Alexei And Grace

28 | Safe House

Alexei | Grace

"I'VE COME TO A DECISION."

         Alex and Bethany's heads both turned when I entered the kitchen. They exchanged a glance at my announcement which I ignored. Whatever they'd been discussing without me was irrelevant; I'd made up my mind.

         "As you might have noticed, I've been pretty good at keeping quiet over the past few years. As your employee, I've seen and heard things I'm fairly certain I wasn't supposed to see or hear." At this, Alex raised his eyebrows but kept quiet.

         Bethany stood up from her seat. "I should leave you two to work this out," she said with an amused smile.

         I waited until the kitchen door closed behind her, keeping my eyes locked on Alex's.

         "As I was saying, I've been a pretty damn good employee to you. And now I've come to a decision about my future with your company."

         Alex just kept watching me with that steady gaze of his, completely unaffected.

         I took a deep breath. "If I'm going to keep working for you, then I want to know everything. I want to know what you do, what you sell, what you buy, who you...who you kill..."

         "Grace–"

         "No, Alex," I interrupted, "I want to know everything. I mean it."

         "You won't feel the same once I've told you."

          "I can handle it."

          Alex's eyes narrowed. "That's what I'm worried about," he sighed.

         "That makes no sense–"

          The shrill ring of a phone cut me off from complaining further, momentarily distracting me. Alex's focus shifted instantly to the mobile he pulled from his pocket. The harsh sound went off twice more before the person on the other end hung up.

          "They gave up quickly," I commented pissily, annoyed that Alex was still staring down at the screen. "Anyway–"

          "That wasn't a phone call."

          The tone of Alex's voice caught my attention. When I saw his expression my stomach bottomed out. "What was it then..?"

          "An S.O.S."

          "Who from?"

          He gritted his teeth. "Dmitry."

         I stared back at Alex in shock. It seemed so ironic that only moments ago I'd been asking for details about his business and now I was closer than ever to seeing the real dangers of it. Dmitry had never particularly shown any affection for me like Alex's other men but my throat still tightened at the prospect of him being hurt.

         "What do we do?" I asked when Alex remained silent. He was staring at the ground as though he could burn a hole through it, jaw working furiously.

         His head snapped up at the sound of my voice. "We do nothing. You're staying here."

         "Like hell I am," I scoffed, "what if Dmitry needs medical attention?"

         "Tough." Alex barely glanced at me as he became a whirlwind of action, punching a number into his phone. He'd barely pressed call when he began speaking. "Sergei. Did you get the alert?" He rubbed his eyes hard with his fist. "Yes. Where are you? Fuck!" Alex gestured for me to follow him as he strode over to the rack of car keys on the wall, pulling one down off the hook. "Viktor left this morning, damn it. I'm going to have to make a slight detour"—even I could hear the raised voice on the other end of the line—"stay calm. I'll be there."