REGENCY: Loved by the Duke (Historical Billionaire Military Romance) (19th Century Victorian Short Stories) (16 page)

Chapter 5

The world outside was cold and gray, the kind of gloom that only came with a winter day in Moscow.  The kind of day where one would wish to be home, safe with a warm fire, or in lieu thereof another warm and pleasant body to keep themselves comfortable.

Alexi had managed to do both.

Alexi sat behind Lada in the privacy of their bedroom.  The fire that crackled in the fireplace before them provided a soft and soothing light that made the room feel warm and inviting.  There was nowhere else he would rather be for the comfort and company that this simple room provided.  His bedroom and his bedmate often provided the release of a terrible day that he often needed.

He hadn’t even entirely stripped away his suit either when he had entered into their room.  His jacket, vest, tie, and shoes all sat in an untidy pile on the floor, beside the business dress that she had worn for the day, which also lay uncaringly on the floor. 

Lada sat on the mattress of their bed, looking at the fire with him sitting behind her.  Dressed down as they were for the evening, partially for comfort but mostly for love, he felt some of the gloom of the day ebb away.  The tenderness that existed between them could be felt as easily as sunshine on bare skin and it was a feeling that he relished.  He wore only his shirt which was partially unbuttoned and still wore his slacks while Lada wore the corset-like garment and slip that she had worn under her dress today.

He loved it when she wore such things and she knew that.  It was her simple way of teasing him.  He would spend all day knowing that she was wearing such things and that the only reason for her to do so was for him to take her out of them at the conclusion of the day.  Thinking of doing so all day long would keep him on edge and stir his passions to the point of nearly boiling.

It was a strategy that succeeded every time she employed it. 

He pulled aside her long black hair, exposing the flesh at her neck and gently kissed her there.  He could see the smile forming on her lips as he did so, her eyes lightly fluttering every time his soft lips touched bare skin. 

“Your day was difficult?”
she asked, one hand arching up and gently stroking the side of his face as he kissed her.

He felt some of his day’s frustrations creep back into him and he hated himself for it.  This room was meant to be his sanctuary from such places.  Lada and he had an agreement that this room was theirs and that the world beyond these four walls did not matter when they were here together.  It was a rule that he had been quite happy to live with. 

He paused in his simple passions and reclined on the bed, his head resting on their pillows as he looked up at her.  She adjusted herself on the bed and looked down upon him.  The flickering of the firelight was enough to make him think that truly there was a Heaven and that she was one of its messengers, come to watch him and show him grace.

“The Valynkov’s refuse to see reason,”
he said simply.  The Valynkov’s were yet another of the families that his father had seen fit to do business with and possible because they were just as difficult as his father had ever been. 
“Their new ground vehicles are costing more than they required and they’re two months behind schedule.  And that is only a part of it.  Their new infantry gear is failing in all aspects.  It’s maddening.” 
He blew out a puff of aggravated breath. 
“I told them that they have three weeks to deliver as they promised or I will pull my funding.”
  He gently stroked the bare flesh of her leg. 
“They were not happy with me.”

She nodded knowingly. 
“I know.  They’ve only provided a quarter of their promised funding for the new highway and society centers.  I suspect that is where some of your delays are coming from… they try to pull money from their other aspects to keep you happy.”

“Really?”
he asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow.
  “Their funding for the submarine development programs hasn’t wavered.”
  He pondered that, being unable to stop himself from doing so. 
“They must have partnered with someone new and neglected to tell me.”

She smiled and let her fingers slip inside his shirt, caressing the muscles that lived there. 
“The military has always been a priority, my love.  New roads and buildings usually fall by the wayside.”
 

He wrapped his hand around hers. 
“Your efforts are no less important than mine, Lada.  It bothers me that you do not see it that way.”

She gave a soft laugh that was so gentle it could have been a breeze.  She climbed upon him, straddling him and allowing her fingers to part the folds of his shirt entirely.  Her fingers almost glided across his chest and abdomen, tracing the ridges of his muscles.  Her touch was so light and gentle yet it felt powerful enough that it could have generated enough electricity to power a city. 

