Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(28)

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Nausea had a way of sneaking up on someone. When awake, at least, one could be prepared for the consequences of imbibing too much, rushing to the nearest available spot to purge, but lost in sleep, it was a little worse because the alcohol was still swimming around, and it was harder to function properly. But this wasn’t Alex’s first time, nor, probably, would it be her last.

Her eyes opened slowly, as though they had a mind of their own, but even as the world spun in front of her, just as her stomach was doing, she knew what was to come. Clamping a hand over her mouth just in case, Alex moved as quickly as she could out of the bed, stumbling into just about everything in the near vicinity as she hurried to the bathroom, barely making it to her knees before she was throwing up everything in her body. Even as she did it, she had to lift her face occasionally, flushing the toilet so the stench wouldn’t make her gag more.

Alex groaned, but at least the spinning was slowing down enough that she could almost see her own hand in front of her. She flushed again, leaning back against the wall so the coolness of it could seep into her pores and cool her down. She was practically sweating everywhere, but after a few minutes of just sitting and breathing, that finally subsided as well.

She took her time pushing to her feet, heading for the sink as she propped herself against the edge of it, reaching for her bottle of mouthwash first, then brushing her teeth with as much vigor as she could. Finished, she splashed water on her face, drying off with a towel nearby. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she cringed.

Worse. It was worse than she had been expecting.

She put a hand to her face hoping that maybe, the person staring back at her was a stranger, but she wasn’t that lucky. Her eyes were bloodshot, though she had gotten used to this sight with the weeks she’d been drinking her nights away, and the bags under them looked like they were constantly growing. Except, the one thing that wasn’t growing on her was everything else. She looked thinner, her collarbone more pronounced, the angles of her face more severe.

Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten anything that could even remotely be considered a meal.

Grabbing a pair of tiny shorts and a tank top that was on her floor and looked moderately clean, she headed out to her kitchen, not bothering to turn on any lights on the way. Yanking the refrigerator door open, she frowned at the contents. Nothing even remotely edible. She contemplated ordering out, running through the time it would take them to get there, when she thought of something a little more important.

Alex hadn’t realized her hand was shaking until she raised it to run her fingers through her hair. She had easily gone days without seeing Snow in the past, maybe even longer, but now that her mind had fixated on what he could give her, she couldn’t think about going another ten minutes without seeing him.

Snow was going to be pissed at what she’d done yesterday, would probably act like a dick about it, but she didn’t really have any other option.

Biting her nail, she was hurrying back to her room when a noise from the couch made her jump, her eyes darting to the person who was now swinging their legs around and dropping their feet to the floor.

Shit, she’d forgotten that Luka had crashed at her house, though she thought she remembered him actually in the bed with her. Now that she definitely didn’t agree to, and while any other time she might have pretended to be annoyed, this time she actually was. Undoubtedly, he would start asking her questions that she didn’t want to answer, and if she said something he didn’t like, that would just make it more difficult for her to leave.

She really didn’t need this shit now.

“Luka, you’re up. Uh, cool. I’m heading across the city to meet with a friend. If you want, you can crash here and I’ll see you later.”

When she was done speaking, she pressed her lips together, wondering why she had opened her mouth at all, because with the way he was looking at her now, he could definitely tell something was up.

“Who?”

She waved a hand, hoping to recover from her f*ck up. “You wouldn’t know them. Not Bratva related.”

He stood, moving around the couch until he was in front of her, his gaze trained on her face. Hers, however, focused on his chest and not because she was checking him out. She was afraid of what he would say if he saw the truth, as she knew he would.

“Give me a name and I’ll tell you if I do.”

Her eyes darted, trying to come up with an answer that would be good enough for him, but since she hadn’t expected to be questioned, she was a little slow in producing one.

She lifted her hand, wanting to shove her hair out of her face, but seeing them shaking again just made her ball it into a fist. “John.”

“John?”

“Yeah, just John.”

It was beyond obvious that Luka didn’t believe a word she was saying, but as that churning in her gut grew worse, she was starting not to care that he didn’t believe her, and was more concerned with getting him out of there so she could leave.

Choosing not to stand there as he deciphered her words, she shouldered past him, on her way to her room, but it was never that easy with Luka, and it hadn’t been her words he’d been trying to make sense of, but her altogether.

He grabbed her from behind, his hand fisting the fabric of her shirt as he gave it a sharp tug, spinning her around, his hand gripping her jaw so she couldn’t turn away. His eyes darted as he scanned her face, looking for what, she didn’t know.