“Aaliyah, is something bothering you?” Dimitri came out with the chocolate shake that Aaliyah had asked Alec to bring, sitting in front of her on the round table, and she looked at him with raised brows.
“Did he send you here?” Aaliyah asked, and Dimitri shook his head.
“No. I could see the change in your temperament and couldn’t help but ask. Are you not enjoying this trip?” Dimitri asked, and Aaliyah took a sip of her drink.
“Mr. Troy, what happened there? The place where Mr. Volkov went,” Aaliyah asked instead, and knowing that she already knows about his occupation, he told her everything that happened there.
“So? What do you think? Was what Volkov did right?” Dimitri asked, and Aaliyah shook her head.
“I understand that punishing those bas*Ards was important, but Mr. Volkov could’ve handed the footage to the villagers or cops to get things done neatly. He didn’t need to dirty his hands,” Aaliyah said, and Dimitri hummed.
Well, he expected that kind of answer from someone who belongs to a cop family.
“It’s strange how you aren’t afraid of him,” Dimitri observed her, and Aaliyah chuckled before looking at him from under her lashes.
“I have seen worse things,” Aaliyah smiled, and Dimitri’s hand on his phone froze before he smiled quickly to mask his emotions.
“Worse things?”
“I watch crime documentaries,” Aaliyah grinned before taking her chocolate shake and standing, making Dimitri raise his brows.
He doesn’t know why, but it felt like she was lying to him, and there was more to her story than she was showing.
“What do you think about him, anyway?” Dimitri asked.
“What is this? Coffee with Aaliyah for a game of twenty questions?” Aaliyah smiled before downing her chocolate shake in a single go, walking out of the backyard without saying anything to Dimitri, and he sighed before going inside the restaurant.
Meanwhile, walking in a random direction, Aaliyah smiled, remembering all the good moments she shared with Dominic.
Was she afraid of him? Of course, she was. She was afraid of him the most in the world. But it wasn’t because he was a gang member and dealt with murders daily.
She feared him because of how much control he was starting to have over her heart and life. It was as if her mind and body were becoming a puppet to him.
Kicking a pebble with a sigh, Aaliyah stopped in front of a small vendor selling small wooden carvings, her gaze falling on a wooden eagle, and her smile widened.
It was beautiful. It looked like the eagle was about to fly away with her wings spread wide.
“Can you pack this one for me?” Aaliyah asked the vendor, wanting to give it to her father, who was a fan of eagles just like her.
As the vendor was packing her piece, she bent down to look at other small miniatures, a particular snake reminding her of how Mr. Volkov was defending snakes against eagles that day.
“Pack this one too,” Aaliyah said, and the vendor smiled gratefully. This was one of the few times when someone bought more than one thing in a single day. There have been days when it’s hard to sell even a single thing.
A large showroom was right in front of the vendor’s shop, and thus most of the tourists directly entered the showroom, not bothering with small vendors like them.
“How much is it for?” Aaliyah asked.
“Why does a beauty like you need to pay when people like us are here?” She heard a male’s voice, and she turned around, looking at the three men behind her with annoyed expressions.
“Thank you, but I can take care of my expenses myself,” Aaliyah paid the vendor.
“Keep the changes,” she smiled before taking the gift packs.
“Well, if you are that rich, why not take care of us too? We will do everything you’ll ask us. You can become our sugar mommy,” the other guy said, and Aaliyah sighed before pinching the bridge of her nose.
“Look, please don’t bother me. I am in no mood to deal with scums like you,” Aaliyah said, and the men raised their brows at her.
“Did you just call us scums? Do you want to know who scums are? Is it because you think you are beautiful? Do big br*asts and a*s makes you beautiful when your attitude is so ugly?” The man scoffed, but Aaliyah, who was too happy to deal with them, thinking about Mr. Volkov and their connection, sighed before placing the artifacts on the shop stall.
“Yes, I called you scums,” Aaliyah crossed her arms around her chest.
“Not only my attitude, but my fists are ugly too. You want to fight?” Aaliyah’s gaze turned cold, her mood switching, and the men scoffed at her.
“You are alone. Do you think you can take us down?” One of them asked, and Aaliyah smirked before taking out her dagger from her pocket.
“Try me,” Aaliyah looked at them like a predator, and seeing her playing with her knife like she was showing off, one of the men stepped forward, ready to punch her, but Aaliyah bent down, grabbing his hand, twisting it around before she broke his leg, making him scream in agony.
“Aaaaaaaa,” his scream echoed in the environment, and since she hadn’t walked too far from the restaurant, everyone could hear his screams. Ashton’s hand on the cutlery froze before he stood abruptly, making the chair fall in the process.
“Ashton? What’s wrong?” David squinted his brows.
“It’s nothing. I just need to check something real quick,” Ashton rushed out of the restaurant, looking for Aaliyah.
He just hopes it’s not what he thinks it is.
“What? Is it too painful? It didn’t look painful when you were teasing me?” Aaliyah smirked before twisting and kicking the other man.
Barely dodging the punch from the third one, she fell to the ground before looking up at him angrily. Taking out her knife again, she was about to attack him when he was kicked by someone from behind, making her look up.
“I am sorry for being late,” Volkov said, extending his hand, and Aaliyah placed her knife back into her pocket before standing and dusting her clothes.
“I was holding on just fine. I don’t want anyone, especially your help,” Aaliyah scoffed.
Thinking about him and being happy was one thing, but she won’t forgive him for how he left her hanging like that. Aaliyah thought before turning around, but before she could take a step, Volkov held her hand, pulling her back with a jerk, making her back hit his chest, and her heart skipped a beat even when she was angry at him.
