Chapter 27

Alexei

 

My body aches from the broken ribs they gave me. The cuts and bruises will all heal. It’s her though. It’s her that kills me. She saved me. She turned against her own father for me. What does that mean? That what she said was true? She loves me? I can’t comprehend it all, I don’t know how.

“How are you feeling?” I clear my throat and look over at Vera standing next to my bed. Thank God Dmitry didn’t take me to the hospital.

“I’ll live.” I don’t feel like talking. I don’t feel like having the reminder of what happened there. I failed her. The one person that I showed my heart to. I messed up and now there is nothing I can do to repair it.

“You will. Our guys have sifted through the mess. There’s an issue,” Dmitry says pulling my attention to him. There’s anger in his eyes, even more so than usual.

“What is it?” I ask shifting so I can sit up in the bed. I wince at the pain that rips through my body, but I push forward anyway. Vera moves quickly passing me a glass of water. I take a drink and pass it back giving her a nod of thanks.

“Bartley O’Kelly and one of his men were not accounted for,” he says. Irritation runs through my veins. Vengeance sits idly in my mind.

“How the hell did that happen?” I growl. “The fucking house exploded!”

“There’s more,” Dmitry says keeping his head held high, a passive look crossing his features.

“What else could there be?” I roar.

“Clara wasn’t accounted for either.” Those few little words unhinge me. I tear the blanket off my body and stand quickly. The room spins and my body screams in anger over the pain. I reach for my shirt and tug it over my head.

“What are you doing? You need to rest!” Dmitry protests. I shrug him off and head down the hall to my office. I need to get my men on this. This bastard came after me, had his men beat me and blew a hole in my basement. They also took a big piece of my security wall out but more importantly they could have killed Clara or taken her for helping me.

“I’ve placed calls already, Alexei. Even our contacts at the FBI.”

“I don’t give a shit who you contacted,” I snap. I pull up my laptop and begin pounding at the keys. Every person I can reach out to I do. Emails are on rapid fire.

“What is this, Alexei? Anger over the house? Over being beaten? It isn’t the first time.” His words only serve to piss me off further. I shove out of my chair, wrapping my hand around his throat before slamming him against the wall. He never saw me coming. He never had the chance.

“It isn’t your business. She saved my life, Dmitry. Should I allow her to be killed by him?”

“You forget that she was in on this, yes? She was supposed to kill you, Alexei,” he says through strangled breaths.

“And yet she didn’t.”

“You locked her in a cell,” he reminds me. I loosen my grip and take a step back before fully releasing him. Running my hand through my hair, I sigh. I don’t know what the hell this ache is in my chest and I don’t like it. It all feels wrong. She should be here next to me, under me. I should be taking her, marking that pale flesh of hers. Images of her naked flesh splayed out before me, a contrast to my dark comforter. Fuck! Dmitry’s phone rings and I turn to head to the bar. Pouring myself a drink, I listen to his conversation although it’s one-sided.

“Yes, I understand that. Thank you,” he says before turning to look at me, a smirk on his face. “Timur and his men were in the back room when that explosion occurred.” His smirk widens and so does mine.

“All of them?”

“Yes, including Zakhar. He was the leader of all of it. The kidnapping and rape. He orchestrated it all.”

“And you’re sure they are all dead?” He nods his head.

“Dental records proved it. They were thorough. I have no doubts.” Nodding my head, that’s good news although I would have loved to get them in the basement once it’s rebuilt. I have men working on that as we speak as well as the security wall. Vera walks into the office placing a sandwich on my desk before giving me a look. I shake my head and she raises an eyebrow making me laugh.

“I will eat,” I tell her if only to get her out of the room. I know Vera cares very deeply and has always taken care of me. I take a bite and sigh after she leaves the room.

“What do we know? Where could they be?” I ask when I hear the scream. It’s Vera. Dmitry and I share a look before rushing from the room. I’m down the stairs in seconds when I see her lying on the floor. Blood coats her skin and for the first time since I’ve met her, I don’t like what I see.

“She just fell in the door!” Vera cries dropping to her knees next to Clara. My heart rate spikes and my nerves burn. Dmitry is on his phone kneeling next to her. His hand comes to check for a pulse and that’s when I lose control.

“Don’t touch her!” I roar as I race to her, dropping down and lifting her in my arms. I stand up and carry her upstairs all the while my body protests. It’s her, she’s in my arms and here. How is she here? So many questions run wild in my head but the main one is what happened to her? I know she was inside in that explosion, but she doesn’t appear to be burnt. I lay her gently on the bed and start removing all the bloodied clothes from her body. She doesn’t stir and that worries me.

“Doc is ten minutes out,” Dmitry says from his position at the door.

“What is she doing here? Who let her past the gates?” I roar but she still doesn’t move.

“I’m checking the feeds now, but it appears she was alone,” he tells me. I nod my head and move into the bathroom grabbing a towel and wetting it. Heading back into the room I begin to wash the blood away. She has cuts and bruises, but I don’t see anything serious. Once I have her body cleaned, I stand there in shock staring at her.

“What did you do that for? Why did you free me if only to hurt yourself?” I know she can’t answer me but that doesn’t mean she can’t hear me.

“You made a mistake, воробей.”