Resisting Alexandre (Knight Security 0.5) (11 page)

“Yes, I understand. I can’t breathe, damn it.” Gerard tried to dislodge his fingers. Without success.

Alexandre gave one last warning squeeze before releasing him and then stepped away from the other man. “Give me your mobile.”

“What?”

“Bruno omitted to bring my mobile from the hotel, I want yours so I can call and check on Anastazia.” His hands tensed at his sides before he forced them to relax again, his frustration with this situation such that he was only just restraining himself from grabbing Gerard and attempting to squeeze the life out of him for a second time.

Alexandre had been too out of it earlier this morning to do any more than try to breathe, but it was unforgiveable that his cousin had just left Anastazia alone in the bedroom at the hotel while Alexandre was rushed to the clinic. She must have been terrified when she woke up and found him unconscious in bed beside her, and then was left alone at the hotel in the aftermath.

Gerard’s top lip curled back in a sneer. “Why bother? She spent her night with a prince—”

“Have you always been this much of an obnoxious prick, and I’m only just noticing it, or is this something new?” Alexandre kept his voice level, unemotional, in an effort to stop himself from actually murdering his own cousin. Now wouldn’t that look wonderful in the headlines:
The Prince of Androcco Guilty of Murdering his Heir!

“I’m being realistic, not obnoxious. This relationship is going nowhere, so why make such a fuss—”

“Give me the fucking mobile, Gerard. Now,” he barked as his cousin merely continued to look exasperated.

Gerard reluctantly took the phone from the breast pocket of his jacket and handed it to him. “I wouldn’t bother trying to reach her at the hotel.”

Alexandre stilled with his finger poised over the buttons of the mobile. “Why not?”

His cousin shrugged. “Daniel Meyers called me to check on your condition while the doctors were examining you. He’s set up an enquiry into what caused this. He also assured me that Miss Carmichael has been suspended, for misconduct with one of the guests. I’m presuming that’s you—”

“And you let him do that?” Alexandre demanded incredulously.

“Of course.” Gerard eyed him coldly.

Alexandre’s teeth ground together. “The doctor said I would be dead if not for Anastazia’s swift action in giving me the epinephrine.”

“I’m aware of that. But—”

“There is no but to that sentence, Gerard,” Alexandre grated. “The principality of Androcco should be giving her a fucking medal, not allowing her to be suspended from her job.”

“I— Where are you going?” His cousin stared as Alexandre threw the mobile down on the bed in disgust before striding across the room to fling open the door leading out into the corridor.

“Mind your own fucking business!”

“It’s
your
fucking that’s going to create a scandal,” Gerard snapped. “You can’t go chasing after this woman like some infatuated schoolboy—”

“I am the ruling prince of Androcco.” Alexandre turned to draw himself up to his full height of several inches over six feet. “As such, I will decide what I will or won’t do. Do you understand?”

Gerard’s eyes glittered with anger. “Fine. Go ahead. Make a fool of yourself, and Androcco, by chasing after some woman who no doubt makes a habit of sleeping with the guests— Okay, okay, I’ve finished with the warnings as to the inadvisability of your actions.” He held up yielding hands as Alexandre gave a low growl, the muscles bunched in his shoulders in preparation for launching himself across the room. “I completely wash my hands of the whole situation. But you can bet that the governing council of Androcco will have plenty to say about it.”

“As, no doubt, you’ll take great pleasure in reporting back to them.”

“You leave me no choice when your actions are so detrimental to Androcco.”

Alexandre gave his cousin one last narrow-eyed glare before turning back to the hallway. “Keep him away from me,” he snarled at the bodyguard standing outside. “And instruct my driver to bring my car to the front of the clinic,” he added as he strode off down the hallway.

Chapter 10

Stazzi forced her heavy lids to open as she was woken by the buzz of the internal telephone, rolling over with a tired groan before picking up the receiver from the top of the cabinet beside the bed. “Yes, Nigel?” she said to the security guard on duty on the desk in the lobby.

