Chapter 13

thirteen

Phoebe

I walk out of my laboratory class and bump into a soft body. I look up to see Brent, the weirdo who hasn't stopped asking me out since I arrived. He's about 5'9", has greasy black hair, and a scrawny body covered by a greasy shirt that hangs off his frame. Each time he corners me, I try not to gag on the smell alone. I itch to slice his throat; he has that serial killer vibe. I should know. But I'm the quiet, shy girl, not the assassin.

"Excuse me, Brent," I say and try to go around him, but he grabs my arm, making me freeze in shock because he's never actually touched me before. I look up at him to see he's sneering at me.

"I hear you fucked Oliver; your virginity was supposed to be mine!"

What? Okay, so Oliver is a loose end that needs to be tied, and who the hell does this jackass think he is? My virtue and body belong to no one, and how in the hell does he know I'm still a fucking virgin?

"Get your hands off me, Brent, now." I don't correct what Ollie has been saying, I'll be sure to go find him in the cafeteria after this. He fucked with the wrong person. Brent doesn't move his hand, he smirks instead, seeming to think I'm this weak little girl. Well, he's about to get a surprise.

Just as I'm about to grab and break his hand, a strong hand clamps down on it, and I instantly know who it is. My body hums with his presence, always bound by him.

Stupid, traitorous body.

"I believe my fiancée told you to get the fuck off of her." My girlie bits start to tingle, fucking traitorous body, I tell you. For months, I've tried to move on, and nothing, but he speaks all growly, and my body comes alive. It's not fucking fair.

I look up to see Alex's furious face. He towers over Brent at 6'3", and he has his gun in view, which make Brent stiffen when he sees it.

I glare at Alex and mutter, "Ex," making him scowl at me, and I smile sweetly at him.

Because Brent took too long to comply to Alex's command, Alex ripped Brent's hand away, then bent it at an unnatural angle, making me scowl when I hear it crack. Alex smirks at me, obviously reading my mind. Brent starts sobbing, then flees down the empty hallway, making me roll my eyes.

"I wanted to do that!" I whine once he's gone, making Alex chuckle, and then the fucker kisses my head like he used to, making my heart skip a beat.

No, no, I will not fall for it, stupid heart. Stay cold!

He fucked your sister—stay cold!

"I know, malen'kaya ptitsa , but I guessed you wanted to keep your other persona hidden."

I grumble, knowing he's right, then turn to leave, and Alex follows.

"Where are you off to in such a rush, baby?" I scowl at the nickname, knowing he's used it for the druggy whore.

"I have someone to see in the cafeteria. What are you doing here, Alex? I thought I told you to go, and I'm not your baby; that's your mistress."

He sighs, his face paling a little, but he keeps up with my steps, not missing a beat, as he states, "I'm not giving up on us, Phoebe. I know I fucked up, and honestly, I have no excuse. I just didn't want to pressure you into something you wanted to wait until marriage for. I was trying to...to respect your wishes, I just went about it the wrong way."

He's trying to be sincere, but it's bullshit; if he loved me so much, then he would have waited.

So I stop and look at him and say, as coldly as I can muster without my pain showing, "Yeah, the right way is called using your right-hand, dick, not my sister and your fuck buddies." Then I turn and head into the cafeteria. I stop and look around, still feeling Alex behind me, when I see Ollie sitting with the jocks, and I smirk. This should be fun.

I stomp over there. I know Alex has waited near the door; he can see I'm in a dangerous mode and clearly wants the entertainment.

I see Abby standing in the buffet line, staring wide-eyed at me as I approach Ollie's table. I come up behind him and use him as a crutch to get on top of the table.

"Phoebe wha—" I don't let the parasite finish; we were okay-ish after his betrayal. I left him alone after he arranged the meeting with the Christian, Damian, and my father despite him lying to me. Well, to be fair, I completely forgot about it, but he's made his own bed with his little stories, putting him back on my radar, and now he can pay.

I place two fingers in my mouth and wolf whistle, getting everyone's attention as they quiet and look at me in confusion. Yeah, I know—not the quiet girl I've been portraying.

I say as timidly as I can, to keep up my persona while internally rolling my eyes, "Excuse me, everyone, I'm not very good at speaking publicly because, obviously, I'm very shy and don't like the attention." I look down, placing my hair behind my ear, keeping up pretenses. I hear Abby and Alex snort, and I just stop short of smirking and rolling my eyes. I look up again, trying to look scared, and state, "I just wanted to let you all know I have not had sexual anything with Oliver. I know that's what he's been telling people, and I don't think it's fair that he's lied to everyone about me when I've done nothing but support him and his life choices.

I have video and photographic evidence of him having sexual intercourse with James, the bartender from Kevin's, in the hallway near the men's bathrooms. It's how I found out he was cheating on me." I hear everyone gasp while Oliver sucks in a sharp breath. I fake a sniffle and wipe under my right eye with the back of my hand like I'm upset. "I just wanted you all to know. Thank you." Then I get down, again by using Ollie, who's gone completely still as everyone whispers about him. His friends at the table are staring at him in shock, and I lean down, trying to look sympathetic toward him and sorry for ratting him out and whisper, "What I did in that hallway will be child's play to what I'll do to you if you don't pack your shit and leave this town. You had the balls to try and steal from me, so go steal from your family, take James and leave, or you're dead. Don't believe me, ask Christian. Oh no, wait, you can't, because I shot him in the head right after I killed four of his men." He pales and swallows hard.

