Dialing Ashton’s father’s number, Aaliyah grumbled.
“Is it too important? His coming back?” Aaliyah went straight to the point, and Ashton’s father, who wasn’t expecting a call from her, chuckled loudly.
“Sweetheart, I can handle the matter for another week. You guys enjoy,” he said, knowing how much the kids care for each other, and Ashton froze in his place.
“You are not going anywhere,” Aaliyah took a step back before slapping his cheek lightly.
“I will beat your ass next time you make me worry like this. Whatever it is, we will handle it together.
I don’t care if it’s your organization. I will handle it all,” Aaliyah said before pulling him by ear back to the table and pushing him onto the chair, making David and Momo chuckle at her actions.
“Now sit here and have brunch. We are enjoying this trip together. Leave the rest to me,” Aaliyah huffed before going to Benjamin’s table, sitting between Benjamin and Dimitri, and Ashton looked at her back with a warm feeling in his heart.
He was right to not risk their friendship for the relationship. He loves her, and he knows she loves him too. But what if it’s not romantic love? This bond is more precious to him. Ashton smiled before eating his food.
“Is everything okay?” Dimitri asked.
“That fool wanted to leave the trip without me, so I talked to his father and gave him an earful,” Aaliyah said like that was the most common thing, and Volkov, who was busy pouring himself juice, paused before continuing.
“Anyway, let me introduce this beautiful girl here. She is Aaliyah Gold, our Dominic’s student,” Benjamin said, and Aaliyah’s eyes turned cold at the word student.
He was making her feel like she was inferior to everyone at the table, and she didn’t like it.
However, she quickly masked her displeasure with her smile, but Volkov observing her keenly, noticed the slight change in her expression, and his fists clenched around his fork.
He doesn’t like anyone making her uncomfortable. This was what he was afraid of.
“Hi, I am Sandra Volkov, his elder sister,” The lady beamed at Aaliyah, and the latter smiled back.
“He is our father, Nathan Volkov,” Sandra said, and Aaliyah looked directly into the old man’s eyes, taking him aback with the dark look in her eyes.
He didn’t rule New York City on the tip of his fingers for nothing. Judging someone’s character was a job as easy as drinking water for him, and for some reason, he knew this girl wasn’t as easy and innocent as she looked.
“Aaliyah, here, try this one,” Dimitri swung his hand over her shoulder before putting some potato cheese balls on her plate.
“Were you stalking me yesterday, Mr. Troy?” Aaliyah shook her head with a smile, and Dimitri grinned.
“Well, you can praise my observation skills,” Dimitri pulled her cheeks, and though Dominic knew
Dimitri was doing it to help her ease some tension and loosen up the environment, he still glared at him when his friend touched her cheeks.
“What are you guys doing here? I am sure I didn’t call anyone to disrupt my peace,” Volkov placed his glass on the table, and the environment on the table immediately turned solemn. Seeing
Dominic’s calm yet cold gaze lingering on his father, Aaliyah leaned back, impressed.
Realizing she was staring for too long than needed, Aaliyah looked back at her plate.
Was this her toxic trait? Or perhaps this was the evidence of her likeness to the dark people?
“Is this a way to treat your family? You can invite your students on a cruise trip, but not your family?” Nathan asked his son, his gaze flickering to the girl Aaliyah again and again.
Something about her was making him curious. She had that mysterious aura that makes you want to know more about her.
“Well, unlike my family, my students don’t bother me with useless topics that make me angry. They know how to enjoy themselves and not disturb me,” Dominic scoffed before he applied garlic cheese to a toast and placed it on Aaliyah’s plate.
“Try this one,” Dominic didn’t look at her, and Aaliyah acted neutrally.
“Don’t tell me you guys got a tip from my mother to make me fat,” Aaliyah scoffed, eating the bread nonetheless, and Samantha chuckled.
“Well, this was our plan. Anyway, we will be stopping at the island soon. Be ready to enjoy the beaches of this exotic island,” Samantha clapped her hands and quickly diverted the topic.
Aaliyah wiped her lips before bowing at everyone and standing from the table.
“Thank you for the food,” she walked away, and as soon as Aaliyah left, the environment on the table turned cold and serious.
“Was it necessary to kill those men?” Nathan hissed to Dominic, and the latter raised his brows.
“See? Not only one second passed since one of my students left, and you are already at it. Besides, I don’t see a problem in killing a ra*ist, and someone, who wanted to harm the organization. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Dominic stood from the table before walking to Aaliyah and pulling her to the corner.
“Hey, what are you doing? Your family is here. Did you know about it?” Aaliyah looked at the table from the corner of her eyes, and Volkov hummed.
“It’s exactly because they are here that I am in a sour mood. Just act like I am telling you something serious and make a grave face,” Dominic pinched the bridge of his nose, and Aaliyah sighed before scrunching her brows and nodding.
“I like you,” Dominic said, and Aaliyah’s expression froze, her lips twitching slightly.
