Midnight Alpha

by Carole Mortimer

  Having Gregori down on his knees in front of her, removing her boots, just made this whole situation seem more surreal to Gaia. Embarrassing too, when she recalled the last time he had been down on his knees in front of her.

  “The color is returning to your cheeks,” he murmured in satisfaction as he stood up.

  Gaia could only be grateful he had mistaken her embarrassment for recovery, rather than the memories of their lovemaking earlier. There had been none of this formality to Gregori then, just a primal urgency to possess and claim.

  “Did Nikolai find and return your jacket to you?” Gaia had a vague recollection of seeing a black evening jacket draped over the back of one of the chairs in the elegant drawing room downstairs.

  “He did, yes,” Gregori confirmed grimly. “And for the record, I never for a moment believed you stole my wallet, I merely feared losing the photograph inside it.”

  “Of your sister.”

  Gregori rose to his feet before placing his fingers beneath her chin, lifting her face up so that she had no choice but to look at him. “Do you doubt my word?”

  Gaia had doubted her own sanity several times tonight!

  But no, she had no doubt that Gregori was telling her the truth about the photograph. She realized now that the woman bore a physical resemblance to him: the dark hair and eyes, the strong facial structures. Besides, what possible reason could he have for lying to her? She meant nothing to him, except for that brief physical interlude earlier tonight. The fact that he was now stuck with her staying here for the night didn’t mean he had to like it, or her.

  His sister didn’t look cold and sarcastic either, as she’d thought earlier. In fact, Katya looked like a warm and beautiful woman.

  “No,” she answered him quietly. “Not at all,” she gave a shake of her head. “Just curious as to why you carry a photograph of your sister around in your wallet.”

  A nerve pulsed in his jaw. “Maybe because I almost lost her five months ago, and she and her husband Dair are all the family I have left.”

  Gaia looked up at him searchingly, able to see the pain in the depths of his eyes. Making her wonder exactly what had happened five months ago, and if it could possibly have anything to do with this man Orlov, who Gregori believed had shot at her tonight.

  It was strange, when she had believed she and Gregori had nothing in common, to now realize that they both felt deep love for their respective sisters. And Gregori had almost lost his sister too? Gaia found that unsettling.

  Almost as unsettling as the fact that the two of them were in this situation together at all.

  She raised her brows. “The same sister whose husband you allow to spank her?”

  “I really regret having told you that.” He frowned.

  Gaia shrugged. “But now that you have, it’s unfair not to answer me.”

  “You would have to meet Katya and Dair to understand the dynamics of their relationship. I have never seen two people more in love with each other,” he added affectionately.

  Wistfully? Was it possible that the remote Gregori Markovic envied his sister her happy marriage?

  Somehow Gaia couldn’t see that as being true: the man had everything—looks, money and power—so why would he ever want to tie himself down to marriage? An heir, perhaps. But he had plenty of time for that.

  And the chances of Gaia ever meeting his beloved sister Katya were nonexistent.

  Gaia realized she was still staring up into those dark, unfathomable eyes. A woman could find herself becoming lost, drowning in those dark depths if she wasn’t careful. And where this man was concerned, Gaia intended on being very careful in future.

  She broke away from that hypnotic gaze at the same time as she turned away from the fingers beneath her chin, and immediately found herself looking at the bloodstains on Gregori’s white shirt. Her blood. The same blood that had been on her fingers earlier, and still stained the front of her sweater.

  Her hands seemed to move of their own volition, fingers touching the biggest bloodstain on his shirt, which also happened to be directly over his heart. She instantly became aware of the slight increase in his heartbeat, and the heat of his body beneath the soft silk material.

  She moistened her lips before speaking. “Will the blood come out, do you think?”

  “Probably not,” he dismissed, unconcerned.

  “Would you like me to replace it?” The silk of his shirt felt wonderful—almost as wonderful as the hard and muscled body beneath it—and had probably cost as much as she earned in a week, but she still had to ask.

