CLARA ROSSI
Having a post-traumatic stress disorder sucked.
As if life didn't already feel out of control, every little thing triggered me. Thank God my therapist was smart. She taught me coping mechanisms. For the panic attacks, the spiraling thoughts, the irrational guilt. It would take a while to fully recover, but I would get there one day.
The next morning, I went to the nearest community college with Charlotte. We signed up for classes (mostly in business and finance) which would be useful later.
I had a plan. I would not be a victim of my dad's mistakes. Once they caught him and we returned to our lives, I'd repair the damage he created.
It was near five and windy when we finished class. I was laughing at something she said on our way out of the building when I saw Daniel and Niko chit-chatting with two girls.
When we reached them, the women had left already. I could've sworn Daniel looked annoyed, but he wiped any trace of it away in a blink.
"Where's Andrei?" Charlotte asked.
"At work." Niko didn't make eye-contact with her. He was scanning every passing soul over our shoulders. "Daniel and I finished early. Thought we should come by and check out the place..."
Was this the same jokester who laughed anytime at anything? Because right now, he looked like he could beat a guy with a baseball bat and enjoy every second of it. So this was his other side. No wonder Charlotte never had a boyfriend.
Daniel was wearing a black leather jacket. The wind was messing with his dirty gold hair and the sun was making his hazel eyes shine even more. He smiled at me, innocent yet wicked, a contrast that never failed to affect me.
"How was school?"
I rolled my eyes, striding past him to get in the car. Go flirt with those women, prick.
"What's wrong? Did you change your mind about college?" He followed.
"Nope."
"Uh-oh. Did mother nature visit your uterus?"
I almost, almost laughed. He opened the car door for me, that infuriating amusement still on his mouth. The mouth that knew how to steal my air. Even if it was just that one time at the concert.
"Hey, how come you're not wearing the necklace?" He asked from the front seat as Niko got behind the wheel, and we slid in the back.
Because it was a ridiculously intimate gesture. Or maybe it was just me thinking that. And if I wore it, maybe it would mean too little to him and too much for me. "It didn't match my outfit."
"Oh."
I switched topics. "Are we going to get a third car or what?"
"What do you need a third car for?"
"To eat it. What do you think?" I couldn't believe the sarcastic look he gave me through the rearview mirror. "What? We don't need you two following us like creepy stalkers."
"Be glad I'm letting you go to college." His voice was bitter. "It's already stressing out."
"Be glad? Excuse me?"
"No one can be trusted. Not your professors. Not your classmates. Literally anyone could be a spy, just waiting for us to let our guard down."
"Don't you think you're being a bit paranoid?" Niko asked.
"Not even a little bit. Thanks for asking."
"CJ said that statistically no one has ever been killed in the Witness Protection Program," I argued. "Plus, we have to blend in, don't we?"
"We are blending in."
"But—"
"You're not getting your own car. End of discussion."
Shame heated my neck. "Do not talk to me like that—"
"You know I'm right. Last time you got your own car, you snuck out and I almost lost you."
"I—"
"And I admire how brave you are and I'm glad you're working so hard to heal. I'm doing everything in my power to help, but this is where I draw the line. You're not going anywhere without me until your dad is caught. You have a problem with that? Too bad. Deal with it."
I hated him. No. That was a lie. The truth was that no one had cared as passionately about me as Daniel. He cared so much, that he chose to chase after me that day instead of catching my dad.
He had him. He almost had him. But that day he fought for me. And he had been helping me to stand back on my feet ever since.
"Should I stop by a store?" Niko asked, spreading his hand on the steering wheel to turn.
"Nah, I'll ask Andrei to get tacos on his way home," said Daniel.
"Is he working late again?" Charlotte frowned.
Niko shrugged. "Probably."
"Why aren't you two more worried about him?" She snapped. "We're all partnered up. You two work together. I go to college with Clara. Andrei is all alone. What if something happens?"
"That's very true," I said.
"Yeah, okay." Daniel scoffed. "He works in the most monitored part of town, in a store filled with lace bras and rich women. What do you think is going to happen?"
