Free Resisting Alexandre (Knight Security 0.5) by Carole Mortimer

so that she can sell her story to the media. Or—”
    “Don’t, Gerard.” Alexandre’s voice was quiet, but that in no way lessened the icy anger he felt at his cousin’s comments.
    “But—”
    “I said don’t,” he repeated.
    Gerard scowled. “You’re the ruler of Androcco now and can no longer behave like a playboy prince—”
    “I can behave any fucking way I choose.” Alexandre’s hands were clenched on his thighs beneath the table, his eyes narrowed in warning.
    “I’ll do a background check—”
    “You’ll do nothing of the sort!” Alexandre exploded forcefully. “Leave her out of your fucking paranoia, okay? I mean it, Gerard. She’s beautiful, funny, and I like being with her, and that’s all either of us needs to know about her.”
    “But—”
    “Go, Gerard, before I lose my temper.” Alexandre stood up to walk over and stare unseeing out of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows, hands thrust into the pockets of his tailored trousers. “And, Gerard,” he said without turning to look at the other man, “don’t even attempt to check into Anastazia behind my back, and then claim it was in the name of security.”
    Alexandre waited until he heard the door close softly behind his cousin before relaxing the tension from his shoulders.
    He knew Gerard meant well, but when it came to Anastazia, he didn’t want any interference from his cousin. She was already proving elusive enough, without any help from Gerard in pushing her away.
     
    “Don’t even ask!” Lissa muttered as she let herself into the apartment the following morning as Stazzi was leaving to go to work.
    Her brows rose. “No?”
    “No.” Lissa’s eyes flashed in warning.
    “Ash an asshole again?”
    “Oh yeah, majorly so,” her friend muttered with feeling. “I don’t know how I got the impression he could ever be anything else.” She gave a self-disgusted shake of her head. “How was the rest of your evening?”
    “It was good.” She didn’t quite meet Lissa’s gaze. “I’ll…probably be back late tonight. I have another date with Alexandre,” she revealed with a wince, carrying a bag with her change of clothes for this evening. There was very little point in her coming home if she was meeting up with Alexandre and having dinner with him at seven o’clock.
    Lissa was trying her best to appear composed, but Stazzi knew her friend well enough to know that she was hurting. She also knew Lissa must have really liked Asher Knight to have spent the night with him. Pity that liking had been misguided.
    “Have a lovely evening.” Lissa gave her a quick hug. “I have to shower and change now and then get to work.”
    Stazzi paused in the open doorway. “But you’ll be okay?”
    “I’ll be fine.” Lissa brightened. “Into every woman’s life an asshole must fall,” she misquoted wryly.
    Stazzi chuckled as she knew she was meant to, but it didn’t stop her from worrying about Lissa on and off for the rest of the day, and telephoning a couple of times to check on her friend. Or feeling slightly angry with Asher Knight for hurting her. Perhaps a misplaced anger considering he had made no attempt to give the impression he was anything other than what he was. A selfish asshole. Taking into account Will’s behavior, there seemed to be a lot of those about at the moment.
    Stazzi saw nothing of Alexandre as she went about her business for the rest of the day. According to Adrian, the prince had informed him he would be out at business meetings all day.
    Consequently, she was more than a little nervous when she arrived as a visitor to the penthouse suite at exactly seven o’clock.
    Her eyes widened when the lift arrived and she found Alexandre standing outside in the hallway waiting for her, looking totally relaxed in well-worn denims and a black short-sleeved polo shirt that showed off the bulge of muscles in his shoulders, arms, and chest. His hair looked damp from a shower, his jaw freshly shaved.
    “You