Crave (Beneath The Secrets #3)

8. Alexei

CHAPTER 8

ALEXEI

I watch her as Mikhail hits her with the surprise.

How is she going to react? What do I need to do to help her?

“What are you saying, Mikhail?” Her voice gets a squeaky high note in it.

She must be very stressed.

I hold out half of a cookie to her, and she takes it without looking at me.

Three big bites, then she swallows.

“She escaped and had a baby girl. We have a half-sister named Galena.” Mikhail keeps his words even, his dark eyes studying her as intently as I am.

With a gasp, Lara cups her hand over her mouth and falls backwards against the cushions. When she looks at me, her cheeks are streaked with tears.

Oh boy.

I pull out my phone and text the housekeeper for the cabin. She needs to make sure it’s fully restocked.

Every time Lara gets upset, she needs a time out. It’s my job to make sure she has someplace safe to hide.

I just miss her when she’s gone.

“What is she? Four? Maybe Five? Where is she? Are they here? Can I see her?” Lara’s questions hit rapid fire, so quickly they turn into a blur.

Mikhail holds up his palms. “She’s almost five. They’re still in Russia in hiding. I’ve made sure they’ve stayed safe.”

“You knew this whole time?” Lara almost shrieks.

Umm. Another message to send to the cabin saying extra wine.

I wish I knew another way to make her feel better, without crossing a line I can never return from.

“She needed to get away from Ivan. She is a victim of him, too.” Mikhail squats in front of Lara so he’s level with her. “It was easier to keep her hidden if as few people as possible knew about her.”

Lara’s blond hair whips as she turns to me. “Did you know?”

“Nope.” I pop the “P” emphatically.

“Who else knows?” Her lower lip quivers as it juts out.

“Enzo,” Mikhail grunts. “It’s how I met him. I needed someone to keep an eye on things and move stuff anonymously.”

Lara groans and crosses her arms. “No wonder he’s going to Russia. I thought it was just to hire girls for his clubs.”

“It’s a convenient excuse. But I think he pays the girls very well since he makes his money in information.” Mikhail pushes himself up and moves to his desk. “He’s an incredible asset. I’m glad he’s on our side.”

Enzo saved Nikolai’s ass when we were in Russia.

He’s a mystery to me.

I don’t think he likes me though. There’s always a twitch of annoyance around his eyes when he looks at me.

“I can’t believe you kept all of this from me.” Lara buries her face in her hands and her shoulders begin to shake as she cries.

Glaring at Mikhail, I instinctively lean forward and start rubbing my palm up and down her back.

She falls against me, shuddering with sobs.

His brows drop, and I can see the muscles in his jaw work.

“What? You did this.” My middle finger raises towards him.

He could fold me in half and not break a sweat. I don’t care.

Lara is hurting. Every piece of me wants to make it better.

“Should we go?” My neck moves against her head.

I can feel her nod against my chest. Did I text already about the cabin?

Oh, yes. It’ll be ready for her. She’s going to need it.

Mikhail clears his throat before we leave.

“Alexei?” he asks.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I pause Lara at the door. “What?” I don’t hide the annoyance in my voice.

“You need to swing downstairs and talk to Nikolai after getting her home. They just got back from, um, vacation.” His dark eyes bounce between Lara and I.

It’s irritating that I can’t see his face and read him better.

But I get the impression he’s trying to tell me something else.

“Yes, Miki,” I say curtly, then turn her down the hall.

Lara holds out her keys silently in the elevator. She’s looking at a blank part of the wall and blinking really fast.

Two bottles of wine.

Leading her to the car, she pauses at the passenger door, letting me open it for her.

“I have a sister,” she whispers before she focuses on me. “Can we stop at a drive through?” she asks as she clips her seat belt on.

“Yep, I know the perfect one.” I wink at her then start the engine.

I fucking knew it.

As soon as I pulled in her driveway, she jumped out to begin packing.

“I feel sick.” She runs out of her bedroom to her ensuite while I lean against her door frame.

I’m glad the sound of vomiting doesn’t bother me. She always has a weak stomach when she gets stressed out.

Or eats a lot, like the great big greasy burger she had on the way home.

All I can do is wait.

She dabs her mouth as she leaves the bathroom and gives me a weak smile. “I should be ready soon. Maybe just a short trip?”

“Do you want me to drive you out there?” I’ll know if she makes it safely either way.

But maybe I can talk her out of it if I’m driving?

“No, you have to go talk to Nikolai, remember?” Her hand burns as she puts in on my arm.

I wish I knew how to make her better. So she could not care about stuff out of her control like I do.

“Find out where he went? I can’t believe he decided to go on a vacation so soon after barely surviving Russia. And being stabbed by Mila so many times.” Her eyes roll before she turns to her suitcase on the bed.

“Okay.” I saw Nikolai hug Mila fiercely in Russia to make her feel better.

I grab Lara by the wrist and pull her close. Wrapping my arms around her, I squeeze her against me. The heat of her body presses tightly to mine, and her hands lock briefly behind my waist.

It feels good to hold her.

“Have a safe trip to the cabin,” I say as I step away.

Why did she look at me funny afterwards?

That was her confused expression, with her eyebrows peaked in the middle of her forehead and her eyes all squinty.

I don’t understand what she could have mistaken it for.

Pulling my bike out onto the street, I’m confident that she was so shocked at the comfort she got it made her question herself.

That has to be it.

Nikolai is at Mikhail’s casino. It’s strange that I had to drop Lara off before talking to him.

It’s her brother, after all.

His hulking frame is folded into one of the tables near the coffee stand, flipping through his phone.

“Mikhail said you wanted to talk with me?” The metal legs of the chair screeches as I pull it out and sit.

His blue eyes glance up and past me. “Lara with you?”

It irritates me that I had to leave her. “No. I had to abandon her in her time of need, Niki. Why am I here?”

He runs his fingers through his hair, and I catch a glint of a ring.

No way.

“I need your help breaking the news to her.” He looks down at his cup of coffee. “I did a thing.” The gold band on his hand clinks against the cup.

“Have you told Lara?”

He twists it with his thumb. “Not yet, I will.”

“You know how much it hurt her with you going back to Russia? I keep her safe, now you go and upset her again.”

“We didn’t mean to.”

I stand up quickly, knocking the flimsy chair over. “I’ll look after her, don’t worry.”

Stomping away from him, I barely have the patience to wait for the glass doors to open, so barrel through the manual one on the side.

Only on the streets of Vegas can a green haired clown hang out in the same spot every day without getting in trouble.

The same one seems like it lives in front of Mikhail’s casino.

Sometimes Lara giggles at his antics.

That’s what I need. She has to laugh.

I push through the small crowd that is always gathered around him and grab his arm.

“Buddy. Do you do birthday parties?”