Roses & Ruin

Chapter 105 (Anthony)

Waking up to the sight of Andrei wasn't how I wanted to start my morning. Now I was sitting at the kitchen table staring dumbfounded at the two siblings fighting. Somehow the argument about Lexi's business endeavors turned into some very pent up emotions about what happened to the family when Lexi and her mom ran away from home.

Andrei's a big fucking dude. He's tall, but he's muscled, which makes him all the more intimidating. Especially when you see him in contrast to the thin frame of his little sister. If he touched her I'd knock him out. As hard as that may be.

I should know, I almost killed myself fighting him. But for now this felt like something I should stay out of. This didn't involve me.

When Andrei Petrov chuckles like an evil villain it's chilling even for me. He laughed at Lexi's words and rounded his broad shoulders back, making him look even taller now. "A part of it at 12 years old?" He asked rhetorically.

"You know that I'm talking about Now. Present day" Lexi waved aggressively around them.

"Do you think I have a say on that call?! And what little say I did have I put to good use. I got you him, didn't I?" Andrei waved over to me. "Got me" isn't how I'd put it. He accepted my challenge to fight until we were raw and bloody.

"Oh you were playing matchmaker for me? Gee, thanks" Lexi spat sarcastically. She can give you a good tongue lashing when she wants to. She can be so incredibly dry and sharply sarcastic.

        "Oh cut the shit!! I know you and him had a thing" he shocked Lexi and I both when he said it. Lexi stumbled on her response to it. "Yeah, I've had spies here in the States long before Dad did. So don't tell me you weren't seeing him, cuz I know you were" he called her and I out. I was unable to even react. I sat incredulously.

"You weren't exactly subtle about it either, smart guy. Always coming to her defense, always looking at her, and worrying about her. Pretty obvious she wasn't a stranger to you" now Andrei called me out one on one. Lexi was still standing there stunned.

"What spies?" She finally asked. Andrei was still addressing me, so she was sure to raise her voice when she asked again, "What spies, Andrei?!"

Andrei pinched his lips shut like he was regretting bringing that up. What was he up to? I know he's spent time in America before, he's just never told me Why he'd been in America. "Don't worry about it" he deflected.

"I swear to god, I'll throw this hot coffee in your face if you don't answer my damn question" his little sister threatened him. Andrei stepped forward and held his arms out at his sides. "Go ahead" he challenged her.

Lexi fisted the glass and grit her teeth. The crazy bastard just stood there willing to get hot coffee thrown at him. Lexi let go of the glass.

"Why didn't you say anything if you knew?" She changed her line of questioning. "Do you think I really give a single fuck about who your rolling around with? The contract would've happened either way, unless they wanted to have a doctor come check you out beforehand, and I figured those odds were slim" his sarcastic tone resurfaced.

"Did Dmitriy know?" She wondered, and so did I. "No. Him and Dad would've locked you in a tower" he snorted the truth like she was absurd to think otherwise. The two of them really did lock her away, but only for three days before I found out and intervened.

"I'm so confused," Lexi muttered to herself. I could see her furrowed brow when she turned slightly away from her brother.

Andrei decided to take the moment to grab his coffee and drink. Lexi was trying to understand why everything she thought she knew wasn't quite what she thought it was. "I'm a bad guy, but I'm not The bad guy of your story, Aleks" I heard him use a nickname I've never heard one of them use before. Her mom would say that. No one else.