Page 22 of Alexei

“Isn’t your brother married?” I asked, just in case he was talking about Vasili. Google Search was full of news on Vasili and his young wife. Yesterday, Vasili did all of the talking and his brother behaved like he couldn’t stand me. It was fine by me.

“Not that one,” Sasha blurted out. “The other one.”

Wonderful! The psychotic one. Somehow I knew it was him. My skin heated with agitation. At least that was what I told myself. Alexei Nikolaev was my least favorite Nikolaev brother. There was just something so disturbing about him.

Why were they having dinner here anyhow? They should be going to the restaurant designated for criminals. Not ruin a good time for normal people like me. Okay, maybe I wasn’t exactly normal, but fuck it. I was more normal than that cold man.

The irony was that I’d have to work with criminals to capture a criminal. Maybe I could put them all behind bars. But first, I’d use them for whatever they knew about the predator and then lock them all up.

I stabbed at my steak. “No, thank you.”

“Why not? It could be fun,” Willow piped up and my head snapped to her. She was eye fucking Sasha, actual drool dripping off the side of her mouth.Horny traitor!

“Because I don’t socialize with people I work with,” I snapped at her.Or might potentially put behind bars, but I kept the last words to myself.

“Enjoy the rest of your evening,” I added pointedly at Sasha, dismissing him. Without another word, I turned my eyes to my girlfriends, ignoring him as he stood there for another second.

“Oh, you and Alexei are going to be fun,” he chuckled then nodded at the girls. “Ladies.”

He strode back to his table, while I fought the urge to glance towards it.

“He said something to the other dude,” Sailor rasped in a hushed tone. “Are those tattoos on his face?”

The side of my cheek burned. I didn’t have to look to know that Alexei was the one burning a hole into me.

“I think he is giving him shit,” Willow added in a conspicuous tone. “I bet he decided to stir the pot. Ohh, the guy that was staring at you stood up.” Tension seeped through me and I rolled my shoulders, trying to ease some of my tension. “He’s walking. Oh fuck, he’s coming this way.”

I wanted to snap at Willow to stop giving me a blow-by-blow commentary on events that didn’t concern me, but suddenly my mouth was so dry, the only thing I could do was swallow.

“Jesus, he looks pissed,” Sailor muttered under her breath. “Or is that his resting bitch face?”

My heart thundered under my ribs and my hand trembled slightly as I brought a drink to my lips. I downed my entire glass, the alcohol burning my throat. I lowered the glass down onto the table a tad bit forcefully, just as Alexei Nikolaev passed by our table.

Not a word. Not even a glance.

Just a large, dark shadow for a millisecond as he walked by.

“Jesus! And you’re working with him?” Willow questioned under her breath. “He is a scary motherfucker. Like a damn bulldozer,” she muttered.

Once he was out of sight, I released a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. It would have been almost better if I didn't look him up. Not that I found out a lot, but knowing these men had connections to the mafia rattled me.

“He scares you,” Sailor stated matter-of-factly.

I wasn’t certain that he scared me per se. More like rattled me. If the man would show an ounce of emotion or reaction, anything, I’d feel better. But he was so unmoving that I was convinced he was a psychopath disguised in black cargo pants and black t-shirt.

Okay, so maybe I was scared. I mean, who wouldn’t be!

An audible gulp traveled through the air.

I leaned forward, and the two of them did the same, eager to hear what I had to say.

“He’s just so… so-” I couldn’t find the appropriate word and gave up. “So cold, you know. Like he doesn’t have emotions or feel them. It is not normal to be so controlled.” A strand of my hair fell over my eye and I tucked it behind my ear. “And he’s connected to the mafia,” I added quietly. The morbid curiosity we held back then was what got us into all that mess. “It rattles me. Last time we were around someone like that… well, you know.”

Nobody knew about it but the three of us. Well, it was four, but one person was dead. Gabriel’s mother. Just thinking back to that spring break sent hives throughout my body.

Sadness flashed in Sailor’s eyes, while the fear I felt was reflected in Willow’s gaze. There was guilt too. All three of us felt responsible for what happened in Florida. We thought we were invincible. Anya was there to watch over us. We should have watched over her too.

Instead, we partied hard and did stupid, reckless things.