"Again."
I was doubled over panting trying to catch my breath as I tasted blood from the cut on my lip.
"Dedushka (grandfather) I'm tired," I said in between gasps of breath.
"You're not done little rose. You're not done until Lorenzo's back touches the floor."
I looked at Lorenzo. I had only met him a few days ago, three months after my parents were admitted into the hospital.
He had smoldering grey eyes, defined cheek bones, and soft pink lips that always glistened. He was broad shouldered and tall with muscles that were defined enough to intimidate anyone. He was so incredibly hot it pissed me off and getting my ass kicked by him wasn't very fun, but he was holding back, I could tell.
I stood up straight and he looked at me, very seriously. I had yet to see the kid smile. I moved into my fighting stance and started to circle him, like grandfather taught me.
He kept his eyes on me then lunged for my face quickly as I moved out of the way just enough to see his arm whizzing past the side of my head.
He regained his stance and turned back to look at me but I had already extended my leg to kick him in the face. He caught my foot and pushed me on to my back roughly as I yelped in pain. His brows furrowed and his eyes gazed to access my injury.
I kicked at his legs in one swift motion watching him lose his balance and his back hit the ground hard. I got up quickly and straddled him just in time to punch him in the face giving him a identical cut in the lip to the one I had.
I stood up and looked at my grandfather. He had a content look on his face.
"Good," he said walking out of the room, "We're done for today."
I looked over at Lorenzo and he was already getting up dusting himself off.
"I'm sorry for punching you in the face. I should've stopped once your back hit the ground like grandfather said," I said tipping my head downward.
"If you feel the need to apologize for returning a hit to the face, how do you plan on killing your enemies?" he said licking his bleeding lip.
My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out.
"You're a smart girl Aleksandra Petrov, you accessed that I would be worried about really hurting my nonno's granddaughter and you pretended to be in pain to get my guard down, that was clever," he said flashing his pearly whites at me, "We'll start again tomorrow and we'll see just how clever you can be," he said starting to walk out of the room.
I could feel the blood rush to my face as his abs glistened with sweat. Shit who am I kidding, he doesn't sweat, he sparkles, I rolled my eyes. I already hated him...
_____
Aleks
I sipped on the flask of champagne in my hand and glanced over at my cousins. I was wearing a light blue dress that stopped at my mid thigh. The strands were thin and were decorated with small diamonds sewn into it. My hair was straightened and parted to the side. My makeup was simple and I had lipgloss on. I wore my nude heels with straps that wrapped along my calf's.
Fiona sat at the far end of the table. She was my aunt Santana and uncle Aiden's daughter and her sister Brianna or Bree sat next to her. They both looked exactly like my aunt with black hair and green eyes.
Across from them sat Mila and Brandi; Mila was Sebastian's little sister, my aunt Lana and and uncle Yeremy's daughter. She was blonde like everyone else in our family, but her eyes were brown like my uncles.
After everything I planned with my grandfather and my father I thought it'd be best to have a brunch with all my cousins. I haven't done this in such a long time.
"So?" Bree said with her eyebrows raised, "How big was it?"
I almost choked on the champagne I had swallowed and ended up in a coughing fit as my cousins laughed.
"Jesus, it must be really big for a reaction like that," Mila laughed.
"What the hell Brandi!?" I said grabbing my water.
She placed her fork on her plate, "You slept with Lorenzo, Aleks. How could I not tell them?"
"Please Aleks, we've been waiting for you to make a move on Lorenzo for years," Fiona said moving her hair out of her face.
I rolled my eyes and laughed at them, "Let's just say like everything else about him, it was annoying perfect," I said winking at them.
We all fell into a fit of laughter when I felt my phone vibrate and saw a text from Enzo.
How's everything going printcessa?
"Oh my God, she's smiling at her phone!" Bree said excitedly.
"That's gotta be Lorenzo," Brandi said laughing.
I felt the blood rush to my face, "Excuse me," I got up and walked towards the back of the restaurant by the bathrooms, still hearing my cousins and Brandi laughing.
I called Enzo and he picked up after a few seconds, "Miss me already Printcessa?"
"Trust me, you're saving me from a very embarrassing situation right now," I said.
"Glad I can be of service," he said.
"Where are you right now?" I asked. I hadn't seen him since he said goodbye at my grandparents house.
