The love of his life. The mother of his child.
Sacha had carried his daughter in her body for nine months. She’d given birth, cared for and raised his fucking child since April.
It was December.
His daughter.
A black rage slithered through him searching for something to consume as he pictured Eva as she’d been earlier, patting her belly, pride shining from her eyes over her unborn son’s antics. He locked out how sickly she’d looked in Gabriel’s arms only minutes later.
Sacha had chosen to keep this a secret. Had deliberately and calculatedly kept this from him. She’d allowed another man into her life. Alek had missed almost eight months of his child’s life while another man had talked to, played with, fed, rocked, held her.
Justin Sheppard had not only been fucking Alek’s woman. He’d been helping to raise Alek’s daughter.
His eyes felt as though they were glowing red as he looked at her, and he didn’t think it possible, but his fury grew exponentially.
“My daughter was being contaminated in an apartment with a cardboard fucking door and no locks on the goddamn windows for more than seven fucking months!”
His booming voice bounced off the walls. Sacha winced and took another step back, and that’s when Sheppard came into view. Even though he was in a tux, just as Alek was, the guy looked different. He was wearing aggression and a willingness to tangle that didn’t go with the polished attorney façade. When he moved in front of Sacha as though she was his to protect, something inside Alek went nuts.
“Get the fuck away from her!” He lunged, ready to tear the bastard’s neck open, but was nailed in the side by a heavy weight that shoved him off balance. He came to a dead stop when his shoulder hit the wall. Leather and the manly smell of motor oil filled his nostrils.
“You don’t touch my brother any more than I would touch yours, friend.”
Vex. The President of the Obsidian Devil’s Motorcycle Club was pressed against him only long enough for him to get that out before he was hammered forward, away from Alek. Maks plowed the big guy into the wall and landed a punch to the biker’s face that must have broken a knuckle the crack was so loud. Vex returned the love with a rib shot that would have taken down a lesser man.
“Deal with that.”
“Dmitri.”
Lucian and Vasily’s voices came from behind, and Sorin and Dmitri swept by, each clamping their pythons over their respective boys before any real damage could be done.
As Alek wondered where the fuck everyone had come from, he straightened his tux and lost his steam because Sacha had moved closer to him. She was shaking her head and motioning Sheppard to stay where he was on his side of the two chairs now separating them.
Dmitri yanked Maks over and shoved him behind Vasily. The byki was only inches shorter than their friendly giant and just as deadly, but even so, Maks came because Maks wanted to come. If it had been his choice, he could have unsheathed Angelina from his back and carved half of them up before anyone got a shot off.
“Let’s not go there again,” Vasily said to Maks. “You’re both playing out the same scene, and it’s redundant. He’s protecting his brother. You’re protecting yours. Leave it be.” He touched Alek’s shoulder. “What’s happened here?”
Maks plunked his ass on the edge of the table and held out a hand to draw Sydney into his side when Micha sent her into the room before closing the door again. The Australian’s concerned gaze was on Sacha.
Vex, who’d been spending a lot of time with the Romanian’s lately, jerked his cut down as he engaged in a fist bump and back slap with Sheppard. “The next time you find yourself in a sitch like this, the call I get better come from you. Understand?”
“Who did the call come from?” Sheppard asked.
Lucian spoke up. “I thought it only fair you have someone at your back since Alek is so well covered.”
“That mean I’m forgiven?” the attorney asked with a mildly hopeful note in his voice. The question clued them all into a history between the two. Lucian appeared not to have heard anyone speak, and Justin sighed and said to his brother, “I know you do business with Kirov and didn’t want to jeopardize that.”
“That’s business. You’re family.” Vex chopped him on the hip hard enough for it to have hurt. “And you better get your fuckin’ head out of that hole Dad’s wedged it in. You’re not in a fuckin’ courtroom where people have to play by the rules. This is real life. You lived it, for Christ’s sake. Did you forget that? You’re lucky you have this one in your corner.” He pointed his thumb at Lucian. “You are in his corner, right?” he said as an afterthought. “Because if you’re not, that speech was…what was that word?” he asked Vasily. “Redundant?” He nodded and turned back to Lucian. “You gonna make my shit redundant?”