REGENCY: Loved by the Duke (Historical Billionaire Military Romance) (19th Century Victorian Short Stories) (17 page)

Chapter 7

Regina lay in her bed, staring at the alarm clock on her bedside table.  It was nearly 2 AM and she hadn’t found the effort in herself to sleep.  Her mind was teaming with thoughts and ideas, like it usually did when she was confused or uncertain about something case related.  But for the moment, the case was the last thing on her mind.

Alexi…
she thought as a girlish smile touched her face. 

Despite the fear she had felt earlier there was something pleasing about him.  A part of her mind, which she had always attributed as ‘the lizard brain’ told her to stay away.  Instinct warned her that Alexi was as dangerous as a volcano on the verge of eruption and it was therefore wise to keep her distance. 
People visit active volcanos all the time and don’t get burned,
she thought ruefully.  Yes, there was something about being in his presence that made her feel like she was getting too close to the edge of that volcano, staring at a bubbling pool of magma that could overflow at any moment.  And yet, there was something about him that called to her.

She felt like flotsam drifting aimlessly on a wide sea that was suddenly being drawn in by a whirlpool.  She could see the danger ahead but it felt like there was nothing she could do about it… maybe she didn’t
want
to do anything about it.  She couldn’t control the feelings she was having any more than a bird could control the winds that it flew on.  Everything was just… happening.

Why?
  She had asked herself that same question ever since she had been shown to her room since dinner ended.  This was insane… it was downright laughable.  She couldn’t begin to wrap her mind around what was happening.

She had met attractive men before and numerous times.  Some she was attracted to for their prowess, they had been athletes of one variety or another.  One or two she had been attracted to outright because of their intellect if not for their physical presence.  There had even been one that she had been attracted to for his wealth.  But she had never –
never
– been so attracted to a man like this before; and it wasn’t for his wealth or his appearance… it was something else.

It was because he was
dangerous
.

She thought on that for a few moments.  Alexi was an ex-Spetsnaz, so clearly he was dangerous.  He was handsome and he was rich; a triple threat.  Yet, after listening to him at dinner, he had a softer side.  There was something that was unusual about him that way, a rare combination on a rare man. 

It was odd.  She had always prided herself on being able to control her environment and those that were in it, much like how Carver controlled his office.  People were of course harder to control, but if she could assert some kind of dominance over her surroundings then she could at least control the people that she was associated with. 

Not this time.  This time was different.  This time she was hardly the one in control.  It was
she
that was being controlled and not vice versa.  And somehow, she felt comfortable with that.

She rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling of her room.  It wasn’t as luxurious a place as she had thought it would be.  Embassies weren’t built for the comfort of prisoners – or detainees – or for those that might be working for them.  But she had the basics: a bed, a wardrobe, a chair, and a private bathroom.  She had been content with less when on the job.

She tried to focus on the case.  The preliminaries were done and tomorrow –
today
– would be the main event.  And she still had no idea how she was going to get her client out of his current predicament.  International law was always difficult in that certain countries had unilaterally agreed to certain give-and-take when it came to domestic laws vs. foreign laws.  Russian laws could extradite Alexi if Utkin decided to see it that way, but American laws could exonerate him easily enough if she just had more data to work with.

Can’t make bricks without clay
, she thought, rubbing her forehead. 

She knew what Abram’s game play would be, but that didn’t add up to knowing his overall game plan.  International law didn’t always require full disclosure and from what Alexi had told her there wouldn’t be any.  It would come down to a war of arguments, basically.  It would be the reasons why she believed that Alexi was innocent vs. the reasons that Abram thought he was guilty.

Come on!  These are Russians!  They don’t do anything piecemeal!
  That was certainly true.  Given everything that was at stake back in the Motherland then this certain to be a packed court against Alexi.  Abram might have something up his sleeve that she couldn’t talk her way around.  And without access to his files or any other kind of documentation, then her chances of finding a loophole to exploit were looking pretty slim.  And there was always the chance that the judge had been put on the take.  That was also the Russian way when big business was involved. 

That’s the American way too though, isn’t it?
 

She didn’t know Utkin but from what she had seen he didn’t strike her as the kind of man that could be bribed.  The Russian Federation might have been built on the ashes of an old system where favors were the normal currency of government, but even so that didn’t automatically condemn
all
of the people in power.  She didn’t follow Russian politics very closely except where a case was involved, but she knew that there were a few politicos over there that were being politically shamed because they refused to go along with the old way.

Unless Utkin is one of them then the odds are not so great.

She sighed and blew out a puff of air.  She was no closer to solving her problems than she had been when the initial hearing had been concluded today.  She couldn’t talk to Abram… she couldn’t look at any files… she was shooting both from the hip and shooting blind.  Not a good strategy.

Carver said this would be interesting…

Her thoughts were distracted when her door cracked open and a lance of soft yellow light crossed through the darkness of her room, shining into her eyes.  Light from the hallway outside spilled in before it was cut by the figure that pushed her door open and entered silently into her room.  Her breath was stolen away once more as she saw the familiar shape of Alexi standing there in her door.

He was dressed only in what looked like a pair of sleeping trousers while the rest of him was pleasantly bare.  The light that silhouetted him from behind seemed to almost be hugging his features and asinine as it seemed, she envied the light for being able to caress him like that.  His shape was just as she had imagined it, full of muscle that looked like it supported a healthy shape of a man.  His torso was so handsomely made that it was begging to be touched and she felt her hands ready to volunteer for that service if only he would ask. 

