Chapter 8
Deva hitched her bag higher on her shoulder as she gaped up at the building before her. When Rusty had given her Aleksei’s address, she thought it would lead her away from the city, in the closest suburb, into a dark alley. Maybe something similar to where she used to live with her own family. Instead, her GPS brought her downtown, close to Michigan Avenue, a few streets toward the pier. The location was so close to it that she could see the wheel ride from a distance. The brick building was a converted factory, in a quiet street with mature trees. A very cozy, familial feel, and so unlike Aleksei in her humble opinion. A wealthy location too.
Entering the lobby, Deva located the staircase to her left and started climbing. At the top floor, she walked down the hallway and unlocked Aleksei’s condo’s door. Once in, she disabled the alarm system as Rusty had instructed. When she turned around, it was dark; there was no light inside, only fading sunlight filtering through the drawn curtains.
The space was vast and open. On the left was a dream kitchen with an expense of gray marble counters and stainless-steel appliances. In front of her was the living room with a huge TV hanging on the wall. The large L-shaped couch seemed made of dark brown velvet, or something equally as soft.
All was in order, clean and very masculine. Tasteful. Again, so unlike Aleksei.
There was one door on the left, two doors on the far right. Two of the doors were open, while the third was closed. The first open door housed the bathroom, and the second a spare bedroom. That left the master bedroom behind the closed door.
Leaving her bag by the front door, she padded toward the bedroom. Not knocking, she slowly opened the door, as silently as she could so as not to disturb him, only to be welcomed inside by the barrel of a gun aimed at her.
Her heart didn’t have time to skip when Aleksei, on the other side of the weapon, lowered it down.
“Damn it, woman. You have a death wish sneaking up on me like that?”
Still in bed, a white sheet running low on his hips, Aleksei put the gun on his nightstand while holding his side with his other arm. It was difficult to see them at first because of the ink, but Deva noticed the mean-looking bruises all over the exposed skin. And his face appeared as if he’d had a fight with a baseball bat and lost. But it was his hands that drew her eyes and squeezed her heart in sympathy. Swollen, the knuckles were caked with blood. He’d had time to shower, but it hadn’t stopped the bleeding, and the exposed wounds revealed so much more.
Glaring at her, he couldn’t hide a wince. He must still be in a world of pain, and with the way he favored his side, he may have a broken rib. Which was bad news if there was a fight lined up in less than a week.
“Get the fuck out of my apartment.”
She made sure to remain stoic at his attack. Instead of flinching, she gave him her most stubborn glare. “Bark all you want, I’m not going anywhere.”
“What?” If she wasn’t mistaken, he blinked at her answer.
“You are in no state to make me leave, so lie back down in bed. Rusty sent me to take care of you, to get you back into shape quickly, so my first order for you is to lie back down.”
The injured man cursed in what she supposed was Russian but remained upright.
“You need to rest and follow my instructions if you want to be ready for your next bloody fight and not die. In the state I see you in, probably with this level of pain just at being touched, I doubt you could sustain a punch without fainting.”
Aleksei growled as she approached. “I don’t want your hands on me right now, Deva.”
“They all say that, but after I’m done with them, nobody is dissatisfied.”
His strained expression mellowed a bit. “From my last experience with you, woman, I was. So fuck off.”
Ignoring him, Deva went to the window and closed the drapes. When she turned around, Aleksei was about to get up. Instinctively, she put a hand on his shoulder, a spot she hoped didn’t hurt, and on contact, one of his hands shot out to catch her wrist. How quickly he moved and the strong hold made her gasp, and something must have alerted him because Aleksei immediately relaxed his grip. Instead of bruising, his fingers only circled, featherlike. Drawing a calming breath, Deva forced herself to look at his face. In quick succession, she saw anger, surprise, and concern. Before he could ask a question, she diverted him.
“I’m not here because you want me to be here. I’m here because, for some obscure reason, Rusty wants to help you. And with the little information he gave me, and what I could guess on my own, you won’t survive the next fight unless your body can manage it. You may be a fucking bastard, not caring about anything else but yourself, but Rusty cares. And I care for him. Do you want him to have your death on his conscience? If you want to get killed down in that cage, suit yourself, but walk away from Rusty before you do.”
Something moved in his unblinking gray stare, and she hoped she had reached him somehow. What she had said was mostly true. Rusty was a good guy, and even if she’d only known him for a few weeks, she wanted to protect him. Also, part of her didn’t like the glint of self-destruction she could see in Aleksei. He may be an insensitive ass, but even asses had the right to live.
The fingers around her wrist opened, and he finally relaxed, lowering his head against the pillows. It seems that they had reached a silent, and tenuous, understanding. Once he let his guard down, she could feel pain radiating from him.
“Tell me where you hurt, Aleksei.”
The fighter half laughed and winced as a result. “It would be easier to tell you where I don’t.”
“Are your ribs broken?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’ve had broken ribs before, and it doesn’t feel like it.”
Deva nodded and took another step closer to the bed. “Let me see.”
His fingers gripped the cotton sheet and pushed it down enough to bare his stomach. Gently checking the bruises on his torso and abdomen, she tried to distract him from her poking at his bruises.