“You’re a man of power and wealth who works to empower the military, Alexi,”
she said, bending over and lightly kissing his belly muscles. 
“I am a civic engineer.”
  She traced his pectorals with her tongue. 
“Your efforts shall always count for more than mine.”
  She began to kiss her way up his neck,
“And I think you are quite silly for not seeing it that way.”

He chuckled, her kisses sending bolts of lightning through his body that stirred his loins.  His hands reached out and caressed her neck as her lips made their way north before finally claiming his.  She parted his lips with her tongue, caressing every corner of his mouth.  Her breath was warm and savory and he felt warmth surge within his body that yearned for her.  It wasn’t relief from the heat that he wanted… it was more warmth; the kind of warmth that only she could provide him with.

He sat up, encircling her with his arms.  He held her gently and their kiss did not diminish.  Her fingers slid under the shoulders of his shirt and she gently pushed it aside.  He reluctantly released her from his embrace so that his torso would be freed of his garment.  With his skin exposed to the air he felt a chill that quickly was dispelled when the tips of her fingers gently began to caress his shoulders and neck.

Her kiss was tender, as though she were frightened of hurting him.  But there was such power behind it that he felt as if he could somehow crumble before it.  Only she had ever had this kind of power over him and he adored her for it.  She was the balance in his life.  Before Lada, his life had been power that had seemed unequaled.  Wealth and power had made him feel like the point on a spear, like he could charge ahead and destroy anything that got into his path. 

But Lada… she had shown him otherwise.  She was the water that tempered his fire, the anchor that kept him from drifting off course.  She was gentle when he had only seen fit to be rough.  She was the quiet in a life that had been nothing but unlikable noise.  She was peace and he worshipped her for it.

His hands rested on her hips before inching their way up to her belly and finally to the corset laces of her undergarment.  His fingers gingerly untied the first lace… the second… the third… all the while their tongues twisted in one another’s mouths.  Her breathing became more and more laborious with every stitch that he untied.  Her excitement was growing just as his was. 

The final stitch undone he cast aside the bodice-like clothing.  With her trembling body before him he slipped his hands under the hem of the loose-fitting shirt she wore and gently lifted it free.  Her breasts hung freely before him and he relished in the sight of so much flesh.  Every time he beheld her so undressed it brought fresh delight to his heart.  Each time he saw her undressed it was as if he was seeing her so for the first time.  He felt like a young boy witnessing his first undressed woman. 

Gently he leaned forward and kissed at the sensitive area between her breasts.  She gasped lightly at the warmth of his lips and a delighted moan followed as his hands cupped her bosom, lightly squeezing them.  She arched her back, encouraging him to kiss more and more of her body where he pleased.  He made it all the way down to her belly before her body realigned and she planted her mouth firmly on his. 

He felt his manhood stirring, ready for her if she was ready for that stage of their mutual lust.  To confirm that her fingers began to unbutton his trousers and a delighted chuckle escaped from them both as she broke their kiss and with a fervor that he enjoyed immensely she pushed him back down upon the softness of their bed.

The window shattered like thunder and a crimson flower suddenly blossomed on her chest with such speed it was incredible.  The sound of a wood splintering and small shards of the material falling upon his face from the ruined headboard of their bed drew his attention.

A bullet hole had formed there.

Suddenly the world changed as if it had been dipped in some kind of thick syrup, everything suddenly moving slowly.  Lada’s expression changed instantly, first full of love and anticipation before becoming blank.  He barely had time to realize that Lada was dead before her lifeless body collapsed on top of his.  The warm spray of her blood across his face was enough to offset the warmth he had been craving – yearning for – all day.  A chill came over him that had nothing to do with the coldness now seeping into the warm sanctuary that had been his bedroom.

Anger overcame shock as he heard a faint sound escape her lips, the sound of a final breath, unwillingly given.  His eyes shot to the source of the shattered glass, the window at Lada’s back bore a large hole, the kind he recognized as that which could only have been made by a large caliber bullet as it penetrated through unarmored glass.  Without needing to measure he knew that the hole in Lada’s chest was the same level as where his head would have been had she not pushed him back upon the pillows.

