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"What in the ever-loving fuck
is going on here?"
- Dominic
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Chapter 45 - A Great Divide
▪️N A T A S H A▪️
The last two months were interesting to say the least.
Sergey and I were now an official couple and everyone knew about our relationship. However, given the world we lived in, things were never quiet for long and soon after the incident with Patel, there had been some issues concerning Michele Lombardo back in Detroit.
Since Litizia had not been able to infiltrate his organisation to work undercover for him, Jade had gone up with a small team to do some snooping of her own. Seeing as Michele was still bitter about Litizia marrying Aleksandr and with Patel's sudden disappearance within Aelbank City, Jade wanted to make sure that Michele was indeed staying out off trouble.
As a result, I had not seen much of her over the last few weeks.
Which I was so thankful for because my God, the questions she would ask were as invasive as they were inquisitive. Jade, much like everyone else, was very happy for me. But, given the petty rivalry she had with Sergey, she could not help but check up on me almost daily, making sure that I was being treated well while also threatening his life.
Though she could often be pushy and overbearing, there was nothing I would change about Jade. She was protective of those she loved, and I was grateful for how much she cared about me.
I was standing in front of the mirror wall in my dance school.
Ever since Sergey had brought up the idea of me having my own school, I had been putting aside time, getting private dance lessons. If I was going to be teaching ballet, I wanted to make sure that I still had the correct form.
After formally handing in my resignation to Aleksandr, I had officially opened my dance school last week.
Interestingly enough, before the school itself had been opened, all of my classes were already booked. Though I may not have been dancing on a big stage in Paris, I found that I loved teaching just as much as performing. In time, I planned to hire more staff as for now, I only taught small groups, starting from ages four and up.
There was even a ballet class just for boys and I had been surprised by how quickly those slots had filled as well.
With my eyes focused on my reflection, I worked on some choreography.
My mornings were usually free, so I tended to spend that time running errands. Once those were completed, I liked to spend at least an hour exercising, keeping myself fit, which surprise, surprise, was in the form of dancing. It was so easy to just get lost in the movements, so it was no wonder I had named my dance school Lost In Motion, which I found to be quite fitting.
During the next two hours, I got lost in the music, but the sudden ringing of my phone pulled me from my trance.
Glancing at the time, I frowned slightly before pausing the music. I then quickly grabbed the device and upon seeing Litizia's name flashing on the screen, I immediately picked up.
"Zia? Is everything alright?"
"No! I'm joining Jade into the call now."
The sound of her frantic voice immediately put me on high alert and when Jade answered, Litizia proceeded to tell us something that had my jaw dropping. Apparently, Aleksandr had asked her to go get him something from his desk, purposefully sending her to look into a drawer that contained divorce papers in it.
"That can't be right, there's no way he would ask you for a divorce," I said.
The hum of Litizia's motorcycle could be heard through the phone as she replied, "I don't know, after he stalled in telling me about it, I didn't really give him a chance to explain. I left, needing to clear my head."
"What?" Jade bellowed, "You left the manor without an escort, Zia? You know you shouldn't be out alone, especially with Michele running around!"
"I know, I'm sorry, I was just so angry, I just panicked and left before I said something stupid."
Quickly changing out of my workout clothes, I asked, "Where is Viktor?"
"I'm not sure, I lost him and the others among the traffic."
Given that all our vehicles had tracking devices, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before they caught up to her. But from the tone of Litizia's voice, it was clear that she wanted some time to think and did not want to be around Aleksandr right now.
"What do you want to do? Do you need us to come get you?" I was already locking up and heading to my car.
"Would you?"
"You're asking answers! Where are you now?" Jade huffed out.
Litizia paused before answering, "I'm a few miles from the shore, near the pier."
"Okay, Quin is near there running an errand for Dom, I'll send him to get you, meet him by the candy apple stall. Someone will take your bike and drive it to other side of the city, by the rocky coastline under the old bridge, giving you some more time. Nat, come to my house, we'll all meet up here within the hour."
