Chapter Ten
The next time someone offered to take Maddie on vacation, she was going to make damn sure she knew where she was going before she agreed to go. For some reason, she had made an assumption that Alex owned a vacation home in the Hamptons or on Cape Cod like everyone else. Even a cabin in Montauk would have been all right in her opinion.
Now as she leaned out over the balcony railing, all she could see was the rocky coastline, white sand beaches, and the blue water of the Adriatic Sea. Why? Because Alex Stepanov had flown her to freaking Croatia!
Maddie turned and leaned her hip against the railing. “Vacation house” didn’t really do the place justice. The word “compound” or “estate” would have been far more appropriate. There were armed guards everywhere. From her position on the first floor balcony, Maddie could see two guys with guns standing in the driveway. There were two more in what appeared to be an old bell tower to the right of the main house. There was a crow’s nest sort of watchtower on top of the house with two more beefy, mean-looking men with guns and earpieces, and she knew there were at least four more stationed throughout the house because she’d run across them more than once. One did not forget coming face-to-face with a huge guy carrying an automatic weapon on the way to the bathroom.
Alex appeared from the direction of the living room. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Once I got over the fact that we took a private jet to Croatia, you mean?” Maddie didn’t bother to hide her sarcasm. “Next time you should really be more specific when you ask someone to come hang out at your place.”
“Is there a problem?” His eyebrows drew together in obvious confusion.
“Seriously?” She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. This really wasn’t his fault. In fact, there wasn’t fault here, per se. There was just a lack of communication. “Look. I should have asked very specifically where we were going. I made assumptions, and I shouldn’t have.”
“What assumptions?” He moved in closer, leaning on the railing just a few inches to her left. “Help me understand what’s bothering you.”
“I suppose when you said ‘vacation home’ I was thinking Hamptons, Cape Cod, Montauk, you know?”
He shrugged. “I’m vaguely familiar with those places, yes. I have never been there.”
“I get that. You’re not a US citizen. You’re from Russian, and I guess rich people in Russia have houses on the Croatian coastline.” She blew out a stream of air that sent a few tendrils of her hair flying. “I just thought we were going someplace where I would be able to make it back to the city in time for my client’s party.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “So this is about missing a business commitment.”
“Yes!” She hesitantly reached out to touch him. “I’m sorry, but I really should go back.”
“And I’m sorry, but that isn’t possible.” He pressed his lips into a thin line. “I will set up whatever you need to keep in touch with your clients. We have Skype, Internet, phone, fax, and anything else you might need. But we need to stay here in order for you to be safe.”
“Safe?” Now she was really confused. “How am I not safe at home?”
He inhaled and let out a long, slow breath as though he were trying not to lose his temper. “I know you’re not used to the world I live in, but this baby is a threat to the imperial succession.”
“There is no imperial succession!” Maddie was yelling now, and she tried to calm down.
“I know that,” Alex said quickly. “However, not all of the members of my family feel that way. It’s been a bone of contention for years. My mother especially doesn’t believe that the tsars will not return. She wants them to return once again.”
“And she wants you on the throne,” Maddie said dully. “Along with your pretty, legitimate, politically minded Russian wife and a whole passel full of kids. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“So basically you’re telling me that my baby and I are a threat, and as long as we’re not under all of this security—” She gestured to the guys with guns. “—we will be in danger.”
“Yes.”
She felt helpless, and that really pissed her off. “I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either.” He very gently cupped her cheek. “Look, it isn’t the way I would have preferred to get to know you. But while we are here we can enjoy ourselves. And when you wish, you can work.”
Maddie felt suspicious. “When? You do realize that most of my work is hands on. I can do some things from a computer, but I can’t develop talent in New York from halfway across the world.”
“Just give me a few weeks to get things straightened out.”
“Weeks!” She was beyond trying to be reasonable. Her voice was so shrill and panicked that she was pretty certain she heard the glass doors behind them shiver.
“Maddie, please.” He actually put his arms around her.
The spontaneous gesture of affection shocked her into silence. He never did that sort of thing. It felt—well, it felt good to be held by him. She couldn’t stop herself from relaxing into his embrace. She slung her arms around his midsection and rested her cheek against his chest.
