Free Her Russian Billionaire by Theodora Taylor Page B

regarding her with mournful eyes when she got off the phone. “I wish to have money for you,” he’d said. “Then I send you on this trip and maybe go with you, da ? I am sorry I cannot do this. You deserve more.”
    She’d masked her disappointment about the trip, which she’d really been looking forward to, and said, “I’d much rather stay here with you for the break, anyway. And nobody really deserves a trip to stupid South Padre Island.”
    But he shook his head and insisted, “No, one day I will find a way to give this trip back to you. I promise.”
    And now he owned the hotel she was originally supposed to stay at.
    She craned her neck upward to take in the entire structure. Man, when Alexei decided to show somebody, he really showed them.
    Emilio escorted her up the elevator and past two large and burly guards, both sporting shaved heads, to the penthouse suite. The R, a luxury hotel that sat many stories above and far outshined the nearby competition, was owned in-full by the Rustanov Enterprises.
    As it turned out, Eva had been right. Alexei had decided to hole her up in his penthouse. Only it was located at the top of this hotel as opposed to in New York. When Emilio showed her into the suite, she could barely believe her eyes. Unlike his office in New York, this space was warm and inviting, decorated in a sumptuous red and gold color scheme that made it feel more like a palace than a room in a hotel known for hosting well-heeled spring breakers. At least half of the penthouse was taken up by a living room, which featured a standard-sized pool, of all things, complete with deck chairs and a small bar. There were also plate glass windows providing a 180-degree unobstructed view of the island. She went to the Texas-facing side of the suite and swore she could see all the way to Corpus Christi.
    “Wow,” she said to Emilio as she jogged to take in the view on the other side of the large living room. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hotel room this nice in my whole life.”
    “You say that and you have not even seen the bedroom yet,” a male voice said behind her.
    She gasped and skidded to a stop before turning around to find Emilio had disappeared. And a very smug Alexei Rustanov had taken his place.
    His eyes scanned over her. “You are already in violation of our agreement,” he said, frowning. “You are still clothed and I do not see a bow in your hair.”

Chapter Nine
    ALEXEI still didn’t quite know what he was doing on South Padre Island. When he had invited Eva to his offices in New York, it had been with the full intention of telling her to her face that he would be moving the Drummond headquarters to Dallas. Revenge being a dish best served cold and all that. In his original plan, this meeting would have finally rid him of his obsession with her, and it would serve as a final testament to the fact that he had turned out better than she could have ever expected back when she dumped him with a note attached to his refrigerator door.
    But then she had shown up in that sexy black dress. She obviously believed she still had some kind of sexual power over him and could talk him out of moving the Drummond Oil headquarters just by wielding it. And from the moment he saw her standing in the outer office, laughing with Emilio, he had hated her for this belief—mostly because it was absolutely true.
    Despite his original plan and his desire to be rid of her once and for all, he’d found himself inviting her back into his bed. Maybe it was because he had been so obsessed with his plan for revenge that he hadn’t slept with Caroline, or anyone else for that matter, in six months. Or maybe it was because the entire time she’d been in his office, he’d had to fight the urge to spring across his desk and take her, not caring who saw. Or maybe it was simply because she had turned those mocking brown eyes on him and asked him what he wanted.
    For whatever reason, he’d made this deal with her,