Chapter 12

twelve

Alexandr

I stand here, staring over the wall as I watch the love of my life fucking climb down the side of the building. When she gets down safely, I breathe a sigh of relief and grab the hook, yanking it from the wall. I put it down and am about to get the rope, so she doesn't get fucking caught, when all of a sudden, it goes over the edge of the building. I look back down, and I see her putting it in her bag, before climbing on her bike—again without a fucking helmet.

She drives off without looking back, and my heart breaks. I feel like I've lost her. Our talk didn't go as planned, which is 100% my fault. I basically tried to bullshit her about sleeping with her own sister, which I continued to do after she left, and I got a mistress as a "fuck you" to her as well. I sigh again and turn to go. I've made sure no cameras are working. I know she has a way to disable them, but I wanted to ensure she was double-protected. I must admit, though, watching her work was the most amazing thing I've seen, and that's saying something, because I helped deliver my nephew.

I return to my rented black Aston Martin and start her up. I know where Phoebe's living, but she needs space tonight. Tomorrow, though, she's mine! So, I'll head to Berry's Inn, where I've booked a room for a few weeks. I'll be showing up at her school tomorrow after her classes; I'm not losing her, not now that I have her in sight again.

Half an hour into the drive back to Mendocino, my phone rings and connects with Bluetooth. I look at the name and sigh.

I answer.

"Juan," I say coldly, and he fucking chuckles.

"Here, I thought you'd be grateful that I told you where my niece lived and what she'd be up to tonight. You are aware that I am actually scared for my life. I trained her, and I know how deadly she is! And I know how much Sergi means to her."

"You're acting like you didn't get anything out of this, Juan, or did I not fucking beg my pseudo-brother to have a meeting with you next month?" I say it with amusement. "You do realize that he and Phoebe are now fucking pissed at me for my involving him, and the only reason why he's agreed is because of your niece and how he wants her happy and at home."

He chuckles again; he is excited to finally meet his estranged son. Sergi was not happy with me after I called him and basically begged him into a meeting with a man who didn't want him growing up. I sigh, feeling like I have betrayed him.

"I don't know what else to do," I admit, and I hear him grunt. He knows his niece better than anyone else.

"You've just got to persevere; you didn't just cheat Alexandr, you took it one step further and slept with her sister over the course of your relationship with Phoebe, then continued to do so even knowing it was the reason she left. If she does forgive you, treat her like a queen."

I grunt back, and he hangs up while I sigh again.

Twenty minutes later, I pull up to the inn, only five miles from Phoebe's farm, and head to my room up the stairs. I shake my head, looking around the dull walls, and strip down, heading for a quick shower. I turn the water on and get in despite the cold water, and I sigh. Fuck. I lean my arms against the cold tile wall and tilt my head down, letting the water fall over my head as it heats up. I take a deep breath.

Phoebe comes to mind; fuck, she looks hot in leather. My cock gets hard just at the thought of her, and I reach down. I grip the base and squeeze tight, moving my hand to the tip and continuing the motion. I picture her on her knees in front of me as her tongue pokes out. She slowly licks between the seams of the tip of my cock, lapping up the little bit of cum that drips out, and moans. My hand strokes faster. She takes me into her mouth, and she sucks the tip. I groan as her green eyes stare into mine as she sucks me to the back of her throat, and I come, ropes of my seed spurting out of my body.

I groan, "Phoebe."

I open my eyes, and I see my release going down the drain, making me sigh. No Phoebe, just me.

I quickly wash and get out, drying myself before wrapping the towel around my hips. I wipe the mirror and look to my left pec, where my tattoo from a year ago sits—a sparrow with the letter P in script hanging from its beak. It's got to mean something that she got sparrows, too, right? I still have a chance. She wouldn't have gotten it if I wasn't under her skin, right? I sigh again, then head back into my room and throw the towel on the floor. I grab a pair of boxers, then grab my phone, and sit on the end of my bed. I find Sergi's name and hit dial. It rings about six times before he finally answers, and I furrow my brows.

"Al, is everything okay?"

I look at the time. It's 2:30 AM. I know it's late, but he's usually still out and about, yet he sounds groggy. That's not normal.

"Yeah, I just, uh, Serg, are you okay?"

He clears his throat and chuckles, "I was asleep, Al. It's 2:30 in the morning, brother. How did it go?"

I sigh. He wants to move on from the fact that he is not alert like normal, and it's not even a Sunday.

