Fatal Alliances [✓]

05

CHAPTER FIVE

MALIA

WAS I BEING STALKED?

For a brief moment, I felt as though I couldn't say much. I became immobile as hundreds of thoughts raced through my mind, all warning me that I was in grave danger and that I should flee in the opposite direction, but not before giving the stranger in front of me a piece of my mind.

I prepared to swing by clenching my hand. There was no way I was going out without putting up a fight. I was prepared to strike first, despite the fact that doing so would have been insane owing to the fact that the stranger in front of me had yet to attack me himself. But that didn't matter, I knew it would be better to take preventative measures to protect myself, I had vowed to myself I wouldn't ever succumb to weakness after some past, weak altercations.

"I'm Romi Nikolai," He announced, his big hand outstretched. "Pleased to see you."

"Not interested," I snapped, mentally wiping away the drool which was probably dripping from my lips, "I don't exchange names with strangers and yet you know mine."

"Everybody you've met was once a stranger," Romi simply replied, "I promise I mean no harm."

He backed away for good measure, giving me the opportunity to scan him with my suspicious eyes. I wasn't going to be stupid, not when I had been trapped before. But the truth was, he looked too gorgeous to be harmful in any way, that itself was a warning sign.

"What are you doing alone in a place like this?" He asked me, genuine concern lacing his tone.

Did he actually care for me? No.

"I'm not alone," I argued, trying not to make direct eye contact as my tone became defensive, "My friends are here, Pepe's got quite a reputation, so I'd be careful about what I was going to do next if I were you. Don't even think about kidnapping me, or I'll scream. Pepe will have to go after you and skin you alive otherwise, and he truly doesn't enjoy that very much."

Perhaps I should have shoved my fist in my mouth at that moment, seeing as my verbal diarrhoea was getting the best of me. That, and I didn't know Pepe much at all, except maybe he was more of a safer person to be around than Romi Nikolai, even if the watch on his wrist cost more than a kidney and he dressed like he stepped out of a Vogue magazine; as well as being charted as one of the sexiest males under 30 this year.

But still, I was convinced he couldn't be trusted. I knew when to trust my gut instincts, I was always right to go with it, even in my current situation. I had to be.

"Pepito Savil, although a well-known tattoo artist, couldn't even hurt a fly if he tried." Romi laughed, though bashfully. "But yes, he's scary."

Oh bollocks, he'd caught me in a lie. It seemed he was a local and insinuating that Pepe could be trusted. He was now officially just another weirdo, yet one I felt comfortable leaving Imaani with. Lost in my thoughts, my eyes glazed up, and just about nothing crossed my mind for a second, until Romi shifted himself right under my nose and came closer to me, making me yelp.