Ultimate Vengeance (Wanted Men Book 4)(110)

With her cheeks turning pink, she nodded again.

“And I am also assuming you fed her directly before putting her to bed, as is the normal way of things?”

“Yes.”

Yuri went on. “Since Sacha is in no way affected, as she would be if this substance had entered her blood stream, Lekzi had to have ingested it at the point of contact. Her mother’s skin. And seeing as Sacha doesn’t feed her child from her elbow, I can only deduce it came from her nipple.” He looked at Alek. “Had you been at her breast—or her elbow—after the shower, you’d have sickened, too.”

Alek glared over when his uncle had the nerve to chuckle. It was a relieved sound, but the humor was still not welcome here.

“How would this substance get into her toiletries? No one has access to our bedroom or en-suite. And you only just unpacked that bag today,” he said to Sacha.

“Then it was tampered with before it came into the house,” Vasily reasoned.

“Reynard.”

They all looked at Sacha when she dropped the name.

She rubbed her cheek on Lekzi’s hair. “That man, Reynard. He and Sergei were waiting when I came out of the bathroom in my apartment the night we left. Sergei sent Reynard in to pack that room. He was very anxious to get in there. Could he have done this?”

Alek met Vasily’s gaze, and a death sentence was handed down right then. It wasn’t right, but he felt of rush of anticipation.

Sacha didn’t seem at all embarrassed when she handed the baby to Alek. She was horrified. “So, I was poisonous to her? That is why you insisted I shower with that awful soap? What if I did not get it all? What if it is in me?”

Yuri shook his head. “There is nothing I know of that can seep into our skin to be released at a later date. I’m sure much of it rubbed off on your clothes. I will test those, too.”

Alek didn’t mind admitting the excitement in Yuri’s voice was fucking irritating. Guy was a scientist through-and-through.

“If you would feel more comfortable pumping once, and then feeding her after that, I certainly wouldn’t stop you. But I do not think there is a need. After all, perfume and lotion does not seep into your breast milk, so why would this?” He inched toward the door. “I am thinking it worked so quickly on the little one because she ingested it directly after it came into contact with your skin. Now, allow me to go down and make sure I am not wasting our time with this conclusion.”

Yuri left, and when Sacha looked at Alek, he was alarmed to see something familiar. The return of the fear he’d seen in her eyes when she’d first learned who he was.





TWENTY-SIX




Alek sat back in his seat, tired of pushing the late snack of cold meats and cheeses around on his plate. Sacha was next to him, playing with a cooling cup of tea with her free hand. Vasily was across the way, his gaze constantly straying to Lekzi.

All heads turned when Vincente walked into the kitchen. He had his long coat on, his hair was down, and his expression was blacker than a pit in hell.

He nodded a greeting that encompassed the table, his eyes hooding when he saw the baby in Sacha’s arms.

“You mind if I take Alek out for a while?”

The rumbling question V posed to Sacha had the baby turning to look at him. Lekzi’s sleepy smile had him cursing under his breath. He came forward to chuck her gently under the chin.

“Hey, kid,” he said in Italian. “I’m taking your father out to rip a new asshole into the stupid motherfucker who already tried to hurt you. The world will be well rid of him in a couple of hours. I promise.”

Having learned Italian while Gabriel and Vincente had studied Russian, Alek understood every word. V obviously knew where to find Reynard. Popping to his feet, Alek kissed his girls then sprinted upstairs. He changed his clothes, threw his harness and an array of weapons on, and was hoofing it back down in under five minutes.

Anton was waiting at the front door with Vasily and Vincente. Sacha must have been instructed to remain in the kitchen. Alek felt bad for that but got it. She didn’t need to know where he was going. But he’d damn well tell her a gory tale when he returned.

“It’s gonna be a quick in and out,” V was saying. “No offense intended, but the fewer of us, the better.”

“Then three it is because Anton is now an extension of Alek.” There was no room for argument in Vasily’s voice, though V didn’t look as if he wanted to offer one. “You’ll call me the minute you’re on your way home,” he said to Alek, then turned back to Vincente. “You’re lucky I’m not sending an army with you.”

V looked at the ground, ran his tongue across the front of his teeth, then lifted just his eyes to narrow one on Vasily. He cursed. “Fuck. I might as well come clean since you’re gonna find out anyway. We’re heading to a Baikov safehouse.”