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I awake the next morning mentally exhausted, and the other side of my bed is empty. Alexei slept here with me last night after he changed out of his tux, and I practically fell asleep instantly. His body is warm and perfect to sleep against.

Hearing Alexei out in the kitchen, I head out there to greet him. He leans back against the counter as he did yesterday, sipping his coffee.

"Good morning", I say with a small smile.

"Morning", he replies. "Coffee?"

"Please". He turns to make the coffee in silence.

"I have to go deal with Emilio today. Dina should be over at some point", he says as he puts my coffee down. His tone is different, like he has no interest in our conversation. A complete change to how he was last night. 

As I drink my coffee, Alexei goes around to collect his laptop, phone, and other things, piling them under his arm. 

I see him look at his phone after it vibrates on the counter, then shove it in his pocket and turn towards the door.

"Please don't leave", is all Alexei says, then he leaves the apartment. 

No goodbye, no kiss, nothing. That feeling like I'm going to cry piles up behind my eyes, but I suck it back. 

I throw back my coffee, place the cup in the dishwasher, and go back into my room. 

My phone vibrates, and May's name pops up on the screen. "Hello?"

"Aleksandra", she practically screams. I start to play with the tablet that opens my shades, letting in that perfect morning sun.

"I'm sorry I haven't called. It's been crazy."

"Are you safe with him? How's it been going?"

"Yesterday was crazy", I start. Then, I tell May about every single thing that happened yesterday, last night, and then this morning. 

"It's like he flipped a switch", May responds. "Did something else happen?"

"No", I try to reason with myself that I'm not going crazy. "We went to sleep last night cuddled together, and this morning, he treats me like a chore."

May and I talk for awhile about everything that has happened at work. Fredrick just told everyone that I had to quit for a family situation, and he hopes that I would come back. 

When May has to go do other things, I promise her to text her more, and that I hope we could see each other soon enough. Then, I go into the bathroom for a shower. 

After some time on my own, I finally hear Dina open the front door. "Le-ex", she calls through the apartment. I meet her in the kitchen. "get your suit on, girl, it's a pool day."

Dina's energy will forever cheer me up. It's so light, like she's never had anything bad happen to her. We each go into our rooms, and I change into my bathing suit. I forget about putting anything over myself because we're the only two here, so I just grab my towel, phone, and earbuds, and meet Dina outside. 

She starts to set up her chair, and I do the same next to her. 

The sun starts to beat down on us, and my body starts to heat. "Dina", I give her a pinch to get her attention, and she giggles. "Can I ask you something?"

She rubs her arm. "Yeah of course. What's up?"

"Have you talked to Alexei at all this morning?"

"He texted me to tell me to come over, but that's it. Why?"

"Well, last night, we were, doing things, and I had a sudden flashback to Carson, and I pushed Alexei off of me", I explain. "And I asked him to stay in my room last night, and he was happy to last night. But, when I got up this morning, he couldn't be bothered by me. 

"What a prick", Dina gives me a disgusted look. "If he doesn't get better by tonight, I'll talk to him."

"We're supposed to go on our first date tonight."

"Has he told you where you're going?" Dina tried to lighten the conversation. 

It's like he universe told Alexei we were talking about the date, because I hear my text tone through my earbud. Before answering Dina, I look at his text. 

No dinner tonight. I have business to do.

"Well, never mind about our date." I show her the text.

"Fucking prick", she seethes. "I'm going to talk to him."

"No", I try. "Please, I don't want to make it worse if it's nothing. He's got even more going on now now that I'm in the picture, taking care of Emilio."

Alexei's POV

The basement is my sanctuary. It's dark, and I can take care of what I need to down here. 

Emilio sits, tied down, on the metal chair in the middle of the room. My knife set and gun sit on the small metal table to my right, and the whole room is dimly lit, just how I want it. 

He stares at me, a rag in his mouth to keep him quiet. Cuts and bruises already cover his body, and his clothes are no longer the color he arrived at the house with. 

I pick up one of the small knives from the table and rip the rag from his mouth. He hacks up a cough. 

"Do you have anything to tell me?"

Emilio spits at me, but I dodge it. "I have nothing to say to you. That slut deserves to be dead."

My vision goes red, just as it did when I saw him choking her last night. I grip the knife tight and plunge it into his thigh, dragging it an inch of two, then taking it out again. Emilio lets out a grunt, careful not to show his agony. Showing pain is for the weak. 

"How about now, Castro?"

His consciousness goes for a split second, probably from all of the blood he's lost since last night, but he comes back to reality. "Just kill me. But it would make your life a lot harder."

"Killing you would save her", I sneer, cutting the knife into his cheek just enough to draw blood. 

"I have information you would probably enjoy to have."

"Shut up", I yell. "All of your fucks are the same. If you had information that would save your life, you would give it over by now."

Emilio lets out a pained chuckle. "My knowledge is about your father."

I get down on one knee in front of him, and pierce his chest right in between two of his ribs. He grunts again, still not showing the pain I want to see. 

"What is it?"

He laughs again. "Why would I tell you when your knife is in my chest." I remove it, he coughs, blood oozing from the cut. 

I figure this knife thing isn't going to cut it, so I stand up right, put down the knife, and pick up my gun. I turn off the safety, then point it at his forehead. "What about my father?"

"Sergei has a son of another woman. A half-brother, if you will."

"That's great, Sergei is a piece of shit."

"The son, Sasha, his mother is my own."

"Get to the point, Castro".

"Carson is not his real name."