“Alexei, please, no. I don’t need that kind of help.”
She might only need help getting back on her feet since that motherfucker stole all her money, but I needed to help this way. I needed to make the asshole hurt. What Poppy didn’t know about me was that I hadn’t always had this empire. I came from the streets of Moscow, did deplorable things to survive, to stay ahead of the game, on top of shit. When I came to America as a teenager, I worked my ass off. It took nearly two decades to get where I was now. How would she really feel if she knew the man in front of her, the man who had once been married to her mother, had lived under the same roof with her, was actually a killer?
I looked at her, at how vulnerable she was, how innocent she looked. I wanted her still, cared about her more than I’d ever cared about anyone else. It was fucked up in a sense, given our backgrounds, but seeing her here after so long told me I wouldn’t be able to walk away. I knew people from my previous life that would have no problem getting their hands dirty. Hell, they were still in the muck and shadows of the world, surviving the only way we’d ever known how.
“Tell me where he is,” was all I said. Of course, I could have found him on my own. It would have taken time, but I knew a hell of a lot of shady people. Her telling me would save a little bit of time, and to be honest, I was anxious as hell to get my hands dirty.
I knew she’d tell me, because Poppy was a smart girl. She knew if I wanted something, I wouldn’t stop until it was mine. That included me going after the fucker that hurt her.
It also included having Poppy in any and every way I wanted.
4
Poppy
I stood and walked over to Alexei, shaking my head.
“No, I can’t tell you where he is or who he is. He’s not worth it, and that’s not why I came here. I don’t want anyone hurt,” I said, even as I felt a little thrill at how damn angry he looked. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and press my body against him. I wanted to find out if he was as hard as I remembered.
Alexei used to work out a lot, and I used to sneak into the gym he’d built at home just to watch him. Of course, he knew I would sneak in as he worked out. I loved watching his body flex and seeing how hard he would get.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Alexei said.
. He was always so protective; it’s one of the things I loved about him.
Unable to stop myself, I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him. He paused for a second, and then his hand was on my back.
“Please, I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have come.”
He tensed in my arms. “I’m glad you came to me. You shouldn’t let anyone walk over you, Poppy. If you let one person, they all will.”
“Is that what you did?”
“I didn’t let anyone get away with shit.”
I didn’t imagine he did. Damn, he smelled so good, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the closeness with him. The hand on my back went from reassuring rubbing to something different. Opening my eyes, I stared at his office wall as my pussy started to tighten.
“I’ve missed you,” I told him.
“We lost touch.”
“I know.” My breasts felt incredibly sensitive. Looking up at him, keeping my body pressed against him, I licked my dry lips. “Keeping in contact, being close,” I shook my head. “It seemed wrong after you divorced Mom.”
“We went in different directions, but you and I didn’t have to drift apart.”
I nodded, knowing he was right.
“Have you met anyone that has made you want to settle down again?” Although why I wanted to know was a mystery to me.
“Poppy?” He said my name like a question, but I could tell he was on the same wavelength as me.
“I assume you have. Men don’t wait around, do they?”
“And how would you know what men do?” he asked.
Was he flirting with me? The hand on my back moved to my arm, and his fingers started to caress up and down. Glancing at his lips, I wondered what they would feel like on mine.
“I’m not a kid anymore, Alexei. I’m all grown up. You’re not a father figure anymore, never really were.” I looked at him; I wanted to make sure he knew that.
“I see that you’re all grown up.” His gaze didn’t move from mine.
Silence fell between us, and I became aware of the hand I had on his waist. He reached out, stroking my cheek. It was such a gentle touch that it made me moan.