Page 148 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

“Yes, yes. I Natalivanka,” she said in a thick Russian accent.

Oh. Okay then. “Nice to meet you,” I said.

“You must be the sister. I’ve heard much about you. Mostly bad.” She gave me a hug.

“Mostly bad?”

“Yes, yes. You destroy my mother’s apartment.”

Oh crap!

She laughed. “I joke, I joke. As long as you feed the cat.”

There was a cat somewhere in that apartment?!

“So your mom knows?” Sophie asked. “And she’s cool about it?”

“Single Girl room? Yes, yes. She’s very...cold did you say? She not cold. She has heat. She live in castle. She a princess.”

“She’s asking if your mom is okay with the secret lair, babe,” Liam said.

“Yes, yes. Secret Single Girl Lair. My mother love it. She love Single Girl Rules.”

“Oh,” Sophie said. “Well, that’s fantastic. And what is this about a cat?”

I was glad she’d picked up on that too.

“Little Vladimir. Cat dictator. He behave?”

“Mhm,” Sophie said and gave me a look.

Yeah, I was pretty sure that cat was dead somewhere. I was surprised we hadn’t smelled anything.

“I’ve been taking care of Vlad,” Liam said.

“You’re my prince.” She grabbed both sides of Liam’s face and plopped a kiss on his lips.

Gross. Why was she so into my little brother?

“So...um...how old are you?” Sophie asked.

It would have been a rude question if Natalivanka was super old. But she just looked older than Liam. And older than us.

“She’s a freshman,” RJ said.

We all just stared at each other.

“I go to Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. Best university in world.”

That didn’t sound real to me. The friendship what? Wait. “You’re a freshman in college?”

“Yes, yes. I become surgeon.”

“You do know that my brother is a freshman in high school.”

“I do not know what this high school is you speak of.”

“Secondary school,” Liam offered.

“Yes, yes. My prince is in secondary.” She started making out with Liam again.

I turned away. “Is that even legal?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” Sophie said.

“I think you may have lost your date,” Axel said.

I looked over at where Olivia and Jacob were still talking. I cleared my throat. “They’re just friends.”

“You sure about that?”

No. I wasn’t. Not even a little bit. “He’s my boyfriend,” I said.

“And you trust him?”

I nodded.

“Maybe she spends every night in his bed like I spend every night in yours.”

I would literally die. Which made me feel guilty for what I was doing with Axel.

I cleared my throat. “Congrats on the win today,” I said, trying to change the subject.

The Empire High Eagles had ended up winning by two touchdowns.

I’d already gotten to congratulate Jacob on the field after the game.

But I hadn’t gotten a chance to congratulate Axel yet.

He just shrugged.

“It was a great game.”

“It’s just a shame.”

“What?” I asked.

“It’s a shame that you spent all game cheering for someone who doesn’t even realize you’re in the same room as him right now.”

So much for changing the subject . I looked back over at Jacob and Olivia.

My mom and dad walked into the living room, obscuring my view of them for a moment. Jacob’s mom and Uncle Matt had come over too. And Uncle Rob, Aunt Daphne, Uncle Tyler, and Aunt Hails were here too.

“Picture time,” Uncle Rob said. “Everyone get together in your couples for some group photos first. Sophie, you look so beautiful tonight.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

He didn’t seem to have any issue with her see-through dress.

It felt like it took forever for Jacob to separate from Olivia. My heart was racing. Was everyone staring at me standing here alone? Or was it just in my head? No...my parents were staring.

Jacob put his arm behind my back and his hand settled on my hip for the pictures.

I turned to the side so his hand would fall and put my arms around Sophie.

She laughed and hugged me back for a picture.

But then our parents wanted everyone in just their couples.

I awkwardly stepped to the side with Jacob.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yup.” I forced a smile on my face as my mom took a picture.

“You seem mad,” he said.

“I’m not mad.”

“Usually when a girl says she’s not mad she’s super mad.”

I turned to him. “So you’ve dated enough girls to know that, huh?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

My mom cleared her throat. “Can we maybe do one with Jacob behind you with his arms around you? They always did that when I was in school.”

My dad smiled down at her. “Rob, take a picture of us.” He tossed a phone to his brother.

Uncle Rob caught it and my mom and dad posed in the way she’d mentioned. It was actually really cute.

“Are you guys seriously crashing their homecoming?” Uncle Rob asked.

“We’re not crashing,” my dad said. “We’re chaperoning.”

“Same thing.”

“Seriously, what are you upset about?” Jacob asked while our parents were distracted.

“I told you I’m not upset.”

“Is it because I was talking to Olivia?”

This conversation made me want to melt into the floor. “No.”

“It’s just been a while since I’ve seen her.”

Right. Since Sunday when they were working on their project. Since they hung out every Sunday or something? “Mhm.”

“We were just talking, Scarlett.”

I nodded. “I know that.”

“Then why are you looking at me like you want to slap me?”

