Alexei, Her Russian Billionaire

*****

Alexei didn’t come to bed that night. Maya had a feeling he wouldn’t after the accusations he had thrown at her. He didn’t come in at all. Maya heard him use the bathroom and move about in the lounge but that was it.

At some point Maya cried herself to sleep, buried under the duvet and trying to shut out the world. This wasn’t fair. She was trying to deal with a stalker and the bas*ard was succeeding in driving her and the man she loved apart.

When she woke, the apartment was empty. Alexei had gone. The pictures were gone as well and Maya found the remains of them in the fireplace. Evidently Alexei had burnt them.

That was something.

But where was he? Maya needed to talk to him. She wasn’t going to hang around and find out where their relationship was heading. If they couldn’t reach a compromise and deal with their problems, Maya would have to walk away. It wasn’t fair on baby Nikolai and she wasn’t dealing with the stress anymore.

But if she did that, Jonny would win.

Maya was determined not to let that happen.

She showered and dressed before making her way to the gallery. Ivan was talking to Lucy at her desk when Maya entered. He took one look at her face and his smile faded away. He hurried over to her.

“What’s wrong, Maya?”

“Is Alexei around?”

“He’s in his office.” Ivan paused. “He’s not in a good mood.”

“I know.” Maya closed her eyes. She was the cause of it. “Jonny sent him pictures of him kissing me.”

“What? What happened there?”

Maya opened her eyes and bit her lip. She would not cry, not in front of Ivan.

“Jonny cornered me and kissed me out of the blue. I pushed him away but the damage was done. He must’ve had someone nearby taking photographs.” She drew in a heavy breath. “I called the police but he disappeared pretty quickly.”

“He’s been eluding me for weeks.” Ivan rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t been able to track him down.”

“He’s probably living with his aunt in Jersey City.” Maya paused. “I spoke to Caz on the way over and she says he’s signed up to the agency Alexei started up.”

“What?” Ivan stared. “Is he crazy?”

“He’s daring, I’ll give him that much.”

Signing up with the modeling agency belonging to his stalking victim’s fiancé was daring. Jonny obviously had a death wish.

Ivan’s jaw tightened.

“I’ll speak to Piotr and let him know. That boy needs to be blacklisted.”

Maya agreed. She hugged herself and whimpered. She felt like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“I wish he would just leave me alone.”

“He will.” Ivan reached out and pulled her towards him. He hugged her, stroking her hair. “He’ll get it into his head soon.”

Maya hadn’t been held like this for a long time. Alexei had been withdrawing comfort when she needed it and she needed someone to hold on to right now. Ivan wasn’t Alexei but he was a friend and he was offering her what she needed.

She hugged him back, closing her eyes as she rested her head against his chest. Right now all she wanted to do was hug Alexei. She really missed him.

Where had the independent woman who could rely on herself gone? Maya wanted her back.

“You really needed that much comfort that you’d resort to my best friend?”

Maya pulled away. Alexei was standing in the doorway of his office. He had a look of pure thunder on his face.

“What?”

Ivan frowned at him.

“Alexei, we’re not having an affair. Relax. Maya’s just upset.”

“So you decided to play the knight in shining armor.” Alexei sneered. “What would have happened if I hadn’t come out?”

Then Maya realized what Alexei might have thought. He had come out and seen his fiancé holding on to his best friend and thought the worst.

Something inside her snapped. It was either that or she went into complete hysterics. She pushed away from Ivan and stalked towards Alexei, who scowled at her as she approached.

“In your office. Now.” She ordered.

Alexei raised an eyebrow.

“You’re telling me what to do in my own building?”

“Unless you want me to scream blue murder at you in full view of your employees, yes.” Maya pointed into his office. “Now.”

*****

Alexei couldn’t help but admire Maya’s fire as she pushed past him into his office. He bit back a smile as he closed the door. He was still angry at her and, clearly, she was furious at him.

Maya swung around on him.

“What the hell, Alexei? You’re seriously accusing me of cheating on you with Ivan now? He’s dating Caz! Why would we do that to both of you?”

Alexei shrugged.

“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s a thrill.”

“It’s disgusting, that’s what it is.” Maya folded her arms. “I don’t what’s got into you. Ever since that phone call you’ve changed. You keep accusing me of the most bizarre things. You ask me constantly where I’ve been, you have to know what I’m doing all the time and now you’re accusing me of cheating with any man who stands within six feet of me.” Her expression was pained. “Why don’t you trust me?”

“I have my reasons.” Alexei said coolly. He walked past her and sat at his desk. He wasn’t going to stand up for her. Not in his own office.

“But you can’t tell me what they are.” Maya shook her head. Her body was shaking. “You’re out of order and I find it disgusting. I would never cheat on you. Can’t you trust me on that?”

Alexei wanted to. He really did. But after everything that had been happening coupled with his past reinforcing it in his mind, it was difficult to let that go and give Maya the benefit of the doubt.