What Alex Wants He Takes

by EM Gayle

  I was met by a man with striking looks. Dark hair, nose slightly too big for his face, closely trimmed beard and mustache in the same rich color as the hair on top of his head. No gray I noted. And the most striking blue eyes I’d ever seen. And this wasn’t the first time I had seen them. He was…

  Shit. My memory blanked. I couldn’t remember his name even though it was right on the tip of my tongue. Ugh, why couldn’t I remember?

  As my brain tried to focus on his name, my surroundings began to sink in. We were in a gigantic pool room with the most inviting crystal blue water I’d ever seen. Round tables surrounded the pool deck and the one closest to me was covered in a variety of breakfast foods laid out expertly with silver chafing dishes, exquisite bone china and sterling silver utensils. Everything from fresh fruit and yogurt to eggs served at least three ways and accompanied by sausage, bacon and Canadian ham.

  My mouth watered looking over the spread. In fact, everywhere I looked I saw nothing but money and opulence.

  “Where are—” Before I could finish forming the question, the view from the windows that surrounded the room came into sight. Water. Everywhere. No land. I looked from the windows to the man. Back and forth, struggling to put my thoughts into words.

  We were on a goddamned boat and I knew exactly which one. That big ass Russian one. From the party.

  I swung back to the table where the man sat lounging, looking far too smug for his own good. “You’re Viktor Sokolov.” It felt a little like stating the obvious, but I was proud I’d finally put the name to the face. Plus, I was trying not to freak out about being on a boat in the middle of what looked like nowhere with a strange foreigner and no Bill in sight.

  He nodded, a weird smile across his face. “And you are Harper Allison Conrad Bennett.”

  The sound of my full name brought on complete panic as I frantically searched the rest of the room. “Where is Bill? Why are you here? Why am I here? What the hell is going on?” I was turning in circles now, unable to comprehend any of this.

  “Put her in one of the chairs before she passes out.”

  Two calloused hands grabbed each of my arms. My brain panicked and I lashed out. I kicked at one and turned and tried to bite at the other. They may have said something to me, but I didn’t hear the words. More hands grabbed at me as I flung myself in every direction I could trying to get away.

  “Don’t touch me!” I shrieked, kicking harder. “Let me go.” Unfortunately, my hands were now pinned behind my back, or I would have tried punching too. But I wasn’t done yet. I flung my head back as hard as I could and crashed into something hard and ungiving.

  “Jesus. You bitch.” When one of my arms was suddenly released, I swung it wildly, uncaring who or what I hurt. I refused to give in or give up.

  “Enough!” A loud, hard and compelling male voice boomed through the room, freezing me in place. “Put her in the chair and then get the fuck out. I expect better than this from ALL of you. Especially you, Mrs. Bennett.”

  I turned to face Viktor, my breath coming in hard pants I couldn’t yet control. “Don’t call me that.”

  “It is your name, is it not? What else would you prefer? The fake one? Ms. Allison.” He drew out the syllables of my current last name in a deliberate taunt.

  While I was contemplating what else to say, I was pushed down into my chair and immediately released.

  “Who are you?” I asked, my head about to explode.

  He chuckled, a not pleasant sound at all. “I thought that was my question. Which is it? Mrs. Bennett or Ms. Allison?”

  I could feel the fight leaving my body with every accented syllable out of his mouth. It sickened me, but I was tired. The last week had taken its toll and all of this was just too much. “Harper. Just please call me Harper.”

  “That is much better now, is it not? This situation will work out much better for us all if you simply remain compliant.”

  I turned away from him, not able to watch him smile at me in that creepy I’ve won way. I had no idea what this man’s agenda might be, but I had a sick feeling I would have been better off with Bill.

  Even if that meant I was dead.

  Chapter 4

  Alex

  * * *

  Alex paced his penthouse willing his phone to ring. He’d called Ronin three times already and three times the call had gone unanswered. His stepbrother was playing games with him and he was ready to commit murder over it.

  He couldn’t call again without proving to that little shit how much Harper meant to him. Three times was already too much. If Ronin wasn’t sure about him and Harper before, he was now. Although he had to know more than he should anyway or else he’d never taken her from here.

  If this was strictly about her Ronin could have approached her at her apartment or work like he had. God, a million and one scenarios were running through his head and the idea of doing nothing was enough to make him mad.

  “Goddammit, Gerard. You have got to give me something. That fucking ridiculous boat can’t just disappear. This is the twenty-first century. There has got to be technology for this kind of thing.” He stopped and stabbed at his computer, checking his email and voicemail once again.

  “You’re right, sir. I’m on the phone with my Navy intelligence contacts now. We should have something soon. I have no doubt Viktor Sokolov is a person of interest to the US Government. It would surprise me if they weren’t tracking his movements.”

  His head shot up and stared at Gerard at the desk across the room. His staff had already moved furniture, brought in computers and set up communication equipment in his home office before he and Gerard had returned from their wild goose chase.

