Hitman's Captive: A Bad Boy Romance (26 page)

I shuddered as her words
rippled through me, then leaned forward to kiss every tear from her face. I
couldn’t tell which were hurt tears and which were just emotional and happy,
but none of them belonged on her face. She’d been through too much.

I wanted to make her
smile and laugh, and protect her from ever needing to cry again. She caught my
mouth in hers and I kissed her deeply, my hands running through the long, silky
hair I’d missed as I tasted the salty tears on our lips and then so much more -
her heat, her passion. Everything I’d ever wanted. It went on forever and not
nearly long enough, and my cock stirred with other needs as she finally pulled
back.

I closed my eyes and
rested my forehead against hers, still unable to believe this was actually
happening. As desolate and empty as I’d felt only an hour before, I was elated
beyond anything I’d ever imagined now. Warmth and happiness overwhelmed me,
until I felt ridiculous with it. I opened my eyes and gave Alessa a lop-sided smile,
unable to deny what these feelings were anymore.

“I love you, princess.” I
murmured it softly, but her eyes widened and then she was on my lips again,
breathing fast as she planted a dozen quick kisses on me. I laughed lightly.
“I’ve got no idea what you’ve done to me.”

Her eyes gleamed. “Well,
by your logic, I’ve made you weak.” She nipped at my lips, then grinned
wickedly. “But, as I said, you seem happier now.”

I smiled back, accepting
the teasing. “You were right - the trade-off is worth it.”

“I love you too, Leo.”
She sighed softly and laid her head against my shoulder, a deep wave of
contentment pouring through me. “Thank you, for this.” She squeezed my arms
around her and continued softly. “That’s all I was thinking about when I found
out. Having your arms around me again to keep me safe.”

I smiled, pleased beyond
reasoning that she felt safe with me, even if thinking about what her father
had done stoked my blood close to a boiling point.

As if sensing the
direction of my thoughts - or going there herself - she looked up at me again,
frowning slightly and shifting to make it clear she wanted me to let her down
again. I did so reluctantly, wishing I could spend the rest of my life with her
in my arms.

“What are we going to
do—about it all?” She was hesitant again and I leaned in for a quick kiss,
wanting to ease her fears before I breathed deeply and tried to work it out.

“Well, we know who did it
now - how did you find out? Was there anything else—”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I
forgot.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small photo as she
started talking, and then it all came out in a torrent. “I heard them - my
father, my uncle - they were talking about how it had all gone wrong. Apart
from my coming back alive, that is.” Her voice took on a bitter tone for a
moment, and I ran my fingers through her hair. She was more than entitled to
whatever she felt, but I’d let her know I was here for her throughout. “They
used an intermediary to hire you - that’s the guy in the photo, Jimmy O’Connor
- but he bolted when they killed Manny, got spooked they said. So they didn’t
know who you were, and—and you weren’t meant to take me. They thought you’d
k-kill a witness, and then they could ally with the
bratva
to find you
quickly and avenge both Viktor and I. This was meant to cut off some of the
bratva’s
allies - Viktor’s personal connections - but now they’re working with the
bratva
to find you, so…they didn’t get what they wanted.”

She sounded vindictively
pleased about that, and I didn’t blame her. I was used to the cold-blooded
nature of NYC’s underworld so the scheme didn’t surprise me much - but she’d
always trusted her family. It was hard to think what it must have done to her
to find this out.

I glanced down at the
photo she’d handed me, but I didn’t recognize the man from any of my dealings
in the past. Flipping it over revealed a wire transfer number and I considered,
picking up on the way Alessa was watching me.

“Well, when I found out
who wanted Viktor dead, I was planning on brokering a deal with the
bratva
for
the information. But…it’s your family, so if you don’t want—”

Her fists clenched and
her face scrunched up as she looked at me. “They
left me for dead.
I
want
the Russians to know.”

I was shocked for a
moment at her ferocity, then tugged her closer with a small smile. Throughout
this whole thing, she’d been stronger than I’d ever expected. She might have
been terrified, and broken down a few times, but she’d dealt with everything
that had been thrown at her.

“Okay.” I took a deep
breath. “In that case, I’ll try and arrange a meet with the
bratva
, see
whether what I can tell them is good enough to get us out of here. You — you
are okay leaving, right?”

She nodded. “I always
wanted to see the world. And…as long as it’s with you, the rest doesn’t
matter.”

I smiled lightly, hoping
it was true. For all her enjoyment of our little cross-country adventure,
Alessa hadn’t really experienced much. I didn’t want her to get homesick.

Then you’ll just have to
give her something more fun to think about.

And it wasn’t difficult
to believe her, because I felt the same way. I just wanted to be with her.

Another thought finally
occurred to me, reminding me of the reason I’d needed help getting out of the
country. “Also - what did you tell them about me? Your family.”

Her eyes sparkled again
as she smiled. “Nothing.”

I blinked. “What?”

There was no way she
could have gotten away with saying
nothing
of her kidnapper when so many
people were looking for me.

“It’s another reason they
were pissed off. I told them you had dark hair and blue eyes…and average
height.” She grinned at me and I scowled as I glanced down at myself.

“Don’t know what kind of
men you know, princess.” At over 6 feet, I was most certainly not
average.

She laughed at me and
what she’d said finally registered, then I joined in, amused at my own vanity.
I was arrogant enough, but no one else had ever quite triggered that before. It
surprised me just how much what she thought meant to me.

“You really did tell them
nothing.” My voice was slightly wondering. That had been before she even knew
how they’d used her.

She just shrugged. “I
worked out I wanted you to get away. If you were going to drag me around with
you for two weeks, I decided it had damn well better be for
something
.”

