The Russian Billionaire’s Secret(8)

Ashley smiled back at him. It was a sad smile, though. There was a lot of missed potential there. Maybe they could have had something, but now neither of them would find out.

Tiffany and Heather came back with the drink Douglas had asked for. He took it, draining half the glass in one gulp. “We have an hour or two,” he told everyone. “Settle in.”

It was a little surreal, just sitting there watching a movie while you waited to die. Oddly enough, it was the same romantic comedy Alexei had watched with Ashley the night before. It figured. Not that he was paying attention to the movie. Alexei was too busy wracking for his brain, trying to come up with something.

When the men Douglas had called arrived, he would try reasoning with them. There was no point in them crossing the Russian mafia. Worst case scenario, they would probably have to untie his legs to get him to his feet. Alexei would take that moment, and-

“Did you kill him?” asked Heather.

Alexei looked up, pulled from his plans by the women’s voices. Heather and Tiffany were scooting closer to Douglas on the sofa. Douglas himself was slumped over, chin on his chest. His eyes were closed. The now empty glass had slipped from his hand.

“I didn’t mean to,” said Tiffany, looking alarmed. She reached out a shaking hand to check his pulse but shrieked at the last minute and pulled her hand away. “Oh my god, what if I killed him?”

Ashley, sitting on the other side of Douglas, sat up a little straighter. “What the hell happened?” she asked.

Alexei frowned, trying to sort this out. “Did you poison him?”

“I drugged him,” Tiffany admitted, sounding pained. “It seemed like the best option at the time.” She gave a distressed little sigh.

Heather gave Douglas a poke. When he did nothing, she got up and hurried over to Alexei. “If we untie the two of you, you won’t kill us right?” she asked. “We won’t be in trouble with the Russian mafia or anything?”

“No,” Alexei said quickly. “If you untie us, I’m going to owe you. I’ll owe the two of you big time.” He meant every word of that.

Heather worked on the ropes for a while. Finally, she ended up going to the kitchen for a knife. It took her a moment, but she got the ropes off of him. She moved on to Ashley next.

“We need to hurry. We should be gone before the guys Douglas called get here.”

All the same, he went to Douglas and checked his pulse. “He’s still alive,” he told Tiffany, who looked visibly relieved, then, abruptly, terrified. “He won’t do anything to you,” Alexei promised. “I’ll see to that.”

“What are you going to do with him?” asked Heather.

Alexei considered that. He took Douglas’ gun from him and checked to make sure that it was loaded. It was. “I’ll leave that up to Ashley,” he said, offering her the gun. Ashley had more of a stake in all of this, after all. Douglas had taken more from her.

Ashley didn’t take the gun. She stood there, rubbing her wrists where they’d been bound, considering her options for a moment. “You have connections, you said?” she asked Alexei. “Your dad is pretty high up in the Russian underworld and all that.”

“I’m a big deal back home, yes,” said Alexei with a smile.

“Well, let’s take him with us to Russia,” said Ashley.

Alexei raised an eyebrow at that. “You’re coming with me to Russia?”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t exactly feel safe staying here.” Ashley motioned to her surroundings, likely indicating the surrounding city as well. “I wouldn’t mind laying low for a while… If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all… I suppose that would be the easiest way for us to have that date of ours.”

“Excuse me,” said Tiffany.

“We’d like to lay low, too,” added Heather.

“The more the merrier.” Alexei pulled Douglas over his shoulder and carried him outside. As soon as they were clear of this place, he would

call his father. This was going to take a lot of explaining.

Chapter 6

First Date

Saying Alexei was well off in Russia had been a bit of an understatement. He had been born into money and had only accumulated more during his lifetime. His father hadn’t been thrilled that he had so badly botched a business deal but it was preferable that he hadn’t died over it.

What they were going to do with Douglas was a stickier matter. After the disrespect he had shown to their family, they couldn’t just let him get off without due punishment.

They hired a private jet back home, but Douglas didn’t make it off the tarmac. They handed him over to the police. With Ashley’s help, they created a money trail that was downright condemning. And, with the connections of Alexei’s family, there was no way he wasn’t going down for this and, at least, a dozen related crimes.

Heather and Tiffany did come with him. They were delighted by the jet, having only ridden commercial in the past. They were so thrilled, they tried rather hard to simultaneously renew their memberships in the mile high club with Alexei.

It was tempting, but Alexei had other plans. As soon as they landed, he booked Heather and Tiffany a room at a nice hotel. He then made dinner plans for himself and Ashley.

Of course, by the time he had checked in with his father, he was pretty worn down. At Ashley’s suggestion, they grabbed a meal to go and took it back to Alexei’s place.