I could hear the sigh of relief as Litizia said thank you.
Jade and I both told her that there was nothing to be thankful for, we were her friends and would do anything to protect her. Even if it meant hiding her from her husband as well as our going against our own significant others, which in hindsight might not have been the best thing, but in my opinion, Aleksandr should not have allowed Litizia to just leave like that.
As soon as I hung up the phone, it rang again, only this time it was Sergey.
"Where is she?"
Arching a brow at his agitated tone, I said, "Well hello to you too."
"I'm sorry, but Aleksandr is freaking the fuck out and even though we're currently tracking Litizia via GPS, I know that you know where she's headed."
"Do I though?"
Sergey let out a sigh, "Dammit, Nat, he knows that she's going to come to you and Jade–"
"Then if he knows that, why doesn't he focus on getting his wife, instead of having you call me? And shame on you too!"
"Me! What did I do?"
Even though I could not see his face, I could clearly picture the way his brows would have scrunched up at my accusation.
"You called me thinking I'd tell you where my best friend is? As if! Just as you have Aleksandr's back, it's the same where Litizia and Jade are concerned, I would never betray them, not even for you."
I could hear the way his breathing deepened through the phone.
Not giving him a chance to speak, I continued, "Speaking of betrayals, did you know about the divorce papers?"
The long pause on the other spoke volumes, I clearly had my answer.
"Oh Seryozha, how could you!"
"In my defence, the papers were drawn up before he had even met Zia and I don't even know why he still has them. He was supposed to have destroyed them; I swear to you on our unborn children, I have no idea why he did what he did and I'd kick his ass right now but I need to get Zia back safely first."
Scoffing, I replied, "I guess Aleksandr's not so perfect after all..."
"Baby–"
"No, don't baby me, go see to your friend, I'll see to mine."
He let out a breathy laugh, "Fuck, I love it when you get all bossy on me."
"I'm hanging up now, I love you."
"I love you too."
Shaking my head, I put the phone down and floored the gas, reaching the Calvetti manor in record time. Litizia arrived soon after and I wasted no time in hugging her to me where she immediately broke down and cried.
We knew we had about half and hour or so before Aleksandr and Sergey realised that Litizia's motorcycle had been dumped. But with Litizia safely within the confines of Jade and Dominic's home, there was no way that the Russian mafia boss could get his hands on her.
Hell, they had a frigging anti-tank gun in the garage!
I had heard a few stories involving the Pak40 which had been painted in purple and grey camouflage. In all honesty, I should not have been surprised that Dominic Calvetti would own something like that.
With the way Jade's face contorted in anger, I did not put it past her to fire the large calibre weapon on Aleksandr when he showed up.
"You knew, didn't you, Jade?" Litizia unexpectedly asked.
The purple-haired woman was pacing about the living room, but upon hearing the question, she almost tripped. Jade's green eyes were full of guilt and even though I wanted to be mad at her for not giving Litizia a heads up, I acknowledged that she must have had a good reason for not saying anything.
After all, Jade was the one who had managed to talk Aleksandr into marrying Litizia in the first place. It made no sense that she would know about him wanting a divorce and not say anything, especially when she knew how much Litizia loved her husband.
Jade may have been a sadist, but she would never betray her friends like that.
I watched in fascination as Jade walked over to where we were sitting on the couch and got onto her knees. She stated that she did know about the divorce papers, and like Sergey had said, they were drawn up before Aleksandr and Litizia had even met.
Jade however had no idea that he kept the papers nor did she know why. But had she known about their existence, she would have advised Aleksandr to show Litizia.
It was hard for me to sit here and watch one of my best friends be upset. From the forlorn expression on Litizia's face, it was obvious that she was confused. She knew that Aleksandr loved her, of that no one had any doubts. The baffling part was the fact that he had kept the divorce papers, for none of us could understand the purpose of it.
Letting out a sigh, Litizia mumbled, "I'm sure I'll find out everything in time. But I just need some space right now."
"Feel free to stay here for as long as you want," Jade offered.
