Lethal, page 12
When I finally slumped down on the couch opposite the one Alistair was on, all the adrenaline left me and the emotions rose back to the surface- the panic and the worry on recognizing Alistair, on seeing his wounds, and reaching to check for a pulse, hoping and praying that he was alive.
I covered my face with a sigh, willing my sudden tears not to fall. God, I'd been crying a lot lately.
I looked at Alistair, the slow rise and fall of his chest, hearing his slightly labored breathing. My own bruises were now becoming painful, the effect of the painkillers long gone. In a desperate need to get into bed, I got up from my position and walked to the closet in the spare bedroom, taking out some spare pillows and a blanket.
When I returned, I gently covered Alistair with the blanket, tucking him in. Then I proceeded to lift his head a little to arrange the pillows. The bending alone was causing me to grimace in pain.
When I was about to pull away, he slightly opened his eyes, looking at me groggily.
"Whe-where am... how..."
I placed a gentle palm on his cheek, careful not to hurt his injuries.
"It's okay. You're with me. You're absolutely fine." I whispered.
"Alex..." he tried again, but his eyes closed on their own accord, and he fell back into a slumber. I smiled a little and then moved away.
But my work wasn't done yet. I trudged to the kitchen to get a couple of ice packs, and for the next half an hour, massaged his swelled bruises. It pained me to see him like this- so helpless, so injured. Once again, my resolve to win this war only got stronger.
I arranged a glass of water and painkillers beside him on the table. After changing my clothes, taking care of my own injuries, I set various alarms, intending to wake up and check on him every hour. Finally, I arranged my blanket and pillows on the opposite couch and settled in, overcome with immense exhaustion.
Suffice to say, I slept through the alarms.
To my utter shock, when I woke up the next morning, Alistair was not in sight. His blanket had been folded with his pillows neatly placed atop. I looked around, getting up from the couch and stretching myself with a moan.
"You do that every morning?"
I let out a curse, jumping at the voice. When I turned around, I couldn't help but marvel at the sight that was Alistair Donati.
He stood leaning against the kitchen entryway with a bowl of Froot Loops in his hands. My Froot Loops. But that wasn't what made my mouth water.
It was him.
My eyes wandered over his body from head to toe. His hair was ruffled and messy. He was shirtless and wearing only a pair of sweats. Where did he get that? There was one tattoo on his chest, done in some foreign language. His toned chest and stomach were a sight to behold. The sharp V of his abdomen was visible since he'd worn the sweats very, very low.
Did someone turn up the heat in here?
When my gaze returned to his face, I was thankful to see that the swelling hadn't increased overnight. There was a cut on his right eyebrow, and while I would be worried if that ever happened to me, it just made him look even hotter. And he knew that. The arrogant bastard knew that very well.
He also knew that I was checking him out, yet again. The smirk on his face was proof of that. He stuffed another spoonful of the cereal in his mouth and walked over, taking a place on the couch.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, leaning back, allowing me a full view of his toned body.
I shook my head a little, pulling myself out of this lust-infused trance first thing in the morning.
"I should be asking you that question." I answered, weaving a hand through my hair, "You were the one attacked last night. What happened?"
"Same thing that happened to you last week and the night before last." he mocked, "The only difference being that they hung me up and then beat the crap out of me."
Oh, damn it, he found out.
"How do you know about the other night?"
"Woke up today only to see the lovely mark on your cheek." he gestured.
Instinctively, my hand reached for my face, touching the injury. It was sore but hurt quite less than yesterday. I mentally smacked myself having been stupid enough to think he wouldn't notice it. It was like a shiny beacon of injury.
"Then I had a long chat with Feroz and then another with Xavier." he finished.
I sighed loudly, realizing he knows pretty much everything by now. Pushing myself up from the couch, I tied my hair in a messy bun. The pain in my stomach was sudden and I grimaced, cursing loudly. Letting out a sharp breath, I started towards my bedroom, intent on taking a long hot shower.
But I was blocked. Alistair stood in my way, a stern look on his face.
"Lift your shirt," he ordered.
I tried to play it off.
"I'm really not in the mood to have sex right now-" I pushed past him.
But his hand locked around my wrist and he pulled me back with such force that I bumped into his chest. His naked chest.
I could've resisted. I could've easily gotten away from his hold when he pushed both my hands behind me and held them there. It was easy. I was skilled at it.
But I didn't.
I just watched him, as with a concerned look on his face, his fingers slipped beneath my oversized tee. They traced my skin lightly and I squirmed, my breath hitching a little at his touch.
He raised the shirt until my stomach was visible. I watched his expression change from concerned to stunned to pure outrage.
"What the fuck?"
"Ow-" I yelped when his fingers pressed a little too hard near my bruise.
His eyes snapped to mine, regret flashing in them instantly. He muttered a quick apology but didn't let go of me, and I desperately wanted him to.
"What the hell, Alex?" he demanded, "You've been driving around town with that?"
"It's better now," I explained, managing a much calmer voice.
"You look like you got hit by a car."
