His Last Chance at Redemption

Lexi’s eyebrows hit her hairline at his condescending tone. Just who did this guy think he was? ‘And did I not say I required more information from you? We don’t usually allow the children in our care to just go off with anyone who happens in off the street. There are procedures to follow. Forms to sign.’

He looked as if he hadn’t considered that. Then his eyes raked over her again and Lexi wished she was still wearing her professional suit from earlier. ‘I’d like to speak to the manager.’

She smiled, never more pleased at being able to utter her next words. ‘I am the manager.’

He stared at her and Lexi couldn’t drag her eyes from his intense blue eyes.

‘I apologise,’ he said finally, a mocking lilt in his voice that suggested otherwise. ‘It seems we are at loggerheads, Ms Somers—’

‘Miss.’

Now why had she said that? She preferred Ms!

‘Miss Somers,’ he intoned. ‘And while I appreciate your concern for Ty Weston’s welfare, I have permission from the boy’s mother to collect him this evening as she is apparently out of town.’

Lexi frowned at his use of the word ‘apparently.’ ‘I’m sorry, but it doesn’t seem as if she has informed the centre of this change. Do you have proof of this permission?’

He paused and his mouth quirked slightly upwards. ‘Alas, I left it back in my office.’

Lexi nodded, not at all convinced by what he was saying.

‘Well, alas, Mr—’ Damn, what was his last name again? ‘—you’ll just have to come back when you have your proof.’ She stood up. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me—’

‘You’re dismissing me!’ The shocked outrage on his ruggedly handsome face would have made her laugh any other time but right now butterflies were tap dancing in her stomach and making her feel strange.

‘Yes, I do believe I am.’

He planted his hands on top of the paperwork on her desk and leaned towards her. ‘Listen, Miss Somers, I’ve had just about as much as I can take of your obstinacy.’

‘My obstinacy?’ Lexi leaned back in her chair and tried to stare him down. Which wasn’t easy. In his anger his eyes had taken on a cold precision that could cut through lead. ‘That’s rich.’

Maybe she should call the police.

Some of her nervousness must have shown because his eyes narrowed. ‘I can assure you this is all completely above-board.’

‘Then you won’t mind if I contact Amanda.’

He straightened up and pulled at his cuffs. ‘Please do. And if you get through pass the phone this way.’

Frowning even harder Lexi collected Ty’s file from the corner cabinet, conscious of his eyes on her the whole time. Ignoring him she returned to her seat and dialled Amanda Weston’s mobile number.

After a minute the phone clicked over onto voicemail and Lexi left a brief message asking her to call and hung up.

‘She’s not available,’ she said a little unnecessarily, given he had heard her message.

The man, Leo Alek-someone, didn’t seem surprised.

Just then another parent arrived at the gate to be buzzed into the centre and Lexi rose to her feet. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I need to attend to someone else and while I do I’ll double check with my colleagues as to whether Amanda passed on a message about you.’

She headed towards the door and felt his body move infinitesimally, as if he planned to follow her.

‘I wouldn’t,’ she warned him coolly, heart pounding a mile a minute. ‘We have panic buttons carefully placed throughout the centre and if you follow me I’ll set one off.’

He stared at her for a long moment and then smiled.

Lexi’s breath caught at the dazzling effect of that smile. Then it turned lazy as he noted her reaction. ‘You’re bluffing, Miss Somers.’

Yes, she was. They had one panic button in the centre and she had no doubt he’d be on her before she could even instruct someone to activate it.

‘Follow me and find out,’ she dared, wondering at the husky challenge in her voice. Something about this man’s inherent sense of authority, that came with being super rich, or super famous, rubbed her up the wrong way.

He cocked his head, his eyes running over her as if she was a delicacy he wouldn’t mind nibbling. Heat constricted her throat and when his gaze dropped to her chest her breasts seemed to expand and tighten in a completely visceral response that was as shocking as it was unexpected.

His eyes, no longer icy, met hers and lust, the like she had never experienced before, exploded deep in her belly as she registered the inherent interest he didn’t have the good manners to hide. ‘Don’t be long.’

Don’t be … Lexi stalked out of the room.

Had she ever met a ruder, more charismatic man in her life?