***
ALEX COULD FEEL Maddie begin to relax. He passed a meaningful look to his men, and they backed off. The four house guards had come to find out what the problem was thanks to Maddie’s loud outbursts. Not that Alex could blame her. She was an independent American woman who had been plucked out of one life and dropped into another. It probably didn’t help that he had been rather unclear about where he was taking her on vacation. It would be a lie if he tried to say he hadn’t already known she harbored a misconception. He had happily exploited that for his own uses, and he wasn’t about to apologize for it now. She was safe, and that was what mattered. Here in Croatia his mother had no power to make trouble.
“Since we are here,” he began slowly. “Why don’t we do a little shopping? I know you didn’t have any time to pack things for a trip.”
Alex expected her to be excited and immediately distracted. Most women of his acquaintance would have been. Instead, Maddie gave a little shrug and a sigh. “I suppose I do need something other than my yoga pants and a ratty sweatshirt to wear while I’m here.”
He rubbed his palms up and down her upper arms, enjoying the strength he felt there. She wasn’t like the other women he knew. He didn’t even know why he was surprised that she didn’t react the way his mother or cousins would have.
He signaled his men and gave quick orders in Russian.
“What did you tell them?” Maddie wanted to know.
He smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I told them that I intended to go out and that they should make the arrangements. Now go get ready, and I will meet you back in the kitchen as soon as you are done.”
She gave him a bit of a strange look, which he realized was probably due to the fact that he’d just told her to go get ready after they’d already established that she had no luggage.
He sighed and watched her head toward the bedroom and en suite bathroom. He had placed her in her own room to afford the poor woman some privacy should she want it. But it was impossible to tell what she thought of that decision, or pretty much of anything else.
“What is going on?”
Alex spun around, surprised by the intrusion. Then he realized that the somewhat sarcastic Russian tone belonged to Vladimir. Finally he would be able to get a second opinion on this entire situation that was not fueled by personal gain or responsibility.
Clapping his friend on the shoulder, Alex sighed with relief. “I’m so glad you were able to come.”
“I must admit that this is the first time you’ve ever requested my help with a woman.” Vladimir raised his eyebrows. “She’s pretty enough, but I don’t like to share, you know.”
The instant denial that rose to Alex’s lips left him confused. When Vladimir’s expression sank into one of knowing introspection, Alex realized that his friend had been baiting him on purpose.
“So. You’ve fallen in love.”
“What?” Alex snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Really?” Vladimir walked to the bar situated at the other end of the living room. “So you would be happy to share this woman with me?”
“No!” Alex rolled his eyes. Vladimir was the only one who ever teased or otherwise “messed with” Alex. It was very disconcerting. “The woman is pregnant with my child. I’m trying to keep my mother from having her summarily executed to avoid a challenge to my supposed try for the throne. Do you see my problem here?”
To his credit, Vladimir did not flinch at the outlandish nature of Alex’s confidence. But that was why Alex had wanted him here. He needed his friend’s cooler head to help make sense of this mess.
Vladimir threw back a shot of vodka. “That’s all very concerning. However, I believe the first question you should truly be considering is what place you want this woman to occupy in your life.”
“She’s the mother of my child!” Alex said it as though it were obvious.
Vladimir only shook his head. “No. If that were all, you would have paid her off like your mother wanted. There is something that you want from the woman, and it isn’t just a child.”
“Like what?”
“Did you enjoy her?”
Alex didn’t even have to think about it. “She is unlike any other woman I’ve ever met.”
“So screw her again and screw her often,” Vladimir suggested. “She is beautiful and very likely intelligent. Find out if this is something you can work out of your system. Then decide what you want to do about it. If she’s under your skin in a way that isn’t likely to change, I’d admit what you feel and hurry up and hang onto it.”
“That sounds rather mercenary, don’t you think?” Alex wasn’t certain he was on board with this plan.
“Perhaps. But you are not a man given to emotion. I might even call you emotionally backward, Alex. You were weaned on protocol and formalities. You’ve been groomed all your life for a job, title, and position that aren’t even yours to take. You have become successful at what you do, and yet you show not one iota of feeling for anything in life.” Vladimir slammed back another shot. “All of a sudden I see before me a man who is feeling things. He is wondering about his future and what it might hold. He finds himself unable to set aside a woman even though it would be better for him strategically to do so.”
“So?”
Vladimir snorted and poured himself shot number three. “That’s love, my friend.”