“Screw that. I think I am falling for you harder than that,” Dominic confessed, and Aaliyah didn’t know what to do.
Does he really expect her to take his words with this kind of grave expression when her heart is beating so fast and wants to hug him?
“And what’s your purpose in telling me this at this time when I can’t even react?” Aaliyah masked her emotions, and Dominic pressed his lips into a thin line.
“You are good at this, aren’t you? Anyway, I want to tell you that they can be a bit overboard and might get suspicious of you because I can’t act coldly with you. They might try to suppress you, and I won’t let that happen, but even if you feel uncomfortable somehow, don’t let their words get to your heart,” Dominic said.
“Okay?” He asked.
Aaliyah looked at him for a good few seconds before she turned around and went straight to her friends, making Dominic confused if she got the point.
Descending the cruise, Aaliyah pretended to not see Mr. Nathan gazing at her interestingly and went along with her friends, not wanting to give away anything that might give them a reason to be more suspicious of her.
“Would you guys like to see the dolphin show? They have it here,” Momo said.
“And how do you know that?” David asked.
“It was in the manual, the places we will be stopping and things we can enjoy at those places,” Momo smiled.
“Miss Samantha really went out of her way to make this trip successful, no?” David said excitedly, but Aaliyah’s gaze was only observing Mr. Nathan from the corner of her eyes since she could see he had been observing her for quite some time.
“Aaliyah,” Dominic walked to her.
“Yes, sir,” Aaliyah quirked her brows, and Dominic paused.
She rarely calls him sir. It has always been Mr. Volkov in the school too. Why was she calling like that here, knowing all too well what her words and actions do to her? Volkov pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing.
“There is bike racing too,” Dominic said absentmindedly, and Dimitri pressed his lips into a thin line.
Who was the one who said Aaliyah shouldn’t know about this? And who is the one leaking the information to her now? Dimitri rolled his eyes.
Hearing about bike racing, Aaliyah’s eyes immediately sparkled.
“Bike racing?” Nathan walked to the group, and Dominic rolled his eyes.
“Don’t tell me you want to participate too,” Dominic sighed.
“No, but I can enjoy it, can’t I? I can sit behind one of your students who are participating,” Nathan said before beaming at Aaliyah.
“You look like a calm girl. Are you participating? I will sit behind you,” Nathan looked at her smugly, practically forcing his decision on her, thinking he would corner her on the ride, and Dominic immediately stood in front of her.
“You are not going anywhere with her,” Dominic’s eyes were blazing fire, and Nathan’s suspicion became stronger.
“I am not going to taint your students with my old-school stories. Don’t worry,” Nathan said before looking at the girl.
“Do you have a problem, little girl?” Nathan smiled at her warmly, and Aaliyah could see what he was doing, making her smile back.
“Of course not, uncle,” She grinned, and Ashton pressed his lips into a thin line.
He doesn’t know why, but he doesn’t have a good feeling about it.
“Aaliyah, you don’t know what you are getting into. This old man here -”
“I can handle my hobbies well, Mr. Volkov. I thought the purpose of coming on this trip was to let loose and have fun. So why don’t you let loose and let others have some fun? You should try it too,” Aaliyah smiled, and Nathan raised his brows at the gutsy girl.
Now he doesn’t want to call his son dangerous, rude, or unapproachable, but even he knows not many people talk to him so freely.
“Come on, old uncle. Let’s give you a memorable ride,” Aaliyah sat inside the carriage that was here to take them, and Nathan looked at Dominic shaking his head, and for some reason, it felt like he was pitying him more than the girl. Nathan thought, confused.
Well, now that the girl acted confident about it, he didn’t feel everything was alright either. She was supposed to say no. Anyway, what can go wrong? She is just a schoolgirl. She can’t ride better than him, right? He was a biker of his time too. Nathan thought, his gaze flickering to Aaliyah, who had a satisfied smile on her face.
After 40 minutes at the racing venue ~~~~
“Dominic, are you participating too?” Nathan widened his eyes when he saw his son stopping beside them on a bike. His actions surprised Benjamin and Sandra, who looked at each other.
“Will you be able to keep up?” Dominic asked Aaliyah, who smirked at him.
Getting down from the bike, he walked towards her, everyone’s gaze following him, but the wind was making it impossible to hear what he was whispering in her ears.
“Let’s make a bet,” Dominic looked into her eyes, and she liked the sound of it.
“If I win, I get to sleep with you for the rest of the time we are together and even after going back, and if you win, I will eat you,” Dominic smirked, and Aaliyah’s face immediately flushed that she covered with her helmet.
“Wrong bet, Mr. Dominic. Here is a new deal. If I win, I will touch you and drink you like no one ever has. If you win, you can do anything with me on that bed you wanted to tie me on. You can keep the sleeping thing too,” Aaliyah smirked, confident in herself, her gaze flickering downwards, making her smile even wider when she noticed the effect her words had on him.