CHAPTER TWO

LEO watched the petite brunette sweep out of her office as if the hounds of hell were after her, her ponytail bobbing behind her head like an overwound pendulum.

Run, angel, run.

He smiled to himself, unable to take his eyes off her trim figure.

He shouldn’t have goaded her like that but he couldn’t resist the way her exotic golden eyes had sparkled at him crossly and the way her creamy skin had flushed pink.

She’d had the strangest effect on him the minute she’d come striding through the door like some field marshal about to do battle. Her heart-shaped face tipped at an angle that said she could easily take on Alexander the Great and win.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t the strangest effect. Maybe it was a purely sexual one, but it had hit him from left field because she wasn’t his usual type. Too uptight—despite the Snow White attire—and too small. Delicate even. Her waist appearing so slender he could wrap his hands around her without any trouble at all. He liked his women a little taller, a little more sophisticated and a lot more accommodating.

He cupped his hands behind his head and spied the contents of her desk. Papers, brightly coloured pens, cotton dolls and a computer keyboard, all neatly arranged. Soft pink curtains hung from the single window and various child related paraphernalia lined the walls.

And some New-Agey smell had got up his nose and he had yet to locate the source. He wondered how Lexi Somers smelled and whether her neat figure would live up to the promise outlined in her prim blouse and red skirt. Then he told himself to quit it—he wasn’t here for that.

Only his mind had already conjured up a pleasurable image of the hint of puckered nipples beneath the lacy bra she wore and his mouth watered as he wondered at their colour. Their taste. He’d noticed her response to his perusal of her body earlier and as much as she might be trying to appear cool and calm—he could tell she was a fireball of nerves inside.

What would she be like in bed? Coolly efficient, or hot and abandoned?

The thought hadn’t fully formed in his mind before the annoying bell over her office door tinkled. His senses stood to attention at the sound of her determined footsteps crossing the linoleum flooring in shoes more befitting a party-girl than a childcare manager. And what was up with that? Clearly she was a woman who played on her sexuality.

Definitely hot and abandoned, he decided, and unconsciously breathed deep as she skirted past him. Just the hint of vanilla and … musk? Seductive, whatever it was, he thought, slightly bemused at his one-track mind.

‘I’m sorry you’ve wasted your time, Mr …’

‘Aleksandrov.’ He said his surname more slowly, amused despite himself that she might really not know who he was. It happened so rarely nowadays.

‘Aleksandrov.’ She smiled, her hands folded primly together on her desk as if the matter was resolved.

Leo twisted his mouth into a smile and slouched back in the wooden chair built for a doll. ‘And why is that, Miss Somers?’ he asked casually, unwilling to refute her mistaken belief that she was in control of this situation just yet.

‘I’ve checked with my colleagues and there has been no message about a change in pick up arrangements so I cannot release Ty Weston into your care.’

Leo felt an itch attack his left eyebrow and ignored it. Just as he ignored her statement. Instead he folded his arms across his chest and stared her down, waiting for her to break. Surprisingly, she held his gaze longer than he had expected. Then she sat straighter. ‘I think it’s time you left.’

If only he could.

‘What are you going to do when nobody comes to collect Ty?’

A flicker of doubt clouded her eyes and she let out a pent-up breath. ‘Look, I’ve had a lousy day so far and you’re not making it any better. I have no idea who you— Oh! You’re—’

‘Ty’s father.’

He spoke at the same time as she had deduced the information and he raised a mocking brow at her cleverness.

‘The eyes. You have his eyes.’

Leo didn’t know that. He’d never once looked at the photos his security team provided in their regular updates on his son.

A sheen of sweat broke out across his brow at the thought of meeting him now. Already emotions and guilt he’d had no trouble keeping at bay for years were swelling inside him like heavy rain filling a river, and he mentally cursed Amanda Weston and her conniving ways.

Leo stood up, ignoring the heat of Lexi Somers’ gaze as it raked over his chest, pulling his stomach muscles tight.

Perhaps he should have told her his relationship to Ty from the outset, but the last thing he wanted was word to get out that he had a son. If it did he’d have to supply Ty with a security detail for the rest of his childhood and he had wanted to avoid that at all costs. ‘Fine. Now you can go get him. I’ll wait here.’

