Shadow Alpha (3 page)

Someone—probably that smug bitch of a nurse Sergei Orlov had employed to care for her—had tied Kat to her chair.

Kat could almost have laughed at the look of shock she could see on Dr. Law’s face as he stared down at the restraints on her wrists and ankles.

If the smile muscles had still worked in her face. Which they didn’t.

And if she didn’t feel so puzzled at the way he still reminded her of a man she had known so many years ago…

It was the same voice and yet not his voice; his voice had been light and flirtatious, where this man’s was a deep and sexy rumble in his chest that seemed so at odds with his studious and disheveled appearance. The sort of voice that made a woman think of hot, wild sex on sheets of black satin. On any surface at all, really.

Not this woman, of course. This woman was too numb, too dead inside to—

Liar
, a disembodied voice mocked inside her head.

Even she, who had believed nothing could ever touch her again, had felt a responsive warmth in her body as she listened to that deep and gravelly growl.

As if her body, completely separate and apart from her inner numbness, knew exactly how it would feel to be taken by the hard thrusts of his powerful thighs, and caressed by those large hands now tugging impatiently at the restraints on her ankles.

She really was going insane.

Talking to herself, inside her head. Having sexual fantasies about a man who had in all probability been sent here by either Sergei or Ivan. Another trick, an effort to somehow compromise her, to blackmail her into doing exactly what they wanted her to do.

If you can’t find any other way, then seduce her. Fuck her. We’ll record it all on camera, and then she’ll do exactly what we tell her to do, or risk that recording falling into the hands of the media.

Something that wouldn’t only embarrass Kat, but would humiliate Gregori too. Something both Orlovs knew Kat would never allow to happen.

But she knew Ivan was capable of doing anything, anything at all, in order to cover up what a complete and utter fuck-up his only son and heir really was.

“Katya—Kat, for God’s sake say
something,
” Dr. Law grated harshly as he now removed the restraints from her wrists.

Say something? Kat wasn’t even sure she could speak anymore, her vocal cords feeling as numb as the rest of her.

Sergei had tried to get her to talk to her brother again on the telephone when he was here earlier. But what could she say?
I’m fine.
Which she wasn’t. Repeat
don’t
worry about me,
which she knew Gregori would. Gregori had always been her champion. Her big, protective older brother.

Not this time, Gregori. This time it’s beyond even your power to fix.

Oh God, she was having another conversation with herself inside her head.

She
was
going mad. Genuinely, completely insane.

Dair was feeling positively murderous as he turned to face the three security guards and two male nurses who had just burst into the room, no doubt in response to having watched him untie Katya on the security cameras.

The soreness of Kat’s wrists, plus the signs of old abrasions, indicated that this was far from the first time she had been ‘restrained’ in this way. Also, the baggy sweats and T-shirt she was wearing may have fit her once, but they certainly didn’t now, indicating a recent and drastic weight loss.

Once Gregori knew how his little sister was being treated here, no doubt under the instruction of Sergei or Ivan Orlov—or both—then Dair doubted there would be a single member of the Orlov family left alive after Gregori had taken his revenge.

Dair was feeling less than reasonable on the subject himself. “Five of you?” He raised his brows in a pretense of surprise. “Isn’t that rather a lot for one restrained woman?”

“You shouldn’t have released her without permission.” The leader of the pack stepped forward, all of his brainpower obviously in the muscles he showed off so proudly in his tight-fitting black T-shirt. A lack of brainpower that obviously also prevented him from seeing beyond the nerdy bespectacled doctor to the tautly muscled and trained killer beneath.

A trained killer who, at that moment, would have enjoyed nothing more than beating the crap out of the other man. Anything to relieve some of the violence he was now feeling.
 

Dair forced down that emotion as he calmly returned the other man’s gaze. “I want to take Ms. Markovic out into the garden. I believe the fresh air will do her good.”

“I don’t think so.” The man altered his stance, feet apart as he folded his arms challengingly in front of this chest.

Dair coolly and calmly plotted the other man’s downfall; a chop to the throat, knee to the groin, same knee to the face as he doubled over, breaking his nose. Yep, that ought to do it.

Instead he smiled pleasantly. “And why is that?”

“Not allowed out in the garden. Besides, those doors are never unlocked,” he added with satisfaction.

Jesus Christ, not only was Katya tied to the chair, she was also locked in here, like a fucking prisoner. Gregori was going to rip Sergei’s intestines out and shove them down the other man’s throat once he learned how Katya had been treated. And then he would start on Ivan.

If Dair didn’t get his hands on both of them first.

“Then might I suggest you unlock them,” Dair requested pleasantly through gritted teeth. “I believe, if you would care to check, that through Dr. Fairmont I have Mr. Orlov Senior’s permission to examine Ms. Markovic. I would hate to have to report to him, when I call on him later today, that I did not receive your full cooperation.” Just the mention of Ivan Orlov’s name was enough to cause some of the muscled bully’s posing to slip a little.

At first Kat had listened to the exchange with her usual apathy, but it had slowly permeated the foggy haze in her brain that Dr. Law wasn’t as mild-mannered as he had first appeared. That he wasn’t at all in awe of the guard she knew only as George, from the times he had been called in to restrain her, and at the same time taken advantage of the situation to whisper in her ear all the filthy things he would do to her if they were ever alone. Threats that had ceased to bother her after the first couple of days, once she realized that George was basically a coward and she was being watched on camera day and night.

How long had she been here now? Four weeks? Five? Longer?

When Sergei had first brought and left her here, she’d tried to exercise, determined to keep herself strong, in body and mind, for when she was allowed to leave.