Terror seized his heart as he quickly and instinctively rolled off the bed and crashing to the floor, cradling his wife’s body in his arms protectively.  The motion, he knew, would spoil the line of sight of any shooter from any range outside.  His mind reeled with thoughts about what had happened or why only to be replaced with thoughts of the woman in his arms that he loved.

“Lada?  Lada?!!”
he cried, shaking her body and trying to coax a reaction from her.  His voice echoed in the room, in the night, and beyond.  But he received no response.

Chapter 6

Regina felt a tear roll down her face as she listened to Alexi tell his story and she was suddenly thankful that she had not had her voice recorder with her.  The story, simple as it was, was powerful.  And without needing to ponder the matter greatly she knew that this was something that was meant to remain private.  She had no more right to replay a story like this for her own amusement any more than she had the right to piss on someone else’s grave.

“My god…” she whispered, almost to her
coulibiac
which had turned cold from being untouched for nearly an hour while she had listened to her client.  “Alexi… I don’t know what to say.”

Alexi regarded the bottle of vodka from their dinner table.  At some point he had gathered it up and it now sat before him on the table half-empty. Though he had drunk deeply from it, he showed no signs of being inebriated. 

“It was a… difficult night.”  He paused, his eyes looking as though they had been lost in past memories, both warmed and stung by them.  “We had discussed perhaps having children earlier that week…”  His voice trailed off as a tear began to form in his eyes.

She nodded, pretending that she had not noticed.  “So what happened?  I’m sure you must have launched an investigation.”

He wiped the tear from under his eye and continued.  “The police investigated, of course, but the killer was never found.  But an investigation turned up something interesting.”

“What was it?”

“The bullet that killed Lada was fired from a weapon that they could not identify.  They found the bullet casing on the roof of a building nearly a block away.  The impact of the hammer on the bullet casing left a distinctive mark… one that I had seen before.”

The truth occurred to her without the need for heavy thinking and she gave it a voice.  “It belonged to one of your military contracts.”

“From a new rifle, though there were several different models of it in production, they all utilized the same hammer mechanism that left an easily identifiable mark.  The difficulty was that the rifles in production that used this technology belonged to six different companies.  But without the actual weapon – and because there was no forensic precedent for its use – the federal police had to close the investigation.”

Regina knew the outcome without Alexi needing to speak to it. 
Too many possible suspects… too many people who could have made the shot since it was amateur… and without anyone to question there was no way to pin the crime on any one particular company or person.  Too much spade work and not enough people who might care to get the job done.

She felt her sympathy expanding for her client.  “Did they try again?”

Alexi was silent a moment before pouring himself another glass of vodka and draining half of it down his throat before answering.  “They did not,” he said plainly.  He looked at his half-empty glass.  “At times I wonder if perhaps Lada was truly the target and not I.  The thought makes me… furious.”

She felt her lips becoming dry and she licked them nervously.  There was still the question that begged asking.  “So… the money you swindled?”

“It all came from the companies and contractors that I worked with… the same that did not provide their funding to Lada’s civil projects.”  His eyes turned hateful for a moment but the look soon passed, “The same companies that could have manufactured the rifle that shot my wife.”  He drank the last of the contents of his glass.  “I decided that if the police could not provide me with justice, I would find my own.  So, rather than see their completed military projects I diverted their money to complete roads, schools, community centers… everything that Lada was trying to build.  And I felt content with that… if I could not strangle the man who took my wife… or the man who gave that order.”

Regina was uncertain if she admired this man for what he had done or if she was afraid of him for it.  Men that had been motivated by murder could often enough be compelled to commit the crime themselves.  True, it was a non-violent crime that he committed but she’d heard of men of peace become stone-fisted at the first opportunity.  Those that did would sometimes not distinguish between the ones that they hunted and the ones that got in their way. 

What he had committed was, in most courts, a crime of passion.  Money could always be replaced but unless the opposite party was willing to take that reparation and leave it at that, it was a matter that was never settled quietly. 

She returned back to what she knew about the case at hand.  “And they didn’t look kindly on your efforts over there?  Motivated by family love and all of that to seek justice for your wife?”

