Andrei

 

Weeks passed, and Kelly was fantastic in bed, but something was different about her, and I didn’t have the time to worry about what was wrong. To my knowledge, she hadn’t left my house again, though I did notice she was calling her mother a lot more, as well as a woman I could only assume was Aleksey’s ex and her best friend. As long as she was here, she was safe, and that was what mattered. If she felt like a prisoner, I did feel badly about that, but her being safe was more important, and maybe one day she would realize that.

 

I did want to keep her safe. Not just because she might already be carrying my child. Kelly was a woman I wanted to get to know. She wasn’t like the other women I had been with before, who wanted to try to use me for my power and prestige and money. Sure, I was paying Kelly, but she hadn’t once asked for more money, and had even offered to pay for food. She had laughed at the look on my face. She had felt embarrassed that I had bought her clothes, but I told her she should leave her clothes at her house. I wanted her to feel secure in knowing she could return home to her items. It might help her to adjust to the knowledge that our agreement was temporary. Once she gave me an heir, she would go back to her life with another million dollars.

 

None of the other women would have offered to pay for food. They would’ve expected it. Some might have demanded designer clothes and jewelry and to get their hair done every other day. I honestly thought Kelly didn’t realize that some of the clothes I had bought her were top of the line, not that she wore clothes for long once I came into her room. She asked nothing of me and willingly gave me her body.

 

I wanted her to be safe, of course, but I did not want her to feel like I was preventing her from living her life. It was a fine line, and the only place I could guarantee her safety was within these walls. Surely she must realize that. Through Claire, the nurse I hired to watch Kelly’s mother, I knew the mother remained in the dark about Kelly’s job. Kelly was smart to keep her mother out of it, and while I was sure the thought of asking for her mother to stay here had crossed her mind — and I was sure I would tell her yes if she were to ask — I commended Kelly for keeping her mother away. Kelly didn’t know everything about me, especially not why I needed an heir so badly, and I didn’t want that to change, but she had to realize something wasn’t right. Better for her mother to not come here and possibly become a target, too. Yes, I would keep her mother safe here, just as I was keeping Kelly safe, but her mother was not going to become involved.

 

Just in case, I’d assign a bodyguard to them. He could pose as Claire’s chauffeur. Vasilev had already had a man move on Kelly. If he wanted to get to me through her or her mother, it would be better to be prepared than to be caught with my pants down and my cock buried deep in Kelly’s pussy.

 

I just hoped Kelly wouldn’t grow to resent me for keeping her here. If she did…well, it couldn’t be helped.

 

Like it or not, I had other pressing concerns to worry about, as well. In these weeks, I hadn’t been able to get any useful information on Mikhail Vasilev, and I was beyond pissed. The thought of him getting one up on me was enough to make my blood boil. I couldn’t handle the stress of it all. Vasilev had to have had a reason to wait until now to come back, but I had no idea what it was. For a decade after my parents died, I had lived under a different name, something that had always bothered me, but the men who had survived the attack on my father’s mob insisted, so Vasilev would not realize I had lived. When I turned eighteen, though, the decision to reclaim my birthright demanded I also reclaim my surname. But that had been fourteen years ago. What would make Vasilev wait so long to make a move against me? If I were honest with myself, it wasn’t until my early twenties that I relaxed. I thought for sure that if Vasilev were going to make a move, it would be sooner rather than later.

 

And maybe that had been the simple reason for Vasilev to appear now. He figured he would lie in wait, lull me into a false sense of security, and then make his move. After all, I hadn’t immediately learned about his return to my city. Someone had alerted me to his presence, and for all I knew, since the person hadn’t named themselves, that person could very well have been sent by Vasilev himself.

 

I had upped my security, hired more men, had eyes and ears on every street, especially his place of employment. I hadn’t gone over there to see him for myself. Didn’t think it would be wise to. I needed to keep a somewhat low profile, though I wouldn’t stop living my life and conducting business. I wouldn’t keep Kelly from her mother or her friends, just like I wasn’t going to keep myself from doing what needed to be done in my own life.

 

When Vasilev made his move, I would know. But he had to know that. Must have anticipated that I would seek him out and beef up my security. Every move I made, he could have anticipated. Like it or not, I couldn’t help feeling he had the upper hand.

 

So far, he hadn’t tipped his hand. He was waiting for something, but no way would he wait forever. I thought maybe he would move quickly after Kelly had been threatened, but that hadn’t been the case. I was too uneasy to relax, though. I wouldn’t relax until my revenge was completed.

 

That afternoon, Aleksey finally showed up. His phone calls had been infrequent, mostly because there had not been much in terms of news for him to share, but also because I didn’t want him to risk blowing his cover. No news meant good news.

 

Apparently now he had news and I hoped it was good, given that he had just come straight here without a phone call first.

 

I brought him to one of my studies and closed the door behind us. “Well?”

 

“Got some intel for you. Fresh. From last night.” He gave a leering grin as he stared off in the distance.

 

“From the girl you seduced?” I deduced.

 

“Yeah. Mikhail’s youngest daughter. Jacquelyn.” Aleksey smiled viciously.

 

“And?” I was anxious, and I curled and uncurled my fingers. I hated feeling so on edge. I couldn’t relax. Maybe Kelly could give me a massage later.

 

“We’re in luck. I’m in. Jacquelyn is determined to ignore what her father dictates, which made seducing her that much easier.”

 

“I don’t need details about how she is in bed,” I growled.

 

“I’m getting there.” Aleksey’s grin grew.

 

“Are you sure you can trust her? That she isn’t playing you?”

 

“I’m positive. She hates him almost as much as you do. She hinted that her father had recently bought a large cache of weapons. I asked her why he felt the need to go all balls to the wall, guns a blazin’, and she said she had a feeling Daddy owed someone a lot of money.”

 

Interesting. Why come here if he was having money issues? And why buy weapons instead of giving that money over to whomever he owed it to?

 

“Did you learn anything else?” I asked.

 

“No.” Aleksey shook his head. “She didn’t know anything more.”

 

I slowly nodded. Good. This was good. Could be better, but still, this was a start. If I could find out to whom Vasilev owed money, I could use that against him and possibly ruin his entire family.

 

Maybe things were finally looking up.