I laughed. “I don’t want to slap you.”

His eyes searched mine. “I won’t talk to her again, if that’s what you want.”

“That’s not what I want. Can we please just...pretend I didn’t make a face? Or whatever it was I did that made you think I was upset?”

“I don’t want to pretend you’re not upset.” He put his hand on the side of my face. “I want to know why you’re upset so I can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“If Justin saw you touching my face he’d scream.”

Jacob laughed and dropped his hand. “Did you have fun getting ready tonight?”

I was relieved that he was changing the subject. “Yeah. But Justin had a really weird story. About your mom at homecoming. Something about an old newspaper and my dad saving her?”

“Never heard that one before,” Jacob said. “My mom only talks about stories of her and Coach from high school. Well...before she left with my dad, I mean.”

“I think Justin was just elaborating some crazy tale.”

Jacob smiled. “Probably.”

I wasn’t even sure what I’d been upset about earlier. Jacob wouldn’t be standing here checking on me if he wanted to be going to homecoming with someone else.

I realized we were both just awkwardly staring at each other. “You look really handsome tonight, Jacob.”

“I had to step up my A-game for my beautiful date.”

I felt my cheeks flush.

“We need a few more group photos,” my dad said.

This time, I let Jacob put his arm around me.

“These might be the best homecoming photos of you guys yet,” Aunt Brooklyn said with a smile.

I looked up at Jacob.

He kissed my cheek as the cameras flashed again.

“Oh,” Natalivanka said. “Homecoming? You didn’t say.”

“Yeah, babe,” Liam said. “It’s a homecoming dance.”

“Okay. I sorry. I understand.” She unzipped the back of her dress and let it fall to the floor.

Oh my God.

“Babe, what are you doing?” Liam asked calmly, like his girlfriend hadn’t just flashed everyone in our family.

“You say homecoming. I come home, I take off dress. I no wear dress at home. This homecoming.”

“It’s just the name of the dance, babe.”

“So...dress? I no understand. It is homecoming , my prince.”

Sophie stifled a laugh as Liam helped Natalivanka back into her dress.

“Happy with what our daughter is wearing now?” my mom asked my dad.

My dad was glaring at the skirt of my dress.

I looked down. The way I was posing made the slit go up sky high. Oops. I moved my leg so that the slit would go away.

Axel walked over to me. “Can we maybe get one picture together?” he asked. “My mom wants it.” He didn’t wait for me to respond. He pulled me away from Jacob.

Aunt Hails smiled at me. “You look beautiful, Scarlett.”

“Thanks, Aunt Hails.”

Axel wrapped his arms around me from behind, like the picture my mom had wanted.

“This is a great picture,” Uncle Tyler said.

My mom hurried over. “I need one of these too. James, take a picture.”

“The lighting is wrong,” my dad said.

My mom grabbed his phone from him and snapped a picture. “Aw. Perfect you two. I’m definitely framing this one.”

“Me too,” Uncle Tyler said.

My dad grabbed his phone back from my mom.

Axel lowered his mouth to my ear. “If he’s cheating on you, I’m going to beat the shit out of him.”

“What?” I turned my head.

“Did you not see the way Jacob was looking at Olivia?”

My stomach dropped. I had. But I was hoping it had been in my head because Jacob had been so reassuring about the whole thing. “They’re just friends.”

He turned me around so I was facing him. “You and Jacob were just friends at the beginning of the school year. Things change apparently.”

“I’m aware that things change.” Because when Axel and I were kids he loved me back.

“You deserve better,” Axel said.

“Better than your best friend?”

“Well he’s acting like a dick right now.” He nodded his head. Jacob was talking to Olivia again.

But it was clear that she’d walked over to him.

And this time he kept glancing at me. Probably because he thought he was going to get in trouble again.

I sighed. “I feel like if it was up to you and my dad, I’d be single for the rest of my life.”

“What’s so bad about being single?”

“Axel, you’re only ever single for five minutes. So don’t pretend for a second that you understand.”

“I’m actually really enjoying being single right now. I have so much more free time to do whatever I want.” He raised his eyebrow at me.

I rolled my eyes.

“Like annoy you, apparently.”

I laughed.

“How about we make a vow?”

“What?”

“Break up with the boyfriend. Be single. And I promise to be single for the rest of the year too.”

“That’s a stupid vow,” I said.

“Is it?”

Yes! It was. I didn’t want Axel to want me to be single. I wanted Axel to want me to be his.

Axel’s eyes darted over toward Jacob again.

I turned to see Olivia laugh and put her hand on his chest.

“Just say the word,” Axel said.

I wasn’t sure if he was talking about this stupid vow or his promise to beat up Jacob.

But now I was worried that our homecoming would involve a fist fight like my dad’s.

I just hoped I wouldn’t need to be saved like Aunt Brooklyn in Justin’s story.

Especially if it was my dad somehow saving me. That sounded really embarrassing...