Chapter Twenty-One
Alexi shoved past the shouting reporters and ducked under the too-familiar yellow tape. A few choice words for the police handling crowd control and he was prowling forward again.
“You shouldn’t be here.” The same two who’d tried to keep him out last time, Jim Winslow and Lily’s assistant, Jessie, stood shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk, glaring at him as if they’d caught him red-handed with the matches that had started this fire.
Normally, asshole that he was, he’d just shove them aside. That’s what he’d done last time, in fact. But now—knowing they were acting out of concern for his rival—he locked his hands to his sides and tried a different tact.
“I’m glad you’re watching out for Lily. She needs loyal friends now more than ever and I’m taking note of who steps up and”—he scanned the crowd in search of Paul—“who doesn’t.”
“Why are you pretending to care?” Of course it was the assistant. She was far braver than her cowering counterpart. “You think you can fool us? There’s a good chance you’re the one behind this and we all know it. You were calling her all day. Was that another way to taunt her?”
“I would never hurt her.” He caught the assistant’s stare and held it, letting his true colors show as the thin veneer of civility slipped away. “I will destroy anyone who tries. Or thinks they can keep me from her.”
The assistant’s eyebrows climbed upward. “No way.”
He liked that she appeared more shocked—and pissed off—than afraid. A sign she might actually be worthy of Lily’s trust.
He offered what he hoped passed for a smile. “I’m sure I can count on the discretion of a small-town girl from Wichita whose grandmother is depending on her big-city paychecks to keep the farm running.”
Another gasp, the kind that said how do you know that?
He didn’t let it slow him down. Especially since that was the tip of the iceberg of the information he had on her, and the rest of the Winslow staff.
“I also hope,” he said, redirecting his glare to the man behind, “I can count on the silence of a man who’s over his ridiculous crush”—yes, he’d seen the way Jim looked at Lily—“and who’s done being goaded into telling secrets by his older brother, unless he wants the world to know he once covered for that same older brother when the man was helping himself to money from the company funds.”
“No.” The assistant swiveled toward Jim, her expression pure outrage.
The way the guy’s face leeched of color was especially satisfying. But he deserved it. Alexi’s source had confirmed Jim was the one who’d had a jealous tantrum and tattled to Paul about finding Lily in the conference room alone with her rival.
“You have a choice to make,” he told the man, “get a new crush, grow a backbone, and pick a side—preferably the right one—or slink away now.”
Russell’s second swallowed hard but, to his credit, stayed where he was.
“Lily and I have, ah, already had this conversation.” There was a wounded dignity to the man’s tone Alexi hadn’t heard before. “She said as much to me a few days past.” He stood taller. “I picked a side.”
“Good.” Alexi nodded. Maybe this guy wasn’t the total waste of space his father and brother were? Or maybe not. Only time would tell. “I’ll hold you to that. Don’t fuck up again.”
Things were changing. The sooner Lily’s staff got with the program the better. He was done playing nice. He was done ignoring his gut instincts. He’d let things drag on far too long. But that was at an end.
This latest mess had decided him. Business as usual was taking a back burner to a new plan.
“My men will want to talk with you about who had access to the building, what the police know, anything that could be of use in identifying the culprits. This bullshit ends now.” He brushed past them.
The assistant swiveled around. “Are you serious? ’Cause I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but this is sounding weirdly like a classic case of no one can hurt her…except me.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” He offered her a wolfish smile. “I’ll be in touch soon with further instructions.”
“Who the hell put you in charge?”
“Me.”
“You need to step back. There’s still ash and embers falling.” It took everything inside him not to haul the small figure wrapped in the fire blanket into his arms.
Lily Bennett whirled around, dark streaks of ash and the oversized blanket making her look younger and more fragile. Which was a lie. The woman was as tough as they came.
Didn’t mean she didn’t need someone to take care of her.
“Kazankov?” Her emerald gaze flickered toward the reporters. “What are you doing here?”
“You have a problem. I’m here.” Woman’s stubbornness would likely always drive him insane.
“That’s…nice.” She looked almost confused. “Aren’t you missing work?”
“Yes, and I damn well—”
“Thank you.” The whispered word shut him right up. “I’m…I’m glad you’re here.”
He choked back a groan. Strong, fierce Lily Bennett made him hot as hell. The woman staring at him now made him want to do whatever it took to keep her gazing at him like that forever.
“It’s going to be okay.” He reached for her.
She stumbled back, her gaze darting to the reporters before returning to his. “Not…here.”
His hands clenched by his side. No question. The woman and her damn independent stubbornness would always be a challenge.
“Fine.” He sucked down a calming breath. “No touching. What can I do then?”
“Nothing. I…” Those big eyes he was used to seeing blaze fiercely turned glassy. “I don’t know.”
He wanted to kill whoever had brought her to tears. Destroy the bastard who’d made her suddenly uncertain.