"Actually, it was an asshole with a heavy boot." I rolled my eyes, "He's dead, though."
"For once, be serious." he reprimanded.
I wanted to tell him I was serious. But the proximity between us was driving me crazy. We were close, too close. I could smell him- his strong, masculine scent. My hands were still behind my back, as he stood over me with an air of authority.
"Let go of me, Alistair."
God, how pathetic did I sound in that moment. Meek, soft.
He had the nerve to move even closer, eliminating any space we had between us. My hormones and sanity were at a war with each other as I debated whether I should discuss what happened yesterday like a mature adult or should I give into my desires.
In the end, my desires won.
I didn't stop him when he leaned forward. I didn't stop him when his fingers lazily moved across my back, under my shirt. I didn't stop him when he pushed me up against the wall, dipping his head into the crook of my neck.
Warmth erupted all over my body when he inhaled, his nose touching against my skin. His free hand lifted to my neck and grabbed me by the nape.
I wanted to touch him. I struggled to free my arms but in vain. I could feel him smirking in my neck and that enough caused a flurry of inappropriate scenarios to pop in my head, all the ways I could get back at him.
How quickly we'd shifted from conversing about an important matter to such intimacy, I'll never know.
When he looked at me again, his eyes were hooded with a desire that was equal to mine. My gaze was fixed on his lips and all I wanted to do was capture them with mine.
"Alex..." he whispered, dipping his head.
At the exact same moment, we were interrupted by the loud shrill of my doorbell.
Nineteen: Omelet
Alexandra
we let go of each other as if we were on fire.
The doorbell blared through the apartment, effectively cutting through the rising tension between us. It was a few moments of awkwardness as we helplessly looked at one another- wondering whether to open the door or to continue what we started.
However, we were forced to do the latter when the bell rang again and someone banged on the door.
"Open up, people!" Drina yelled, "Do you want me to pee right here in your hallway?"
Alistair groaned loudly, most annoyed at his sister. Giving me one last look of yearning, he moved away, trudging to open the door.
I released the breath I'd been holding in all anticipation and adjusted my shirt before moving away from the wall. But, God, I wanted him to kiss me so bad.
Drina and Vedika rushed through the door, at once launching themselves on their brother, hugging the life out of him. His face scrunched up a little in pain but he didn't mind, clearly enjoying the affection.
"We were so worried." Vedika mumbled in his chest, "Are you okay?"
"I am, and it's all because of her," he replied, gesturing towards me.
They proceeded to hug me too.
"Careful, she's been hurt in her stomach." Alistair put an arm around both girls' shoulders.
Drina pulled away suddenly, her hand going around her belly, "I'm glad you're okay, but can I please use your bathroom before my bladder bursts?"
I chuckled, pointing down the hall, "You know the way."
As the pregnant lady huffed and puffed to the bathroom, I turned to Vedika, "How did you even know he was here?"
"When Alistair didn't come home all night, Drina and I decided to call Feroz since we couldn't reach either of you on the phone. He told us everything. Apparently, he and Alistair had talked just this morning." she explained.
I nodded, vaguely remembering Alistair's revelations from this morning. Although, I had no shame in admitting that at that moment, my gaze was more focused on his abs rather than his words.
"Do you guys want me to make you some breakfast?" Vedika offered, "I can make a mean mushroom omelet."
It was only when she mentioned breakfast, did I realize how famished I was. The last thing I'd eaten was the pizza Feroz had ordered yesterday afternoon.
I nodded eagerly at her and excused myself to go freshen up.
The shower was short but soothing. My muscles relaxed when the hot water ran down my body, releasing much of the tension. Once again, I was driven to this morning, what happened and what could've happened if Vedika and Drina hadn't arrived. I couldn't stop thinking about him. It's like I was turning into a horny teenager.
It didn't help the situation when I walked out of the bathroom, I saw him sitting on my bed, gazing out the window. He was still shirtless, by the way. His eyes tore away from the window and landed on my robe-clad self.
On the inside I was freaking out, a whole movie of explicit images was playing in my head. On the outside, however, I tried to play it cool, as if having him in my bedroom was not a big deal.
"Where did you even find those sweats?" I asked, casually striding into my closet.
"In the closet in the other bedroom." he answered, "Why do you have men's sweats in there, by the way?"
Then I remembered
"Oh, they belong to Feroz." I answered, "He crashes over a lot so he decided to put some spares in that room."
He hummed loudly.
"If you did find clothes," I spoke up, "why are you still shirtless?"
"Why? Are my muscles making you horny again, Alex?"
I could hear the sly smile in his voice. Let's just say I was glad I was in the closet because he would've had a field day if he saw how red my face had suddenly become at his comment.
I quickly slipped on a hoodie and some sweats of my own, before walking out the door. I didn't have a comeback for him, so I ignored him and his playful yet sexy smirk and walked out of my bedroom.
"Wanna see the big guns again? Want me to put up a show for ya?" he asked behind my back. But I ignored it all, chuckling quietly to myself.