"Just on a mission for your grandfather, he needed extra security on this transport," he said.
"I see," I started, "When will you be back?"
"In a day or two after I collect some information."
"Good."
"Stay out of trouble for me, printcessa," he said.
"I make no promises," I said with a smile, "Bye, Lorenzo."
"Bye, Printcessa."
I hung up the phone and sighed, time to deal with my nut job cousins and their questions.
I reluctantly walked back to my seat and they piled their questions on me, this was going to be a long brunch, I thought.
______
Dmitri
I had been sitting on this bed for god knows how long and I wanted nothing more than to get up and stretch my legs. I took the needles and other crap they injected into me off and struggled to stand up.
The physical therapy was helping me get back on my feet normally but I still struggled to get around slightly. I walked myself over to the door and scanned the hall for doctors. None in sight.
I carefully creeped out and began to walk around looking for the floor they kept all of the coma patients. After walking around for five minutes I finally caught a glimpse of her shiny long black hair.
I rushed to the window letting myself get engulfed by the sight of her. Her eyes were closed and their was a tube coming out of her mouth. Her skin was still flawless and even with all of this shit, she still took my breath away.
The doctor said that she still had brain activity, but there was no way of telling when she'd wake up. It could be another three minutes or another three years. Three years without looking into those intoxicating green eyes.
"She's going to wake up," I felt a familiar hand on my shoulder.
I turned my head and saw my father standing next to me.
"I'm sorry," I said not taking my eyes off of her.
"For what, son?"
"I understand it now. How you must've felt when Akio took mom all those years ago. I was angry and I couldn't understand how you felt," I started, "But looking at Adalia now...like this-
"You'd move heaven itself just to feel her again," he said cutting me off.
"But it was worse for you, you didn't know if she was alive or dead, you didn't know who took her or where she was, only to find out you were robbed of ten years with a daughter you never knew about," I chuckled a bit, "This must be karma forcing me to walk in your shoes."
"This is not karma, my son, and if it is you'll get her back, just as I got your mother back and I made up all the lost time with Katya."
"Aleksandra is going to kill him, yes?" I asked.
"She's quite determined to do that."
"Did it fix anything knowing you were the one to end Akio's life?"
"No, no it didn't. I spent ten long years with my paranoia thinking everyone was my enemy. I killed and betrayed and worse, I ruined my relationship with my son and daughter," he said facing me, "Being able to kill Akio made up for none of that."
"So then letting Aleksandra kill him should be easy."
"There's nothing easy about a man being helpless to protect those he loves."
I looked at him feeling my eyes well up with tears and he immediately wrapped his arms around me, "She will wake up Dmitri. Everything is going to work out in the end, my son."
"He's fucking dead."
"I can promise you, that the last face he'll ever see is the face of Petrov taking his last breath," he said.
I let go of my father, "Do Manuel and Adama know she's here?"
"Her father made no effort to see her, her mother wanted to of course, but you know how Manuel can be."
I sighed, "Tell Nikolai to send for her, she should be here. I can't be seen as I'm dead, but Adalia wanted nothing more than to mend relations with her parents, or at least her mother."
"Manuel was always a zasranec (asshole) even when we growing up he kept Adama under his thumb. Unlucky for her they had been arranged to be married since they were four."
"Arranged marriages rarely workout for anyone," he said.
"You and mom worked out just fine, old man," I said laughing.
"A match made in heaven, yes?" he said smugly.
"Da." I smiled.
"We can only hope that Nikolai will be so lucky," he said.
"He has a meeting with her today, yes?" I asked.
He looked over at his watch, "They should be together right now," he said, "But from my understanding they're already very well acquainted," he raised an eyebrow at me.
My eyes widened and a smile crept on my lips, "A Petrov man indeed."
"Da," he said smirking at me.
_______
Nikolai
"I honestly didn't think I'd get to see you today," I said catching my breath.
"Brunch didn't go as I had expected," she said sliding her underwear back up.
She turned around, "I'm surprised your sister even suggested it considering everything," she snuggled next to me.
"You know how she is Brandi, she pushes everyone away the second she gets the chance," I cupped her cheek with my hand, "But do you really want to spend this time talking about my sister?"
"No," she pressed her lips onto mine, "But we can't spend this whole time in bed Nik, we have responsibilities," she slid back out of bed and started to search for her clothes.
