Lie to Me by Tori St. Claire Page A

foolish worries or calm her fears.
    “Oh, Saeed,” she whispered, cradling his heavy shoulders in her shaking arms.
    F uck.
    Alexei yanked on his pants. He really hadn’t wanted to kill the guy. It would have been nice to beat him for all the things he’d forced Sasha to do, pulverize his face a little, but he sincerely hadn’t wanted to kill Saeed. He was damn tired of pulling triggers and taking lives.
    They could have handled this simply, with Saeed sitting in the chair and Alexei tying him up until his moronic security guards realizedtheir sheikh was missing. Alexei didn’t give a damn about the blown cover—he didn’t need it anymore and word would spread that the real Vasily had been caught before the name would be of use to anyone else. But no. Saeed failed to understand a Black Opal never failed at a mission. It just didn’t fucking happen. Alexei had come here to get Sasha, and he damn well wasn’t leaving without her.
    He tugged on his shirt and sport coat. The way he figured it, he had about five minutes, max, before whoever Hanif was connected the shot with Sasha’s grieving, and Saeed’s entire security detail came blasting through that door. Alexei glanced out the window. Lights came on near the small building beside the palace entrance, and a dozen men poured out, heading for the main doors.
    Between two Rolls SUVs, the black Mercedes’s lights flipped on. Grigoriy must have heard the shot. Alexei holstered his gun, let out a sigh, and braved the grieving Sasha. “You should get dressed.”
    She pulled back from Saeed’s lifeless body, her face a mask of horrified shock. “You’re out of your mind! What the hell is going on?”
    Alexei blocked the notes of pain that clung to her voice. They didn’t have time to breach that dam. He purposefully crossed the room and pried her away from Saeed, easing her back on her unsteady legs. He’d almost rather she faint. That way he could cart her out of here without any further hassle.
    To his dismay, her wobbling stopped, and she gave his chest a hard shove that launched her backward out of his grasp. “Get the hell away from me, Alexei. Haven’t you caused enough damage?”
    Enough he’d rot in hell eternally. But that was another conversation they didn’t have time for.
    Footsteps echoed behind the door.
    Alexei gestured at a pair of closed, louvered doors, which he assumed was a closet. “Get dressed. We’re leaving.”
    “I’m not leaving!” She dropped onto the edge of the bed, seemingly oblivious to her current state of nakedness. “You just killed someone I cared about. I want answers. Why the
hell
did you come back here?”
    “To get
you
out. Only I didn’t know it was you.” Doing her work for her, he grabbed a light blue blouse from the back of a nearby chair and threw it into her lap. “Get dressed. You’ve got three minutes before all hell breaks loose.”
    She glared at him, a stubborn set to her jaw.
    He leaned a hip against the chair’s back and folded his arms across his chest. Two could play this game, and Alexei would guarantee he won. She might not be the skinny, vulnerable waif she once was, but he could still carry her easily. And he’d toss her stubborn butt out that window if he had to. He’d much rather her come to the decision on her own, however. He didn’t want to answer to why she had broken bones.
    He waited until the doorknob rattled and fists shook the heavy wood. Then, he lifted an eyebrow.
    Sasha shook her head more slowly. Her protest came out soft, lacking her earlier defiance. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my home, Alexei.”
    Her home? For God’s sake, she was a slave. If tonight didn’t make that perfectly clear, he’d be more than happy to remind her of the other escapades Saeed had put her through. Possessions didn’t stick around. They got passed on. Handed down to the next interested person.
    “Let me put it to you this way, bright eyes.” He pointed at Saeed’s bleeding form.