“You have a visitor.” There was an awkward pause before Nigel’s voice lowered conspiratorially. “He says he’s Prince Alexandre of Androcco—”

“Send him up!” Stazzi cut in excitedly, her fingers tight about the receiver as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up, her heart racing. “Sorry, Nigel, could you send him up, please,” she repeated in a calmer voice.

Alexandre was here. Downstairs. He had come to her apartment to see her.

Which instantly begged the question, shouldn’t he still be at the clinic?

Oh, to hell with where Alexandre should or shouldn’t be. He was a prince, he could do whatever the hell he pleased. At the moment, it pleased him to be downstairs asking to see her. And she was a mess, still hadn’t changed out of the clothes she had been wearing the previous evening. After cleaning every inch of the apartment, she had been too exhausted to shower and change, and had instead just slipped off her boots before falling asleep on top of her bed.

As her apartment was only on the second floor of the building, it would take Alexandre just a couple of minutes to walk up the stairs, she only had time to stand up and run a hand through her tousled hair before the doorbell rang to announce his arrival.

Not that she cared how she looked. It was how Alexandre was that was important.

Her eyes widened and she took a step back after opening the door to find herself confronted with one of Alexandre’s bodyguards rather than Alexandre himself.

The man did at least give her an apologetic smile. “I need to check your apartment before—”

“That won’t be necessary, Christophe,” Alexandre interrupted smoothly as he stepped around the other man, hair tousled from where he had run his fingers through it repeatedly on the way over here. “As Miss Carmichael saved my life last night, I believe we can safely assume she doesn’t intend killing me today,” he dismissed as he stepped into Anastazia’s apartment to close the door behind him and lean back against it before taking his first good look at her.

She looked…tired. Hauntingly beautiful still, but totally exhausted, with that dark cloud of hair tangled about her deathly pale face, and dark shadows beneath her beautiful blue eyes. There was also a slight redness to her eyes, as if she had been crying.

“Shouldn’t you still be in hospital?” She slipped into that endearing habit of chewing on her bottom lip.

“Come here.” Alexandre reached out and took her in his arms. “I am so sorry this happened,” he murmured against the softness of her hair, so very aware of the trembling of her body as she clung to him.

“It was hardly your fault—”

“It’s all my fault,” he insisted. “I came here straight from the clinic, but I used the phone in the car to call Daniel Meyers on the way over here to tell him I want you reinstated immediately.”

She raised her head to look at him. “I was talking about your allergic reaction, not my suspension from my job.”

That was so Anastazia, Alexandre acknowledged, to be concerned about him rather than herself. “It’s happened before. There’s no guarantee it won’t happen again.”

“But how did it happen this time?” She shook her head. “You were fine when we—when we went to bed. I don’t understand how this could have happened.”

Neither did Alexandre, but the germ of an idea had started to take root when he recovered at the clinic earlier. An idea that seemed too incredible to be true, and yet he could think of no other way in which he might have ingested the shellfish that had almost killed him during the night. He had Ash checking into the details right now, but wouldn’t have any definite answers to his suspicions until Ash reported back to him later this evening.

“You could have died—”

“But I didn’t, thanks to you.” He lifted his head, hands moving to cradle her pale cheeks. “I am so sorry you were just left alone at the hotel, and then you had to face Daniel Meyers on your own too.” His eyes narrowed. “Gerard should have handled that situation but chose not to.”

“His priority was to ensure your health.”

Alexandre could feel a nerve pulsing in his tightly clenched jaw. “That’s no excuse for leaving you to face Daniel Meyers alone.”

Anastazia gave a shudder. “I was so frightened.” She swallowed, tears glistening in her eyes. “I really thought you were going to die, Alexandre.”

“And now I’m here, and we’re together again.” He stepped back so that he could look at her. There was a little more color in her cheeks, but her eyes were still brimming with tears. “My mother always claimed a soak in a hot, scented bubble bath made her feel better when she was upset. Would you like that?”

She gave a teary smile. “Is that your polite way of telling me I look a mess and also need a wash?”

