishca was in his face, fury bleeding out of him.

“What the f*ck were you thinking?”