All In

Четыре

"Aleksandra", Volkov tries to empathize. "Please, if you need any of our help, let us know. We have connections, resources."

"Thank you, sir."

I happen to look up and take note of the state of the restaurant, and I think he gets the hint. "Please don't let us keep you, you've probably had a long day."

I start for the bathrooms, my last bit of side work. It's down a long, dimly lit hallway. 

As I reach for the women's bathroom door, I feel a large hand grab my waist and spin me, pin me against the wall. I let out a gasp, my mind instantly going to Carson.

But when I look up, I see Alexei towering over me. 

I quickly look down both ends of the hallway, to make sure anyone isn't around. 

"Hello, Beautiful", he smirks, his sexy Russian accent rolling from his lips. 

"Hi", I gulp. Stop acting like an idiot. 

His hand starts to crawl up my arm, then up my face. He rubs near the corner of my eye. Alexei then studies the pad of his thumb and rubs it with his pointer finger. 

A furious reaction grows on his face. "He did this to you?"

"N-no", I sputter out. "I wear makeup everyday."

Alexei pushes me harder against the wall with his body, slamming his fist against the wall above my head. "You know that's not what I'm talking about. What did he do to you?"

"Nothing".

"I will hunt this child down with or without your help, and I will make him tell me what he did to you."

Two very conflicting emotions run through my body. The first being terror; being in a dark hallway alone with this very angry man. The other being completely aroused by this man who seems to be willing to kill for me, though we know nothing about each other. 

"Aleksandra", he grunts. "Tell me. What. He. Fucking. Did."

I break down. "My ex showed up at my apartment last night. He's abusive, and he beat me."

I lean my forehead against Alexei's rock hard chest, and his hand caresses my hair. 

"I'm not allowing you to go home tonight."

I look up at Alexei, who not only looks furious, but he looks like he doesn't want to see me cry. "I have no where else to go. Even if I go to May's, he would hunt me down."

"I have an apartment you can stay at, alone, but with protection."

"I can't-".

"No", Alexei stops me. "You can, and you will. I cannot have him touching you again. He should be dead for what he's done."

There's no way to stop him, so I go silent.  

"I will keep you safe, Жизнь моя". One of the most endearing terms in Russian, my life is our equivalent to calling someone your soulmate. At least that's what Mom taught me.  

Alexei takes a step back from me. Then he hands me a business card. "Put my number in your phone. I'll get you a new one soon. Text me when you're ready to leave."

Then, Alexei starts to walk away. "Alexei", I move away from the wall. He turns back towards me. "Thank you".

When he disappears around the corner, I turn around and go about my side work in the bathroom. Stock toilet paper, spray toilets with bleach, clean the countertop and mirror. Once I'm finished with that, I blend my makeup back over my eye, then go back to the host station to get May to sign off on my side work.