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20. Breakfast

September 2026,
Scars Bay, USA

Katerina

I operated this past week on auto-pilot mode. I woke up, got ready for the day, went to work, dealt with problems all day, went home, and then slept.

For the first time in my entire life, work didn't have a therapeutic effect on me. At the end of a long day, I didn't feel like I accomplished something. I didn't feel good about myself. In fact, I felt glad to be done with work for the day because it meant that the day was almost over. And I was one day closer to Alyanna coming back home.

I had talked to her a few times over the phone during the last week but something felt off. Her mind was occupied elsewhere. And no, it wasn't work. That, I was sure of. Jayden and I had known immediately that she was lying when she said that work was the reason she couldn't come home with us right away. She wasn't that good of a liar and we knew her since we were babies. I could smell that she was full of shit from a mile away.

The mystery was why she lied to us. She had been pretty sure that she would come home with us but two hours alone with the brothers had changed her mind. Not only did they change her mind, but they had also convinced her to lie to us about the reason she couldn't come.

I didn't know what to make of the three of them. Something fishy was definitely going on. Initially, I thought that Dimitri could be trusted but after this whole stunt, I wasn't sure. I thought he was team Alya-should-come-back-home but apparently not. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed when he switched sides. Despite appearances and assholery because of misplaced jealousy on his part, I thought he was a decent guy. And I thought we had something. I knew that nothing would come of it but it still bothered me.

The whole thing with Dimitri turned out to be a big, fat disappointment. Just like life was.

The doorbell rang and I groaned. I had given the housekeeper a leave today because I was supposed to be out all day. And now, I had to open the door myself while I was in the middle of doing my makeup.

I looked in the mirror. I was almost done; I just had to apply lip liner, lipstick, and mascara and change clothes. For a moment, I considered not opening the door. It was Saturday morning and the clock hadn't even struck 9 am yet. The person on the other side of the door was quite inconsiderate to come over uninvited at this hour. And since the concierge hadn't called to clear the entry, it was someone from the building. Ugh. Neighbors.

The doorbell rang again and this time, it rang several times. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to just ignore this person.

I shrugged on a morning robe and padded down to the entrance. The screen was black which meant that the person on the other side of the door was covering the security camera.

It was either a thief or it was some kid. It was probably a kid but I picked dealing with a thief over them any day.

I opened the door and was stupefied to come face to face with a grinning Dimitri.

What?! Was I dreaming? Was I imagining him here?

"Good morning, neighbor." His grin widened.

Neighbor? Neighbor? Had I heard him right?

A million thoughts ran through my mind. What the hell was he doing here? Didn't he live in a different country? Didn't he live on a different continent? Why was he here? When did he come here? When did he move in? How did he know it would be me on the other side of this door? Was he stalking me? Was he some weird, creepy stalker and I had somehow managed to miss the red flags?

I blinked and took a good look at him just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

He looked freshly showered with slightly damp hair that made his curls look more prominent. His green eyes were bright and warm. He was wearing a dark blue polo-neck t-shirt with a white collar that hugged his broad shoulders and wide chest. The t-shirt was neatly tucked into tailored black pants that showed off his muscular legs. He sure knew how to dress well.