I then wave to Abby, who is trying hard to hide her laughter, and walk back to Alex, whose grinning. Fuck, he is not going to leave, is he? I sigh.

When I get closer, knowing his help might keep me alive, I state lowly, "You and I need to talk about Mihai. Seems as though you don't want to listen to me and fuck off, so I'll tell you he's still trafficking." The amusement he had on his face disappears, and the cold-blooded killer resurfaces. He nods, then follows me toward the parking area, keeping his distance.

Once we get to my Buick, I turn toward him and ask, "You know where I live?" I know he does, but I wanted to make sure. He nods, and I roll my eyes, causing him to chuckle. I open my car door and climb in, but before I shut the door again, I say, "See you in thirty."

He closes the door for me, then walks over to his black Aston Martin while I put my car into gear and head toward my farm, knowing Abby is going over some guy's place tonight. I pray Goosy is there when I get home. I could use a laugh.

Halfway home, I look in my mirror and see Alex behind me, and my heart aches. Every time he's near, my cold mask slips a little. A lone tear slips down my cheek, and I quickly wipe it away, then focus on the road. There's just no coming back from the pain he caused.

Fifteen minutes later, we arrive at my farm, and I smirk. Goosy is on the steps, antagonizing Ares again, giving me the laugh I desperately wanted.

I get out of my car before I put my hands on my hips, biting my bottom lip, trying to contain my laughter. Goosy is flapping his wings at the window, while Ares is scratching at the glass, hissing. I shake my head as Alex approaches me, touching my hip. His touch warms me, making my traitorous body tingle all over as he leans down and growls low in my ear, making my girlie bits tingle, too.

"Do me a favor, malen'kaya ptitsa , get that goose away from Ares before I shoot the fucker."

I snort. I swear he fucking loves my cat more than he loves his cock. I go to take a step away from him, but he holds me tighter and states, "Five seconds, Phoebs, and the bird is dead."

I lost it. I couldn't control my laughter even if I tried.

He scowls at me before he starts to count down, reaching for his gun and making my eyes widen, realizing he means it.

"Five, four, three…." He thumbs off the safety, and I leg it toward Goosy, and shoo him away from the window, knowing I don't have time for a sneaky grab with him even though his life depends on it. He moves, flapping his wings, unhappy about being shooed away, and heads toward the pond.

I turn and look at Alex, putting my hands on my hips, and scowling at him, but he smirks at me, then heads toward the front door and opens it, where he's met by his friend, the traitor. Ares meows up at him, going in between his legs, making Alex bend down and pick the little traitor up.

To my cat, he coos, "I knew she'd keep you. I missed you, buddy. Did you miss me?" all while scratching behind his ear. I burst out in laughter; I can't help it. A big, badass Bratva brigadier was cooing to a cat—a freaking cat. I have literal tears in my eyes.

"You quite done, malen'kaya ptitsa ?" he asks sarcastically, making me look up at him and lose it again when I see Ares lying across the back of his shoulders. He shakes his head, then heads further inside the house with my little traitor, leaving me to calm down.

It takes me several minutes before I go inside my house. As I walk through the open-plan living area, I notice him at the breakfast counter with a cup of coffee, making me scowl until I see he's made my vanilla latte, and my mouth begins to water. He always did make the best lattes, so I'll let him off this once. I sit on the other side of the counter, pick up my drink, and take a sip, humming to myself. He may be a pig, but damn, can the man make a good latte. He clears his throat, and I look up to see him smiling at me, and I shake my head.

"This isn't like a few years ago, Alex. You can't make me my drink, and then I'll say we'll be friends again."

He gives me a sad smile and states, "Good, because I don't want to be in the friendzone, Phoebe, I want my woman back."

I look at him, shocked. How can he possibly think I'd take him back?

He raises his hands when he notices my expression and says, "I know I fucked up. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, but you're bound by me, Phoebe. You know you are, and you always have been. I have to live with my fuckup every day, and I know I should never have gotten a fucking mistress." He sighs, and I look away until he says his next words, "Christian said you were no longer pure."

I snort. What a fucking hypocrite, and oh, how wrong he is, but I'm not going to correct him; it's none of his fucking business. Plus, it'll only make his ego even bigger than it already is.

He rolls his eyes at me. "I made it okay, in my head, that I had Candy and still would have had Candy as your punishment when I got you back, because you slept with someone else. I know I don't have a leg to stand on. I know I'm the biggest fucking hypocrite going."

I sigh. "I don't want to talk about this, Alexandr. You're here so we can discuss the Romanians, not us or what you did, because it's all in the past, including our engagement."

He gets up, placing Ares on his cat tree in the corner of the dining area, then walks toward me, before he starts to pace. I sit here, watching him go back and forth, and as I am about to ask him to sit his ass down so we can discuss a plan to get rid of Mihai, who I should have just fucking killed but didn't because I thought he had no clue what his so-called boss was doing, he starts to talk, shocking me speechless.