  “That will not be necessary, no,” he assured dryly.

  She nodded. “I think I’ll do as you suggest and lie down now and try to rest.”

  “Of course.” Gregori instantly straightened, aware of a feeling of—of what? Disappointment? Because Gaia had chosen to dismiss him? After the events of this evening, he should think himself lucky she wasn’t screaming with hysteria, as most women of his acquaintance would have been.

  “What are you doing?” She gave him a startled look as he reached for the bottom of her sweater.

  “Helping you undress—”

  “I have a graze on my cheek, Gregori, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my hands. Nor am I six years old.”

  Gregori had absolutely no idea why it was that this woman made him smile, often at inappropriate moments. Like now.

  She was an unusual woman, and he knew that Nikolai, despite his characteristic sarcasm earlier, had also been impressed by Gaia’s fortitude. It was as well that Nikolai liked Gaia, when he would be in charge of her protection.

  And Gregori certainly didn’t think of her as being a child.

  The disgruntled expression now on Gaia’s face told him that she didn’t appreciate his humor at her expense.

  He shrugged. “I was attempting to be solicitous, not condescending.”

  “Really?” She eyed him impatiently. “Well in my case I assure you it isn’t necessary.”

  He arched a questioning brow. “Because my behavior earlier tonight proved that I am not a gentleman?”

  “And I have the ripped panties in my bag to prove it!” She nodded.

  Gregori gave a wince. “I have never… I apologize. My behavior earlier tonight was inexcusable,” he acknowledged stiffly.

  Her head tilted as she studied him for several seconds. “Did you know that when you’re uncomfortable with a situation, your voice becomes clipped and the language more formal and stilted?”

  Possibly because English hadn’t always been his natural language: until Gregori was six years old he had lived in Russia, and spoken only Russian. His mother had never spoken anything else.

  “And when you’re angry or—or aroused,” she continued, twin wings of color flaming her cheeks, “your voice becomes guttural, and your language is…earthy, to say the least.”

  Only with this woman.

  He had never before behaved in the savage way he had earlier tonight with Gaia. Never lost control in that way.

  He should have kept to his decision not to see Gaia again. Should never have followed her. If he hadn’t then she wouldn’t have been shot. Or now be a target for Orlov’s malice.

  He straightened before stepping away from her. “I’ll be returning to Utopia once I’ve changed my shirt—”

  “Oh but—”

  “You will not be left alone here,” he assured her stiffly at her wide-eyed expression. “My housekeeper and driver live on the premises, and Nikolai has placed extra guards outside the house. The security system is also of the highest quality.”

  His brother-in-law Dair was a security expert, and he had insisted on installing the new state-of-the-art system himself after their recent…difficulties with Orlov.

  Gregori didn’t fool himself that Dair had made the changes for his safety; he knew it was Dair’s way of putting Katya’s mind at rest regarding her older brother. He and Dair didn’t know each other well enough as yet to base their relationship o
n affection rather than respect, but they were united in their protection of Katya.

  As Gregori was now determined to protect Gaia…

  “A code is needed to open all the doors into the house so no one will be able to get in while I am away,” he assured firmly.

  Gaia’s eyes widened. “But surely that means I can’t get out either?”

  He stilled. “Do you want to get out?”

  “I might.”

  He scowled darkly. “That would not be wise, Gaia. Nor should you use the landline or your cell to tell anyone where you are. Please understand this is for your own safety—”

  “I’m sure all kidnappers tell their victims that!” She stood up agitatedly, and obviously far too quickly as all the color quickly drained from her face.

