Read Online Shadow Alpha by Carole Mortimer - Free Book Online

she stood up.
    She paused. “Maybe I’ll sleep after I’ve spoken to Gregori… You’ll wait until I come back before calling to him?”
    Was that anxiety Dair could hear in Kat’s voice? He thought it was, yes.
    Why?
    What was it Kat didn’t want him to tell Gregori?
    What was she hiding?
    Dair gave an inner snort; Kat didn’t need to hide anything, any and everything that had happened to her over the past two months would be enough to send Gregori into revenge mode.
    Maybe that was the problem?
    Kat didn’t want Dair to talk to Gregori because she didn’t want her brother to know what Sergei Orlov had done to her?
    As if that was going to happen when Gregori was going to demand to know exactly what had been happening to his sister.
    Or maybe Kat was reluctant to tell Gregori because she still had feelings for Sergei?
    Yeah, like that last one was a possibility; she had tried to stab and kill the bastard only weeks ago!
    “I’ll wait.” Dair nodded agreement.
    Kat breathed a sigh of relief before entering the second cabin. She could almost have wept with joy when she walked into the bathroom and saw all the glistening-clean tiles in the shower cubicle and the fluffy white towels warming on the rack. Better yet, when she turned on the shower the water was up to temperature within seconds, but best of all she had complete privacy.
    All of these were things she had taken for granted her whole life, but after her weeks in the clinic, they were now more precious to her than all the diamonds and rubies Sergei had given her, and which she had left behind in his safe.

    “You look happy,” Dair commented with satisfaction when Kat rejoined him in the cabin fifteen minutes later, her hair still damp, her face aglow as she grinned at him.
    “Whoever this jet belongs to has my eternal gratitude.” She resumed her seat opposite, still smiling.
    “It’s hired.” Dair shrugged.
    “Deniability,” Kat guessed ruefully.
    “Deniability.” Dair nodded.
    “What about Lijah?” She glanced towards the cockpit. “He doesn’t have deniability.”
    Dair’s mouth thinned. “Lijah is one of mine.”
    “‘One of yours’…?”
    “We worked together for eight years, now he works for me. He’s one of mine.” He gave a shrug.
    “I see.”
    “Do you?” he mused.
    “Not really.” Kat grimaced.
    Dair shrugged. “It’s enough that I do.” He had tried to explain the relationship he had with his army buddies to Lucien once; his cousin hadn’t understood either. Men who served together necessarily had to trust the rest of the men in their unit to watch their back. Dair had a dozen such men now working for his security company, and he would trust each and every one of them with his life, as they knew they could trust him.
    Unfortunately, Dair had never learned that trust where women were concerned. Not after trusting Karin had almost gotten him killed.
    Which was a good time to change the subject. “Are you ready to speak to Gregori now?”
    Some of the glow left Kat’s eyes. “I would like to talk to Gregori, of course I would. But first…” She chewed her bottom lip between her teeth.
    Dair’s eyes narrowed at this visible sign of increased tension. “Yes?”
    Kat gave a shake of her head. “Can you…hold off telling Gregori all of the details about my…my stay at the clinic, until you and I have had a chance to talk?”
    “We can talk before putting the call through to him—”
    “I’d rather put Gregori’s mind at ease first.”
    “At which time I’m guessing you don’t intend telling him anything that happened to you,” Dair guessed impatiently. “The fact that Sergei had you locked away. The unnecessary medication. The being strapped to your chair. The complete lack of fucking privacy.” His voice had grown harder and harder with anger at each statement of fact.
    “I don’t think too much of that went on at the clinic!”
    “Kat…!”
    She gave a heavy sigh. “You don’t have any