It took three long seconds before he was able to speak without sounding homicidal. “Whatever you need. I’m here to help. Not make things worse.”
Her eyes sunk shut. When they sprung open, the gratitude in them cut him off at the knees. “Thank you. It…it really helps to see you here. But I can’t…” She sucked down a deep breath. “I can’t afford to look weak. Especially now.”
“You could never look weak, Lily. You’re pure steel.”
Her smile soothed something inside him.
Until shouts from a nearby fireman broke the spell. Smoke billowed out of a window. A hose started gushing foam.
“That can’t be good,” she murmured.
“Actually, it is. They’re separating any remaining fuel from the air and starving the fire. It’s the last stage in putting the fire out.”
“Got it.” She let out a soft sigh. “What a mess.”
This scene was all too fucking familiar. “What do they know?”
“Not much. Only that it was deliberate. Started in my office with some lighter fluid and matches. They’re still waiting to examine the security tapes to see if maybe it was the same people who vandalized the tombstone.”
Per usual, Morales had already discovered all that and passed it along. “And they just walked right in? How the hell did that happen?”
She shrugged. “There was security at the entrance to the building like always, but they were looking for guns or knives, not cigarette lighters. And, since I was out, security on the top floor was almost nonexistent.”
“A mistake that won’t be made again.”
She shot him a warning look. “A decision I already made.” Then she blew out a breath, a faint quiver lacing her voice. “I’m just thankful no one was hurt. They disabled the sprinkler system in my office, but people saw the smoke almost right away and got out quickly. We were lucky.”
“Someone is going to pay for this.”
She nodded, that vulnerable look disappearing as her spine snapped straight. “Exactly right. I’m getting pretty sick of this bullshit.”
“Any idea where Paul was today?”
Their gazes caught and held. “No.” She rubbed a hand down her face. “I’m looking into the possibility, believe me. He said some strange stuff to me recently.”
Alexi’s jaw clenched tight. “What kind of stuff?”
“Look,” she paused, “Paul’s a grade A, entitled asshole. But he’s Russell’s son. I know he cares about Winslow Industries. That’s why it killed him when his dad refused to let him run it. I can’t believe he’d do something this horrific to a place he loved.”
“If he can’t have it, no one can. There are plenty of men who live by that creed.”
She stiffened. “You’re right about that.”
“Which is why you need to make sure the police take a hard look at him.” It didn’t escape his notice she hadn’t told him exactly what kind of stuff Paul had been saying to her.
She ran her hands up and down her arms. “I don’t need you telling me what I already know.” She eyed the smoking building once more. “But the truth is there are a lot of potential suspects.”
“Including me?” he challenged.
Their gazes fused once more.
Her answer seemed to take a hundred years. “No, not you.”
He released the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. “Right answer.”
She laughed—and then seemed shocked she had.
It made him want to pound his chest. It made him want to hear her do it again.
Then she sucker punched him.
“You should go.”
“What the hell?”
Instead of glaring back at him, a shaky smile slid across her face. “I didn’t mean to insult you.” Her gaze flickered once more to the mob of reporters shouting their questions from behind the yellow tape. “Your coming was a shot in the arm. A reminder I can be the CEO my employees need me to be.” Her smile grew. “I can’t thank you enough for that.”
His chest puffed up like an inflated balloon once more. “I’m glad.”
“But reporters are watching,” she continued, raining slightly on his parade, “and before they start asking questions and shifting the story to something neither of us wants on the front page tomorrow, it’s probably best for you to go.”
It was hard to believe he’d ever dismissed Lily Bennett as a piece of fluff. Anastasia had always looked to him to fix her messes. But not Lily Bennett. She had no interest in clinging, which only made him more determined to become a necessary fixture in her life.
Tricky part was getting a certain stubborn, independent woman to embrace the idea as well.
But even Neanderthals have their moments of clarity—and he’d just had his.
“Fine. I’ll go.” He kept his voice low. “But know this, when you’re finished here and all the cameras are gone, I’ll be waiting.”
Her quick intake of breath only made him more certain. “I don’t—”
He cut her off. “What happened in that bathroom proved this isn’t business as usual for either of us. Maybe you think that’s not possible given our rivalry. But I think you’re wrong. So…you need to handle this current situation yourself? Done. I need to handle you afterward. It’s all about compromise.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re lecturing me about compromise.”
He shrugged. Best not to touch that now. “I’ll meet you at your place.” His tone didn’t allow for argument.
After Anastasia overdosed, he’d believed he was done with the mess and pain of caring for someone who could rip him apart.
But then he’d met Lily Bennett.
“This…this is a bad idea.” But she didn’t tell him no.
“Maybe. But I’ll be there anyway.” He shot her his usual cocky smile as he walked backward, each step away from her a kick to his gut—a kick he was willing to endure—because that was what she wanted from him now.
And somehow along the way, what she needed was becoming what he needed, too.