28 | Safe House

Alexei | Grace

"I'VE COME TO A DECISION."

Alex and Bethany's heads both turned when I entered the kitchen. They exchanged a glance at my announcement which I ignored. Whatever they'd been discussing without me was irrelevant; I'd made up my mind.

"As you might have noticed, I've been pretty good at keeping quiet over the past few years. As your employee, I've seen and heard things I'm fairly certain I wasn't supposed to see or hear." At this, Alex raised his eyebrows but kept quiet.

Bethany stood up from her seat. "I should leave you two to work this out," she said with an amused smile.

I waited until the kitchen door closed behind her, keeping my eyes locked on Alex's.

"As I was saying, I've been a pretty damn good employee to you. And now I've come to a decision about my future with your company."

Alex just kept watching me with that steady gaze of his, completely unaffected.

I took a deep breath. "If I'm going to keep working for you, then I want to know everything. I want to know what you do, what you sell, what you buy, who you...who you kill..."

"Grace–"

"No, Alex," I interrupted, "I want to know everything. I mean it."

"You won't feel the same once I've told you."

"I can handle it."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "That's what I'm worried about," he sighed.

"That makes no sense–"

The shrill ring of a phone cut me off from complaining further, momentarily distracting me. Alex's focus shifted instantly to the mobile he pulled from his pocket. The harsh sound went off twice more before the person on the other end hung up.

"They gave up quickly," I commented pissily, annoyed that Alex was still staring down at the screen. "Anyway–"

"That wasn't a phone call."

The tone of Alex's voice caught my attention. When I saw his expression my stomach bottomed out. "What was it then..?"

"An S.O.S."

"Who from?"

He gritted his teeth. "Dmitry."

I stared back at Alex in shock. It seemed so ironic that only moments ago I'd been asking for details about his business and now I was closer than ever to seeing the real dangers of it. Dmitry had never particularly shown any affection for me like Alex's other men but my throat still tightened at the prospect of him being hurt.

"What do we do?" I asked when Alex remained silent. He was staring at the ground as though he could burn a hole through it, jaw working furiously.

His head snapped up at the sound of my voice. "We do nothing. You're staying here."

"Like hell I am," I scoffed, "what if Dmitry needs medical attention?"

"Tough." Alex barely glanced at me as he became a whirlwind of action, punching a number into his phone. He'd barely pressed call when he began speaking. "Sergei. Did you get the alert?" He rubbed his eyes hard with his fist. "Yes. Where are you? Fuck!" Alex gestured for me to follow him as he strode over to the rack of car keys on the wall, pulling one down off the hook. "Viktor left this morning, damn it. I'm going to have to make a slight detour"—even I could hear the raised voice on the other end of the line—"stay calm. I'll be there."

The second Alex hung up he pocketed the phone and turned to me, completely calm. The sudden levelling of his mood had my head spinning; I'd never seen someone regain their composure so well.

"Grace, I'm going to have to take you somewhere safe."

"What do you mean?" I frowned. "I thought I was staying here."

"Change of plan." I had to run to keep up with Alex as he strode down the hallway. "Viktor flew out to China this morning, I'm not leaving you in this house unprotected."

"Unprotected from what?" He flung the front door open but didn't answer my question. "Unprotected from what?"

"Look, Grace, in my business there are some very bad people. Worse than me, worse than Viktor. They don't care who you are or what you have and haven't done, they will kill you." I finally caught up when Alex paused to let the garage door slide open. "You managed to walk into a business owned by one of them the other week," he continued to explain, unlocking a heavily armed Jeep. "The worst of them, actually. The Italians."

Suddenly it all made sense: the weird way the waiter had behaved, Viktor and Alex both turning up as I left. No wonder Viktor assumed I was ratting on his business.

I climbed into the Jeep silently, paralysed by the sudden feeling of panic in my chest. I could remember the creepy way the guy in the restaurant had spoken to me; could recall with crisp clarity how he'd made my skin crawl.

"Are they your enemies?" I asked as the engine roared to life.

No response.

"Alex," I snapped.

"Put your seatbelt on."

"Answer the damn question!" My voice broke with frustration as I struggled to get the belt clip in.

"Not enemies," Alex corrected, leaning over with one hand to help me fasten the seatbelt. "Just rivals. We usually stay out of each other's way. They deal with different...merchandise...to us" his brow furrowed.

"And this attack on Dmitry...it was by the Italians?"

He seemed hesitant to divulge too much information but eventually gave in. "Yes. They hijacked one of our major shipments that Dmitry was working."

The Jeep veered to the left suddenly as we jumped a set of lights and I felt my seatbelt dig into my shoulder. I bit down on my lip to keep from making a sound. I didn't want Alex to see me as weak or incapable of handling myself.

"So doesn't this strike you as odd?" I pressed once I'd recovered from my momentary whiplash. Alex was too busy glaring at the road ahead to answer me. "I mean, if you usually stay out of each other's way..."

"They're still our rivals, Grace," he dismissed.

"But–"

"I'm trying to concentrate."

Alex's sharp tone was enough to make me bite my cheek. I stared out of the window as London streaked by and I tried to figure out where the hell we were.

The car slowed as we hit a line of traffic and Alex cursed furiously. The world outside finally came into focus—I recognised this part of the city. Not too far behind us I could see The Docks. But...why had we driven past them?

"Where are we going?" I demanded.

He rolled his eyes, "I told you, I'm taking you somewhere safe."

"Somewhere safe, where?"

"A safe house."

