33 #2
I bite the tip of my tongue as I sit down next to him. As we wait to be served in the dining room, there is a silence that could be cut with a knife. Judging by my mother and Jason’s smiles, they are probably taking it as a funny anecdote. It is not.
“And when did you two start dating?” My father practically spits out the last word.
With my teeth digging into my lower lip, I glance sideways at him, waiting for his answer.
“June 3,” he replies, picking a random date.
“What the fuck do you want with my daughter, Novikov?” I purse my lips at my father’s harsh tone.
“Ray!” my mother protests, giving Alek an apologetic look.
“I just want to make her happy.”
Jason next to me pretends to feel nauseous, but just as I’m about to punch him, one of the waitresses serves us our food. Thinking that the interrogation is over, I focus on the fish in front of me, but my luck doesn’t last long.
“I’ll tell you something, boy,” my father warns, waving the knife between his fingers and pointing it at him.
“Until Lena takes your last name, you won’t touch her.
If I find out you do, I’ll cut your balls off.
Understood?” His gaze is fierce, one that tells you he won’t think twice about keeping his word.
The fork I was holding falls onto the plate as my cheeks flush violently. If only he knew that rule was broken a long time ago and because of that I ended up in the hospital...
Jason tries to stifle a laugh behind a fake cough that no one notices, and I give him a hard kick.
“Ouch! What did I say now?”
“Got it,” he replies, nodding his head.
I move the vegetables on my plate with the fork, feeling my stomach tighten. Then I get up from the table and collect my dishes to take them to the kitchen. When I feel arms wrap around me from behind, I turn around with a start.
“You scared me,” I say with a small smile, but he doesn’t seem to hear me. His eyes stare intently at my lips as he leans in until he finally kisses me, letting out a moan.
I can’t pull away when he holds my face with both hands and pins me against the counter, deepening the kiss until he starts kissing down my collarbone and his fingers slip inside my shorts, squeezing my arse.
“No,” I whisper in a thin voice as I feel his teeth on my neck.
His eyes scan every part of my body until they stop at the edge of my pants.
When they meet mine again, they seem to have a darker tone than before, and the way he looks at me turns me on even more.
I bite my lower lip hard, trying to distract myself with the sharp pain so I don’t stare at the bulge in his pants.
“Stop doing that,” he demands, his jaw tense.
“What?” I ask, tilting my head.
“I have to go.” I part my lips to protest, but he’s already far gone before I can, ignoring my calls.
“Finally,” Jason murmurs behind me before starting to climb the stairs.
I follow him with a bitter feeling in my stomach, thinking that maybe he’s angry with me.
Bloody hell, I’d be in a bad mood too if I met his parents and they welcomed me the same way.
I dial his number but it goes straight to voicemail.
I put on a random episode of Modern Family, knowing that my insomnia will get worse tonight.
Just as the episode is about to end my phone vibrates with an incoming call.
“Hello,” I murmur, biting my inner cheek. There are messy noises and random voices on the other end of the line.
Fuck. This is not what I needed after playing the good boyfriend with the in-laws.
“I told you they wanted to get rid of me,” Sergei mumbles from the bed, removing his oxygen mask with annoyance.
“Evil never dies,” Denis retorts dismissively, sitting a few feet away and typing something on his cell phone.
“It’s just a bullet. You will live,” I say. If they don’t kill themselves or each other, someone else tries to finish them off. I swear sometimes I feel like I’m taking care of fucking hamsters. “Do you have any idea who it could be?”
“No. I couldn’t even see the license plate.”
“I could see the license plate,” Polina mutters from her seat.
“And you’re telling us fucking now!?” Sergei barks, causing Polina to jump in her seat.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” I say glancing at the recent notifications on my phone, feeling everything fade away the instant I see her name on the screen before dialing her number.
“I’m surrounded by idiots,” Sergei murmurs under his breath, settling himself on the hospital bed and pressing the bridge of his nose.
“Look who’s talking. Should we put a bodyguard on the bodyguard because he can’t defend himself?” Denis scoffs with a mocking sideways glance at me.
“How about I put a bullet in your ass to see if that shuts you up?”
“I’d like to see you try,” he says, getting up from the chair with a defiant look.
“Enough,” Polina complains, pushing Denis back to his seat. “I can’t stand you guys when you get like this.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I hiss, walking away to one of the corners of the room to finish talking to her. “You don’t want to see me?”
“You know I do.”
“Then I’ll come,” I state with a smile playing on my lips before ending the call. “I want all the information by tomorrow,” I say, staring at Polina as I put my phone back in my pants.
“You can’t just leave everything behind every time she calls you.”
“Says who? You?” The icy tone of my voice is enough to make her swallow her words. “You’re nothing but the shit on the soles of my shoes, Polina. Don’t forget that.”