35

Alexander
So much for time away from Natalya.
I watch her from afar as she walks down the street alone. It’s surprising that Mikhail allows her to wander the streets alone when the tensions between the mafia organizations in Boston are almost as high as they are in Chicago. Her driver dropped her here, and I watched as she gave him a wave and then turned south down the street. A wave of vicious protectiveness sweeps over me. If Natalya was mine, I’d ensure she had a bodyguard wherever she went.
I shake my head, wondering what the fuck is wrong with me. Five days I’d been home in Chicago and I was going out of my fucking mind. It was boring as hell and Hernandez was driving me crazy already, lecturing me on my duty to the family. I have no duty to the Estrada Cartel. I’m not in line to inherit, so I don’t really give a shit about any of it. All I want is to finish my senior year and head down to Mexico. My home. The place I never should have left.
And yet my uncle wants me to make political alliances and be at his beck and call. Eliza will be married off soon enough, forced into an arranged marriage that she doesn’t want. As will Lila, my younger cousin who attends the syndicate academy. Me and Lila couldn’t differ more apart from being the closest in age of all my father’s and uncle’s children. She’s always loved living in America, whereas I hated it. She’s always been naturally kind and good spirited, whereas I’ve had darkness inside of me for as long as I can remember. The seed of which was planted the night my father tore me from the home I’d always known.
I shake my head, trying to forget the scenes I witnessed that night. Instead, I focus my attention back to Natalya, who walks up to the entrance of an upmarket coffee shop called Jonquils. I roll my eyes, unsurprised by the place she picked out. Preferably, it would have been some dingy cafe or restaurant where I could sneak up on her, but this place is bright and clean.
“Fucking Gurin,” I mutter as I walk over the road at the crossing. She knows I’m here in Boston, if she’s taken my photo seriously, and she doesn’t realize that when I put my number on her phone at school, I also downloaded a background app that gives me access to her location data.
I open the door into the swanky coffee shop and spot Natalya instantly, her back to me in a little booth right at the back of the place. Awareness races down my spine as I realize how insane this really is, coming to Boston two days before Christmas just because I had to see her, torment her, touch her. I’ve lost the plot, that much is clear.
With every step I take toward her, my heart speeds up a little more. It’s ridiculous considering it’s just Natalya, the same girl I’ve spent years tormenting and teasing.
I don’t make myself known, instead I just slip into the booth on the other side.
Natalya’s eyes widen and then she goes to move, but I grab her hand before she can try to stand.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Her tongue slips over her pink bottom lip, wetting it. “How did you find me?” she asks.
I don’t respond, as I have no answer to that which won’t alert her to the app on her phone. Instead, I let go of her hand and sit back in the chair. “That’s not the greeting I was expecting.”
Her eyes narrow. “Cut the shit, Alexander. Why are you here?”
I don’t like hearing her speak to me that way, but I let it slide on this occasion. “To check that you are sticking to your end of the bargain. After all, the last text you sent me was rather rude.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, drawing my attention to her full cleavage. “We had a deal, and you broke it, not me.”
I raise a brow. “How exactly did I do that?” I ask.
“You said you’d stay away from my family if I did everything you say.” Her cheeks flush a deep red. “I gave you what you wanted and now you’re blackmailing my brother.”
“As I said, you can’t belong to me if your brother has promised you to another.” I shrug, knowing it will piss her off. “I had to break the engagement, otherwise you were breaking the deal.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to talk to my brother about it,” she hisses, looking like she wants to launch over the table and strangle me. “And it wasn’t going to happen until after I graduated, so it would have never affected our deal.”
I tap my fingers on the table in a drumming rhythm as a lady walks over and brings Natalya her order.
“Sorry for the delay, Nat. Does your friend want anything?”
Before I can say anything, Natalya shakes her head. “No, he can’t stay.”
“That’s not true. I’ll have a latte please,” I say, smiling at the waitress.
Her brow furrows slightly, eyes darting between me and Natalya. “Okay, coming right up.”
“I want to be left alone. I came here to clear my mind,” she says, glaring at me as she picks up her coffee and takes a sip. “If you want to stay, find your own table.”
I shake my head. “That’s not how this is going to work, and you know it.”
Her lips purse together in a tight line. “Are you going to explain what you are doing in Boston?”
“I already told you why I’m here.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“So you’re in Boston just because of me?” she asks, sounding skeptical.
I realize that it does seem a little odd for me to have made the journey just because of Natalya, but the truth is I needed to see her, to speak to her, to touch her again. This clawing, burning desire to seek her out has been there since the town car drove out of the gates of The Syndicate Academy. “I had to ensure you were sticking to the rules. I can’t have you getting complacent.”
“Right, so you are here because you’re an asshole.”
“Watch your mouth, Gurin, and remember that I own you.”
Hatred sparks to life in her dark eyes as they practically simmer like hot coals, trying to burn their way right through my flesh.
She doesn’t say another word, though, simply picks up the chocolate pastry she ordered and takes a bite.
I feel my cock harden as she gets some on her lip and seductively licks it off, conjuring a host of dirty fucking thoughts into my mind. “Careful, Gurin. If you eat like that, you are asking to be fucked in the restroom.”
Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “I’m eating like any normal human being.” Her cheeks flush a deep red as she sets the pastry down and takes a long sip of her coffee.
“Is it good?” I ask.
She nods. “Yes, that’s why I come here. It’s my regular place.” Her eyebrows pull together. “What I can’t understand is how you found me here.”
I shrug. “I have my ways.”
She makes an exasperated little sighing sound that I feel right to my cock, shifting as my pants become increasingly tight.