Uh-oh. Charlotte did not like that.
"Should we visit?" I offered.
"You want to visit him?" Daniel scowled.
"Why not?" I feigned ignorance. "Maybe he gets a nice employee discount. Charlotte and I could use some new lace bras."
"I'm not going to a lingerie store with my sister," Niko complained.
"Aw, if only we had a third car." I fake pouted. "But we don't, so...what was Daniel's advice? Oh, deal with it."
Charlotte tried not to laugh and gave me a look that said 'thank you' and I smiled back, saying with my eyes 'I got you.'
Daniel wasn't joking. Andrei worked in the nicest area. We parked in front of the high-end boutique, tucked between designer sunglasses and a jewelry store.
The moment we stepped out of the car, Charlotte grabbed my arm. "What the hell are we doing here?!" she whispered in full-blown panic.
"Relax, we're just shopping."
"I am not shopping for underwear with my brother!"
"Obviously." I stopped by the entrance of the white double doors and turned to Niko and Daniel. "You're not coming in. Boundaries."
Daniel had the audacity to be disappointed. "But I wanted to see—"
Niko grabbed his shoulder. "Stay with me, I need to smoke."
"But—"
I didn't hear the rest of his nonsense as Charlotte and I opened the door to go in. Andrei was standing by the entrance on the other side, wearing a tailored and crisp black suit.
His eyes widened at Charlotte. "What are you doing here?"
"Shopping." I looped arms with her, knowing she'd be too nervous to explain. "You get a nice employee discount, don't you?"
"Why would I get a discount here?" He turned his gaze at Niko and Daniel out the window, like he couldn't believe they'd bring us here.
"Can I help you find anything?" A store associate approached us with a professional smile.
"Yes, my friend here needs new lingerie," I said, pointing to Charlotte. She didn't object. It was time for Andrei and Niko to learn a lesson. She wasn't a little girl anymore. "We're looking for some see-through bras with matching thongs. A couple of garter belts. Stockings, of course. Teddies. Babydolls. Corsets. Oh, do you have any sex toys?"
I could feel Andrei's soul leave his body behind us.
"We have everything." The store associate grinned. "Come, I'll show you."
"Perfect, thank you." I fake-gasped at a sheer bra hanging on a wall near Andrei. "Char, your nipples would look amazing in that!"
"I know right." She played along.
"You should model it for me."
"If you insist."
As we shopped around, we glanced at Andrei and struggled to not burst out laughing. He was stiff like concrete. Cheeks red. In obvious pain. By the time we were done, half of his hair had turned white and the other half had fallen.
But when we walked outside, Daniel was leaning against the car and next to him, Niko was laughing with a new woman.
And she was gorgeous. Beyond gorgeous. With jet-black long hair and seductive features. Even in a plain black sport bra and running shorts and a baseball cap, she looked unbelievably enigmatic.
"Guys!" Niko greeted us, anger gone. "This is Anna. I just found out she's house-sitting for her grandparents' cottage. The one right next to us! Isn't that crazy? She moved in yesterday."
Daniel was stone cold behind his sunglasses. "I didn't know Frank had a granddaughter,"
Frank? His name wasn't Frank. It was Henry—Oooh, he was testing her, wasn't he?
"Um, I'm actually not familiar with Mary's husband." Anna gave him a sheepish laugh. Jesus, even her laugh was sexy. "Mary was my English teacher in high school. She is like the mother I never had, so...we grew really close over the years. We're like a family."
Hm. Seemed genuine. Kind of.
Niko didn't have a suspicious bone in his body. "Well, if you ever need anything—"
"We're late—" Daniel cut him off, opening the car door for me. "Nice to meet you, Anna."
Oh, so it was nice to meet her, huh?
It didn't matter! I didn't care. It didn't matter.
The whole drive back, Daniel and Niko argued. Daniel kept telling him that Niko wasn't allowed to go to Anna's. Niko yelled that he was sick of being stuck with us, that he didn't want to deal with us playing matchmakers (oops). Then Charlotte lost her patience and scolded him, saying that he was being reckless and stupid.
