Roses & Ruin

Chapter 28 (Lexi)

        Boris called for us to meet today. He wants to talk to me about something, and he doesn't like doing it in my apartment since I live with a roommate. She's never even laid eyes on him and he wants to keep it that way. So, today I'm going to that hole in the wall bar I took Rizzo to a week or two back.

I haven't been there since. Hopefully the bartender doesn't make some comment about it or Boris is gonna find out I've been sneaking off with a guy.

That wouldn't end well for any of us.

        Obviously Boris isn't meeting me there or anything. We live in the same apartment complex. He just told me to meet him down by his car and he'd drive us over. Boris isn't a chatty man. He rarely speaks to me. So if he has something to talk about I know it's directly related to my fathers arrival, which will be in two days.

Two days...I'm not at all looking forward to it.

To explain my complicated relationship with him I would have to delve much deeper into my past, and I just don't wanna talk about it. Or think about it.

        When Boris and I got to the small Russian owned bar we slipped into a booth seat and Boris held two fingers up to alert the bartender that he wanted a Kvass. It's almost like the American equivalent to beer, but it's a Russian drink, and it isn't really a strong alcoholic drink at all. Still he loves it and always orders it here.

He doesn't let me drink since I am not of legal age here, so I ordered a soda and we ordered sushki as a snack.

"Well?" I asked him just after we ordered. He refuses to speak English so he started talking to me in Russian.

        "Your father will be arriving in two days" he told me what I already know. The man is like a meaty giant. His voice matches his stature. Deep and heavy if that makes any sense. I just continued to stare at his crooked nose, knowing that's not all he had to say on the matter.

"Your father wishes for you to go live with them in their new living arrangements" he added. My jaw dropped. "What? No way!" I practically scoffed.

We paused for a second while the bartender placed our drinks on the table.

"I don't think it's a request, Pchelka" (little bee) Boris pressed his lips together. I rolled my eyes. "There is literally no reason for me to live under their roof. I have my own thing going on. Did you tell him that?" I asked him.

        "I don't tell Mr. Pertov anything. I want to keep my balls" he told me. That much is probably true. Vitaly doesn't take kindly to talking back or questioning his authority.

I will not move in with him and my brothers though. I refuse. They don't even know how long they'll be staying here. If I forfeit my lease, who knows when or where I can find a place to rent for the same price I'm paying now. It's too expensive to live here on a model's wages.

        "Speak to him yourself if you must. I'm only the messenger, and Mr. Petrov's message was that he wants you under his roof again. He's kept tabs on your living arrangements. You know that. I have to report back to him. And he's never been pleased with where you've chosen to live. I don't think he likes your independence away from his money" Boris told me.

"Yeah, because he wants to use it as a tool to control me more than he already tries to. You know that's true" I eyed my guard. Again he pressed his lips together. That's him saying yes, he does know.

"Pchelka" he called me his little nickname of endearment for me. "Listen to your father. Don't make too much trouble for yourself, huh?"

My gut sours at even the thought of my being stuck under the same roof as the Petrov men. I already felt suffocated by Boris's constant eye on me, never mind them.