That gets me blinking up at him and catch that weird half smile he does that has a crazy softness to it. My insides flip flop all over, warning me how dangerously close I am to falling right back under his spell. I need to be smarter. He has so much power over me and exerts so little effort to use it.
There is so much more weight on this now, I have to be stronger.
“Why are you being so smug and annoyingly confident right now? You weren’t so self-assured last night, so what is it that’s got you smiling and acting like I’m a done deal today?” I snap at him, not so much in anger but irritated that he is making me crazily nervous and awkward, making assumptions, and I’m making an idiot of myself. I hate that I’m not in control of me. Alexi just grins at me.
“You’re still here. My odds went up massively when you stopped trying to escape via the elevator. And you haven’t stopped blushing since you came out h
“I like a little danger, it’s good for the heart.” He winks this time, and that gets him a second flat handed smack of ‘not amused’ and a cushion swung at his face which he catches and yanks forward, so I’m pulled into his face with mine.I cough on the fast intake of breath it causes and as he catches me and rights me; we come so close we are almost nose to nose and there it is again; the feeling he wants to kiss me and the weaker side of me knows she would probably let him.“If you didn’t care then it wouldn’t be upsetting you. Seventy-five percent, give or take a few.” He winks, and that makes me lose my shit all over again and forget anything about fucking kissing. I grab another cushion to smother him, swinging it at his head, so not impressed with this. This percentage crap will get him maimed and if I find his gun, I will shoot him my fucking self. He just bats it away and smiles at me devilishly
I venture down to the club, wearing a simple back fitted shift dress over black flats with my hair up in a sleek ponytail. Understated glam today and simple with natural makeup, which isn’t my normal forte. I feel like a change, and to blend in a little, rather than my bold and brassy self. Low key to match my fragile mood, I guess.I don’t know if he is still in the building, but I’m hoping we don’t cross paths for a little while. I need some normal to get my flow back and settle down after the past hugely traumatic and crazy twenty-four hours. I can almost feel the calm and serene emanating from the club as staff work to put it to rights for tonight. The drama of
I throw my third sexy dress on the bed and slump down in a deflated heap, annoyed with myself that I’m doing exactly what I said I wouldn’t do. Prettying myself up for him and stressing over how to dress and what to wear like some sad little teenage idiot on a first date. I can’t believe myself sometimes. He texted me and told me to be ready for six and to dress casually. Whatever that means. Ironic really, as that was my original plan; to show a lack of effort and now, here I am with a bed full of dresses and he is the one telling me to dress down. I don’t know if he means casual pretty for somewhere like his Italian restaurant or if he means jeans and sweater cas
“Alexi!” I freak out, yanking at it to get it off my head, hating this feeling of trapped, muffled isolation and stop when his voice comes through my ear from the side loudly, almost like he is in here with me.“Can you hear me clearly?”I stop the manic panic and nod mutely. Not sure how the hell he can be inside my helmet, but it has the calming effect of being let loose. Not trapped in here with my own voice, but he can hear me.“You can talk you know, the helmets have wireless speakers and mics, so we can still hear each other over the bike.” He taps the visor in my face as though motioning to inside the helmet and I giggle nervously, so much tension whooshing away as I do so. The sudden lack of panting makes the visor clear up again and I can see perfectly out of it. Just takes some getting used to.“Right … weird.” I don’t know if it is because I’ve never been on a bike before,
I like this place; it gives you that instant calm feeling of being somewhere safe and welcoming. A bit like being in his arms. I shake that thought from my head before my brain follows the being in his arms to something a little more X-rated and remind myself, I’m supposed to be dissecting this man and figuring him out.“That depends on how much I’m allowed to know,” I ask with a slight brow raise and a half smile. My seductress side smoothly flowing now I feel more at ease. I too am drawing serene from our calm abode.“Whatever you want. I meant it when I said I would earn your trust. If that means being an open book and telling you whatever you want to know, then here we are.” He gestures around him, watching me carefully.“You could have done that at the club, why bring me here?”Because Alexi is a devious shit who likes to set a scene and manipulate a response. I have seen him do it for his own ends a hu
“Do you want the textbook version?” He throws me a wary look and I nod gently, impatient to know more about him, even if I am feeling a little wary. Mentally storing the name to search on google when I’m alone. Even if he explains well, it won’t be enough and now I want to know everything there is to know about what it is. This is a major thing.“It’s characterised by impulsive, irresponsible and criminal behaviour. Manipulation, deceit, lack of empathy, sometimes controlling behaviour. Aggression, violence, pushing people into things I want and not giving a shit what it does to them. Sex is often a weapon and something I know I use. Doesn’t exactly paint a good picture of me does it?” Alexi looks sombre, as though regretting telling me this, and realising he is doing the opposite of giving me a reason to trust him; for me, it’s not like that. He’s being honest about the worst of him and not hiding this from me
Alexi, the sweet, grey-eyed, handsome boy in those pictures, did not deserve that at all. He was an innocent little kid who had done nothing back then to be punished for. She should have loved him no matter what. She should have pulled him closer because of his flaws and reassured him. He didn’t ask to be different. It wasn’t his fault.“She put you on this path, Gino is right. She maybe didn’t force you to follow your father, but all the bricks were laid in the years leading up to it.” There’s a stern tone in my voice but he just takes my hand in his and interlaces our fingers snugly, like he did last night.“No, she didn’t. That night did. It showed me what I was capable of. I asked my father to take me under his wing with his men. I wanted to be useful in a place my behaviours could be a gift rather than a curse. I wanted to belong somewhere that she would never get involved. She didn’t push me there, it was my c
Alexi tilts his head as my lips meet a tad aggressively and cups my jaw with his hand to pull me snugly and comfortably as he ducks lower. Pushing his fingers into the underside of my hair, clamping me to him possessively and taking immediate control. Not that I’m surprised or complaining. I have a serious weakness for this man dominating me the second kissing or sex is involved. Weirdly, as in life, I hate it when he exerts his authority over me at any other time. He’s my alpha male though, and in this, I don’t want his submission; I want him to devour me. He’s his most impressive when he is in control in this way. He makes me feel desirable and addictive when he overpowers me sexually.He kisses me softly at first and then opens his lips to tease mine with them and t