9. Alessia
CHAPTER NINE
ALESSIA
I wake up to the smell of coffee and an empty bed. I know it’s early because the sunlight hasn’t began to push through the curtains. I hit my phone to see that it’s 5:00 a.m. What the ever-loving fuck. I roll out of bed and slug downstairs. Astor is standing in the kitchen, shirtless, with a pair of dark gray sweatpants and a coffee mug in his hand. He looks up when he hears me entering.
“Why the fuck are you awake at 5:00 a.m., when we just went to bed at 2:00 a.m.?”
“What’d I say about cursing at me?”
I roll my eyes at him and climb on the bar stool, to which he raises his eyebrow at me. I raise one back and he sips his coffee. “Go back to bed, Alessia. I’m going for a run.” He slams the coffee mug down, a little too hard, and brushes past me, giving me a whiff of his woodsy, smoky scent. I groan inwardly and throw my head back. I follow behind him and climb back into his bed as he puts his running clothes on.
“What time did my mom say the meeting was?”
“She’s your mom, call her.”
“Nice to see you back to your normal, grumpy self.” He ignores me while he slides his shoes on. “Can I ask you something?” I press.
“Even if I say no, you’re still going to ask, so go ahead.”
I take a quick deep breath and twiddle my fingers. He looks up at me and sighs. “Whatever it is, just say it.”
“What did I do that made you start hating me? I remember we used to be friends, we used to be nice to each other. But then one summer, you just changed. You stopped being nice to me. Did I do something?”
He stills for a moment before quickly regaining his composure. “Why does it matter?”
“Because if I’m going to be forced to marry you, I’d at least like to know if our relationship is doomed because of something I did.”
“There is no relationship. This is a business deal that our fathers made.” He marches over to the side of the bed and gets in my face. “We will never be anything more than a piece of paper. And that’s because of you . Be ready at 12:00 p.m.”
“I hate you,” I whisper.
He smirks. “Good. Hating me will make it easier.”
I hear the door shut and I throw the covers back, pulling my phone out. He’s dumber than I thought if he thinks I’ll be here when he gets back.
Me:
Come get me? I’ll love you forever.
Caroline:
Bitch, it’s 5am..
Me:
I’m at Astor’s.
Caroline immediately calls and I answer.
“What the fuck do you mean you’re at Astor’s? Why are you at Astor’s?”
I sigh as I pull my clothes on, putting the phone on speaker.
“I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Our parents are making us get married.”
“What?!” she screams, making me roll my eyes. “Bitch, tell me you’re fucking kidding me.”
“I wish. But in two weeks, I’ll be Mrs. Astor Pavlov. Woo fucking hoo.”
“Two weeks?! What the fuck is this shit? He can’t stand to be near you! I mean, I secretly think he pushes you away because he loves you. And I secretly think you hate him because you want to fuck him. But I mean marrying each other ? That’s pure fucking insanity.”
“Yeah, well, you can’t tell anyone. We have to make it seem real for the Bratva.”
“Jesus Christ. Ok, whatever. Drop a pin and I’m on my way.”
“Love you, Caro.”
“Yeah, bitch, you better.”
We hang up and I grab my things, stopping when I’m about to walk out of his room. I quickly make his bed and head downstairs.
Fuck Astor and his brutish ways.
True to her word, Caroline’s Audi arrives at the gate twenty minutes later. I slam the door shut and run towards the gate. I’m too afraid that if she comes in, Astor will return and we won’t be able to get out. The guard sees me and opens the gate, grabbing my arm as I run past.
“He’s going to come after you, you know.”
“Did he tell you to keep me here?” I look down at his grip on my arm and he lets go, shaking my head.
“He didn’t say to let you leave, either.” I take my knee and ram it into his junk, making him drop.
“Well, now you have an excuse as to how I left…you’re welcome.” I climb into the car and Caro is full blown laughing at the sight of a grown man on his knees. She backs the car up just as I see Astor and two of his bodyguards running into view.
“Caro, go. He’s back from his run.” She looks over her shoulder and shrugs as she steps on the gas. We both laugh as she takes the first corner, but when my phone rings, she glances at me with a smirk.
“Is that him?” I nod and hit decline. Fuck him. “He’s just going to call you back. Why am I kidnapping you, anyway?
“Because he already thinks he owns me. I can’t take his demeaning conversation skills any longer.”
“It’s been one day , Lessia.”
“Yeah, and that was long enough.” I look down at my vibrating phone and see his name and I decline again. She sighs and I turn to her. “Something on your mind, Caro?” I say sarcastically.
“I just think that maybe you should give it a chance.” Doesn’t everyone?
“You were just saying how bat shit crazy this was. Now you’re saying to give it a chance?”
“Oh no, the marriage thing is absolutely fucking crazy, but being together might not be so bad if you two just stop being so fucking cold to each other.”
“He started it.”
“Alessia, you’re my best fucking friend and you know I’ll always have your back and support you. But do you honestly hate him? Or do you hate the idea of him?”
I sigh and look out the window, mulling over her question.
“I hate that he made me hate him, when all I ever wanted to do was love him.”
“That’s what I thought.”
I pull at my fingers, remembering how close we were as kids. He always protected me and took no shit from anyone that tried to mess with me. The first time he was mean to me, I was twelve. He felt so bad for making me cry that he let me punch him anywhere I wanted for payback. When I was about to turn sixteen, he cut me off. I don’t remember much about it, honestly, which in itself is weird. It’s like I blocked that part of my childhood out. The part where I lost the one person I could run to for anything. But why? What the fuck did I do?
I need to remember what happened.