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CHAPTER 28

ALEXEI

“Alexei, did you see someone at Lara’s house last night?” Enzo grumbles over the phone. “Mikhail interrupted a very important meeting to find answers, but all I can see is you on the cameras.”

“Shit, there was an intruder?” Anger boils in me. “I’ll kill them! Did they hurt her?”

“She’s fine. She’s just freaked, and rightfully so. See if you can find anything?” It sounds like he stops to talk to someone else. “I have to go.”

Fuck. I can’t believe I didn’t see them.

Who was it? I bet it was one of Kirill’s men.

All with Ivan behind it.

I hate that man for what he did to my friends, the people I love.

There’s a lot of people who call me crazy, but that man is a monster.

A sudden hit to the back of my head knocks me out of my memories.

“Alexei, are you paying attention?” Nikolai’s mouth is a thin line as he stares at me.

“Huh? Oh, yea.” I forgot we’re supposed to be watching that door.” I’m squatting in an alley behind a stinky ass dumpster. How’d I lose track of that?

“Pay attention. I have to go back to that corner. Check in on time so I don’t have to come back and smack you again.” He stalks off into the night, his broad shoulders hunch before he moves into his hiding location.

I wish Jax warned me Nikolai was coming up on my ass. Glancing at my phone shows me he did, several times.

Damn.

I do my best to stay still and focus on the faint outline of the club entrance. The flickering lamplight is giving me a headache.

After what seems like hours, Nikolai finally shifts enough to create a silhouette against the building, then shuffles his way towards me.

“I don’t think they’re coming. Let’s get the fuck out of here. Mila made a dinner tonight that actually tasted amazing,” he groans and stretches.

“Pancakes?” Jax teases as he steps closer.

“Funny.” Nikolai yawns, leading the way back to the vehicles.

He told us all the story of when Mila was pretending to be someone she wasn’t, and attempted to cook for him.

He said that breakfast tasted like hockey pucks.

I guess he must really love her to still keep trying her food.

Why doesn’t Lara ever cook? All I see her eat is either really really healthy, or terrible for her.

There’s no normal meals with her.

Weird. I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe I need to start paying better attention to that.

I’ll start now.

Killing the engine on my motorcycle a block away, I push it the last few hundred feet to her driveway and park it just inside her gate.

The lights are on, so she must be home. I haven’t gotten a motion detection alert from the cameras either.

Oh, I better turn them off so I don’t trigger it.

Skirting the open lawn in front of the living room, I work my way along the Spanish style villa to the spare bedroom that has her workout equipment.

She’s sweating on her treadmill. It almost seems like she’s pushing herself to the point of exhaustion.

Why does she do that? She’s already thin and fit, I don’t understand why she always worries about it.

I see her eyes pinch when she starts talking about clothes. They don’t seem to bring her any joy.

Maybe she shouldn’t wear any.

My dick begins to throb against my zipper at the thought.

When she finally stops running, she looks like she’s about to collapse. Her legs shake as the belt slows, and she nearly stumbles stepping off of it.

It’s hard to fight the urge to run in there and scoop her up. She went through so much at the hands of that asshole Kirill, I wish she wouldn’t torture herself as well.

I wish there was a camera in her bathroom so I could watch her as she climbs into the shower. If someone was hiding in there, I’d never know.

She isn’t safe where I can’t see her.

Nerves start to work through me while I stare at her ensuite door.

Relief floods through me when I finally see the handle turn and steam billow out around the cracks until Lara steps out.

In nothing but a thick white towel wrapped around her middle.

But her bare shoulders and legs still glisten from the moisture. It makes me want to glide my palms over her and wipe it away.

To feel her smooth skin and the heat of her burning away the last of the droplets.

Fuck.

I’m only here to protect her, it’s my job. It’s not because I am obsessed with her or keep dreaming about her.

Okay, she’s fine. I can’t stand here any more or I’m going to be jacking off in her bushes. And that’s probably when the intruder would show up.

Hard to fight one handed.

The lid of her garbage can is off. Did someone rifle through it? I better check.

What is this? It looks like a whole pile of wrappers from the candy that she usually keeps stocked for me.

Did she eat all of them?

No wonder she could run so fast.

I’ve eaten that much sugar at once before, when I was younger.

It made me sick for three days.

Finding a soft spot in the grass, I sit down so I can watch her bedroom. She disappears briefly into the closet, and when she comes back she’s wearing a set of silver cami and shorts.

The glow in the soft light of her room before she slides under the covers and then the windows go dark.

She’ll be safe, I’ll stay out here and make sure of it.