"I just might take you up on that!" Litizia said, "Anyway, I don't know about the two of you, but I'd rather talk about something else. How's Lauren doing? Is everything with the baby going alright?"
Lauren was Jade and Dominic's surrogate.
The embryo had been transferred successfully just after Litizia and Aleksandr's wedding, giving us even more things to celebrate. Even though Jade could not physically carry children, they had found someone willing to do so and I could not have been more excited at the prospect that Jade and Dominic were expecting a baby.
As unorthodox as their relationship was, I just knew that they would make wonderful parents and I could not have been happier for them. Especially knowing how much Jade wanted to be a mother.
Jade's face transformed as she beamed, "Lauren's great, she's currently upstairs taking a nap."
"You'll be an amazing mother!" I said eagerly while Litizia nodded in agreement.
Since we all knew the sex of Jade and Dominic's unborn child, we had already made plans to go shopping for baby clothes as well as furniture. With the talk of onesies and colour pallets for Aurelio's nursery, the smile on Litizia's face returned as she momentarily forgot about her problems.
Unfortunately, her little bubble of happiness would come crashing down when Aleksandr arrived in Sergey's G-Wagon which was now parked in the courtyard.
Jade locked Litizia in one of the upstairs bedrooms before she stormed outside, her Beretta M9 in her hand.
Myself and Quintin ran out into the courtyard behind her.
We gave each other a look, the both of us understandably worried. The fact that Jade even allowed Aleksandr to enter the compound meant that she planned on confronting him and there was no telling how things would go.
I took a deep breath and watched Jade stand a few feet away from Aleksandr who had Sergey next to him.
They seemed unfazed at the fact that Jade held a gun and made no attempts to reach for their own. I felt my heart beat faster when Sergey looked over at me, his eyes silently conveying that everything would be alright.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing your fucking face here!" Jade yelled, waving her weapon.
Ignoring the gun in her hand, he spoke in a calm voice, "Where's my wife? I know that she's in there."
Aleksandr looked past Jade; his eyes focused on the various floor-to-ceiling windows of the house behind him. There was no way for him to see through the mirrored panes, but that did not stop him from glancing at each and every available window before he began to walk forward.
"Take another step and I will shoot you," Jade threatened.
I watched as Aleksandr's gaze narrowed. He clearly decided to call her bluff by taking another step forward. However, before his foot could even touch the ground, Jade fired, the bullet hitting the cobblestone that he would have stepped on.
"Holy fucking hell!" Sergey swiftly drew his weapon.
I could see Jade's shoulders stiffen, and my eyes widened how fast Sergey managed to get his gun out, aiming it at her head. It was clear from the precise movements that him taking out his weapon had been done on pure reflex, after all, he was Aleksandr's right-hand man and would do anything to protect him.
"Jade..." Aleksandr's voice held a warning, even though he took a step back, his hands remaining at his sides.
"Oh, is this what we're doing now, Sasha? You're going to have your dog shoot me?"
Sergey had the audacity to laugh, "If I'm a dog protecting its master, what does that make you? You're the one who fired first after all, violating the Aelbank Mafia treaty."
"Fuck you, Sergey! I'm the purple-haired demon, remember? I will protect my friends, even if it means burning this entire alliance to the fucking ground to save one of them!" Jade retorted, the aim of her gun lifting to Aleksandr's face.
Holy shit!
The stand-off was like watching a great divide.
There was no doubt in my mind that if Jade fired, Sergey would not hesitate to do the same and it was in that moment I realised that was why she had locked Litizia in a room. Jade had already made up her mind to protect her friend at all costs and she knew that Litizia would have ran outside to prevent such a situation.
Just as I was about to open my mouth and try to talk some sense into Jade, Quintin quickly took a step forward. Now standing right next to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder to which she quickly shrugged off.
With a sigh, he pleaded, "Jade, you need to stop and think this through. If you shoot Aleksandr, you'd be starting a war and we both know that the Russians out number us."
Thankfully, Dominic's purple Bugatti drove up next to Sergey's vehicle.
