Sweetest Surrender by Katie Reus Page A

Vadim continued. “I don’t like Angel living here. It’s not safe for her with no male protection.” He knew what he was saying was archaic, but he also knew this man was old school and would like, or at least understand, the sentiment, especially since he had three daughters. And Vadim needed this guy to do what he was requesting. It wasn’t like he could force him. “Early tomorrow I want you to call her, tell her there’s a flooding problem at her apartment but you’ve packed up her belongings. You’ll also tell her you have no idea how long it will take to fix the pipes or the flooring and that there is no other apartment open right now. Be very apologetic, offer to help her find another place, and be believable. I’ll come by later tomorrow and pack up her stuff.”
    Mr. Botkin watched him, his eyes narrowing a fraction. “Is this because of the man asking about her?”
    At the man’s words, Vadim went still. Someone had been asking about Angel? He flicked a glance around them again out of habit. “What man?” he asked, turning back to Mr. Botkin.
    “A man came by her place late last night, stopped me as I was leaving another apartment. He said his friend’s sister was missing and he was helping look for her. I didn’t like the look of him.” The man’s lip curled in clear distaste.
    “What did you tell him?” Vadim’s voice was steady, but a low grade panic hummed through him. Angel had been quiet about her life before moving to Vegas and he’d respected her privacy. Her background check the hotel ran for all new employees had come back clean. Now he wondered if she was running from someone.
    “Nothing. Pretended I couldn’t speak English and he left.”
    “What did he look like?”
    Another shrug. “White, tall like you, dark hair, dark eyes. What my daughters would call Hollywood handsome.” He rolled his eyes at that. “He looked fucking shifty to me though.”
    Vadim filed that away for later. “What was he driving?”
    Mr. Botkin reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Looked like a rental, I tried to get all the numbers, but he left too quickly. Missed the last one.” He gave him the make and model as Vadim took the paper.
    He slid it in his jacket pocket then pulled an envelope from one of his interior pockets. He handed it to Mr. Botkin.
    The older man glanced inside at the cash and lifted his eyebrows as he met Vadim’s gaze again. “You care for this woman?”
    Vadim nodded.
    “She’ll have a place to stay? With you?”
    He nodded again. He didn’t care how underhanded this was. He wanted—needed—Angel somewhere safer. Preferably with him. Especially now that some man was sniffing around her place asking about her. He was going to get to the bottom of that too.
    For a long moment he worried the other man would reject his offer, but when Mr. Botkin tucked the envelope under his arm, Vadim knew he’d won.
    “I’ll make the call tomorrow at seven,” the landlord said.
    “Thank you.”
    Another grunt, then the man turned and headed back to his place. Knowing things were taken care of, Vadim quickly left the complex. He had one more errand to run before heading home. He’d be home late, well past one or two in the morning, but it would give him more time to figure out what the hell he’d say to Angel about that kiss. He knew he should have called her while he was gone, but that kiss had jarred him far too much.
    She made him want to lose control, something he never did. She also made him want things he’d never imagined for his own life, like a family and someone to come home to every night.
    * * *
    Angel stood next to the valet stand where the keys were hung on pegs, half-listening as one of the guys spoke in hushed tones into his radio. She’d been waiting over twenty minutes for Vadim’s car and didn’t understand what the problem was. It was after eleven and even though the casino was slammed, the valet station was slow.
    She wrapped