The surprise that had softened her full lips disappeared and she shook her head. ‘I’m sorry; I can’t do that.’

Leo felt the return of his earlier annoyance at her stubbornness. ‘Why not?’

‘You’re not on his list of appointed people permitted to collect him.’

Chort vozmi! ‘What a load of rubbish,’ he rasped.

She stood up to face him and gripped the edges of her desk. ‘It’s not rubbish. We have procedures in the centre to ensure the children’s safety and—’

‘If you knew who I was you wouldn’t be arguing with me.’

He blew out a breath. He sounded like a self-important ass and the look on the brunette’s face said she’d come to the same conclusion.

‘Why? Because you’re above the law?’ The imperious question didn’t require an answer but he wanted to give her one. He wanted to take the line his Cossack ancestors would have done: press her up against the wall and take what her wide-spaced golden eyes had been offering since she’d first marched into the room. Then he’d take his son and get the hell out of there.

Pity a couple of centuries had spoiled that option.

‘I’m his father,’ he ground out, the words sounding strange to his ears.

‘A father whose name is not on any of our forms,’ she reminded him. ‘And why is that?’

Leo reined in surging guilt that threatened to spiral into rage and paced two steps to the back of the room.

He sucked in a deep breath, knowing that logically she had a point even though her question was way out of line.

He turned back to face her. ‘Look, Miss Somers—’ he unclenched his jaw ‘—I want to be here about as much as you want me here but I don’t have a choice. Amanda delivered a note to my office advising me that there was no one else to take care of Ty. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.’

‘Are you having custody issues?’

Leo felt his eyes harden. ‘I am not about to discuss my personal business with you.’

She stood firm. ‘And I’m not about to release a child into the care of a man I’ve never met before and who is not on his list of trusted carers.’

Leo rubbed his neck. ‘Try his mother again.’

She looked as if she wouldn’t but then picked up the phone and hit redial.

‘Still no answer.’

Leo swore and saw her eyes widen in silent reprimand. Too bad. The angel didn’t like his language.

Then he returned to the doll’s chair and sprawled in front of her. ‘So what do we do now?’

For the first time since she returned she looked unsure and swivelled around to check the clock behind her.

‘Half an hour to go, angel. Maybe we should find something else to do other than argue to make the time go quicker.’

Her eyes took on the size of the dinner plates his lunch had been served on and he cursed his rampaging libido. What was he doing thinking about sex with this woman at a time like this? ‘Forget I said that.’

‘I most certainly will. It was tacky in the extreme.’

Leo’s eyes wandered over her with insolent abandon. ‘Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it, angel.’

She gasped and he smiled at her outrage. ‘I most certainly have not! And do not call me angel.’

He smiled. She had. And so had he.

‘I’ll call you whatever I want and you’re a liar.’

‘And you’re incredibly rude.’

He shrugged and checked the clock. ‘Are you seriously going to make me wait until six o’clock before I can take him?’ He’d never come up against such resistance from a woman before.

‘No. I’m going to call the police.’ She reached for the phone and he leaned across the desk and covered her hand with one of his. Sensation shot up his arm at the contact and for a moment all he could do was stare at her.

Time seemed suspended between them and then she wrenched her hand out from under his. ‘Get your hands off me.’

‘Settle down, Miss Somers, before you get hysterical.’

‘I do not get hysterical. But you are crossing the line Mr Aleksandrov, and I want you to leave.’

Leo scrubbed his face. At least she remembered his name this time. ‘I apologise. Call the police if it makes you feel better but it won’t change anything. Amanda Weston has done a runner for the weekend and I’m all the kid’s got.’

The angel rubbed the back of her hand as if she could still feel his touch and Leo’s fingers flexed involuntarily because he could definitely still feel the silk of her skin. ‘That remains to be seen.’

He glanced at the clock. ‘Five minutes to go. Surely Amanda would be here by now if she was coming.’

‘Not necessarily. She’s often late, sometimes even forgetting to turn up at all.’

‘What?’ He was genuinely shocked by her comment and he saw the moment she knew she’d said too much. ‘How many times?’

‘Pardon?’

‘How many times has she forgotten?’