My mouth quirked, but I
just looked at her. If I’d had any doubt left, that would have been enough to
convince me that she hadn’t wanted to leave.

Then I finally forced my
thoughts back to what we needed to do. Maybe her spark of obstruction meant
that I’d be able to leave as planned, but the moment Alessa was discovered
missing
again
, it would be impossible to sneak her out. We still needed
the Russians’ help.

I sighed and looked up.
“Guess I’ll need to ask Jay for yet another favor.”

I realized for the first
time that he’d disappeared. The moment I’d seen Alessa, everything else had
faded away. I guessed he’d given us some privacy, which I belatedly
appreciated. Especially since he’d be far less likely to help if he’d seen me
acting like some love-sick fool. I couldn’t quite bring myself to care anymore,
though - he could disapprove all he liked. This was worth it.

Alessa nodded and I
called out for him much the same way as I usually did when I walked in, knowing
he preferred to come on his terms rather than chance someone walking in on
business he didn’t want to share. And this way, I got to keep Alessa close to
me and enjoy the few simple moments with her warm body relaxed against mine.

Even if we didn’t have a
way out of the country yet, everything was so impossibly better than it had
been a few hours ago. I already felt as if I’d won the battle.

Jay came out in his own
time, and I reluctantly detached from Alessa, not missing the way his gaze
flicked between the two of us.

“Thanks for all this,
Jay.” I gave a small, tight smile and continued when he didn’t say anything. “I
guess you already heard about Viktor’s killers?”

He just nodded and I
sighed, running a hand through my hair.

“I’m going to try and
make a deal with the
bratva.
I hate to ask, but I need your connections
to get me a shot at it. Can you get me a conversation with whoever replaced
Viktor? Or any of their bosses?” I watched his face, but it was impassive as
always as he considered, scratching slowly at his chin.

“I’ll ask. I can’t say
how they’ll react.” He finally answered, and relief flooded me. “You should
take the girl, too - it’ll give you a better shot at getting out alive.”

Anger surged instantly
and I forgot about my conciliatory attitude as I took a step forward, eyes
flashing. “If you think for one moment that I’m letting her—”

“I’m going.” The soft,
resolute voice from behind stopped me in my tracks and I spun to Alessa.

“You are
not—”

“My father expected me to
die, too. I’m going with you to tell Viktor’s family what they did.” I stared
at her in disbelief, wanting to forbid the very idea. I needed to keep her
safe
,
damn it.

“Alessa…” I moved towards
her slowly, but her gaze was pure fire and steel as she met mine.

“I’m probably dead if
they kill you, anyway. And I need to do this.” It was the last that caught at
me and made me hesitate. I could understand that need to take such a horrific
event back into her own hands, even if I hated the thought of what it meant.
She saw me wavering and shot me a grin. “Besides, you said I couldn’t leave
your sight, right?”

With a growl of
frustration I turned back to Jay. “Fine. She comes. Can you sort the
arrangements?”

Surprisingly, he didn’t
comment on the interplay, just gave me a nod. “Give me a few hours, I’ll see
what I can do.”

I gave him a grateful
smile as he gathered a few of his things and then headed for the door I’d come
in through, appreciating how easy he was making this for me. I’d have to think
of some way to repay him. From another country. Fuck.

The door slammed closed
behind him and Alessa gave me a decidedly naughty look as she ran her eyes over
me. It took me a moment to register that Jay had left us completely alone…in
his house. Usually I got kicked out if he was leaving.

“Are you staying here?” The
thought occurred to me suddenly, though I didn’t quite believe it.

She nodded, obviously
distracted as she walked up to me with a smile.

I laughed and shook my
head, gazing at her admiringly. “Only you could convince Jay of something like
that.”

“Me?” That stopped her in
her tracks, and she gave me an exasperated glance. “You do know how much he
cares for you, right?”

I stared at her. Alessa
might be incredible in many ways, but she was certainly still innocent enough
about some things.

Chuckling, I shook my
head again. “No, princess, we just have a bit of history, that’s all.”

She scowled as she
reached me. “Sure, Leo. But I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And you at him.”

I frowned even as I ran a
hand down her arm, unable to help touching her. I didn’t know what she thought
she’d seen, but I hoped to hell she hadn’t said anything so ridiculous to Jay.
He’d fucking kill me.

Then any other thought
disappeared as she pressed up against me, her lips meeting mine as my body
finally got to answer its craving for her. I leaned down into her and took her
mouth hard in mine, tongue penetrating and any softness overwhelmed by the pure
need for each other. I nipped her lips and tangled roughly with her, one hand
splayed in her hair and holding her head against me, the other traveling down
her body to reassure myself that she really was
all here.

“Ohh fuck, I missed you,
Alessa.” I groaned, my cock hardening and straining my pants as she kissed
along my jaw, down my neck, her hands slipping under my t-shirt and making my
skin shudder with pleasure.

I reciprocated, slipping
a thigh between her legs and making her moan as they parted for me, then
running my hands down her back and ass as I pulled her in close, before cupping
her eager tits and lowering my mouth to kiss and suck and fondle. She gasped
and cried against me, grinding against my leg and breathlessly begging for
more.

I wanted her so fucking
badly. Even if this wasn’t the time or place.

“Alessa…” My breath
murmured against her neck, my blood on fire with the lust she created. “Jay
will fucking kill us.”

“Mmm…” She agreed, her
hands dipping below the belt of my pants and squeezing my ass. I groaned and
bucked against her. Fuck.

“We need him right now.
To keep us alive.” I didn’t know if I was trying to convince her or myself
more.

“Mmhmm.” Her hands
shifted around to the front of my pants and unbuckled my belt, slipping down to
tease and cup me there. Everything else in my mind blanked.