Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Willow
Who knew girls day with a guy could be so fun?
Alina and Lev are lying on the sofa together while he’s making her read out the spicy scenes from our book.
I can’t help but laugh at his reactions every time she emphasises the word ‘cock’.
He looks half turned on half horrified that this is what we read.
Alina reads out the part I’m also reading as sensually as she can while having a blocked nose.
“He pins me to the wall, rubbing his hard cock against me throu—.”
“Okay that’s enough. I can’t take this anymore. How do you guys read this with a straight face?” Lev grabs the book from her hand to read on for himself.
“Seriously. This is just poorly written porn for women. I do so much better than this guy in real life.” He hands Alina back her book while she giggles and continues reading.
“Is this really what women like Willow tree?” He asks.
“Don’t look at me for an answer. I haven’t slept with anyone since my ex boyfriend who also happens to be the only guy I’ve ever been with.
I’m not the sex expert in this room.” I almost throw my own hand over my mouth at the fact I so easily just told Lev that piece of information and both him and Alina look at me with pitying glances.
“Secrets safe with me. Don’t worry.” Lev winks before giving Alina a kiss on the top of her head and standing up.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I gotta go. Business calls and all that.” He lifts his wallet and phone from our coffee table before leaning down to give Alina a kiss that’s a little too intimate to be doing while I’m sitting across from them.
They finally break apart and he walks over to me with his arms wide open and I just stare at him.
“Aww c’mon Wills. I thought after today I was one of the girls, don’t give me that look.” He pouts and I can’t believe his charm actually works on me, but I stand to give him the hug he wanted.
“You got this. And I will seriously cut his balls off and bring them to you all wrapped up in gift paper and everything if you want moya sastra.” He says as he gives me a tight bear hug.
“What does that mean?” I ask while being suffocated by him.
“Well I would take a knife to hi—.”
“No Lev, Jesus Christ. I mean ‘moya sestra’. What does that mean?” I ask him curiously.
“Ohhh. It means ‘my sister’ in Russian.” He shrugs nonchalantly.
“You know, since I’m gonna marry your soul sister someday, you’ll be my soul sister in law.” He winks as he releases me from the hug and pats me on the head.
“Shut up Lev, don’t push your luck.” Alina laughs while looking at him and I swear if we were cartoon characters her eyes would have those big hearts pulsating from them along with her heartbeat.
They both have it so bad for each other that I actually wouldn’t take marriage off the table for them which is a crazy thing to say about Alina.
“Goodbye moi lyubimyye.” Lev shouts making his way to the stairs.
“Text me when you get to the club safe!” Alina shouts back at him before we hear the front door closing below.
“That was an interesting day.” She says wiggling her eyebrows at me.
“Fine. Your new golden retriever is great. Happy now?”
“Yessss! I told you you’d love him Willow! And look how good he was about the whole situation with Dragna. He’s fucking perfect.”
“I think you threatening him as soon as he arrived maybe had something to do with him being so good about it all.” I raise a brow at her.
“Oh shush. They have to be just a little bit scared of you for it to work. Trust me.” She goes back to reading her book while I’m now thinking about Dragna again.
I hate him. How can him and Lev be so close and run a business together when one of them is so sickeningly sweet and the other is, well, Dragna?
I have no clue how they both grew up within the same family and turned out so different.
———————————————————
It’s a good day today. I feel good after our girls day yesterday, Alina is feeling better and we’re back in work together living our lives as happy as we were before my couple days of heartbreak.
I’m at the till serving a customer and Alina is in the back room going through a delivery we got in this morning when the bell for the door of the bookstore chimes, letting me know another customer has come in.
“Thank you, have a lovely day!” I say as I hand the girl I’m serving her bag. She smiles and walks away and that’s when I notice who just entered our shop.
“Hey you.” He says awkwardly as he approaches me.
My heart stops. Somehow I feel ice cold while also feeling like I am about to break out in a sweat.
My words get stuck in my throat as I stare at him in shock that he is actually here and standing in front of me.
I calm myself and prepare to put my big girl pants on before getting the courage to speak.
“What are you doing here?” I cross my arms over my chest and stand tall ready to tell him to get the hell out of our shop.
“I asked around and heard you were working here through friends. I just thought I would maybe ask if you would want to go get coffee sometime? We could have a talk?”
“You’re serious Fred? You think I want to have a coffee and a talk with you? Are you fucking delusional.” I’m so angry I forget there’s other customers in the shop as I swear at him.
I walk from behind the counter, grab his arm and drag him out to the front of the shop with me. When the door closes behind us I face him and push him in his chest with one finger.
“I don’t want anything to do with you. Ever. Again. Leave me alone and don’t ever come here again for me.” I turn around to head back inside and he grabs my arm and pulls me back towards him.
“Please Willow, I fucked up. I fucked up so badly and it’s been eating away at me for the last year.
I broke it off with Maria as soon as you left me.
I want another chance, please.” He gives me the puppy dog eyes that used to work on me a little too well and all I want to do is punch him square in the face.
“You want another chance?” I laugh in his face.
“Well I wanted a boyfriend who didn’t go around sticking his dick in other women!” I shout loudly.
“It was one girl.” He argues back at me.
“Oh forgive me! That makes it so much easier to understand.” I can feel my blood beginning to boil as I continue shouting at him.
“I’m sorry okay. I miss you and all I want is twenty minutes to talk to you over a coffee. I tried calling you but your numbers been disconnected.”
“Yeah I got a new phone, and why the hell do you still have my number?” I ask cautiously.
“It’s going to sound dumb because I’m the one who fucked everything up, but I kept your number incase you ever decided to call me again one day.
I also kept all our texts. I don’t know how many times I’ve read over them remembering how good we were together.
” He looks at me like his words are genuine, but I also believed he was faithful and only with me for the whole last twelve months of our relationship when in reality he was sneaking around behind my back.
“No, we weren’t good together.” I finally respond.
“You hated my friends, hated that I went out all the time.” He rubs the back of his neck and looks at me with so much sorrow at my words.
“I was jealous, okay? You were able to live your life so freely. You had a group of friends who all loved you. All I had was my dad breathing down my neck about following in his footsteps and joining his company.” A tang of understanding for him hits my heart, because what he said is true but I never knew this is how he felt.
His dad is in line for 'biggest asshole award’ right beside Dragna.
Great, now I’m thinking about Dragna while my ex who broke my heart is standing in front of me pouring out his. What has my life become the last couple weeks?
Fred grabs my hand and cups it between both of his.
“I just want to talk to you Willow. I miss having you there, even as a friend. We grew up together and then all of a sudden you weren’t there anymore and I felt lost. Just one quick coffee and then you can tell me to fuck off again if you want and I promise I will.”
I can’t believe I’m considering this, but what’s one more bad decision to add to the list?
“You can have twenty minutes. Meet me here at three when I finish.” I tell him as I walk back to the shop door.
“You won’t regret it I promise. Thanks Wills.” He flashes me his golden smile that always wins everyone over and I just hope I’m not making a mistake. It’s just coffee, completely harmless.
I walk back into the shop and watch him walk away through the window when my heart stops and I feel the air around me go cold.
The car.
It’s parked across the street. The same one that followed me, the same one that drove past our apartment. It’s parked down the street hidden between two other cars, but I would know it anywhere and it can’t be a coincidence. I know now for a fact now that I’m being stalked.