“Let me go,” Aaliyah grumbled, trying her best to jerk her hand away from Mr. Volkov’s steel-like grip.
“Never,” Volkov whispered into her ears, making her grit her teeth even more.
“Aaliyah?” Ashton’s words came from some distance, and Volkov loosened his hold, making her step ahead before she glared at him.
“What happened?” He asked, looking at the three men confused.
“Miss Gold here was showing her marvelous martial arts skills. Did you know about it? I just want to know why she carries a knife with her,” Volkov covered smoothly, and Ashton looked at her, who was rolling her eyes as if nothing was wrong with the situation.
“Do you want to know why I carry a knife, Mr. Volkov? I carry it to kill people like y -” Aaliyah couldn’t complete her sentence as Ashton placed his hand over her mouth before smiling awkwardly.
“The knife is mine. I didn’t know when she took it from me. Why are you being naughty, Aaliyah? Hmm? Thank you for saving her, Mr. Volkov. We wouldn’t want to impose on you anymore,” Ashton said before he forcefully pulled her away, and Volkov stood there, letting him take her away, clenching his hands before turning to look at the three men on the ground.
“I forgot these,” Aaliyah walked back before taking what she bought, glaring and huffing at Volkov like an angry cat, and Volkov didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that.
She just looked too cute and sexy when she was angry for her own good.
Walking back inside the restaurant, Volkov looked at his friends, who were looking at him in anticipation as if ready to hear some gossip, and he couldn’t help but sigh.
“Hey, hey, where are you going? Come here and tell us the details! Did you pacify her? What exactly happened?” Samantha shouted, and Volkov rolled his eyes.
“There’s nothing worth sharing. She is just angry at me because I hugged her, and you very well know how my clothes were at that time,” Volkov said, and Samantha looked at him for a few seconds before sighing and eating her food.
“What?” Volkov asked when he didn’t get any reaction.
“If you didn’t want to say anything, let it be. Why are you lying? Huh, I will just ask Aaliyah,” Samantha said, smiling in her mind, and Volkov clenched his fists, remembering what he did and said to Aaliyah that could’ve angered her.
“You are not asking her anything and making her uncomfortable, Samantha. No one is to torment her in any way,” Volkov’s voice turned cold, and a shudder ran down Samantha’s spine.
“I am not doing it. Geez, who lit your pants on fire? Just eat your food so that we can explore a bit. Don’t you want to explore the market?” Samantha took another bite.
“Buy something for your girl? We love gifts, even if it’s just a flower. Judging from Aaliyah’s nature, she will definitely love something inexpensive and small. Right, Dimitri?” Samantha looked at Dimitri, who was busy stuffing his food, and as if caught in an act, he looked up from his plate with wide eyes before nodding.
“I think sshee izz rigghht,” He said with his mouth stuffed, and Samantha shook her head helplessly.
“Mr. Volkov, our staff has prepared some songs and dances by the local artists for you and your guests. We would love it if you stayed,” the manager walked with a girl dressed in a short blouse and lingerie shorts.
“We are here for another hour,” Volkov nodded without even gazing at the girl as he ordered his food, and the manager clapped his hands with a beaming smile before nodding at the dancers to come and show their piece.
Meanwhile, out of the restaurant, Aaliyah sat at the table angrily.
“Seriously? Till when are you going to stay like this? I am hungry,” Ashton held her hand.
“Then go ahead. Eat your food. I am not telling you to stay with me. I didn’t even call you in the first place,” Aaliyah huffed.
“Well, if I hadn’t been there, you would’ve injured someone. Luckily, Mr. Volkov saved that, and now obviously, I have to take care of that,”
“You are not my nanny, Ashton. I can take care of myself just fine,”
“Well, I saw what your fine was. Come on, don’t make it hard. We are here to have fun, baby. Please? For me? I know you don’t want to share. So whatever it is, let’s keep it aside and enjoy, yeah?” Ashton pouted his lips before making a bunny face, and Aaliyah’s lips twitched.
“Fine! Stop with it. You know I can’t resist that look,” Aaliyah said before she stood, and Ashton swung his hand over her shoulder.
“That’s like my cute potato,” Ashton said, and Aaliyah rolled her eyes.
Even after three months, she still hasn’t gotten used to his ways of calling her different names whenever he is in the mood.
“You know, the cheese balls were good. You left before the waiter brought them. Let’s go and try some,” Ashton pacified her a bit more, and Aaliyah hummed, walking inside the restaurant.
“Let me use the washroom real quick. Wait for me before ordering, okay?” Ashton left immediately, making her sigh.
As she entered the room booked for them, she froze in the doorway, the scene in front of her making her blood boil.
In front of her was a girl, barely dressed shaking her body in front of Mr. Volkov, and judging from his unwavering stare, he looked like he was enjoying those bre*sts being pushed in his face.
Meanwhile, Volkov, who was thinking about how good his hands on Aaliyah’s bre*sts felt, and was dazed, didn’t even realize when the dancer came too close to him.
“What are you doing? Keep your distance,” Volkov’s cold and angry voice reverberated in the room as soon as the dancer’s hand touched his chest, and scared to her wits, the dancer took a step back, making Volkov look behind her, and he couldn’t help but widen his eyes slightly when he looked at Aaliyah’s glare.
“Aaliyah, haha, you are back,” Samantha chuckled awkwardly, looking between her and Volkov before biting her lips.
Well, this wasn’t good.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” this was the first line that escaped Volkov’s lips, and Samantha and Dimitri slapped their foreheads helplessly.
Seriously? This was the last thing he could say. Seeing Aaliyah’s gaze turning darker and her smile that looked a bit too sinister, Dimitri sighed before shaking his head and leaning in his chair.
Well, it wasn’t his problem.