‘I can’t remember.’ She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and he knew she was lying. He stared at her until she grew uncomfortable. ‘A few since her mother passed away.’

He frowned. ‘Her mother died?’

‘She fell and broke her hip two weeks ago. I understand there was a complication with the surgery.’

He shook his head. ‘I didn’t know.’

‘Why am I not surprised.’

It was a statement, not a question, and he scowled, deciding to ignore her disparaging tone. ‘Why should that affect when Amanda picks the boy up?’

‘Because she doesn’t normally do it. As I understand it her mother was Ty’s main carer.’

Leo frowned. Ty’s grandmother had taken care of him? Maybe he should have read those reports after all.

‘You didn’t know that either, did you?’ The angel didn’t look impressed and he wanted to tell her she had no right to judge him.

‘So it would seem,’ he snapped, getting up and stalking the short distance to the rear of the room and back.

Leo noticed that she watched him as if she was trying to read him and he felt uncomfortable under her close scrutiny. He instinctively knew that if he told her he’d never even met his son she’d take umbrage and probably call in the army to deal with him and the truth was—he was a little worried. Danny was organising a nanny to meet him at his apartment to take over from him but … what would he do with a three-year-old until then?

Long suppressed memories of his baby brother spiked in his head—that soft little body, his cheeky grin, the way he had called him ‘Layo.’ Leo swallowed past the bile in his throat and refixed his gaze on Lexi Somers. His eyes dropped to the row of pearl buttons on her blouse and he imagined grabbing the collar and ripping them off. Imagined baring her to his hungry gaze and lifting her onto the desk and burying himself deep inside her. His body hardened, but sex wouldn’t change the inevitable, only delay it, and he knew that was the reason it was on his mind so much since he’d arrived here. He was trying to distract himself. It had nothing to do with the brunette with the tiny waist and golden eyes.

‘Mr Aleksandrov, are you okay?’ He blanked his expression and told himself to stop being an ass and figure out this problem. Give him a stock market crash or a potential hotel site to assess and he’d have the situation under control in minutes. Dealing with the needs of a young child was so far removed from his reality he was struggling to be one step ahead of the issues.

Then it hit him. He’d forgotten to treat this situation like a business transaction. And hadn’t he learned that everything came down to one thing?

‘How much do you need to hand Ty over?’

‘Excuse me?’

His eyes grew flinty. ‘You heard. I’m a wealthy man.’ He raked her with cool eyes. ‘I’m sure your wardrobe could do with an update.’

Her mouth fell open and she stared at him as if he’d just asked her how to build a pipe bomb. ‘Are you seriously trying to bribe me?’

Leo closed his eyes and then glanced at the ceiling before bringing his gaze back to her. He stood up. ‘I already told you I’m short on time and you’ve wasted enough of it. I’m the boy’s father; even you recognised that, so just—’

The phone ringing interrupted him and they both stared at it as if it were a snake. Then the angel leaned over to pick it up. He could tell straight away it was Amanda by the way her eyes flew to his. ‘I see,’ she murmured, before turning her back on him.

Leo’s anger spiked and he lunged for the phone and yanked it out of her hands. ‘Amanda, what do you—’ think you’re doing? he finished silently as the call was disconnected. He stared at the phone and swore viciously before tossing it onto Ty’s file.

He felt confined and edgy in the tiny room. Then the annoying tinkle above the door sounded and a blonde poked her head through and eyed him as one would a dangerous animal. Which was exactly how he felt.

‘Everything okay in here, Lex?’

Lexi’s eyes flashed to his and he waited for her to say no. ‘I think so. But can you hang around for another couple of minutes?’

‘Sure. Ty is the only one left and Tina’s gone.’ The woman glanced in his direction and then dropped her eyes.

‘Okay. I’ll have this sorted in a jiffy,’ Lexi said.

Leo looked at her. ‘What’s a jiffy?’

She seemed momentarily confused and then shook her head. ‘I have no idea. It’s a figure of speech. You’re Russian?’

‘Da. Yes. And you are English?’

‘Yes.’

Something indefinable passed between them and then, thankfully, she shook her head and broke the connection. ‘Okay. It seems that Amanda has gone away for the weekend and she just had enough time to tell me that you are Ty’s father before you wrenched the phone from my hand like a Neanderthal.’