Which had gone first, she now wondered, her physical or mental strength?

“Unlock the doors, please,” Dr. Law instructed the guard evenly.

To Kat’s surprise, after the briefest hesitation, George lumbered across the room and took out a huge ring of keys from his pocket.

So many keys to so many locks...

Oh God, did that mean there were other people locked up here too? People like her who needed to be hidden or locked away, for one reason or another, by family or so-called friends?

Just the thought of that made Kat feel sick.

Just as the sweet smell of fresh air, as George flung the doors wide open—the first good, clean air Kat had smelled for such a long time—made her feel lightheaded, giddy with the idea of the freedom on the other side of those doors.

She stood up, unable to resist the lure of that freedom as she stepped out into the garden.

“Don’t even think about it,” Dair growled at the security guard as he would have reached out to grab Katya’s arm to prevent her from going outside. His control was balanced on a knife-edge at the moment, and he swore, if he saw anyone put so much as a finger on Kat, then he was going to lose it.

The guard must have sensed the increase in that barely leashed violence because he took a step back. “I’ll have to report this to Dr. Fairmont.”

“Would that be during or after he’s finished his round of golf?” Dair dismissed dryly as he strode outside to follow Katya; he knew the resident doctor wouldn’t come anywhere near the clinic today, that the other man would be paying a visit to his mistress this afternoon, while his wife believed he spent the whole day at his private golf club.

Dair dismissed the other man, and his infidelity, and forgot everything but Katya as he followed her about the garden. There was something not quite right about the way she seemed to float across the manicured lawn, touching a leaf here, an early Spring flower there, a dreamy smile on her lips, her eyes—

Shit, her
eyes
.

How could he have missed seeing that the pupils in her eyes were so dilated that the dark brown iris was barely visible?

The bastards had drugged her!

That would explain the apathy too, and the not seeming as if she were quite in touch with herself, let alone aware of her surroundings. Because she wasn’t. Katya was high as a fucking kite on something. Lessening Dair’s chances of getting her to understand anything he wanted to say to her, let alone get her out of here. Hell, Kat was so high right now, he doubted she even knew her own name half the time.

“Katya,” he spoke to her softly, gently, so as not to alarm her. “Do you know who you are? Where you are?”

Katya made no reply, suspecting another trick; there had been so many tricks since she came here.

At first it had been
eat your food, Kat, and we’ll let you talk to your brother on the telephone today.
Then
get in the shower, Kat, and we’ll let you listen to some classical music. Get out of bed, Kat, and we won’t restrain you today.

Always the carrot and the stick.

And now this man, this doctor who had to have been sent here by Ivan or Sergei, wanted her to answer his questions without offering her something in return for her cooperation?

Not going to happen.

“Katya, look at me.” The man grabbed her gently by the tops of her arms and shook her slightly. “Look at me, damn it!”

She didn’t want to look at him. He sounded too much like that other man from the past. The one who had gone away and never come back.

He had been her friend. Oh not openly, that wouldn’t have been allowed by her father, not when he belonged to the Montgomery family and she was a Markovic. She had only been fifteen, but in her girlhood fantasies they had been a modern day Romeo and Juliet, their love denied, and the two of them separated by a family feud.

All nonsense, of course, when they had only met half a dozen times. But he had been kind to her on those occasions, and in her mind she had blown that kindness up into love.

Then one day he had just disappeared. Gone, without a word of explanation or goodbye. And there had been no one Kat could ask why or where.

“Katya!” Dair growled again, knowing by her blank expression that she had drifted off somewhere again. “Katya, you have to listen to me.” He gave her another gentle shake. “What are they giving you, little Kat? Whatever it is, you have to stop taking it. I can’t hope to get you out of here when you’re like this—” He broke off as she began to laugh.

Not that happy, carefree laugh he remembered from so long ago, but a bitter, defeated sound. As if even the thought of leaving here was beyond her.

“Kat, I’m going to have to leave you here for now. But I’m coming back. Tomorrow night. At eight o’clock, when there’s the confusion of a changeover in staff. Are you listening to me, Kat?” he prompted determinedly. “I want you to dress warmly and sensibly. Flat shoes. Jeans. A sweater. The lights will go out, but you’re not to be afraid, do you understand? Because when those lights go out it means I’m coming for you. Do you understand me? Kat, please tell me you understand what I’m saying to you,” he groaned in frustration.

She blinked up at him, as if she were still having trouble focusing on him, let alone comprehending anything he said.

Dair’s jaw set grimly. “I don’t know how they’re getting the drugs into you, Kat, but you have to stop taking them,” he bit out angrily. “Don’t take any more tablets, or the food or drink they give you. Pretend to eat. Throw the drinks away. Drink only water straight from the tap. Do you understand me?” he pressured as he saw the three guards from earlier making their way across the garden towards them; obviously the walk in the garden had lasted long enough for their liking. “Kat, please give me some sort of sign that you understand what I’m saying to you!” he pleaded as the other men drew nearer by the second.

There was no way, absolutely no way he was going to make it out of here tomorrow tonight with a woman who was so heavily drugged she was almost comatose. Much as Dair might want to, he knew that just wasn’t going to happen.

His heart sank as Kat gave no response.

Only for it to rise again as she slowly began to nod her head. “I understand,” she spoke for the first time.

Her voice was husky, as if from lack of use, but it sounded like the purest music to Dair’s ears. “You understand that I’m coming back for you tomorrow night?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Her second response sounded too robotic to Dair, but there was no time for him to say more as the guards reached them and he had no choice but to turn Kat over to them.