Free Alexei (Her Russian Protector #8) by Roxie Rivera Page A

only woman who had ever tempted him to lower his defenses?
    A sharp intake of breath and a rustle of clothing heightened his concern. “Shay? Is something wrong?”
    “Lalo’s guys are in the parking lot. I can’t go there.”
    He swore rudely and tried to think of a better option than asking her to hide. His mind recreated the surroundings of the Arena Theater. “There’s that dim sum restaurant on the other side of the parking garage. If you can’t get there, stay hidden. I’ll find you.”
    As the sounds of her staccato breaths and the swish of her jacket echoed in his SUV, he gauged the traffic in front of him. The vehicles were creeping along the freeway as the backup of cars entering and leaving the concert venue caused a backup.
    “Oh, God. Oh, God! Oh, God!” Terror drove her voice into a higher octave.
    His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Shay? Shay! What is it?”
    “It’s the truck that was at my house earlier! Shit. Shit .”
    Judging by her hard breaths and the whoosh of fabric, she was racing now, sprinting like an Olympian toward the finish line. He couldn’t even imagine how scared she was. He had faced men with guns and knives and crowbars and worse during his many years in the mob, but he had never been afraid. He had been an arrogant prick and a man who enjoyed the explosion of adrenaline that came with brutal bloodshed.
    He thought he had left that man behind—but he was wrong.
    Listening to Shay running for her life? It had unleashed the monster inside him. With each terrified sob, the shackles chaining down the violent man he had tried to lockup and forget busted free. He was going to hurt someone tonight. He was going to hurt them badly.
    “I’m on Southwest Freeway. I’m almost there. Just keep moving, Shay.”
    She didn’t answer. She just kept running and panting and panicking. He heard the whine of brakes and car doors opening and closing. She whimpered like a cornered puppy, and his damn heart shattered in his chest.
    “Oh, God.”
    “Hold on, Shay!” He made a last minute decision to get off the freeway. Pressing on the accelerator, he beat the yellow light at the intersection and made a squealing right turn onto Bellaire. He had a vague idea of where she must have ended up and hoped his instincts were right.
    Another call beeped in the background. Hoping it was Boychenko, he slapped at the touchscreen. “Roman?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Get over to the parking lots next to the Arena. The ones behind the dim sum place and that car stereo store,” he clarified. “Shay’s cornered. I’m on Bellaire. I may need your help.”
    “I’m there.”
    The call ended, and Shay’s picked right back up but he could only hear faraway sounds. Had she dropped the phone? Had it been taken from her?
    There was suddenly a cry of pain ricocheting around the cab of his SUV. Shay began to beg and plead for her life. He couldn’t breathe. Was this it? Was he going to hear the end of her young and promising life?
    The universe gave him a lucky break when he needed to make a left turn across three lanes of traffic. There were no cars to be seen as he floored his accelerator and entered the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant. He went straight through the parking lot and started weaving his way through the rabbit’s warren of intersecting lots and loading and delivery docks for the businesses on that block.
    Just when he started to despair, he spotted a truck parked at an angle in a dead end space between two buildings. He quickly slammed the brakes, reversed and then threw his SUV into drive. With his gas pedal jammed to the floorboard, he clenched his jaw and unlatched his seat belt. The bright lights of his SUV lit up the scene before him, and the blood pumping through his veins started to boil.
    He was reduced to his most primitive state as he took in Shay on her knees and half naked in only her bra. There was a man standing behind her and two standing off to the side. The one in