  Gregori reached out to grasp the tops of her arms as she swayed unsteadily on her feet. “Stop fighting me, hmm, Gaia?” He encouraged gruffly as he took her into his arms, her head now resting against his shoulder. “I am not kidnapping you, I am taking care of you. I am not the enemy, Gaia,” he added as he sensed she was about to protest that claim. “Please try to understand that for the moment you will be safer here than anywhere else. Nikolai’s men will be outside, and he is already looking into who is responsible for the shooting,” he continued grimly. “Whoever did this to you will be made to pay for their mistake.”

  If Gregori was hoping to reassure her then he was failing miserably.

  All Gaia had wanted to do was find the man responsible for the death of her sister, and instead she seemed to have become caught up in some sort of private war between Gregori and this man Orlov. To the extent it was no longer safe for her to walk down the street or return to her own apartment.

  It was the sort of situation nightmares were made up of. The one where you were being pursued by a nameless, faceless person, who also happened to be waiting for you around every corner. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

  “I don’t want to stay here.” She rested her forehead on the warmth of Gregori’s shoulder, her arms about his waist as she began to tremble uncontrollably.

  “It’s the only place I can keep you completely safe. Ssh, Gaia,” he soothed as the tears began to fall down her cheeks, his hands a calming caress along the length of her spine. “It will not be so bad. Think of it as a holiday. My cook is excellent. There is an extensive library of books and DVDs, and also a pool down in the basement, if you like to swim.”

  Of course there was a pool down in the basement. Who didn’t have a pool in their basement?

  Normal people. People like her. Except her life hadn’t felt normal for months now, not since she lost Angela.

  “Have you been shot at before?” The tears had stopped falling but Gaia still couldn’t stop shaking. “Is it a—an occupational hazard?”

  He shrugged. “The last time someone tried to shoot The Markovic was thirty years ago.”

  “How did that turn out?”

  He gave a derisive huff of laughter. “My father and the other man eventually became…if not exactly friends, then at least allies of a kind.”

  Gaia realized he had to be talking about Jack Montgomery and the turf war that had taken place between the two men thirty years ago.

  “The Markovic?” Her teeth were chattering so much now she was having trouble speaking. “That’s you now, isn’t it? Not Gregori. Not Gregori Markovic. Or even Mr. Markovic. But The Markovic.”

  “Gaia—”

  “Never mind.” She gave a weary shake of her head. “What will happen when Nikolai finds the man who shot at us tonight? Will the two of you become friends too, or will Nikolai have to—”

  “Enough, Gaia!” Gregori knew by the tears and her almost uncontrollable shaking, and the questions she was now asking, that Gaia had come to the end of what she could cope with for tonight. “We can talk of this again another time,” he dismissed briskly. “For now I really think you need to undress and get into bed. Anything of mine would be far too big for you, but I believe there are some of Katya’s things still in her bedroom.” He nodded as he put her away from him. “While you undress I’ll go and see if I can find you something suitable to sleep in.”

  And while he was away he would try to get a grip on the desire that never seemed to be far away when he was with this woman. It had been madness to pursue those feelings earlier, but to do so now would just be taking advantage of the situation.

  Gaia’s main emotion had to be fear. Fear of being near him. Fear of him.

  It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes—” He broke off as his cell phone rang. He took it from his trousers pocket to look down at the caller ID. “I have to take this,” he bit out grimly before walking over to stand by the window.

  Gaia’s heart immediately leapt up into her throat. “Should you be standing there? I mean—couldn’t someone shoot you through the window?” She could hardly believe she was having this conversation.

  “Bulletproof glass,” Gregori dismissed distractedly as he turned away to take the call.

  Of course it was. Didn’t everyone have their windows made out of bulletproof glass? Perfectly normal. Nothing to see here.

  Nothing to see here?

  There was plenty to see!

  She was convinced her sister had been murdered, even if no one else believed her. She was now caught up in a war between rival families. She had been shot at. She was now staying alone in Gregori Markovic’s home with him.

  Except for his housekeeper and driver, and Nikolai’s men outside guarding the house and grounds.

  It was like a bad movie. One where they had the big shoot out at the end and all the bad guys died.

