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Two more weeks have gone by, and Alexei leaves every morning and comes back late. We enjoy each other's company deep within the night, and then he's gone again when I wake. 

A few minutes go by scrolling through my phone when I get a knock on the door. Irina comes scrambling in, and a hurried look on her face. "Get dressed, Darling. We need you in the library."

Just as quickly as she arrived, Irina is gone again. I fling the blankets off of me, go to the closet, and quickly dress in the first casual dress I can find, then pull on some shoes, brush my hair in the bathroom, then leave the room. 

I seem to be the last one to arrive in the library. Alexei sits at the head of the table, but when he sees me, he stands and offers the chair to me. The Volkovs, Artem, Dina, and a few other men sit at the table. 

"Lex", Dina almost starts to console me, yet I don't even know what's happening. 

"What's going on?"

"There was a gathering last night at the Sokolov base."

"Okay?"

"Your mother was in attendance."

Volkov's words make my head spin. I lean my hands against the table, holding my forehead. I feel Alexei's hand on my back, but it's not as comforting as I want it to be. 

I gather myself as everyone just seems to stare at me. 

"What does this mean?"

"Unfortunately, we believe that your mother has always known about Sasha, and has always been helping Sergei get over to the States." Volkov's voice is calm, but my mind is not. 

The thoughts of the last time I saw my mother race through my head. I told her I was leaving, and she told me I shouldn't because she thought Carson would change his ways if we got married. And that I should just be more obedient for him so he doesn't have to get so mad. 

I forgave her a few months later, because I missed having my mother in my life. Unfortunately for me, it didn't take her long to tell me the same thing again, and I stopped talking to her. 

"What do we do next?"

"We gather more intel on them each day, and we're starting to plan our attack to capture them."

"How long is that going to take?"

"We're hoping for some time before Dina's wedding, but if not, we will be pushing it back."

I turn to Dina, but before I can say anything, she just shrugs. "I have my whole life to take the Volkov name, pushing it back a few weeks is not going to hurt anything."

"But what I don't understand is how my mother could be on Sergei's side about it. Her and Katia were best friends."

"Our world is full traitors, liars, and sneaky people", Dina says calmly. "But we're thinking is that Sergei bribed her; with money, property, power, something."

Everything I knew about the world turns to fiction more and more by the day. Two months ago, Volkov was just a man with money, I was a server, my ex was a normal man, and my mother was just selfish. 

"I want to go with you", I turn my whole body to look up at Alexei. 

He immediately starts shaking his head. "I cannot let you do that."

"Why not?"

Alexei does not like my tone, so he just raises his eyebrows. "Because you're not going out there. You need to be safe here."

Though I'd love to not argue in front of everyone again, Alexei is not going to let it go, and I don't want to let it go. 

"You think I'm so fragile. Sasha is the one that beat me for two years, and now I'm here to tell the tail. I'm more sturdy than you think."

"I'm not bringing you, end of story."

"I got this entire family into this mess. You said it yourself. So why don't you let me help."

"This is more than the mess you got us into. This is about the safety of my family, not just you."

Dina and Irina both gasp at Alexei's harsh words. 

"Fuck you, Alexei Sokolov." Without thinking, I walk up to him and slap him across the face. "You are a piece of shit. How dare I think that I would ever think about loving someone as cruel as you."

I turn and storm out of the room, furious with the man I wanted to call my future husband two minutes ago. 

As I run up the stairs, Alexei comes running from the library. "Aleksandra. Stop."

About half way up the stairs, I turn. Alexei stands at the bottom, looking up at me with a look that tells me he wants to kill me. 

"Never speak to me again", I say in a normal, yet harsh tone. "I was so stupid in thinking someone like you could ever help me. Just another man to tell me what my life should be and how it should go."

"Aleksandra. Can we-".

"No, we can't." I stop him. "You know what? You're a lot more like your father than you think."

My words tear through the both of us like swords, breaking every piece of trust and commitment we built for each other.

So, once I leave him speechless, I turn back up the stairs and head for his room. 

I rush into my closet, grab the biggest bag of mine I can find, and start packing my clothes. Even if I only move rooms, I want everything of mine out of his space. I don't want to think about him, I don't want to see him again.

I scramble around the room for a few minutes when a knock comes on the door. "Go away, Alexei."

The door opens anyway. "It's just me."

Dina closes the door quietly. I take close my eyes and take a breath. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be", Dina scoffs. "Alexei should be served a taste of his own medicine. He's a dick."

I groan. "I hate him. Why would I think this would work. I'm such an idiot."

I can feel the blood coursing through my veins, I'm just so mad at him and at myself. 

"He can be rough sometimes, but he loves you."

"I just want to get out of here for a bit", I change the subject. I feel like Bella in Twilight, that she just up and leaves her house. 

"You know you can't go alone."

"Then go with me". The suddenly strike an idea. "We should go on a vacation."

"We're literally in the middle of a lock down. And I get married in two weeks." Though Dina's tone tells me she thinks I'm crazy, her face tells me that she thinks it's a good idea.

"Oh, we can be back before then. Come on."

"You're literally crazy", but then she thinks. "But I do think the villa in Italy is probably empty."