Leo didn’t flinch at the criticism. ‘Good. Then I can go.’

He stood and heard her release a noisy breath before she too rose to her feet.

‘What now?’ he growled, desperate to put this woman with her accusing golden-green eyes behind him.

‘Why are you not on any of his forms?’

‘Amanda has sole custody.’

‘Why?’

‘At the risk of sounding rude, Miss Somers, that’s none of your business.’

‘You’re wrong.’ She rounded her desk and stood in front of him. ‘Ty is in my care and as I don’t have written authority to hand him over to you I could still lose my licence as a childcare provider if I released him to you and something happened to him.’

‘I appreciate your predicament but that is not my fault. Amanda should have made the proper arrangements.’

She considered him for a moment. ‘Promise me you’re not some maniac of a father who is going to do something terrible the moment you have him alone.’

The skin on Leo’s face pulled tight and his mouth went dry as she inadvertently tore a strip off one of the bandages concealing his childhood wounds. He was aware that his breathing had become shallow and that his blood was roaring in his ears.

He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from hers and yet looking into her innocently questioning gaze was searing him with pain. ‘I would never intentionally hurt my son,’ he said hoarsely, his accent thicker as he fought to contain memories from the past.

He waited for her to contradict him. To say that she could see the blackness inside him, but she didn’t. Instead she nodded curtly. ‘Follow me.’

He released a harsh breath and followed her out into the main area of the centre, which was eerily neat and quiet. The blonde from before stepped through the opposite doorway. ‘Ty is in the sandpit.’

‘Thanks, Aimee. You go ahead. I’ll be home shortly.’

‘I’ll probably be at Todd’s.’

Lexi smiled and Leo’s stomach did a somersault. ‘I’ll see you next week then.’

‘Have a fun time away if you decide to go.’ She raised her eyebrows and Leo wondered where Lexi Somers was going this weekend and why he cared. Then he forgot about it as the blonde walked away and he was confronted with an empty doorway.

His heart felt like a dead weight in his chest as he stepped through it and gazed at the blond-haired toddler happily making truck sounds as he scooped sand into the digger.

Chort vozmi. God damn it. He couldn’t do this.

He turned to the woman behind him and gripped her arms as a fear he hadn’t felt in years assailed him.

‘You can’t do what?’ Lexi asked, her eyes racing across Leo Aleksandrov’s suddenly pale face. He looked as if he were facing a smoking gun and she had no idea what to do. Her heart hammered in her chest. This close, she could see the blue of his eyes was shot through with silver and the stubble lining his jaw made his face impossibly handsome. ‘Mr Aleksandrov?’

Her soft tone seemed to bring his eyes back into focus because he let her go and stepped backwards as he turned to stare at his son.

She rubbed her arms and glanced at Ty, who was regarding them curiously, no hint of recognition on his face at all. She tried to remember what Amanda Weston had said about Ty’s father when she had first enrolled Ty at the centre but her memory was hazy. Something about him not being interested in Ty and a request that they not ask Ty about him. Obviously, whatever had happened between Amanda and Leo, it had not ended well and Ty had borne the brunt of that.

Lexi felt sick. She hated men who didn’t take responsibility for their actions, who didn’t care enough about their children to spend time with them.

Trying to quell her rising anger for Ty’s sake, Lexi stepped forward. ‘Ty, come on. Your da— Oh!’

Strong fingers bit into her upper arms as the man behind her grabbed her and hauled her back against him. Lexi stumbled in her high heels and fell back against a chest as rock-solid as granite. The breath left her lungs as one of his powerful arms banded her torso just below her breasts to keep her upright.

She instantly caught fire at his touch, unbidden lust tightening her breasts and sending a spiral of heat straight to her pelvis. Shocked by her instant sexual response—a response she’d been trying to deny since she’d first seen him—Lexi turned in the circle of his arms with every intention of pushing him away. Only once her hands flattened against the brick wall of his chest, his heat and his scent had a paralysing effect on her senses. Now she didn’t want to push him away. Now she wanted to rise up onto her toes and kiss him. As if reading her thoughts, his eyes darkened to navy and took on a fierce quality that sent her senses into overdrive.