Alexei, Her Russian Billionaire

“How about you spend the night at mine? I can make Jenny stay at her parents’ place or with friends. She’ll do that for me. We won’t be disturbed.”

Alexei’s eyes went to her mouth and Maya licked her lips. Alexei groaned.

“Sounds like a good idea.” He growled.

Then something sharp sliced at her arm and she flinched.

“Ouch!”

Alexei pulled away.

“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”

“I’ve just cut my arm on something.” Maya brought her arm in and gingerly felt it. She winced when she felt something protruding out of the back of her wrist. “I’ve got glass in my arm.”

Alexei moved away. A second later the light came on and Maya blinked as the brightness hit her. Alexei came back in front of her and he gingerly took her arm. There was a sliver of glass stuck in the back of her wrist near the bone. It didn’t look big. Alexei glanced up at Maya, his expression dark.

“Stay still, Printsessa. I’ll try and get it out.”

Maya bit her lip and nodded. She braced herself as Alexei gripped the sliver and pulled it out gently. Even then it still hurt. Tossing the piece aside, Alexei brought out a handkerchief and wrapped it round her wrist.

“Keep pressure on that. We’ll get you to the hospital and have it looked at.”

“Okay.” Maya didn’t want to go to hospital but she had a feeling she might need some stitches. She looked around and saw the picture frame on the wall. It was just a simple drawing of a vase of flowers that Jenny’s brother had drawn as a housewarming gift. “Why has Jenny broken that? She loves it.”

“I don’t think it was Jenny unless she went off the deep end.” Alexei wasn’t looking at the picture. He was staring into the lounge. “Take a look.”

Maya followed his gaze and gasped. The lounge had been completely turned over. The couch’s cushions were all over the place and ripped up. The television was smashed. The coffee table was upside-down and glass was all over the floor. Maya was glad she took her laptop everywhere because her desk was a mess, paper everywhere and completely shredded.

Heading into the kitchen, she saw that the crockery was smashed across the floor and the fridge door was open, food strewn everywhere.

“What the…?” She tried to comprehend was she was looking at. “What’s happened?”

“I think someone’s broken in.” Alexei touched her shoulder and moved her against the wall. “Wait here. I’m going to check the place.”

He disappeared down the hall. But Maya didn’t want to stay on her own. She needed to stick close to Alexei. She hurried after him, heading into her bedroom.

Alexei wasn’t there. But her bedroom had been turned over as well. Her clothes were out on the floor ripped up. Her favorite coverlet on the bed was slashed to ribbons. So were her panties, which were lying in a pile in the middle of the bed. On top of it was a note.

Maya’s hand shook as she reached for it and picked it up. She opened it and saw the two words ‘YOUR MINE’ scrawled across the page.

Her body went cold.

“Dammit, Maya, I told you to stay put.”

Maya turned. Alexei was in the doorway. She held out the note.

“This was Jonny’s doing?”

“What?” Alexei entered the room and took the note from her. “How do you know?”

“That’s his handwriting.”

Maya had seen his signature on many occasions and knew what Jonny’s handwriting looked like. Alexei growled and tossed the note onto the bed, where it fluttered down and settled on the floor.

“This is too much.”

“I had no idea he would do this.” Maya wrapped her arms around her body. “I didn’t realize he was that unhinged.”

“I don’t think anyone did.” Alexei’s face fell and he drew her into his arms. “Oh, Printsessa, you’re shaking.”

“He’s been in my home.” Maya hadn’t realized she was trembling until Alexei held her. She buried her face into his chest, clutching onto his shirt. “He’s been here.”

That was crossing the line. Now he was telling her he could get to her. Maya couldn’t help but feel helpless about the situation. She was used to being strong and able to take care of herself. But this threw her completely off-kilter.

“Maya.” Alexei eased her gently away and cupped her face in his hands, making her look up at him. “Maya, look at me. I can’t have you panicking now. That’s exactly what he wants. You need to calm down. Are you with me?”

His voice was low and soothing. Maya found herself falling into the deep baritone as if hypnotized. Suddenly she felt a lot calmer. She was still jittery but now she didn’t feel as though she was going to go into hysterics. She took a deep breath and nodded.

“I’m with you.”

Alexei smiled and kissed her head.

“Good girl.”