“Hey, wassup?” Aaliyah asked as soon as she picked up the call, and Momo huffed furiously.
“Is this trip treating you a bit too well? It’s already 9 in the morning, and you still haven’t woken up? What happened to the girl who used to wake up at 5? Come down in ten minutes, or I am coming up to drag your lazy ass down,” Momo said, and Aaliyah looked at the phone before humming.
Isn’t a trip supposed to be a lazy getaway? Aaliyah huffed before taking a quick shower and getting dressed in a lemon crop top and white cotton shorts.
As she heard a knock, she put her hair in a loose bun before walking to the door.
‘Don’t tell me she has seriously arrived,’ Aaliyah thought, raising her brows when her gaze raked over the man on her doorstep, dressed in a t-shirt and khaki pants.
Even dressed so casually, he still gave the vibes of a Ceo, and Aaliyah blushed a little, thinking that this handsome man liked her.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Volkov pecked Aaliyah’s lips before inviting himself into her room, his gaze landing on her bra on the bed, making him quirk his brows, and Aaliyah quickly stuffed it under the pillow.
“Mr. Volkov, what -”
“I think we are past that Mr. Volkov phase. Last time I checked, you didn’t have a problem calling me Dominic,” Volkov cupped the back of her neck, and Aaliyah leaned into his touch, her heart melting at how he looked at her.
However, remembering Momo would come here any minute if she didn’t leave, Aaliyah took a step away.
“I need to leave, or my friends will come here and – never mind,” Aaliyah trailed off, and though Volkov was curious about what she was about to say, he didn’t press the matter further.
“We are about to stop at our first destination. We arranged the brunch in one of the famous restaurants. They serve good vegetarian food. You are going to love it,” Volkov cupped her cheeks, massaging her skin with his thumb before smiling.
“What?” Aaliyah asked when he kept looking at her.
“I don’t think I will ever get tired of these eyes,” Volkov said, and a blush crept up her neck.
People say they won’t tire of a face. What is with this man being so good with words? Aaliyah looked away before standing on her tiptoes and kissing his cheeks, rushing out of the room with a blush, and Volkov stood there, frozen in his place.
He was still not accustomed to her sudden mischievousness. Touching his cheeks with a smile, he shook her head before leaving her room, following her to the lift.
Aaliyah, who didn’t want to face him after acting like that, tried to close the lift by pressing the button repeatedly, but Volkov chuckled before entering.
“Relax, I won’t eat you. Not yet,” He smirked at her, chuckling when Aaliyah’s ears turned even redder.
“Cutie,” he bent before kissing her temple and ruffling her hair, leaving the elevator as soon as it stopped, and Aaliyah stood there watching his back.
“There you are!” Momo shouted as soon as Aaliyah walked to the main area, and Aaliyah’s gaze met Volkov, who looked at her while talking to Samantha.
“Where is Ashton?” Aaliyah asked when she couldn’t find him, and Momo nudged towards where a few drinks were placed on the table.
“Drinking so early in the morning?” Aaliyah asked, and Momo chuckled.
“More like drinking lemon water to cure his dizziness,” David said, and Aaliyah shook her head at her stupid friend before squinting her brows when she saw Mr. Volkov’s and everyone’s solemn expressions.
“Did something happen?” Momo voiced her thoughts, and Aaliyah shrugged.
“You should ask,”
“Why should I? I don’t want to invade someone’s privacy. If it were worth telling, they would tell everyone themselves,” Aaliyah said, and Momo hummed.
“Are you guys ready? The cruise will stop here for the day. It will move at night again,” Samantha said, and Aaliyah nodded before descending the stairs with everyone when the ship stopped.
“I already arranged the cars for everyone to reach the restaurant. You can enjoy various flea markets here. Since it’s the season, you can find various things to take back home. The wooden carvings are especially good here.” Samantha clapped her hands, and as Aaliyah stood in front of the car, for the first time she noticed they weren’t the only people on the cruise.
In fact, there were probably 50 of them. Even if they were the workers on the cruise, it was amazing how she didn’t notice them, or it might be because it was evening when they started, and everyone might’ve already gone to their rooms.
“I didn’t know we were traveling with so many people. And men, to be precise,” Ashton stood beside her before holding her hand like he usually does, and Aaliyah hummed before sitting in the car with him, Momo, and David.
Seeing Aaliyah enter the car with her friends, Volkov sighed. It was still a long way before she would approach him herself, no?
“Are you sure about it, Dominic? We are not here to indulge in any kind of mission, and Aaliyah is here,” Samantha said, and Volkov looked at the departing car solemnly.
“Samantha, it’s exactly because Aaliyah is here, I want to get over this as quickly as possible. I don’t want anyone to reach her or harm her. So while she is enjoying the markets with her friends, we will deal with this,” Volkov said coldly.
“You are not coming with us. You and Bryce will be with them. Bryce might worry about Katherine, and it will hinder our plans,” Volkov said, and Samantha bit her lips.
“Do you really need to go? We brought these many men with us for a purpose. It’s so that you can relax and they can deal with these insignificant problems,” Samantha looked at him pleadingly, but she knew that once he had set his mind on something, he wouldn’t listen to anyone.
Honestly, this trip with Aaliyah was supposed to make him relax and bring him closer to his heart and muse, which would help him calm his beast.
