Alexei (Her Russian Protector #8) by Roxie Rivera Read Free Book Online Page B

Instantly, my heart leapt into my throat. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right at all.
    Pulling back on his hand, I managed to free myself from his grasp. “Where is Shannon?”
    He opened the door without looking at me. “She’s gone.”
    “Gone?”
    If Shannon was gone, why was he taking me into this room? Into a room that was at the very end of a long, dark hallway and guarded by his enforcers. A room so isolated that no one would be able to hear me scream over the loud music from the onstage band.
    Before I could fully process the sudden danger I was in, Lalo grabbed the back of my neck and shoved me into the room. I stumbled forward and right into a desk. My phone and purse skidded across the surface and onto the floor. I had barely regained my balance when Lalo fisted the collar of my jacket and spun my around until my back slammed into the now closed and locked door. My teeth rattled as my head whacked into the metal slab behind me.
    In the next instant, Lalo’s mean face was right up in mine. The scent of peppermint and his cologne overwhelmed me. I put both hands on his chest and tried to push him off of me, but he used his hip to pin me in place before grabbing my ponytail and yanking my head back. I cried out in pain and shock but he didn’t loosen his grip. “Stop!”
    “Stop?” He laughed and used his other hand to grab my throat. His fingers bit into my skin, marking me and threatening to choke the air right out of my lungs. “No, Shay. We are so far beyond that now.”
    He released my hair but kept that cruel hand of his on my throat, all but immobilizing me. Tears sprang to my eyes when he unzipped my jacket and shoved it off my shoulders. He grabbed a handful of the pink fabric of my work uniform and sneered. “You need my help, and this is the way you present yourself to me?” He clicked his tongue against his teeth. “You’re going to have to learn quick how my girl is supposed to look.”
    “Your girl?” I sputtered in gasping breaths.
    He nodded slowly. “Your sister and Ruben fucked off and left a huge pile of shit right on my doorstep. I’m going to clean up their mess but your little ass is going to be my payment.”
    Horrified by the quid pro quo he was describing, I scratched at his hands and tried to force them away from my throat. “No! No! ”
    He winced as I clawed at his skin and drew blood. With a slap to my face, he knocked the fight right out of me. His hand tightened around my throat as he surveyed the damage I had inflicted. “ Ay, mami . You are really going to have to work for it now.”
    “Please.” I coughed out the word. “Please, Lalo. Don’t. ”
    “I don’t want to hurt you.” The fingers around my throat eased some but he roughly hissed, “You played your little game with me too long. I can’t let your family get away with this disrespect.”
    “Please, Lalo,” I begged futilely. “I don’t know what Shannon or Ruben did. This isn’t my fault.”
    He dragged his fingers along the hot strip of skin he had just slapped. “It doesn’t matter. People will talk. They have to know I’m in control. Do you understand what that means?”
    Oh, God. I did. I did understand—and it terrified me.
    I bit back a sob and tried to keep my eyes lowered demurely. Those old painful lessons from a childhood of being knocked around by my mother and the angry men she brought home told me the only way I was getting out of this without major damage was to show him that he was in charge and that I would do whatever he wanted.
    Lalo started dragging my work smock and undershirt up my torso and over my head. I wanted to fight him. I wanted to kick and scream and punch but I remained motionless like a doll, letting him undress and fondle me. My face still burned from the smack he had given me. Bile rose in my throat. The fingers on my neck were a constant reminder that with one good squeeze he could put me down for the count.
    “I know you’re a good girl, Shay.” He