I took the time to admire her. Brandi was easily the most gorgeous woman I have ever laid my eyes on. She was a model, so that was a given. But her skin was a beautiful brown and her full lips made me want to kiss her all day. Her curls were always wild which perfectly matched her vibrancy.
I got up and wrapped my arms around her waist as she leaned into me, "Don't talk to me about responsibilities, moya lyubov' (my love). The time I spend with you is the only chance I get to escape them."
She turned around and put her hand on my cheek, "I know how hard this is for you, baby. Dealing with your mom's and you dad's entire organization all by yourself isn't easy," she smiled at me, "But you've handled it better than most could and have been doing it for three years."
"You're right, as usual," I said taking her hand and kissing it gazing onto her ring finger, "Where's you engagement ring? Does it not fit?"
She pulled her hand back, "No it's not that, Nik," she sighed, "When my father sat me down and told me he set me up in an arranged marriage, I threw a fit. But when I found out it was you, the boy I had loved since I was a little girl, I was over the moon. Almost a year later and I haven't even told my best friend that I'm marrying her brother."
I couldn't help but smile at her, "Brandi, baby, she knows."
Her eyes widened, "You told her?"
"No, no, nothing like that," I said, "But I know my sister, we did, in fact, share a womb together. She's a world class spy, killer, trained fighter, and somewhat of a detective. She absolutely knows that her best friend is in love with, and has been sleeping with her brother since we were 16."
"Well when you put it like that, I kinda feel dumb," she said laughing.
"You, moya lyubov' (my love), are anything but dumb," I kissed her cheek, "But you're right, it's time to go meet with your father."
"Let's go shower," she said smiling at me.
"Responsibilities can wait, yes?"
"Da," she said winking at me.
After half an hour in the shower, Brandi and I took a car to meet up with her parents. She wore a simple red dress with long sleeves and a deep V cut on her chest. I wore a usual black armani suit and a red tie.
The car pulled up to the front of their mansion and we were led into the living room where Monet and Elijah were waiting for us.
"It's been too long," Brandi said as she embraced both her parents.
I kissed her mother's cheek and shook her fathers hand and then Brandi took my arm and led me to a seat in the living room.
"So, have you two put a date on the wedding?" her mother asked with a smile.
"We were thinking of waiting a year or two, just to be engaged-
"Why the delay? Don't tell me you're having second thoughts Brandi?" he father asked harshly.
"No Daddy I-
"The connections that come with this wedding are all too important, I shouldn't have to remind you of this Brandi Roselle Carter-
"With all do respect Mr. Carter," I said lacing my fingers with Brandi's, "We both made the decision to wait a year or two, not only to keep her public reputation and career as a model intact, but also in the hopes that my mother might wake up from her coma and see her first child get married. Is there a problem with that?"
"No-No of course no Nikolai. I didn't mean to insinuate," he said, clearly flustered.
"Think nothing of it," I said with a smile, "Now what did you need to tell me about the most recent shipment?" I said standing up.
He quickly glanced at his wife and daughter, "Let's talk in my office."
Once we arrived to his office he shut the door and turned to me, "One of my men got intel that Guillermo was seeking passage to the states. Of course it could all be rumors, so I looked into it and it's definitely legitimate information."
"That's interesting and surprising, but he's not here to retaliate against the family," I started, "He hasn't married his son to Alandra Rodriguez and doesn't have the man power to take any of us on right now, so I can only assume this is him attempting to get a foothold in the states. But how would he do that?"
"I'm not sure, almost everyone is loyal to your family or the families of your allies. His options are either a local gang or a cartel maybe," Elijah said.
Then it hit me, Guillermo had an old friend here in the states, Ricardo...something. I needed to speak with my father, he'd absolutely have a name. "I should update my security detail nonetheless, please excuse my abrupt exit. I appreciate your hospitality and your loyalty, Elijah," I extended my hand.
He shook my hand, "Think nothing of it Nikolai. I completely understand."
I quickly left his office and went to find Brandi so I could excuse myself from her.
She was in the kitchen drinking wine and laughing with her mother, I smiled at her.
"I have to go, but I'll see you tonight, yes?"
"You will," she smiled at me.
I bent down and planted a kiss on her lips, "I love you."
"I love you too, Nik."
I smiled at her one last time and excused myself from Monet before making my way to my car. I needed to speak with my father.
- - End of Chapter - -