“Do you need anything?” Nell asked.
Time. She needed a little bit of time. “No.”
“She needs a friend with a good head on her shoulders to kick her in the ass,” Nicky said, frowning. “She just dumped both of her boyfriends. Can you kick her ass?”
Nell shook her head. “No. I am really, really bad at that. I can hold her hand and pat her back and agree with everything she says. But I think I know just who she needs.”
Before Holly could protest, Nell was in the backseat of the car. She sighed and got in, wondering all the while if Nicky wasn’t right.
The door to the station slammed shut, and Holly was gone. Alexei wasn’t sure how everything had gone so wrong in such a short period of time. Just a couple of hours before, he’d been perfectly happy. Holly had been in his arms. He’d laid her in bed, and she’d immediately fallen asleep. He’d listened to her breathing and that was when he’d caught sight of Caleb’s closet. It had been left slightly open and there was a sad-looking pillow and sleeping bag inside. He’d stared at it, a sadness in his heart.
He’d figured out Caleb’s sleeping problem and come up with a plan to fix it. He knew what he wanted to try. He’d crawled back into bed with Holly, utterly content. Everything had been falling into place.
And now it had all blown up as surely as Holly’s car had.
Scott stared at Caleb, a decidedly satisfied look on his face. “Dr. Sommerville, it really has been a pleasure to meet you. I assure you my party is going to be very interested in what I learned on this little trip. You know, I always thought that one day I would get back together with Holly. I really did care for her. Oh, not in an official capacity, of course. She really isn’t political wife material. But I thought I would have her again. I suppose not. You seem to have hurt her as much I did. I don’t think she’ll give either of us another chance, so I’ll take what I can. Yes, I think outing you will make up for losing Holly.”
He turned and began to walk out the door.
And Caleb stood there. Alexei checked his need to punch something. There would be time enough for that. For now, he had to deal with his partner and fast.
“Go after her.”
Caleb seemed frozen. Only his lips moved. “She made her choice.”
“It was wrong choice. You need to fight for her. Can’t you see that’s what she needs? It would have been different, very different, if you had been one to tell your story—your name. But it was the very man who broke her once before. Can’t you see? She needs you to fight.”
“She walked away, Alexei. She walked away when I asked her to stay. She didn’t really ask me anything. She heard my name, and she judged me. She doesn’t want me. I was right to have stayed away in the first place. And now I have to leave town. I can’t blow my brother’s career up over a failed romance.”
“It only fail if you allow. And do not worry about your brother. I take care of this. Stay. Think.” He turned, hoping Caleb would still be there when he got back, but he had to take care of something first.
“Alexei!”
Alexei turned at Nate Wright’s sharp bark.
“Don’t you kill him in my parking lot.”
“I will not kill. But he might wish I had.” Alexei turned and strode out the double doors. Rage churned in his gut, but he checked it. Beating the shit out of Scott Lang wouldn’t solve anything. It would make things worse. In this case, the threat was worth far more than the act.
Scott Lang stood by his Audi, his keys in hand.
Alexei stood in front of the man. He was pleased when Scott let the hand holding the keys fall to his side.
“What the hell do you want?”
“You know who Caleb is, but my question now is do you know who I am?”
“You don’t look familiar.”
“Do you know the name Alexei Markov?”
His eyes widened slightly. Alexei was very pleased to see fear begin to creep into Scott Lang’s face. “You’re the Russian who turned on the American mob.”
“And several politicians,” Alexei admitted. “I do not discriminate.”
Scott’s hand went to the door of his car. “I’ll ask again, what do you want?”
Alexei wanted many things. He wouldn’t get most of them, but there were a few that were truly worth fighting for. “I want to turn back clock and make sure you never open that mouth of yours. I cannot be doing that. But I can explain a few things to you. I really am everything the press says. I really did everything they say. I did it for my brother. For revenge. I spend years pursuing this revenge. I give up life for it.”
“Yes, I read that.” Scott swallowed as he spoke.
“I do not give up revenge until I meet one woman. Holly.” He leaned against the Audi. “I am only alive because of Caleb Burke. You should understand that I consider these two people my family.”
“Are you threatening me?”
He smiled, though he knew it was the smile of a hungry wolf. “I am explaining the truth of the world to you. You think your wealth will protect you. You think you can hire enough guards to be a buffer between you and my revenge. This is not true. If you tell world about Caleb, Holly, and myself, you will never be spending another night in restful peace. You can put walls between us. You can put men between us. It will not stop me. I will come for you. I will be there one night even if it is long in the future. I will be the last face you see before the blood leaves your body. I vow this. If I have my way, Caleb will marry Holly. I will be happy to be the secret. I will be happy to be anything they allow me to be. I will not be the reason they are taken down. If anyone be finding out, I will hold you accountable.”
Scott’s face had gone a pleasing shade of stark white. “I can’t promise that. I can keep my mouth shut, but it could get out.”
“No. If it does, I will come for you.”
“Damn it, man,” the politician practically whined. “You can’t hold me accountable.”
“I will come for you.” He stepped away from the car. His point seemed to have been made. “Remember this. You can tell the world, and I will come for you. You can tell a single friend who tells someone else, and I will come for you.”
Scott straightened his shoulders, but his voice was still whiny and small. “Don’t you think you scare me.”
“You will make decision. If wrong decision, then I will come for you. I will come for you because I will have nothing left. I will watch you, Congressman. I will always be watching you.”
He turned away to see Caleb standing there, his hands on his hips. Alexei felt himself flush. Damn it. He hadn’t wanted Caleb to see that part of him. He’d been careful to always be the smiling Alexei around Caleb. Alexei knew Caleb had read the stories, but he hadn’t seen the truth of him.
The Audi peeled out of the parking lot like the devil was chasing it.
“I think the Congressman might have peed himself.” Caleb said the words, but Alexei didn’t see any humor in them. His friend stood there, grim-faced and hopeless. “You didn’t have to do that. My brother is a big boy. Trust me, he can handle himself. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to use a scandal to bring down a Sommerville campaign.”
It would be the first time Alexei had been used in such a way. He wouldn’t stand for it. “It is my problem to handle. Not his.”
Caleb ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t understand you. Why the fuck would you think that? I don’t get anything about you. Why the hell are you here?”
How could he make Caleb understand? This didn’t work if they didn’t watch out for each other. “I love Holly. She is better part of me.”
“Then why the fuck didn’t you go after her?” Caleb asked, his eyes straying down the road where Holly had taken off.