25

Natalya
I can’t walk the corridors of the school I’ve been at since I was eight years old without looking over my shoulder anymore. Senior year is by far shaping up to be the worst when it comes to Alexander’ torment. The sexual edge only makes everything much more confusing.
I open my locker and my heart skips a beat when I see a plain white envelope in there with the words my pet scribbled on the front in Alexander’ handwriting. Now the fucker is breaking into my locker. I snatch it and open the envelope to find a picture he must have snapped of me on my knees with his cock in my mouth in the alleyway outside of the bar the other night.
Along with a slip of paper.
You are coming to the winter formal with me.
Bastard.
If blackmailing me about my family’s true origins isn’t bad enough, this son of a bitch is now resorting to taking degrading photos of me. I swallow hard and stuff the photo back into the envelope just in time, as Azira sneaks up on me.
“What you doing?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Just grabbing a book I need to study.” I slip the envelope under a pile of books and pull out the book I need for my assignment. “You?”
“I’m bored and have a free period. Do you want to hang out?”
I glance at the book in my hand and then at Azira. “In the library?” I suggest.
She rolls her eyes. “You are too much of a nerd. How did I ever become friends with you?”
I laugh. “I’m sorry that I take my studies seriously.”
Azira sighs. “It’s because you are actually training to take over your family business.” There’s a sad look in her eyes. “My father intends to sell me off to the highest bidder, and that’s my only purpose in life.”
“That can’t be true,” I say, knowing that her father, despite being a cold and calculating man, cares for Azira. I’ve met him and seen the way he dotes on her.
“Believe me, it is.” She looks me in the eye. “My cousin Imalia ran off with one of our enemies and it sparked a debate between my father and his sister, Imalia’s mom.”
I’d heard about her cousin running off with Spartak, the pakhan of the Volkov Bratva. It was news across the country, especially amongst the Russians. “What kind of debate?”
“A debate regarding arranged marriages. My father insists he will arrange one for both me and Mia.” She twists her thumbs together. “I overheard him telling our aunt.”
I wrinkle my nose. “That sucks. Mikhail would never force me into marriage.” At least I hope he wouldn’t. I can’t deny that for a while now I’ve had a nagging feeling that there’s no way I can truly rule the bratva without a man by my side.
“That’s because your brother is cool.” She links her arms with mine. “Okay, let’s study in the library like a couple of nerds.”
I laugh. “You can’t distract me, though.”
She pouts. “What’s the fun of going to the library, then?”
“To get work done. You can do what you do best.”
“What’s that?” she asks.
“People watch.”
Her face lights up and she nods. “Good idea. I love people watching.”
“You are an odd one, you know that?”
She nods. “Of course. All the best people are odd.”
We fall into amicable silence as we head toward the library. It’s crazy how my friends can so easily drag me out of a slump and tear my mind away from the hell Alexander is putting me through. Although, it never lasts long. My troubles always resurface and the photo in my locker plays on my mind.
Once we get to the library, I’m thankful after a quick scan that Alexander isn’t in here. I’ve been bumping into him in the library far more often than any other year, and I fear it’s because he enjoys playing with me here, on my turf.
“Usual seat?” Azira asks, glancing over at the corner table I always select.
As I look at it, all I can see is Alexander sat next to me, his hand up my skirt as he pushed me over the edge. “Sure,” I say, shrugging. I can’t let him get into my head like that, no matter how much he’s already slipped under my skin.
Azira slumps down in a chair and rests her head back. “Just being in the library tires me out.”
I roll my eyes. “You are being melodramatic. We walked in her a minute ago.”
She opens her eyes and fixes me with a serious stare. “Right, it’s draining. All these nerds and books.” She shakes her head. “Seriously, how did we end up friends?”
“I have a feeling it was Adrianna’s fault.”
Azira nods. “Should have known.” She nudges me playfully. “You know I’m joking, right?”
“Of course,” I say, opening my book at the page I finished at.
“That was a good day, even if it took your friends being assholes to you to push you into our oddball group.”
I raise a brow. “Can you really call three a group?”
“Fine, our loner trio.” She shakes her head. “Do you like rubbing it in because we were basically three losers until you came along?”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. You were not losers.”
She shrugs. “Whatever, all I’m saying is I’m glad Jeanie was a bitch that day.”
I laugh. “Me too. I hate how I was with them.”
Although I wasn’t into bullying people like Jeanie was, I never spoke up. I watched in silence while she treated people like shit, and it’s something I’m not proud of. Basically, the only good thing Alexander has ever done for me was open my eyes to what terrible friends Jeanie, Anita, and Kerry really were.
“Yeah, you were a bit of an asshole,” Azira says, smirking.
I sigh heavily. “I miss Giorgia.”
“Tell me about it. She’s invited all of us over to Sicily for Easter break.”
“Really?” I ask.
“Yeah, I got an email from her yesterday. Pretty sure she sent it to all three of us.”
I swallow hard, as I haven’t checked my emails. Deep down, I’m certain my brother won’t allow me to go. After all, Giorgia’s family has strong links with Fabio Alteri and at the moment, the war raging in Boston includes him.
“I don’t reckon Mikhail will agree to me going.”
Azira looks disappointed. “Unfortunately, I don’t think my family will let me either.”
A solemn silence falls between us and that’s when I realize she’s been chatting so much I’ve been sitting in the library for almost ten minutes and haven’t done any work.
I nudge her. “Quit chattering now, and study.”
She sticks out her tongue and then scans the library, people watching rather than working. Her grades aren’t the best, but I can understand why she doesn’t care what grades she gets. It’s sad the way most women are treated in our world.