His face became grave.  “Despite my doubts, all accounts support the theory that the bullet was meant to kill me.  Lada was not prominent in her circles, not even for being my wife.  She was – pardon me for saying – a no one.  There was no reason for her to be murdered… nobody stood to gain anything from it.  If they assassinated
me
on the other hand…” Alexi said, his voice again faltering before he corrected himself.  “Lada saved my life… but at the cost of her own.  I tried to fight for the case in Russia, but considering that my legal pursuits would have set back numerous government contracts that were depending on the development of those new weapons, the case was dismissed for the greater good.”

She arched an eyebrow.  “I mean no disrespect, but that sounds like a very communist way of doing things.”

Alexi smirked.  “We have a government much like your own, Regina… that does not mean that the old aristocracy disappeared in a day.  Those with money and influence were able to survive, like cockroaches.  And their ways of getting what they wanted survived as well, they are just as viable now as they were fifty years ago.  A few words whispered in the right ears could carry a man with no legs up mountains in my country.”

She wanted to say that the concept was unfamiliar to her but couldn’t manage it.  She had been at her job long enough to know that a man who was well connected, both socially and politically, could make whole countries and then burn them to warm their hands if they felt the need.  And all the while they wouldn’t so much as get singed for it.  A rich man could find avenues that would protect him from justice… even from other rich men.

“So when you took their money you were already over here?”

He nodded.  “I arranged it with my business managers that it would happen this way.  This way the blame would rest firmly upon me and not upon them, not that the prosecution – Abram – would see it any differently.  He blamed me for Lada’s death, claiming that I should have built an iron castle around her to protect his only daughter.”  He refilled his glass with the last of the vodka in the bottle and sipped it.

“I take it she didn’t care to be locked up?”

Alexi almost smiled.  “She had told me when I first met her that she didn’t care to be locked up like a dog in cage or protected like some priceless jewel.  She had told me that she had legs to carry her to other places and eyes to see things other than high walls.  Our house was no a luxury palace, but a simple home.  We had Yuri, we had a security system, and a small detail of guards and that was enough.  She
insisted
that we have nothing extraneous for our security… she had been surrounded by that her whole life as a child.  She was tired of such living.”

He took another swig of vodka. 

“Abram of course tried to build a case against me for being careless.  And once the charges against me came down back home I knew that the tenacity that he would come after me with would be as determined as a starving man for a roast boar dinner.  And I knew would be the only thing that could give me a fighting chance would be the treaties of extradition so long as they fell under reasonable doubt.”

She nodded.  As long as he wasn’t actually being accused of murdering someone of prominence, technicalities could enter into his defense, and since his troubles were business-related then the charges against him wouldn’t be viewed as so bad that the Russians could just send him back without a word and ignore the extradition treaties. 
He was in America when the money went missing, your honor.  How could it have been him?

It was a simple move.  Simple, but effective.

“So that’s your defense,” she said, seeing the plan that had formed in his head.  “You actually
did
do the things they say… but by being here – at the embassy – and by not trying to run, you make yourself look innocent and cast reasonable doubt.”

He saluted her with his glass, “Highest marks to you, Regina.”

“That still leaves us with the trouble of having to prove that you’re innocent.”

Alexi looked indifferent for a moment.  “I had hoped we would have time to plan, Regina.  But it seems, fate has chosen to waylay us both.  But if I were to guess, it is not necessary
to
prove
my innocence.  We simply need to give them the same kind of doubt as they gave me when on the hunt for Lada’s killer.” 

She rolled that around in her mind.  “It would help if I knew everything that Abram knows about what’s going on.”

“You may yet have the opportunity,” Alexi said, sipping his drink.

“Oh?”

“Abram represents people who are impatient for a great many things.  The old aristocracy that I mentioned, they are not accustomed to having to wait for anything.  They will press Abram, even now perhaps, to reach a climax that is in their favor.  Abram will, most likely, speak to you and attempt to sway you to his side of things.  At this point – if your reputation is true – you may learn something you did not suspect.”

He drank the last of his vodka.