I honestly couldn't blame Niko. Even I felt suffocated. Living under the same roof and not being able to talk to anyone else felt like prison. And he probably hated the growing tension between his sister and best friend, and maybe whatever was going on between me and Daniel.
When we got back, Niko stormed out to 'run' at the beach. Even though the sun had already sank behind the horizon and all the daylight was fading. Charlotte lounged on the patio to keep an eye on him. I moved to the kitchen to make something, because if I had to eat another frozen meal, I was going to vomit.
"You're cooking?" Daniel asked behind me.
I slammed the head of garlic onto the cutting board and sliced it in half with a razor-sharp knife.
"Hey." He wrapped my wrist around his hand. His voice more tender than it had been all day. "I'm sorry for all the yelling. I didn't mean to upset you."
"I'm perfectly fine, Volkov. No need to treat me like I'm fragile." I withdrew, avoiding any semblance of eye-contact.
"Volkov, huh? We're back to last names?"
"Mhm."
His gaze bore into me from the edges of my vision, a palpable weight that made concentration impossible.
"What happened?" He pushed. "I've been nothing but nice to you. I even got that necklace—"
"That's the problem."
"What?"
"Why would you get me that necklace?"
"I told you, because I made a promise—"
"No, you don't give your ex-fake-wife a promise necklace, Daniel."
A pang of hurt flickered across his features. I couldn't handle it. Not after everything we had been through. Hurting him hurt me.
"I don't want a promise necklace from you," I said. "Look, we both know there's something between us. There shouldn't be, but there is. And I care about you. I care about you so much that..." My throat tightened. I shook my head. "But that's exactly why we can't complicate things. I can't fall...or assume that you...I just can't! Okay? So it's better if we just stay friends."
"Friends?" He repeated as if the word insulted him. "You want us to be friends? Seriously? You're friend-zoning me?"
"Yes."
"No." His gaze hardened. "I reject it."
"Y-you can't reject the friend zone!"
"Watch me." He came closer, each step purposeful. I retreated, but he relentlessly pursued. Until my spine met the wall. Closer. Even closer. His voice lowered into a threat. A promise. "You're not going anywhere, Clara. You're not running anywhere from this."
Everything I felt for him, everything that could ruin me, raged to rip apart and crash at his feet.
He gently lifted my chin with a single finger, his mouth hovering over mine. I felt the outline of his lips with each word. "I am the last person in this world you can hide from. How many times do I have to remind you?"
His masculine cologne and minty breath and sensual, heavy-lidded gaze made me dizzy.
"I'm not hiding," I whispered.
"Then kiss me."
No. Please, no. "Fuck off."
"Prove it. Prove that we're just friends." His smile turned evil, like he knew that the moment our lips touched, I would lose. "Kiss me, Clara."
"I hate you."
"Oh, but you don't. You wish you did."
"Fuck off."
"You said that already."
"I—"
He kissed me before I could fight.
And every logical argument and reason why this was the worst idea ever, fogged behind a haze of lust. Every door I had locked and every wall I had built shattered when he kissed like that.
Like he could finally breathe. Like it was all he ever wanted. All he longed for. He kissed me like he could never get enough, he could never get tired. Like he wanted my heart and soul too.
Take it. Take all of it. Take everything.
I attacked him, biting his lip so hard that he growled. He curved his hands behind my thighs and pushed me against the wall, locking my legs around his waist. His hips moved against mine and I craved more. Right now. I buried my hands in his hair, yanking from the roots.
"You want to take this upstairs?" He breathed heavily and I moaned in agreement.
All the lights in the house turned off.
We paused, panting against each other.
"What just happened?" I whispered.
"I don't know." He put me down.
Everything was dead silent. Too silent. We looked around. Something was wrong. Extremely wrong. We turned to the patio where Charlotte was standing. Alone. She was facing us with her profile, staring at the house next door. The house where Niko wanted to go. Then suddenly—
She screamed.
A/N
If ya'll hate me, I completely understand.
Vote? LOL