"It didn't go very well; I might have said some shit about not realizing she knew about the stuff I was doing behind closed doors." The fucker laughs—fucking full-on laughs. I scowl, about to rip him a new one, when suddenly, I hear, "Hmm, babe, what time is it?" and my mouth drops open. Sergi never brings women home; he finds them at the club and fucks them in the corners, but that's it.

What the fuck?

He clears his throat. "It's early, dragotsennyy. Go back to sleep, okay?" Then I hear him kiss her, and then some rustling before there's the click of a door, and he clears his throat again.

He called her precious. I think I'm in shock.

"Al, are you still there?" he asks.

He sounds a lot more alert now.

"Sergi, who the fuck was that?"

He sighs. "Not one word to anyone, not Damian, not Phoebe, and certainly not Sofia; those two women will get into my business, and I won't have that, not right now."

I clear my throat. This must be serious. Don't get me wrong, he and I are best friends, but Damian is, more so than me, and Sergi doesn't want him to know. I can understand the women, though.

"As long as it doesn't harm our family, Sergi, you can trust me."

He sighs again. "Her name is Avery Taylor, and she's twenty-three."

I clear my throat again, shocked.

"How'd you meet?" I want to be sure she's not just a spy, but I'm also curious about my long-time friend and brother.

"The Brew Box. She works five evenings a week, which includes all day on Saturdays. She's currently in medical school. She attends New York Medical University but still has eight months left before she graduates and starts her residency at General."

I stay silent for a few minutes, and he lets me process. In all the years we have known him, he has not had a serious relationship.

"It's serious?" I ask, and he grunts out a yes. "Why the secrecy then? You know we have your back, right?" I say softly, hurt that he has kept a lot from us. I understand about his biological father, which is a head fuck, but this?

But then he shocks the shit out of me when he says quietly, "She doesn't know about the Bratva or Mafia world."

"I'm sorry, what?" I sputter, and he quietly chuckles.

"Yeah, imagine going to get a coffee, pissed that another one of your best friends ran away again without a word, so you have a permanent scowl on your face, and you bump into this shy good girl, and she looks at you like you hung the fucking moon. I swear, Al, I felt like someone hit me in the chest when she spoke to me, all quiet and sweet, so I kept going back on the weekdays when I knew I was in the area. And when a customer was giving her grief, I finally stepped in and spoke to her. We started dating like normal couples, and the more we saw each other, the more I fell, and the harder it was to tell her the truth. We spend every Sunday together before I go to Damian's for dinner."

I sigh. "But she doesn't know you , Serg." I don't want to hurt him, but he needs to see how bad this will go if she finds out the truth. He lied to her. "Brother, she'll think your relationship is a lie. She will be hurt."

He growls low. "I know, Al, fuck me, do I know. Both you and Damian, you both fucked up. You were worse than him, but both your women ran; he only just managed to convince her to give it another go, and you, well, I'm shocked Phoebe hasn't put a bullet in you yet."

I chuckle at that and decide to give him the distraction he so badly wants.

"No, she just put a throwing star to my throat, then side kicked me in my stomach and sent me flying. All that was after she held her gun to my head." He bursts out in laughter, like the proud cousin he is. I shake my head, refusing to mention the split lip, too; he won't ever let me live it down, even if I did deserve it.

He sobers up and says, "I'll tell her soon. I just want more time; I don't want to lose her, and I guess I'll have to tell Damian as well. He'll be pissed that you knew first." I chuckle again, then quiet down, and I heave a sigh when he comes back to my girl. "She'll come around, Al. Just give her time, keep persevering, and when you get home, you can sort out the women who did you dirty. Mindy and Selene purposely sent her the link; they knew a surprise pregnancy and you being with Selene would make her leave. Even though I'm fairly sure she now knows Mindy was lying, you still fucked her sister. She just needs time. And as for Candy, she's still living it up unaware; she thinks you're out of town on business. She cannot access the businesses, so we don't have to be concerned about her just yet, but I'll keep an eye on her, okay?"

I sigh again. "Thanks, brother."

He chuckles. "Anytime. I'm going back to my woman. Talk soon." He hangs up, and I drop my phone on the bedside table, which automatically starts charging on the charging pad I plugged in. The screen lights up, and a picture of Phoebe studying in the café where we used to meet, pops up. I took it because of how beautiful she looked, practically glowing. I sigh and lay back, closing my eyes, hoping for sleep to come.

I will get you back, baby. You are bound by me, as I am bound by you.