Samantha knows Aaliyah has the power to control Volkov and protect him from himself, but with Volkov looking for the deals himself, what is she supposed to do?
She can’t go to Aaliyah and tell her everything so that she stops him, right?
“What will you tell Aaliyah? I can see she has started to open to you,” Samantha tried her last resort.
“She already knows I am a gang member. So even if I tell her I went somewhere to deal with something, she won’t mind it,” Volkov sounded confident.
“The only question is, will she forgive you for abandoning her? The more understanding a girl is, the higher her expectations of getting pampered are. Good luck with your explanation,” Samantha scoffed.
Patting Bryce’s back, who was in shock at Volkov’s words because he was yet to tell Katherine about his occupation, Samantha sat inside the car before nodding at Dimitri, who signaled he would handle everything.
“Let’s go to the south Headquarters and see what’s cooking up there,” Dimitri commented, barely looking at the cold vibes oozing statue beside him, and Timothy pressed his lips while looking at Mr. Volkov from the rearview mirror.
Dimitri pitied the group that was causing the ruckus in the south base and challenged their authorities.
It was nothing new. Things like these were normal with the local groups. They think that foreign gangs who come and reign over their islands take over to exploit their resources and strip them of their power. That’s why these people manipulate innocent minds like villagers to get their deal done.
Innocent villagers who know little about this field think that the local groups think about their benefits and the foreigners won’t hear their needs. That’s why they blindly trust them.
However, things were different this time. The local group somehow knew people from a higher-up base would be arriving. And to gain their attention, they did one thing that was forbidden in Volkov’s gang. Trading of girls.
He just can’t bear the sight of people who pull this heinous crime, and Dimitri pitied the people who thought it was okay to gain their attention like this.
“How many are there?” Volkov asked after some time.
“They say it’s more than a hundred. Some villagers are supporting them. They think we are the ones doing human trafficking,” Dimitri gritted his teeth, and Volkov leaned back in his seat before humming.
“We are here,” Dimitri said after one hour, and Volkov opened his eyes before stepping out of the car. Hearing the commotion brewing on the grounds in front of the base, he stood straight, his hand inside his pocket on his pistol.
“Who is the leader of the group?” Volkov asked the base manager, and he wiped his sweat before looking at Dimitri.
This was the first time the manager was directly dealing with the gang leader’s son, and he didn’t know how to react.
“It’s Damian, sir,” He uttered with fear, and Volkov turned to the group.
No words were needed. His presence alone screamed royalty and power. The cold vibes he was oozing were enough to let everyone know he was important and not someone to be tinkered with.
“What’s the problem?” Volkov asked.
He didn’t need a mic to let his voice travel to the end of the group. Everyone heard him crystal clear.
“You guys are goons who take away our girls! My daughter, she- she was only fifteen years old! I don’t know where she went. She was seen here last time. She only wanted to collect those tulips for me to pray. Why did you guys take her?” One lady walked in front, mustering up the courage, and Volkov clenched his fists.
‘Don’t do it, aunt. I know it hurts you, but please don’t become the reason for so many deaths. You won’t be able to withstand it,’ Dimitri bit his bottom lip.
“Do we have the information?” Volkov looked at the manager, and he nodded.
Setting up a base on a foreign Island not only needed guts but utmost care. They had placed security cameras in almost every corner of the base, even outside of the building. With around 1000 cameras, it was hard to miss an inch.
Unfortunately, the outsiders didn’t know anything about it.
“Do we have anything regarding the girl?” Volkov asked again, and the manager nodded before he clapped his hands and two security guards with guns on their backs walked ahead.
“Here is the footage. The locals wouldn’t let us talk to the lady alone or even do anything on the matter. They start cursing and throwing stones. Four of our guards are severely injured with one death,” The manager said, and Dimitri slapped his forehead.
Done. There is nothing that could be done to save the local group anymore. He could see Volkov was barely controlling his anger. Dimitri sighed.
Seeing the footage of the girl being abducted by five members who even tried to force themselves on her, Volkov raised his brows before looking at the crowd.
“You, you, you, you, and you. Come out,” Volkov pointed his finger at five people.
“Hey! Who are you to ask us out? We want answers! We want you to leave our Island, or we will throw you out forcefully!” One of the villagers said before he pointed his gun at him, and Volkov smirked.
Bang!
Everyone trembled in fear of the ear-piercing deadly shot. And the man standing in the middle of the crowd, the first one Volkov pointed at, fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his chest.
Volkov shot the person who had first unzipped his pants to force himself on the girl.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!” Screams reverberated in the environment, and Volkov scoffed before firing in the air, making everyone stop as they looked at him with pure terror.
“I don’t enjoy repeating myself,” He smiled, and everyone gulped before looking at the four people.
“You are a murderer and a ra*ist!” The woman yelled fearlessly, and Volkov sighed sadly before nodding at Dimitri, who went to the lady to show the footage.
“Now tell me if what I did was right or not?” Volkov asked, and the woman turned around in horror.
“Liam? You were there too? She was your sister, for god’s sake!!” The lady yelled in pain and anguish, and Volkov’s hands on his gun froze.
What did she say? One man was the girl’s brother. Volkov’s eyes turned a shade darker at the new information as the beast inside him awakened again, wanting to see blood.