Free Keep Me Safe by Duka Dakarai Page A

fill before a gentle knock at the studio door pulls us apart. I straighten myself before getting up to open the door. As I turn the handle, I turn my gaze to Kane. “Can you wait outside please? I won’t be long.”
     
    He makes to speak but I raise my hand to silence him. He stalks out of the room, his fists clenched at his sides.
     
    The photographer enters, instantly puzzled, as he watches me begin to scoop up my personal belongings. I throw him a quiet smile. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time but I have changed my mind. I will pay back my fee of course” And with that, I make my way to my dressing room to put my clothes back on.
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Fifteen
     
     
     
    DCI Jack Mercer thumbs through the contacts of his mobile phone. He presses the little green telephone image and lights up a cigarette almost before he has exited through the entrance doors of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
     
    His call is answered after three short rings. He grunts his usual greeting before making the reason for his call known. “Bortsov must be blessed, after all. He woke up a couple of hours ago. I have spoken to him briefly but his head is all over the place so I didn’t get much sense out of him. But he did admit he is afraid - for himself and for Sky. He was insistent that she should know that. He cannot remember why at this time, but he knows whoever did this to him, will try to do the same to her. Kane, I’ll keep you updated as you know. Tell Sky I will call her later.”
     
    Kane tosses his mobile back into his pocket. He takes a swig of his coffee. “That was Mercer. Bortsov woke up a couple of hours ago. By the sounds of it, he’s not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. But he’s alive so now hopefully Jack and his team can get some answers.”
     
    Dalton nods. “What else did he say?”
     
    “Bortsov is afraid but he can’t remember why…..he just knows he is. And he is afraid for Sky. He wanted her to know that.”
     
    The three guys exchange knowing looks. Storm gestures towards the kitchen where Brains and I are passing away the time with mundane chores. “ I am assuming we don’t pass on that little gem of information.”
     
    “Agreed”
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
    Hours have passed by but I have not noticed so engrossed am I in my investigation. I must address that niggle that haunts me playing constantly in my mind. It is an itch I cannot reach…..until now.
     
    “Oh my God! There she is. I’ve found her.” I leap up excitedly pointing at the screen on my laptop as the team rush into the living room at the sound of my squeals.
     
    “Found who, Sky?” Brains scans the screen bewildered.
     
    I point again at the face of the exotically beautiful, raven haired woman. There is no mistaking those violet almond eyes. “It says under the photograph that her name is Natalya Asmik. She is the woman who attacked me in the powder room at the Hilton. But how is she connected to all of this? I’m calling Jack.” I reach for my mobile beginning to make the call.
     
    Kane clamps a hand over mine disrupting the process. “Are you really sure it is the same woman?”
     
    I huff, snatching my hand free. “She attacked me, Kane. You didn’t see her. I did. I’m making the call.”
     
     
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
    He never could resist her. So when she had turned up at his security gates that night, although surprised by her sudden reappearance, he had immediately indicated for her to be let in, despite the lateness of the hour.
     
    She had swayed those irresistible hips across the room knowing each slow step tortured him, making his cock ache for her. Natalya Asmik , the mistress of his brother, Georgy Bortsov.
     
    “What do you want, Natalya?” He had asked but he already knew the answer. Of course he did. She played both brothers so well.
     
    “I missed you, Alexei. I couldn’t stay away.” She climbed onto his lap, trailing nibbles across his jaw. He had