“So, it’s your turn. Tell me. Do you have a boyfriend?” Samantha asked mischievously.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,”
“Did you never have a boyfriend? So, someone you like? Like you would want to date and stuff, you know,” Samantha winked at last, knowing all too well that Volkov had arrived and was standing on the patio, hearing their conversation, and Aaliyah blushed at her innuendo.
“No, I never had a boyfriend, and I don’t have anyone in mind I would like to date,” Aaliyah answered honestly.
Hearing her responses, Volkov, who was standing outside, scoffed before finally opening the door to the house, shocking Aaliyah, as she didn’t expect to see him there.
“Lying is not a good thing, Miss Gold. It’s a game where people tell their secrets,” Volkov said, and Aaliyah scrunched her brows, not understanding the meaning.
“What do you mean? Who is lying?”
“You are. I have been in the school for only a couple of days, but I have seen you with more boys than girls. And what about Mr. Cooper? What will he say about it,” Volkov asked smugly when in honesty, he was just curious about her answer.
“No one’s my boyfriend at the moment or has ever been before. Honestly, I am actually into older guys. Your friend Dimitri? He is totally my type,” Aaliyah smirked at him, and Samantha, who was having a hard time controlling her laughter, chuckled when she noticed him tongue-tied.
This was probably the first time she saw him losing an argument like this.
Poor Dimitri. He doesn’t even know what kind of mess Aaliyah has gotten him into. Now Volkov is going to go all ‘stay away from Aaliyah, or anywhere Aaliyah is’ mode, and he won’t even know what he did wrong. Samantha shook her head before realizing she needed to keep her facade.
“Anyway, what are you doing here, Volkov? Did you need anything from this house of yours? I didn’t know you were stopping by,” Samantha asked innocently, and Aaliyah waited for his response to see if he came here out of the blue or if it was planned.
“I didn’t know you were having such an unexpected guest over. I came to relax because the boys were crashing at my place. In fact, Dimitri would be here soon,” Volkov looked at Aaliyah with a hopeful expression, curious if she found him good-looking in this outfit or not.
Meanwhile, Aaliyah, who was trying to look anywhere but Mr. Volkov, clenched her fists at her heart, which was beating faster once again.
“Umm, if that’s the case. I think I should leave now. It was nice spending time with you, Samantha. It’s hard to understand why you don’t make more friends. You are the type of person people love having around,” Aaliyah commented, and Samantha smiled.
“You don’t have to leave, you know. It’s not like you don’t know these guys. They can join us, right?” Samantha made puppy eyes at Aaliyah, and Volkov was sure there was no way a witty girl like Aaliyah would fall for it. She wasn’t like him, but to his horror, Aaliyah pressed her lips into a thin line before nodding.
“Don’t be sad. I am staying,” Aaliyah tucked Samantha’s hair behind her ears, and Volkov didn’t know if he sounded right, but why did it feel like Aaliyah was Samantha’s boyfriend?
Glaring at Samantha for getting all of Aaliyah’s attention even when he was the one who came for her prepared, Volkov sighed before plopping on the couch, making Aaliyah bounce a little.
“Oh, you are also here. This was unexpected,” Dimitri asked as soon as he walked inside. He didn’t know anything about their plans, and thus, his genuinely confused reaction made Samantha sigh in relief.
“Mr. Dimitri Troy, it’s nice meeting you again,” Aaliyah stood from the couch, trying to create some distance between Volkov and herself, and Dimitri, who didn’t know what was going on, squinted his brows before smiling and coming over to her.
However, before Aaliyah could take another step ahead, Volkov extended his legs, deliberately tripping her and making her fall on his lap.
Looking at her with a smirk, Volkov tilted his head as if he didn’t do anything.
“Did you just trip me?” Aaliyah asked, shocked, very well aware of Mr. Volkov’s hands on her body, which was making her body grow hot, and Volkov looked at her face with an amused expression, his own heart beating a little faster.
“Did I? I don’t know. I was just stretching my legs. Are you sure it is because of that and not because you were falling in love with Mr. Dimitri Troy?” Volkov asked, tucking her hair behind her ears, and Aaliyah looked into his eyes with a glare, annoyed that she felt like she could drown in them the whole day and night.
Samantha, who was observing their exchange, couldn’t help but shake her head at Volkov. She didn’t know he had this petty side to him. It wouldn’t take a fool to understand he did that because he was jealous of Aaliyah mentioning Dimitri as her type.
“You know, you should watch where you are heading and falling. Not every man will be as good as me, not thinking too much into things,” Volkov massaged her chin, and noticing where her face was, Aaliyah’s face flushed before she sat abruptly, her cheeks as red as a tomato at the thought of his little soldier.
“Well, since all of us are here, why don’t we start a game of truth and dare?” Samantha clapped her hands before winking at Dimitri to go along with the plan, and he nodded before bringing an empty bottle.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Dimitri said, and Volkov, who wanted to know more about Aaliyah, nodded even though he didn’t like the game at all.
Seeing everyone nodding, Aaliyah didn’t want to be the sour one, and nodded halfheartedly.
“Okay, since we are only four people, and it would be landing diagonally, let’s change our seats after every round to be fair and square, yeah? Here we go,” Samantha said before spinning the bottle, making it land on herself and Dimitri.
“Truth,” Dimitri said.
“Are you gay?” Samantha asked in a flat tone, and Aaliyah, who was drinking juice, coughed at her question.
Who in the world asks this question just like that?
“Well, I think I am bi. I won’t care as long as the person loves me for who I am,” Dimitri confessed, and Aaliyah nodded.