The the loud screeching of tires filled the air before the Calvetti mafia boss stalked out of his car, with Vincent exiting right behind him.
Dominic's pale skin contrasted beautifully against his purple pinstripe suit. Upon seeing the scene in front of him, I could have sworn that had his hair not already been silvery-white, he would have turned grey right in that moment.
"What in the ever-loving fuck is going on here?" Dominic shouted, a vein pulsing at his temple.
Quintin proceeded to give a quick run down of the situation and Dominic's blue eyes widened as he briefly turned to face Aleksandr. From the look of his facial expression, I could see that he was silently asking what the fuck, confused as to all the commotion that was going on.
"Jade, put the gun down!" Dominic said.
She glanced at him and her frown deepened as she shook her head, openly defying him.
What the Calvetti mafia boss did next shocked the shit out of me, and based on the look on everyone's face, they were just as stunned as well. For never in a million years could I have anticipated the following events.
Dominic snarled and moved to stand in front of Aleksandr, effectively blocking Jade's shot.
"Holy shit..." I whispered.
Jade huffed out, her annoyance visible, "Move out of the way, Dom!"
"Heh! Over my dead body," he replied with a cackle.
Sergey then lowered and holstered his gun, his eyes glancing towards me before refocusing on what was going on in front of us.
The breath in my throat hitched as I watched Dominic walked towards his wife, keeping himself within the line of fire, providing a shield for Aleksandr. He kept walking until his forehead was pressed firmly against the barrel of Jade's gun.
"Dominic, move. This is between me and Aleksandr," she stated.
"You know I can't do that..."
Keeping her weapon against him, she said, "You'd really risk your life for his?"
In reply, he simply cackled, the sound sending shivers down my spine while he continued to push his head against her gun. It was such a mind-boggling exchange that I honestly could not believe what I was witnessing.
"So, what now, my little hellfire?" Dominic asked, a devious smirk on his face.
I could not see Jade's face, but I noticed the way her finger twitched on the trigger and before I could even blink, Dominic was disarming her, dragging her body against his. Jade began to fight against him, cursing his name.
"You need to leave, Tolstoy."
"But my wife–"
"Will be safe, I promise you on my life," Dominic said as he held a shouting Jade.
Aleksandr visibly sighed, his brows creasing as he turned to get back into the black vehicle. Sergey called me over with a tilt of his head.
Looking over my shoulder, I watched as Dominic dragged a grumbling Jade into the house while Quintin and Vincent held hands as they walked behind them before I jogged over towards Sergey.
"I'm going to be heading to Detroit now, so I won't be home later," he said.
"What? Now?" I asked, my eyes rounding.
Nodding he replied, "With the way things are right now, Aleksandr is moving up the time-line to get Michele, he won't be able to relax until."
I understood the urgency.
Michele Lombardo had signed his death warrant the day he threatened Litizia's life. The man had clearly been living on borrowed time and it seemed as though the Russian mafia boss was coming to collect his head.
"Alright, please be safe..."
Sergey smiled and nodded before he moved to cup my face, "I'm proud of you by the way."
"For what exactly?"
His thumb gently caressed the skin of my cheek as he said, "For being loyal to your friend. Hell, you even went up against me for her."
I could feel my cheeks warming with a blush, "Well, I learned from two of the best. You and Jade are the most loyal people I know. Speaking off, would you have really shot Jade?"
In reply, he leaned down and kissed me, stealing my breath.
When he pulled away, he gave me a wink before he walked back towards the vehicle that Aleksandr was currently sitting it. Sergey's eyes locked with mine briefly before he got into the driver's side and reversed out of the compound.
"I'll take that as a yes..." I mumbled before heading towards the house to go check in on Litizia.
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A/N: Aleksandr might be a bear, but Jade is Jade 🤭
Speaking of the big bear, I recently posted a bonus chapter in Aleksandr's book, titled Sasha and Seryozha 😏
The timeline is around their university years, so if you've not read it yet, head on over to Aleksandr and check it out!
Yes, there is spice... 👀