28
“I missed you,” Grace murmurs close to my ear, gripping me harder in her arms as my smile grows.
“Missed you too,” I say, even though we just saw each other yesterday for another retail therapy.
She’s been a bit down lately and won’t tell me why. She loves to gossip. Sharing information about herself, not so much.
“Good afternoon, sir,” she murmurs after, bowing slightly to my father. I press my lips together, hiding a smile when I see my father’s displeased face.
“Stop calling me sir, Grace. You make me look older than I am.”
“Excuse me, sir. I mean, sorry, it won’t happen again,” she mutters quickly.
We both fade into the background when the captain, Grace’s father, arrives and greets my father.
“Did you bring your swimsuit?” I shake my head.
“I’ll lend you one. Today is pool and cocktails day,” she says cheerfully as she heads into the house.
I climb the stairs to her bedroom and see some new faces wandering around, as if they were waiting for someone.
“Who are all these people?” I ask.
“I have no idea, but from what I hear, they’re planning something big,” she says with a sly smile, and I nod without paying much attention, leaving my purse on her bed.
“Which one do you like?” She asks, showing me a couple of swimsuits. “I think this one would look better on you.” I squint at the piece of black fabric that is supposed to be the bottom.
“That’s going to show off my whole arse.”
“That’s the idea,” she says, holding out the black bikini toward me. “You’ll thank me later.”
“What are you up to?” She just gives me a big grin.
“Nothing you’ll regret. Trust me.”
“I trust you. That’s why we almost ended up in jail last time,” I scoff as I change into the bikini she gave me.
My curiosity always leads me into the worst situations. She gives me a look with a proud smile that makes me snort and look away.
“Come on,” she says without giving me time to react as she takes me by the arm, then leads me to the garden where there is a large swimming pool.
We both leave our towels on the daybed. I glance around the place.
My eyes fall on a round table next to some chairs on the second-floor terrace, from where you could get a very good view of the pool.
I lie down on the lounger with one leg tucked under me and my eyes closed.
Grace returns with a couple of open coconuts.
“Cheers,” she says, clinking hers with mine. Then I take a long sip of the drink and let out a moan of approval.
“It’s delicious.”
“I know,” she replies with a proud smile.
I let out a little laugh and look over at that table again, this time finding my father arguing with the captain and other men sitting at the table.
When my eyes meet his, I almost choke on my drink. I glance back at him quickly with a smile I try to suppress, and he doesn’t hesitate to respond.
“Hello. Earth calling Lena,” Grace says, waving her hand in front of my face.
“Sorry,” I murmur, my cheeks slightly flushed. She just gives me an amused look. “Did you get the thief?” I ask, wanting to get her attention.
“No. But I have my suspicions.”
“Who?”
“Someone from another city. You don’t know him.” I nod and take another sip of the sweet drink.
I don’t want to look at him so as not to arouse my father’s suspicions, but I end up doing it, watching his blue eyes shamelessly scan my body.
“At this rate, there won’t be anything left of you if he keeps devouring you with his eyes like that,” Grace says sarcastically beside me.
I press my lips together and glance at my father, who is too distracted to notice his intense gaze on me. Alek gives me a tight smile. I reach for my phone and open my chat with him.
Me: Stop looking at me like that.
It doesn’t take long for me to receive his reply.
Alek: Like what?
Me: Just stop it. My dad will notice.
I don’t receive any message from him, but I notice that this time he stops looking at me with an annoyed expression.
“Don’t you think it’s too much? How do you expect us to keep an eye on the submarine, the plane, and the truck at the same time?” My attention turns to Ray, trying to figure out what they’re talking about. I’ve been too absorbed in my own thoughts of her to hear what they were saying.
“Easy. We’ll divide it up,” says the captain with confidence.
“I’m in. I’ll go with 500.”
“I’ll go with 2000,” I murmur, narrowing my eyes at Ray with a short smile.
He looks away, shifting his eyes around the room with palpable discomfort. He doesn’t like our presence and thinks he’s good at pretending to like us. Well. He’s fucking terrible at it and the feeling is mutual.
“Don’t fuck with me. That’s half the merchandise,” complains another in a tone I don’t like one bit.
He belongs to Norman’s crew. He’s the new guy who took charge while Norman is rotting away in prison. At least that’s what he thinks. He has no idea about the early birthday present I prepared for him.