  Although no one on the staff at the heliport had been able to confirm Harper’s presence aboard the Sokolov helicopter, he knew it down to his bones that she’d been on it. And since the boat had left hours before that they weren’t sure where the helicopter had gone. It didn’t matter. They only had to find the ship. That overpriced Airbus helicopter easily would have caught up to them quickly.

  Gerard still worried that they might have taken her to an airfield and transported her out of the city that way, but he didn’t think so. Viktor was a cold-hearted bastard who liked to toy with people. That was more than evident from the deviant parties he threw. When someone like Viktor taps into some of the world’s elite and their sexual secrets, there were many ways that information could be used.

  No, whatever plan Ronin had cooked up for Harper, he’d bet his last dollar that the Russian was fully involved.

  Another phone across the room rang and he swung around in time to see Gerard depress the communication device on his ear to answer.

  “What have you got for me?”

  There must have been a flurry of conversation on the other side because Gerard remained silent other than a yes or no here and there and a lot of him looking focused on nothing but what he heard.

  He, on the other hand, couldn’t keep his thoughts in one place. He hadn’t seen Harper in over a week and had already been antsy for her return. He’d thought that kind of attachment was bad, but that was nothing. This made him insane.

  He needed to find her right now. If he didn’t hear something soon, he’d be hunting Ronin down to beat the answers out of him. Anger continued to boil through Alex’s veins. Ever since Ronin and his father had entered their lives they’d caused nothing but havoc.

  But his mother had fallen madly back in love with the aging mob enforcer before he’d even caught word they were dating. Love at first sight she claimed. To watch them together was enough to turn his stomach. No matter how well the elder Kavanaugh treated his mother, he well knew what kind of danger those men lived with. They were up to their eyeballs in violence and eventually that was going to spill over.

  It had before.

  Rumors of the first wife’s death had spread like wildfire for some time. This city had a long history of mobsters with impulse control issues and none of them hesitated to use
loved ones against their employees if they thought they needed to be brought in line.

  That had only been one of many blood-curdling stories Gerard had dug up for him on the Kavanaugh family. And every day since his mother’s rash marriage announcement, he’d had to maneuver to keep her safe.

  In fact, he’d warned his stepfather from the beginning that his mother was not or ever would be a bargaining chip. If anyone from their organization even hinted at such a thing, he would make sure there were no survivors.

  Of course, the old man had blustered about threatening a mobster blah blah blah. To which he’d only responded with a ‘try me’. To his credit, Kavanaugh had lived up to his word and stayed out of Alex’s business.

  Ronin on the other hand…

  He liked to play games. The kind in which people were his pawns. Much like Viktor he used his influence to interfere or maneuver. Which is one of the reasons why he’d moved up the ranks in the organization so quickly. If you didn’t get on board or get out of his way, you were eliminated. Or so he heard.

  However, until recently he’d kept most of his business far away from Alex. They were not the best of friends, but they weren’t complete enemies either. Ronin preferred to socialize inside the inner circle, often being seen with many of the next generation of criminals just waiting to take their rightful place in the families.

  Alex’s mother though, she wanted her new family to include everyone, so she always insisted on get togethers over any important holiday, which is how he’d been at Ronin’s birthday dinner and been forced to listen to the story of his wild party and the woman he’d met that night.

  And now he was full circle back to that fateful party and his subsequent discovery of Harper at the Glass Kat. Only she didn’t belong to Ronin. She belonged to him. He’d been the one to put the collar around her neck, no matter if she refused to call it that, and he was the one she had committed to.

  Committed.

  That word he could live with. He had committed to many things in his life. Business deals that led to great successes, the care and keeping of his family, he’d even committed himself to getting involved with Harper—to an extent.

  Love had not been part of the plan.

  Love made for bad decisions and stupid choices. He had to look no further than his mother for confirmation. She and his father had not been in love. Although he did believe that they cared for each other. But their union had been more about business, not emotions.

  His father had been all but obsessed with wealth. Specifically, the amassing of it. So when the deal had been right, he’d taken a wife because to do so meant he could close on the most significant transaction of his life. That deal had apparently been life changing and gave his father the freedom to venture into any boardroom he liked and take over.

  How many times had he heard that story or the many that came after it? Too many times to count. Even on his deathbed, ravaged by the sudden onset of cancer, his father reminded him of the lessons he’d instilled in his son.

  There was nothing more important than the deal. Never give up and do whatever it takes to complete.

  He could take a wife, but always choose one who would complement his life not disrupt it. And make sure she could bear him sons. Creating a legacy depended on it. His mother had readily agreed. In his eyes she’d been the perfect partner for his father.

  And then he’d died and his mother subsequently lost her mind.

  Less than a year later she married into the mob and everything about their life changed. Ronin and his father moved in, and while violence began to gradually spill into their lives, his mother had not stopped smiling since. Although her references to her sex life made him shudder every time.

  Alex dropped into his leather desk chair and faced his computer. Despite all of the changes to their lives, his father’s words still echoed in his head on a daily basis. Business had to be his priority. And it had been, or so he thought, right up to the moment Harper had confessed she was falling in love.

