Chapter 25
Tradesies
Alex
We fucked up.
We fucked up so many times, we lost count.
I came inside Jade not once, not twice, but…I didn’t know how many times. And fuck, if that wasn’t the most irresponsible thing I’d ever done.
It just… Fuck. It just fucking happened. Again and again. I couldn’t let her out of my arms. I couldn’t stop touching her, tasting her, claiming her. Fucking owning her. I wanted all of her.
And I took everything.
She sat in my lap late at night, her lips puffy and red, her eyes blissed out, her fingers on the back of my neck. She was wearing my T-shirt. In my house. And we had to talk about it.
“Am I ordering Plan B?”
Jade pursed her lips and nodded, looking down into her glass. I made her an old-fashioned. She said her favorite part of the drink was the orange zest and cherry.
“I’m sorry,” she lifted her gaze to mine, “I’m sorry I made you come inside me. I…I wasn’t thinking.”
God, the apology in her eyes did something dangerous to my insides. If she looked at me like that, I’d fucking do anything.
“You don’t have to apologize.” I tucked a strand of her tangled hair behind her ear. “Neither was I. It was my responsibility in the end. I fucked up.”
“You fucked up like ten times today.” She giggled in my ear, and I pressed her into me. “How…Why didn’t either one of us think of a condom?” she asked so innocently, like she was genuinely confused.
Her cheeks glowed in the soft light, and I couldn’t stop smiling. Couldn’t stop looking at her and basking in this moment. Before I could answer, she added, “I don’t have anything. In case you’re worried I’ve given you cooties or something.”
“Cooties?” I repeated, enjoying the sound of her laughter.
“Baby, if anyone gives me cooties, I want it to be you.” Jade laughed louder and threw her head back.
I watched her like she was the sunrise—afraid to miss a second.
“I don’t have any cooties either. I can show you a clean bill of health if you want, but now I hope I have some kind of cooties from you. ”
She shifted in my lap and I tightened my arms around her automatically, like if I let go for a second, she’d disappear.
“It’s your fault I’m not on birth control. If you’d just given me my stuff on the first day—like I asked—we wouldn't have to ask poor Andrei to bring us birth control.”
I threw the phone down after texting him and refocused on her. “It’s fine. He can go for a drive.”
But the speed with which Andrei arrived was concerning. I opened the door for him and knew immediately that something was wrong. He passed me the box of Plan B and walked right past me into the living room, where Jade lounged on the couch.
“Good evening,” he spoke so officially. “Jade? Have you been in contact with anyone?”
Jade sat up on the couch, my T-shirt riding up on her thighs. Confused, she answered slowly, “Um, no? I don’t have a phone or anything. Plus, why would I contact anyone?”
“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping into the room right behind him. Andrei merely threw a glance my way before withdrawing his phone and unlocking it.
“I have your girl, you have mine. Tradesies?” Andrei read out a text. “XX.” He lifted his head from the phone and addressed Jade again. “Who’s XX?”
“Xavier,” Jade breathed out before he even finished his question.
She jumped off the couch and rushed over to Andrei, snatching the phone out of his hands.
“This is Xavier.” She looked at both of us, panic overtaking her voice.
“That’s his phone number. That’s how he signs—XX.
Because his first name starts with an X and his last name ends with an X—what is this? !”
Jade and I stared at each other, both understanding it at the same time. Gianna picked a different path of war. She didn’t go to the cops—she went to Xavier.
“Olga’s missing,” Andrei said, his voice booming in my ears.
“Since this afternoon. She never showed up for her prenatal yoga class. Her car’s in the parking lot, her phone and purse are in the car, but she never made it to class.
” I met his gaze, the heartbreak in his eyes painful.
“How does Xavier know about our existence?”
He turned to me, automatically assuming this was my fault, and damn, he wasn’t wrong. I dragged a hand down my cheek, prolonging the inevitable for a few seconds.
“Gianna came to visit. At the beach house. This morning.”
Andrei’s face dropped, and his blue eyes turned black in a matter of seconds. “What?”
“She busted inside. She saw Jade and she recognized her. She knows Xavier is Jade’s ex.”
I laid it all out, quickly thinking if there were any details I’d missed. Damn. I didn’t expect Gianna to do this. Sure, she was a little volatile, but not like this. Andrei was calm, maintaining his perfect facade.
“When were you planning on telling me this? I called you this evening. Why didn’t you pick up? How the fuck did she find you?” Andrei listed off questions, none of which I had answers to.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, physically drained from this new problem. “I don't know how she figured out where I was. I didn't know that she would do this. I don't know. I don't know how we ended up in this fucking ridiculous mess.”
But something silver flashed in Andrei’s hands. Jade gasped just as the barrel of his gun made it to my throat, and Andrei stepped closer, tears in his eyes.
“Olya is the love of my life,” he whispered, his hand shaking. “I will kill you if we don’t find her. I can’t live without her, do you understand?”
I nodded slowly, my gaze jumping to petrified Jade right behind him. “I understand,” I assured him, knowing the depth of his pain, and then I switched to Russian. “Jade is the love of my life. Put your little toy away.”
Slowly, Andrei tucked his handgun in his belt, but he had more to say. "I told you to fucking end it with her. A fucking year ago, Sasha.”
Andrei suddenly stepped back and turned around, walking past Jade straight to the couch where Jade and I sat five minutes ago, oblivious to all the world’s problems.
“She looks sweet, but she’s a fucking psychotic bitch!” he shouted, throwing his hands up. “And she probably poisoned your dog, let’s look truth in the eyes.”
“I did end—what?” His words suddenly hit me. “She poisoned Bandit?”
My dog?! I fucking loved Bandit! The black Doberman was with me for seven years, the most loyal, kind, and intelligent pet I’d ever had.
Andrei shook his head, annoyed like never before.
“Bro, you can be so fucking oblivious sometimes, I swear.” I blinked at him, refusing to accept his accusations.
Not my dog! “Is it a fucking coincidence that he got sick when you were away? She came to visit him every day, and she fucking hated him!”
“Wow.” I heard Jade’s voice right beside me. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her into me.
"Forget the dog, how the fuck are we getting Olya back?" Andrei reversed the conversation back to the problem at hand.
"Easy." I shrugged, placing a soft kiss on the top of Jade’s head. "We kill him."