The moment I walked down the hallway, I was entranced by the heavenly smell of freshly cooked omelets. I took a seat at the kitchen counter next to Drina, the exact moment Vedika placed a plate in front of me. She set another for Alistair.
"Oh my God," I mumbled with my mouth full, "this is so delicious!"
Vedika's eyes lit up, "Really? You like it?"
"I love it!"
"It was one of the first things I learned to make when I moved to the States." she said, "This and the classic American cheeseburger."
"You cook so well, man." I complimented, "I mean, I could never get these flavors right."
"My Mom taught me to cook before I left for college." she went on, "Taught my brother too. She always said that we should never be dependent on someone else for our meals."
"Introduce me to her someday, please." I said, "I'd save a shit ton of money on take-outs if I could make food remotely as good as this."
Xavier called right after we were done with breakfast. He wanted a meeting as soon as possible. Drina had, most conveniently, brought along with her a change of clothes for Alistair. It meant that we could head straight over to the Vitali mansion.
"You know what this is about right?" I asked, buckling myself in the car.
He nodded, looking at me gravely.
"It's been about you and me this entire time. We were idiots not to realize that sooner." he commented, massaging his head, "I can't believe we haven't taken this much more seriously."
"I know," I shook my head, "we got so caught up in ourselves."
He was quiet for a moment before speaking up again.
"When this is over, I'm going to take you out for a proper dinner."
My breath faltered a little.
"I'm going to apologize for leaving you that night-"
"It wasn't your fault-"
"Still," he said pointedly, "I should've contacted you sooner. I'm going to do this right this time, Alex. I promise."
I could only nod and smile when laced his fingers with mine, for my heart was full.
Yup, the walls were definitely coming down.
To my utter surprise, when we reached, Feroz was already there. He sat in the conference room beside Xavier, immersed in deep discussion.
"Hey, what's going on?" I asked.
My boss still looked the same as I'd left him yesterday. He had managed to slip into a different set of clothes but his eyes were painstakingly red and his demeanor defeated.
"Have a seat." he rasped.
As I sat down in one of the chairs, my eyes met Feroz's, wordlessly asking what was going on. He just nodded in assurance.
"I have made a decision," Xavier announced.
"Regarding what?" Alistair spoke up.
"Well, ever since this bullshit started, I have lost three deals and a total of 15 million dollars." came the reply, "I have barely stepped out of my room, barely eaten, and haven't had time to look after my people or even talk to them."
Again, my questioning gaze went to Feroz.
"I sit in my balcony all day, holding a picture of my family, waiting for a miracle to happen. And day by day, I'm losing hope. I can't do anything about that except put all my hopes on you, Lexi, to bring them back. What I can do, however, is prevent my empire from crumbling to the ground." Xavier went on, "And for that reason, I'm temporarily stepping down from my position as the Don."
What?
"And Feroz will be taking my place."
The meeting ended as quickly as it had started. After unveiling his decision of leadership, Xavier walked out of the room and I followed suit.
I was in no way against the decision. In fact, I believed Feroz would be an amazing leader, however temporary. I just wanted to know what had prompted this.
"Xavier, stop! Stop!"
When he finally stopped and turned around in the middle of the lobby, I saw that he was crying again.
"I get it now," he whispered.
"Get what?"
"Why you wanted to get away from all this so badly."
"Xavier, come on..."
"No, no, you're right. This, all this," he gestures around, "it all looks great from the outside. The big houses and cars, the steady stream of money- everything. But the truth is- what we do, what we've been doing, it is sucking the life out of us."
Oh, God.
"We don't deserve to call ourselves humans. We're monsters, all of us!"
He stepped closer, pressing a finger in my chest.
"You hate being what you are, you hated this life from the very beginning. You wanted to get out. And you wanna know something? My wife had been begging me to do the same!"
"What?"
"Oh yeah," he went on, "I found her crying one night in Ever's room. She told me it scared her that one of these days, I may not return home alive because of what I do. And it would break her, raising our daughter alone."
"But that's part of the job, Xavier."
"Would you have the balls to tell that to my two-year-old daughter when she's crying over my dead body?"
I had no answer.
"Exactly." he said at my speechlessness, "The decision I made today may be sudden to you, but it's not for me. I've been thinking about it for a long, long time. Feroz is going to be an excellent Don, he's going to build this empire to the level I've never been able to."
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to put every last one of my resources in finding out where they're being kept- Aurora and Ever." he answered, "And you're going to hunt down the asshole behind this. I don't care if it is another mob family, or gang, or Italians or Russians, I want them-"
I stopped hearing him after that because a light went on in my head at hearing one particular word.
Russians.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed in excitement.
"What? What is it?" my boss asked, abandoning his monologue in favor of mine.
"The night I was attacked- the first one," I tried to recall, "the woman who was in command- uh, her accent- she was Russian! She was Russian! And the goons last night were too."
"You're remembering that now?" Xavier yelled, slapping a hand on his forehead in frustration, "Seriously, Lexi!"
"I was hit in the head!" I crossed my arms indignantly, "My memories are still hazy. But I remembered it when you said Russians."
