Page 61 of Ruthless Vows
“What is it?” I ask, wondering why he’s bothering me so early.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir, but I couldn’t wait to tell you this any longer. Last night when we were taking your brother to the hotel, we were ambushed by some men in black vans.”
My brows hitch up. “Where’s Alexei?”
“He went with the men. Willingly. He asked me to inform you that he didn’t need saving. And he said not to look for him. He’s going to make a name for himself on his own. He also said to tell you that he doesn’t need you anymore. I tried to stop him, Mr. Volkov, but we were outnumbered and fighting would have led to a bloodbath.”
I take in a calming breath as several thoughts run through my head.
“What did the men look like? Any ideas where they’re from or who they could be working with?”
Ruslan shakes his head. “I think they’re hired mercenaries. I already went to the intelligence team hoping to identify one of them, but so far we’ve got nothing. Whoever your brother is working with, they’ve got a lot of power.”
My jaw clenches. “He asked me not to look for him?”
“Yes, sir. The men seemed to be answering to him, as well. He wasn’t in any danger.”
“You can’t find any trace of him? His phone?”
“None, sir.”
There aren’t a lot of people that could help Alexei pull this off. And I know for sure he’s not doing this alone. Someone has gotten to him, and that could be dangerous. For him, for me.
“I don’t like this,” I tell Ruslan. “Look into anyone with enough money and resources to hire mercenaries that aren’t in our database. I’ll make some calls as well. Give me a few minutes to get dressed.”
“Yes, sir,” he says inclining his head before leaving.
I shut the door, turning around to find Lucia already on her feet with one of my shirts thrown over her head. I blink, distracted by the sight of her in my clothes. The black shirt flows down and stops at her mid-thigh. I feel a touch of possessiveness at the sight.
The haze of lust clears at the look of worry on her face, though.
“Is Alexei okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, I think so,” I mutter, wondering what could be going on in my brother’s head. “This is probably just another one of his temper tantrums.”
Or at least I hope it is.
“Are you sure? He was pretty angry yesterday,” Lucia says, biting down on her bottom lip. “I feel like I’m responsible somehow. Like this is all my fault.”
My eyes narrow and then I’m stepping forward, placing a hand on her cheek.
“Hey, hey, look at me,” I say, tilting her head up. “None of this is your fault. You did nothing wrong. This is on me. I think all of this has been building up for a while. Somewhere along the line, my brother started to resent me and I had no idea.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Lucia states. “You did your best.”
“Well, I need to find him. And you’re right, I never should have let him go on believing I killed our mother. It was wrong.”
Lucia nods. “Do what you need to do, Ivan.”
“I really wanted to make you feel good this morning,” I say regretfully, trailing a couple fingers over her cheek.
A teasing glint appears in her eyes. “Oh yeah? How?”
“Well, first, I’d get you all worked up with my tongue,” I begin, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “You’d come all over my face, and after, I’d let you return the favor. These pretty lips would wrap around my cock. I’d let you swallow it all the way to the back of your throat. And then I’d fuck you so hard, you wouldn’t be able to walk.”
Lucia swallows, her eyes twin pools of lust. I’m hard as a rock under my boxer briefs. Fuck me. I’m starting to consider just throwing her onto the bed and fucking her hard and fast.
“That’s, uh…” she trails off.