“The person you will love will be the luckiest because you would choose him or her from both teams,” Aaliyah beamed, and Volkov looked at her happiness with a smile of his own, making Samantha sigh at the hopeless guy.
“Next round. Dimitri, stand and exchange seats with your partner,” Samantha said, and Aaliyah stood before sitting next to Mr. Volkov, her gaze landing on the prominent veins in his hand, making her gulp a little.
“It’s your turn, Aaliyah.” Samantha clapped her hands, bringing her out of the daze.
“Dare,” Aaliyah said without thinking twice because she would rather perform a dare than tell a truth, and Samantha grinned.
“Dance with the person you hate the most in this room alone,” Samantha deliberately twisted her words, and Aaliyah’s gaze immediately turned to Volkov, who raised his brows at her.
“Well, why do I feel honored?” He asked when she stood and extended her hand to him.
“Oh, it has to be alone,” Samantha said before pushing them into a room, and Aaliyah looked at Mr. Volkov, her heartbeat starting its tempo of fast beating again.
“Since we are alone, we don’t have to do it, right?” Aaliyah asked, her gaze landing on his white chest that was visible through his undone buttons, and Volkov smirked.
“It’s a dare, Aaliyah. Don’t tell me you are afraid of it,” Volkov asked her, and she smirked.
“I am not afraid,” she played a romantic song before stepping closer to Volkov, who immediately placed his hand on her waist, pulling her closer, making her place her hand on his chest.
His large hands were holding her shoulders, and though his body wasn’t touching hers inappropriately, she could feel the heat from his chest on her hands, making her want to press her chest to his.
Stop it, Aaliyah. He is way out of your league. Aaliyah repeated before looking into his eyes.
‘Listen to my heartbeat that’s only beating for you. Let me place my head on your chest and hide in your arms. You are a beautiful memory that only I own, and your eyes are the place they will find me. My heart is beating for you. Can you hear my beats that are saying they want you? Name my life yours and keep you close to me because that’s what my emotions are speaking. So I cross my heart and hope to die at the promise of loving you for eternity,’ The song played as, and they found themselves getting lost in each other’s gaze.
With her gaze focussed on his eyes, traveling to his lips as his grip tightened on her, she was shocked at how natural it felt. She didn’t want to be careful right now. She didn’t want to worry about who he was or what his position was. All she wanted to do right now was to enjoy this moment with him.
Aaliyah averted her gaze when she realized her thoughts, and her shyness didn’t go unnoticed by Volkov, who pulled her closer, making her gasp as little as she looked at him again.
“Are you afraid of me, Aaliyah? I don’t bite,” Volkov said genuinely.
“I am not afraid of you. It’s not you, Mr. Volkov. It’s me. I am afraid of myself and what I might do,” Aaliyah didn’t explain further, placing her head on his chest as they swayed to the song, both relaxing and finding solace in each other’s embrace.
“Do you still love stalkers, Aaliyah?” Volkov asked out of the blue, and Aaliyah squinted her brows before pulling away slightly, her body still swaying with his as they danced slowly.
“What do you mean?” Aaliyah asked, but rather than answering her, he smiled.
Turning her around, Volkov hugged her from behind, a little too intimately than she would’ve preferred with her fast-beating heart.
“Your heart is beating fast. Do I make you nervous?” Volkov asked, and Aaliyah didn’t lie.
“Just like yours,” Aaliyah turned around, arching her neck to the side when Volkov bent and placed his lips on her neck.
“Just like mine,” Volkov whispered, loving the way it sounded, meaning more than what Aaliyah said.
“It’s really hard, Aaliyah,” Volkov spoke about how he was struggling day and night to maintain his facade of being a good teacher when he was anything but that.
He was one of the most feared leaders in the country with a renowned name in killing, and the mere thought of her hating him because of the truth scared him so much that he has killed no one since the moment he laid his eyes on her so that he could at least say he was improving.
When he had met for the first time and looked into those brown eyes, he had never thought these eyes would become one of the most important aspects of his life.
His parents were forcing him to marry someone day and night, and if they came to know that he had already found a girl, the first thing they would do would investigate and meet her, which would probably scare her away from his life. And that was the last thing he wanted.
They were coming here soon, and hiding his feelings from them would become a headache for him. Thus, he wanted to win her over soon.
He didn’t even trust many people with his secret because he didn’t want anyone to know Aaliyah was becoming his weakness, which would give his enemies leeway to use against him. That’s why only limited people knew about his seriousness for Aaliyah.
Most of the other people know he was going for this girl because she was a Cop’s daughter, and she can give them vital information, especially the information that relates to his gang.
“It’s okay. Whatever it is, it will be okay,” Aaliyah spoke, not understanding the meaning, and Volkov smiled.
“I wish the same,” He spoke before sighing.
Placing a gentle kiss on Aaliyah’s collarbone, Volkov sighed, his hot breath fanning her skin, making her almost moan.
“I think we should go,” Volkov whispered, and Aaliyah hummed, not leaving his hands nonetheless.
“You look good in black. You should wear it more. Almost irresistible,” Aaliyah said, and Volkov smiled at her compliment.
This was the first compliment he got from Aaliyah, and he couldn’t help but thank Samantha for it.
Though he usually wears black, because he was trying to appear as a gentle teacher and not some gangster. Thus, he has been using warm colors so this was the first time he was wearing black in front of her, and he was glad he did.
“Hey, when are you coming back? Don’t tell me you guys are making out,” Samantha shouted from out of the room, harshly pulling Aaliyah into reality, and she stumbled back with wide eyes, leaving Volkov alone in the room.
Seeing her leaving like that, Volkov ruffled his hair with a radiant smile on his face. He was making progress, he guessed.