  Was Gregori a good guy or a bad guy, she wondered?

  What the hell did it matter if he died at the end?

  Gaia gave a shudder at the thought of that happening. Because she was falling for him? Because a part of her had reveled in his loss of control earlier? In seeing that cold and controlled man with his face buried between her thighs, his voice guttural as he told her he was going to fuck her up against the door?

  God, yes, she had reveled in it. Had felt nothing but excitement at hearing those words come out of Gregori Markovic’s mouth. So excited she had come and kept on coming as that mouth pleasured her.

  The shooting tonight had shown her she was out of her depth. Way, way out of her depth. Whatever she had hoped to achieve by working at Utopia, it certainly hadn’t been to get shot at. Or to fall for the coldly remote Gregori.

  The same man who had now ended his call and turned to look at her with dark and guarded eyes.

  Chapter 8

  The seconds seemed to tick by oh-so-slowly as Gregori didn’t speak but simply continued to look at her with those piercing—and potentially accusing—fathomless dark eyes. Gaia’s heart was beating so loudly in her chest she felt sure he could hear it too.

  Who had the call been from? Nikolai? Had he been to her apartment and seen those photographs of herself and Angela, maybe recognized her sister as being someone who had once worked at Utopia?

  So what if he had?

  The police had ruled the death a suicide, and unless Nikolai knew differently there was nothing else to tell. Certainly no one had ever asked Gaia if she knew anyone else who worked or had worked at Utopia.

  The only reason her knowing Angela could be of any interest to Nikolai or Gregori was if one of them knew more about her death than they were willing to share.

  She really, really didn’t want Gregori to be involved in Angela’s death. Not now. Not when the two of them had been so intimate. It would be—it would be so wrong, sickening, if Gregori was involved and she had made love with him.

  Her mouth had gone so dry the past few minutes she wasn’t sure she would be able to speak. Except someone had to, the tension in the bedroom now so thick it was almost possible to reach out and touch it.

  She eased some of the tension from her shoulders. “Bad news?”

  �
�Why would you think that?” he queried with deceptive mildness.

  And Gaia knew it was deceptive by the cold glitter of his eyes as he continued to look at her, and by the fact that he had answered her question with a question.

  She shrugged. “In my experience, telephone calls at two-thirty in the morning usually aren’t good news.”

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “Maybe that’s because you live in a different world than me,” he dismissed hardly. “Two-thirty in the morning is part of my working day.”

  He really wasn’t going to give her anything to go on here, was he, Gaia realized. Except the fact that he had once again become the distant man she had met that first night… That surely had to mean something?

  Gaia forced herself to meet his coldly glittering gaze. “Did Nikolai have a problem getting into my apartment? I know the lock sometimes sticks.”

  Gregori shrugged. “If that had been the case, then he would have picked the lock. Failing that he would probably have kicked the door in.”

  “Nice,” Gaia drawled.

  “Nikolai is not a patient man.”

  “Unlike you.” She continued to eye him warily, pretty sure he was exercising that patience right now, that Nikolai had told him something on the telephone to effect this change in him. She could almost feel Gregori’s roiling tension as it swirled and picked up speed beneath his outward show of stillness and calm.

  “Unlike me,” he conceded softly.

  Gaia’s own tension was so intense she wished he would just say whatever it was he had to say and get it over with.

  Her pulse notched up another level as he finally moved, crossing the bedroom on soft, predatory feet until he stood in front of her and placed those long, elegant fingers against her throat rather than beneath her chin. He tilted her face upwards to study her.

  It was pretty painless as interrogations went, and made completely silently, only their gazes locked in conversation.

  Who are you?

  Gaia Miller.

  Why are you working at Utopia?

  I needed the job.

  How well did you know Angela Grant?

  Gaia looked away as she sensed him asking this question, and knew those fingers curled about her throat would have felt the sudden leap of her pulse.