“You’d have to be an idiot to go with only 4,000 kilos when you have three means of transport,” I say, curving my lips into a short smile.
“Are you calling me an idiot?” His face contorts with rage. I notice his angry-red cheeks under his tanned skin.
“It was just a comment. If you took it personally, that’s not my fucking problem.” I wait expectantly for the man to do something so I’ll at least have an excuse to punch him in the face, but Ray’s voice interrupts whatever he’s about to say.
“Fine. But you’ll be responsible for bringing the rest. You have five days.” I nod in response.
The place gradually gets empty, and I take the opportunity to look at her again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch someone else lustfully scan her body, focusing their eyes on her legs and then her stomach.
I feel tempted to rip his guts out now, but this is Grace’s house. It would be a bit rude.
“Save yourself some trouble and look the other way,” I murmur with a fake smile. The man has the audacity to give me an annoyed look.
“And who are you to tell me where to look? Who do you think you are?” I tilt my head to one side, playing with my tongue piercing before speaking in a calm voice.
“Keep doing that and it’ll be the last thing you see.”
“Are you threatening me?” He asks, rising menacingly from his chair, ready for a fight that I might have been part of if she hadn’t been there.
“I don’t threaten, I act,” I say, tilting my head to one side. “But I’d rather you take it as advice.”
As soon as I see him disappear through that doorway, I quickly enter the house and search for him.
“The last room on the second floor,” Grace says from the pool, giving me a thumbs up.
“I’m just going to say hello,” I reply with a pout.
“Yeah, sure,” she murmurs, winking at me.
I chuckle softly and head to a kind of game room, not caring that I’m only wearing a bikini.
Hearing his voice in the other room, I approach the door and watch from there as he talks to Sergei.
Then I bite my lower lip, thinking of a way to get his attention.
The only thing I can think of is to walk past them.
Without giving it a second thought, I start moving my feet, feeling like some kind of exhibitionist. My cheeks immediately flush as I walk past them, pretending not to care.
Before I can take another step, my body is caught in his arms.
“Mmm, hello,” I murmur with a small smile. He tilts his head until his lips brush mine. I immediately pull away a few inches, preventing him from going any further, and with a confused look on his face, I grab his wrist and drag him into a random room.
Neither of us bothers to flip the switch to turn on the lights, immersing ourselves in the darkness and each other’s warmth. When I make sure I’ve locked the door, I turn around and stand on tiptoe, moving closer to his face and pressing our lips together in a long, passionate kiss.
A strong smell of iron makes me pull away and take a step back.
Something soft brushes the hairs on the back of my neck and a chill freezes my body.
The small light bulb hanging overhead flickers to life.
A dozen dead rabbits suspended from the rafters appear before us.
My body relaxes as I realize that this is just Grace’s father’s hunting room.
Alek wraps his arms around me again, lifting me up until my legs are wrapped around his waist. His lips leave marks on my breasts as he frees them from my bikini with his teeth and lays me down on the work table.
Next to me lies a dead rabbit cut in half, his guts resting in a bin nearby, but it is soon forgotten when I feel his hands moving up my thighs.
The smell of blood has mixed with his scent, leaving a vibrant sensation around us. I bring my hands to the edge of his jeans. I try to undo the buttons and pull down his zipper, but before I can accomplish my task, he pulls away from my breasts and quickly grabs my hands.
“You’re what I want most, but I want our first time to be different. Special,” he says, caressing my cheek. I bite the tip of my tongue, hiding my disappointment. “Besides, I want you to be ready.”
“I am,” I assure him, not caring if I sound desperate. That doesn’t seem to be enough for him either.
He leaves a kiss on my lips before lowering me to the floor. I wrap my arms around his torso in a tight embrace, which he quickly returns, resting his head on mine and caressing my bare back. When I lift my head, I meet his deep gaze, stripping me bare.
“I love you.” The words escape my lips almost without meaning to.
“I love you so much more,” he says close to my lips before bringing them together again in a slower kiss, as if he wants to memorize every part of my mouth.
When we part, he disappears through the door and I return to the pool with a pout on my lips, finding Grace on one of the sun loungers wearing her sunglasses.
“How did it go? Did it hurt? Is it big?” she says when she sees me, smiling from ear to ear. I sit down next to her and let out a loud sigh.
“Nothing happened.” She bursts out laughing, putting her glasses on her head.