Christmas Tsar (Blood and Thunder 1)

“Are you saying there are people here who would keep slaves like those women?”

“What do you think, Ms. Smith? A lot of boats move in and out of marinas all over Europe without anyone asking the right questions. Except for you, Amber Smith,” he observed, “and you ask a lot of questions. I’ll debrief you in more detail when we’re back on board. How did you disembark, by the way, wit

hout anyone seeing you?”

Smiling faintly, she said nothing.

Alexei hummed. “Your take on upping security could be useful.”

“It’s all too easy to become complacent,” Amber agreed. “Even the most advanced technology has difficulty keeping pace with the complexities and determination of a human mind.”

“You don’t say,” he murmured, sliding her a look.

Alexei’s cold stare warned her to be open with him from now on, or she’d be off the ship with nothing to show for her stay, apart from the few scrapes and bruises she’d gotten tonight. But she’d learned enough to know there was a dark world beneath the everyday, and that no country could handle all the action. Alexei Riga, and men like him, took up the slack. He was a fearless vigilante, operating on the fringes of the law. Was that what Dana had been hinting at? Should Amber write about it in her article? Or were her loyalties divided now? She wanted to keep her job, but she didn’t want to jeopardize Alexei’s valuable work. Act in haste, repent at leisure sprang to mind, but she already knew that she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she betrayed Alexei. Keeping her job was going to be harder than she’d thought unless she could come up with something else to write about.

He drew up alongside Russian Thunder and sprang down. “Let her through,” he barked over his shoulder, tossing his keys to one of the guards.

She jogged up the gangplank in his wake. “Will there be more missions like this one?”

Alexei stopped dead in front of her. “Why? Is the adrenaline racing?” he mocked. “Does the danger excite you, Ms. Smith?”

“You should see to that wound,” she said, ignoring his jibe.

He glanced down to where the pooling blood had painted a darker shade of black on his sleeve, and then indicated that she should follow him.

“Medical supplies?” she asked the moment Alexei had closed the door on his study.

He shot a glance at the phone on his desk.

Crossing the floor, she lifted the receiver and waited for the call to connect. Then she gave some brief instructions. Ignoring the barrage of swearing in Russian behind her, she replaced the receiver in its nest. “Obviously, you’ve got a ship’s doctor,’ she said, turning to face Alexei. “And that wound might need stitching.”

“How do you know we have a doctor on board?” he challenged suspiciously.

“I’d be pretty amazed if you didn’t. My best guess is that you have a fully stocked pharmacy, an operating theater, and a morgue for icing those unlucky enough to need refrigeration.”

Alexei’s face remained stony, but he raised a brow and softened enough to murmur, “Touché.

“Stay,” he instructed when she turned for the door. “We’ll talk more when the doctor has finished.”

Amber shrugged as if this were fine with her, but her heart was beating like a drum. It was one thing standing up to Alexei and something else when he appeared to enjoy it. His stare might be icy, but it could undress her, pleasure her, and promise her more, all within the space of a split second.

He did need stitches. And the doctor was another of the hard-faced crew she’d seen before in passing. She acted as his nurse in silence. He accepted her assistance without comment. Alexei was stoic, as she had expected. He made not a sound as the doctor cleaned and stitched. She cleared away the debris and then showed the doctor to the door. “Thank you, Doctor,” she said politely as he went on his way as silently as he had arrived.

“You’ve got your uses,” Alexei observed. “And you don’t flinch at the sight of blood.”

“I don’t flinch at anything, apart from injustice.”

Alexei’s considering look was long and steady.

“I’d like to do more,” she admitted. “I’d like to help the women you helped to save tonight.”

“There’s already a program in place.”

“And I’d like to be part of it,” she said bluntly.

“Our work will never be done. There will always be more gangs like the one we came up against tonight, and more women looking for a better life.”

“What do I have to do to join you?”