I felt like slapping Alex or screaming at him or both. Every second we sat stationary in this traffic jam panic rose in my throat.

"I don't think you should take me to this house." I wasn't just thinking about the possibility of Alex's men being injured; something genuinely felt wrong about this situation.

"Don't tell me how to do my job," he snarled, slamming his hand down on the horn when the car in front failed to move.

At last the lights turned green and Alex hit the accelerator, dangerously overtaking several vehicles. When we pulled back into the right lane he began rummaging under his seat.

"What are you..." I trailed off when Alex retrieved a gun.

The lump in my throat grew thicker. The last time I'd seen Alex with a gun had been at Rush. The last time I'd seen him with a gun he'd pulled the trigger.

"We're almost there," he informed me calmly, checking his weapon for ammunition and managing to steer with his other hand.

"Um–"

"Grace, I need you to reach under your seat, can you do that?"

I felt myself freeze up at this simple command. "I–"

"Do it now, Grace," Alex repeated.

Somehow I managed to bend down, feeling beneath the seat.

"Good girl," he praised, voice still completely level. How the hell was he not freaking out? "Now, if you reach right under you should feel a metal lever. Have you got it?"

I moved my hand around, fumbling blindly, and shook my head. "I can't find it, I–"

"Push your hand right to the back." Alex's patience was stretched extremely thin.

"Got it!"

"Turn it to the right, then pull it towards the front of the car." My shaking hands could barely follow his instructions but I just about managed it. The second I pulled I felt something give and a heavy thud echoed through the car. "Pick up the gun carefully."

"What?!"

"Grace, I need you to do this."

This is not okay. This is not okay. The metal felt cold and hard in my hands as I very carefully reached for the gun. I kept my eyes closed as I brought it up to my lap. Pretend it's something else...

"I need you to open your eyes. Don't close your eyes when you're handling a weapon."

I shifted my grip on the gun and gingerly opened my eyes.

"Take your hand off the trigger!" Alex snapped. It was the closest to panicked I'd ever heard him and it made my heart pound painfully. I shot him a terrified glance but received no sympathy. "This is very important Grace, okay? Are you listening?"

I nodded slowly.

"The safety switch is located on the right side of the gun. Have a look at it, know where it is, but don't turn it off unless you need to use the gun."

"I might need to use the gun?" I gulped.

"This is a precaution. The safe house I'm taking you to has a panic room—it's located upstairs in the bathroom. There's a large mirror in there; if you slide that to the right, it will reveal a metal door with a keypad on it. The code is 93157. Repeat it back to me."

"Um, nine..three, one, five...seven." I couldn't keep my voice from shaking.

"When we get to the house, you go straight to that room, okay? No matter what happens. You get to that room. Once you're in there, you can prevent anyone else from coming in. There's a CCTV system inside. If things should go...wrong, once I'm in the clear, you phone the police, okay? You phone the police and they'll get you out of there safe. Other than them, you come out for no one but me, understand? No one."

The car screeched to a halt and I glanced nervously out of the window. We were on a regular housing estate; each building looked to be a run-down, identical copy of the last. It was a bleak place, with upturned wheelie bins and broken plant pots littering the cracked tarmac.

"Do you understand what I've told you?" Alex's impatient voice dragged my mind back into the car.

He was holding a key out to me which I shakily took with my spare hand, nodding.

"Go," he ordered. "Now."

Adrenaline seemed to take over as I threw open the car door and prepared to jump out of the Jeep. I needed to focus. I had to do what Alex needed me to. I had to help.

"Grace," his voice called from behind me, and I turned to find his face just an inch from my own. "Be safe," he commanded, cupping my cheeks with his hands as he pressed a soft kiss to my lips. I wanted it to last forever, but even a second had got me lightheaded.

I stumbled dizzily back from the car, mouth burning with the memory of his. "You too. Promise me," I pleaded, my chest suddenly feeling hollow at the thought of Alex getting hurt.

The engine revved loudly and Alex sped off before I had time to hear his response. Suddenly I realised just how alone I was on this street. I felt exposed, as if someone was watching my every move. They could be tracking me, peering around curtains with a gun aimed at my chest.

I shook the thought off and kept my eyes fixed to the ground as I jogged towards the house. An iron gate led the way into the front yard, and the flaking metal felt rough under my fingers as I fumbled to unfasten it. Of course the damn thing creaked the whole way open. I glanced around, anxious that someone would have been alerted to my presence. My skin crawled at the prospect that someone could be observing my every move with insidious intent.

The street was empty and silent. Silent except for the occasional rattle of a bottle blowing in the wind, or the rustle of a plastic bag caught on the aerial of a car. Obscene graffiti had been sprayed across the smashed windscreen which was partially obscured by a thick layer of dirt. I shuddered and turned away.

It was hard to get the key in the lock considering how hard my hands were shaking, but with a great amount of concentration I finally managed. The second I rushed inside I slammed the door closed behind me and leaned back against it, allowing myself a second to calm my panting chest.

Breathe.

Lock the door. Key in pocket.

Breathe.

Check the gun. Keep holding on.

Breathe.

Find the bathroom. Lock the door. Go to the mirror.

Breathe.

9315-

A/N Yes it's a short ass chapter but it's better than no chapter! It was left half written for a really long time but reading through the story the other day made me realise it's worth finishing. Also, I've realised that my dream is still to be an author and if I don't ever sit and write anything because I'm 'too busy' with Uni that's never going to happen.

So, forgive me.

And now on to more exciting matters: whose voice ends the chapter??? Any guesses about what's going on?

See you soon,

e