Hidden Monsters (Volkov Bratva #4)(55)

“Ask me what you really want to know.”

Chewing her bottom lip, she thought of how best to word the question, knowing that he could be sensitive when it came to Natasha. “You’re here instead of with Natasha…”

“Still not a question.”

“Why?”

He rolled onto his back, tucking his hands beneath his head as he watched the fire burn, the sound of the wood crackling loud in the silence of the room.

“It was never like that between us. Besides,” he said turning his head in her direction, “I wanted to see you.”

“I’m fine, Luka. You don’t have to baby—”

“That’s not the reason.”

She wanted to just accept that he was here for her, but the insecure part of her wouldn’t let it go. “I’ve always been here, but you’ve never come before.”

He sighed, reaching a hand out, his gaze dropping to her hip where his fingers traced her skin. “Can it not be both? I won’t lie and say I’m not worried about you. You’ve made it through the withdrawals, sure, but that’s not the end of this.” Then, as quickly as his seriousness came upon him, he smiled brilliantly. “And maybe because I wanted to sleep next to you again. Whatever excuse you want to go with…take your pick.”

“But I—”

He put a finger to her lips, silencing yet another protest, but this time she let him.

“I didn’t want to be alone.”

____

For the second time in what felt like a handful of hours, Alex was opening her eyes again, blinking to clear her vision, trying to see Luka clearly. She wasn’t sure if she was actually awake or dreaming, but the real or fake version of him was still nice to see.

He was leaning over her, damp hair tucked behind his ears, his eyes intent on her. “I have to go.”

“Don’t leave.”

At least, that’s what she hoped she said, but in reality, it came out as little more than monosyllables. He smiled indulgently before pulling the sheet higher over her. His lips moved again, but by this time, she had already fallen back asleep.

Long after Luka had slipped out of her apartment and the sun had risen in the sky did Alex finally wake up, feeling both tired and excited—not to mention the traces of fear she felt. There was nothing mottling her mind this time around—no drugs, no alcohol, and for that reason, she could remember him coming to her for once.

Groaning, she collapsed back on the bed, squeezing her eyes shut, because a part of her wished that she could go back to last night and just bask in just being with him. She had no idea what he was going to be like today, whether he would go back to how they once were.

But while the endless possibilities ran through her head, that was no reason to sit around in bed all day. Instead, she needed to get out of her apartment and find something to occupy her time. She vaguely remembered him waking her up—the second time—and figured he would be busy most of the day with Mishca. So that gave her plenty of time to prepare for whatever his reaction to their night together was.

Alex showered and got ready in record time, heading down to a coffee shop not too far away for her morning fix, she happily guzzled down the burning liquid to help make her feel more human.

Alex hailed a cab, riding toward one of her favorite shops, a gem of a store that sold vintage clothing. She was browsing through a few of the racks, eyeing a particular dress that would look great with a pair of shoes that she already had when she heard someone call her name.

Despite the years, she recognized the voice, a hesitant smile already blooming on her face as she faced her old friend. “Amerie, what are you doing here?”

Amerie was just as she remembered, plus a few pounds, though that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail at the nape of her neck, and while her makeup was understated, she still looked stunning.

“I should be asking you that! Where’ve you been? After you left Paris, I haven’t heard a thing from you.”

That was a long and complicated story, and one that Alex couldn’t really get into. “Had to take a break from dancing because my home life was a bit crazy back then. What about you?”

It was then that Alex noticed a little girl holding hands with a man walking in their direction, the girl almost a splitting image of her mother. When she got closer, she threw her arms around Amerie's legs, peeking over at Alex with a shy smile.

“This is my daughter, Sophia, and my husband, Marcus.”

He smiled and looked nice enough, although definitely nothing like the kind of guys they hung around during their younger days. He picked up Sophia, taking her to the other side of the store so the two of them could finish talking.

“Things really have changed for you,” Alex commented softly, smiling with a small wave to Sophia who was still watching them with big doe eyes.

“Oh, you know how these things go. Now that she’s older, I was hoping to get back into dance.”

To some, having a baby was like committing a sin in the ballet world, not just because of the physical changes it did to one’s body, but because of the commitment that it required. Ballet was a twenty-four-seven commitment and having a baby conflicted with that.

Of course, Amerie wasn’t the first and wouldn’t be the last girl who had needed to take a break from dancing to be there for her family, but it was rare that they got back into it.