“I want to take care of you. Is your bathroom through here?” He kept an arm about her shoulders as he steered her down the hallway to what he hoped was the bathroom and bedrooms. “It is.” He nodded his satisfaction as the first open door they came to led into the bathroom. “Sit here.” He sat her on top of the closed laundry basket before moving to put the plug in the bath and turn on the taps to the correct temperature. He checked the bottles on the shelf above. “Roses or apple blossom?” He held up the two bottles.

“Apple blossom. But—”

“But me no buts,” he teased much more gently than he had Gerard earlier, as he tipped some of the bubble bath into the rapidly filling bath. “It’s getting dark, so I’ll light the candles in here too.” He found a box of matches in the medicine cabinet, then struck one and put the flame to the scented candles placed about the tiled room.

The tears fell unchecked down Stazzi’s cheeks as she watched Prince Alexandre of Androcco fill a bubble bath and light scented candles for her. She fully appreciated the irony of it, considering her resentment just three days ago because Alexandre’s early arrival meant she could no longer indulge in a scented bubble bath before meeting Will.

So much had happened in those three days. She had felt poleaxed when she finally met Alexandre. Then Will had hurt and betrayed her in the worst way possible. She had dined with Alexandre at the most exclusive restaurant in London. Last night, she had spent the evening at the hotel with him, eating burgers and watching a movie before the most amazing lovemaking of her life.

And then Alexandre had almost died
.

There was something about a near-death experience that clarified exactly what was really important. And Alexandre had become very important to her in a very short time, and Will of almost nonexistent relevance in even less time. Her ex-boyfriend would never have run a scented bath and fussed over her because she was upset, and Alexandre was a ruling prince, for goodness’ sake. She could have loved him just for that.

Loved him…?

Yes, Stazzi was sure, if she wasn’t in love with Alexandre already, then she soon would be.

“Now to help you undress—Anastazia…?” Alexandre’s expression turned to one of concern when he turned from switching off the main light and obviously saw the silver track of tears on her cheeks in the candlelight.

Stazzi smiled through her tears, determined to enjoy this time with Alexandre. He would be returning to Androcco soon, and there would be time enough to miss him after he was gone. “I’m just tired,” she reassured him. “And a bit overwhelmed. Don’t you usually have servants to do this for you at home?”

“Don’t believe everything you hear about the life of a prince.” He gave her a wink. “Besides, my father often ran a bath for my mother,” he added seriously.

“That’s nice.”

He nodded. “They were very much in love.”

And Alexandre’s tone showed he still missed them both very much. “Well, the bath looks and smells wonderful.” Stazzi wasn’t about to make the mistake of thinking Alexandre was in love with her. They had shared one night together, and that had ended in disaster. Best not to read things into his actions or comments that simply weren’t there.

She stood up to take off her T-shirt; there was little point in modesty when Alexandre had already seen, touched, caressed, and kissed every inch of her naked body.

“Let me.” Alexandre stepped forward to gently push her hands aside and take off her top before reaching behind her to unfasten her bra, his close proximity bringing his face just inches away from Stazzi’s. “Being together last night was…”

“It was,” she agreed huskily.

“Anastazia—”

“My bathwater is getting cold,” she reminded him, knowing she wasn’t emotionally strong enough right now to discuss last night and what it had meant to her.

“Can I join you?”

She swallowed. Hard. Merely thinking of a naked Alexandre in the bath with her was enough to cause a quiver of anticipation down the length of her spine. “It’s a small bath for two people.”

“That will only make it more enjoyable,” he assured her as he slipped her bra straps down her arms and dropped it to the floor along with her T-shirt, his fingers then moving to the fastening of her low-rider jeans.

Stazzi moistened her lips before answering. “Okay.”

Alexandre gave a grin. “I like it when you say that.”

She quirked one eyebrow. “Because it means I’m doing what you want?”

“Oh yes…” He kissed her lingeringly on the lips before concentrating on removing her jeans and panties. “But it works both ways. If you recall, I was more than happy to obey your commands last night…?”

Despite her earlier dismissal of modesty, Stazzi felt the warmth of a blush in her cheeks that owed nothing to once again being completely naked in front of Alexandre and everything to being reminded of how she had ordered him to come the previous evening.

Alexandre smiled. “I liked it when you were…”

“Aggressive?” She winced.