In his hand she noticed that he held another bottle of vodka, this one drained only of a fourth of its contents, but the manner in which he moved did not suggest he was inebriated.  She felt a sudden flutter in her belly, though if it was a feeling of excitement or dread, she was uncertain. 

“Alexi?” she asked, sitting up on her mattress and holding up one hand to shield her eyes against the light from outside.  “What’s wrong?”

The hulking figure stepped into her room and gently closed the door behind him, enveloping them once more in darkness.  Her heart rate began to accelerate with an equal mix of fear and excitement.  Regina had not been alone with a man in some time and a flurry of feelings began to swirl within her.  In the back of her mind her keener senses advised her that she had to keep her relationship with Alexi strictly professional.  Another part of her mind was screaming to seize the opportunity of a lifetime.

Alexi came closer to her, his feet barely making a sound on the carpeted floor.  With the door shut her eyes began to adjust to the darkness again.  She could make out his features just enough from the moonlight outside her window to see that his dark brown eyes were fixed on her. 

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Alexi said, his voice soft.

She noted that he didn’t sound drunk.  “I wasn’t asleep.  Is everything alright?”

He sat down on the mattress beside her.  Her heart took another leap forward, threatening to climb up her throat with excitement as fear began to dwindle away. 

“I… I was thinking of Lada.”

Her excitement began to fade and disappointment replaced it.  “Oh?  Are you alright?” she asked sympathetically.

He shook his head.  “No… I… I need you.”

The words plucked a nerve like a guitar string within her.  “Me?”

He looked up at her and his gaze seemed to reach right through her.  It was as if some magical and invisible hand reached out through his eyes into hers and clutched at her very heart.  He looked innocent through such a gaze… even childlike. 

“I was thinking of Lada… and I realized…
something
.”  He paused, his eyes seemed to be searching the darkness between them as if the answer hung in the very air.  “I realized… I don’t want to think of Lada.  Not anymore.”

Regina froze, unable to speak or move as a glimmer of hope began to light up the darkness around her.

Alexi took a small sip from his bottle.  “I spent years trying to unravel the mystery of her death.  It was all I thought about.”
He looked at her uncertainly, as though his words were gibberish even to him.
 
“It occurred to me… I was keeping her locked up.  Or at least, I was keeping her memory locked up inside of me.”  He looked at her, his eyes seeking for benediction of his words.  “I don’t think she would have wanted that.  Does that make sense or am I speaking as a mad man?” 

She felt a small tug at her heart strings for it.  His realization had come too late perhaps, but at least it had come.  “No…” she said, her voice matching his in softness.  “I think she would be proud of you for realizing that.”

He took another small sip of his bottle and offered it to her.  She declined with a shake of her head.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

He looked across to her and the look on his face was purely apologetic.  “For losing my temper this evening with you… I… I haven’t lost control like that in some time.  I am ashamed I did so.”  He sighed and looked at the bottle as if another thought swirling around inside of it.  “I realized something else tonight too.”

“What?”

He looked at her somberly.  “My fortunes for a favorable outcome to this trial are not pleasant, are they?”

She managed to muster up a positive voice and an expression to match.  “It’s only just begun.  We haven’t even heard Abram’s opening arguments yet.  All we know is what he intends to do.  There’s no guarantee he’s going to win.”

“And no guarantee you can win either, is there?”  She began to respond but he silenced her with a hand.  “Please, Regina, I have been in business long enough to know that my prospects are grim at best.  There are too many interested parties in play that have much to lose should the court find in my favor.”

From her own experience she could tell that he wasn’t lying.  He wasn’t hopeful, but there was nothing in his tone that suggested that he had no confidence in her.  All she could do was sit there in silence. 

He began to take another drink from his bottle, but stopped.  He lowered the vodka and looked at it, almost as if he had never seen it before.  “I suppose tonight is a night for revelations.  My past… my future… they seem to have merged together tonight, haven’t they?”

She shrugged.  “I suppose so.”

He looked at her.  “If you’d like to be released from your contract to be my legal representation… I would not find fault if you did.  I would hate to see a reputation such as yours marred by a blemish such as this.  And I would, of course, pay the legal fees for your services thus far and I will see to it that you are not cast in any kind of a negative light for your services.”

The excitement rose up within her with such ferocity that she felt the lizard brain overcome every other facet of her mentality as if it had been given rocket boosters.  Without thinking about it, without caring what her professional standing might look like when it was done, she reached out and took his face in her hands.

In a single swift movement, she brought his lips to hers. 

He didn’t resist. 

His breath was warm and though there was the slight taste of vodka, she felt a tingling sensation spread over her.  His skin was smooth, as if he could have shaved five minutes before, but through her fingertips she could feel the hardness of his jaw.  It felt as if he contained power that she couldn’t even fathom how to measure. 

It felt as if the kiss had lasted hours though she knew it could only have been moments before she allowed their lips to part.  As she drew gently away she surveyed his face.  His eyes were still closed from their simple embrace but she noted that his breathing had changed.  His breath came in softer, more slowly, like he had just taken a dive into a pool and finally surfaced for air.  When he opened his eyes she saw a gentle smile form on his handsomely chiseled face. 

This was insane… she had met the man less than six hours ago and here she was.  The pull he exuded was undeniable and she couldn’t stop herself wondering – hoping maybe – that she had the same effect on him.  But whether she did or didn’t, she didn’t care… in this moment it felt like she had won the prize either way.