  That he’d not been ready for.

  Love was a weakness he couldn’t afford. And for the first time in his life he’d kind of appreciated Ronin’s interference in his life. Only because it gave him some time to think through what he wanted to do next.

  Of course, his acceptance of Ronin’s involvement in his business died only hours later when the Italians insisted on a renegotiation of their deal. That headache had taken a week to pick through item-by-item and fix. Fucking troublemaker had nearly cost him a billion dollars.

  He leaned forward and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out the bottle of scotch he kept there and a tumbler with it. If ever there was a time that called for a drink. He poured two fingers and quickly downed them, welcoming the slow burn of good whiskey that sizzled through him.

  Love.

  Why did it have to come down to the one thing he knew nothing about?

  It killed him now that he’d not been more upfront with Harper about his limitations. Especially when it came to relationships. She deserved to know that information sooner rather than later.

  Only there was something about that woman. She made it impossible for him to think completely straight in her presence. And he couldn’t stop thinking about her when he wasn’t with her.

  Not that he tried.

  For all the weeks they’d been together thus far, he couldn’t get enough. The sight of her made him crave. Her scent pulled him closer. Her taste made him wild. But her touch, that was the ultimate experience in perfection that he couldn’t get enough of. And now he had none of that.

  Alex cocked his arm and threw the glass across the room, smashing it into a million crystal pieces. Only nothing changed.

  He had a hundred business deals in the works, each one guaranteed to double or triple his money. And none of it fucking mattered.

  Is that what love did? Or was this something else?

  Screw love. Love fucked everything up. The only emotion he needed right now was anger.

  Ronin had taken what didn’t belong to him.

  He wanted her back.

  “Gerard,” he growled, his grip on his sanity slipping fast. “You need to give me something now.”

  “I’ll call you right back,” he said to the person on the other end of the line. “Be ready.” He pressed the receiver at his ear and turned and crossed the room.

  “Good news, sir. I’ve got a line on the location of Viktor Sokolov’s yacht. He’s safely into international waters now so he is going to be hard to get to.”

  Alex stood, his fist slamming on the desk. “I don’t give a shit where he is. We’re going after him.”

  Gerard nodded. “I assumed you would say that. I am already assembling a team. We will be ready to leave in three hours.”

  Three hours. It sounded like an eternity.

  However, that gave him some time to fuck up some of Ronin’s shit. The little piece of shit wanted to play games. Fine. He would play games and the moment he got Harper back, he’d show his stepbrother exactly who had the control in this fucking family.

  But first, he was going after what was his.

  Chapter 5

  Harper

  * * *

  “You are in fine predicament now, Mrs. Bennett. What will you do to save yourself?” Viktor smiled before scooping cantaloupe topped with something dark into his mouth. Caviar, if I had to guess. What a combo.

  “I thought we agreed to just call me Harper,” I said through clenched teeth. It was impossible for me to sit still here much longer. The drugs they had given me were mostly worn off and I was seething for my freedom. Not that I had anywhere to go while at sea.

  “You agreed, not me. If you don’t want me to use your real name, you should give me reasons why. I am most eager to hear the story from your perspective.” He pointed to a file folder on the table next to him. “Although it was fascinating to read.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Such language from such a pretty mouth. Did Alexander not te
ach you manners yet? I can correct that for you if need be. In fact, if you continue, I will consider it invitation.” he tsked and I’m pretty sure whatever he had in mind to teach me would not be pleasant for me.

  “Why am I here? How do you know who I am? Did Bill put you up to this?”

  Mr. Sokolov shook his head. “No, I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting your Bill Bennett. Although I believe it would be a fascinating conversation. He has unusual obsessions. Sadly, I understand he is stuck in American jail or I would have invited him to join us. Now, that would be a fun party.”

  “Is that what this is?” I asked. “Some kind of—” I hesitated choosing my words wisely as to not test his threats on teaching me manners. “game?”

  He sat back in his chair and wiped his mouth before answering. I didn’t know what to make of this good-looking man from Russia with a fancy boat, wild sex parties and goons with guns. The only real details I had about him were from the story about his yacht and the few tidbits Alex mentioned. I had no idea if he was a cruel man, although I suspected he was considering what he went through to get me here, or at least a dangerous one. I decided to go with both.

  “Life is always a game, Harper. Whether it is business or personal. If you want to win you have to play the game.”

  “I don’t want to be a part of your game.” I lowered my voice and looked down. I had a feeling aggression would get me nowhere with this man.

  “Ahh, but you are the one who started this one. The night of Ronin Kavanaugh’s birthday party, yes? Or maybe it goes back even further. It is hard to tell at the moment since you use a false name. There could be more aliases for all I know. Do you have a string of broken hearts in your past, Harper?”

  I was beginning to tune out some of Mr. Sokolov’s diatribe. Once he mentioned Ronin’s birthday party, I got kind of stuck. What in the world did that have to do with anything?