MEETING HIM

Chapter Twenty: Shifting Alliances

Alex’s POV

The night had been long and unsettling. As I stood outside the coffee shop, the faint buzz of traffic and the cool breeze against my skin did little to calm the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside me. Natacha’s touch—her soft breath against my skin, the hesitant way she’d leaned in when I pulled her close—had ignited something inside me. But there was also something darker lurking beneath the surface, a sense of control slipping through my fingers that I couldn’t quite reconcile.

I was losing my grip, and it terrified me.

I’d spent years perfecting my mask, learning how to keep my emotions in check, how to control every situation, every person around me. But Natacha had been different from the start. The connection I’d felt with her hadn’t been something I could manufacture, not something I could bend to my will like everything else. She was a complication, a beautiful, unpredictable complication.

And yet, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting her.

It wasn’t just physical. Though her body—a body that had once been mine—was intoxicating, it was the power she held over me that gnawed at my insides. The way her eyes held secrets, how I couldn’t seem to get her out of my mind. When I had walked into that coffee shop and saw her there, with Eric, I’d almost lost it. The way he looked at her—like she was something precious—drove me mad. I hated the idea of anyone touching her, of anyone having a piece of her that I couldn’t control.

And yet here I was, trying to make her feel something for me again. To remind her that there was no escape.

The game had changed.

I walked back to my car, my thoughts still on her. There was no going back now. My plan had to succeed. It would succeed.

I would have her.

---

Natacha’s POV

---

Natacha felt herself shudder as she stepped into her dorm room. She had barely been able to keep herself together outside, not when Alex’s words—his presence—had shaken her to her core. She had known, deep down, that confronting him would bring up things she wasn’t ready to face. But tonight had been different. Everything felt like it had shifted, like a small crack had appeared in the wall she’d built around herself.

Her phone buzzed on her bed, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. It was a message from Eric.

Eric: “Natacha, are you okay? You left so suddenly. I’m worried about you.”

Her heart twisted. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him, not at all, but the more time passed, the more distant she felt from him. She didn’t want to be that person—someone who couldn’t decide what they wanted. But she couldn’t lie to herself any longer. Her heart, for reasons she couldn’t understand, was torn between two people.

She sat down on her bed, fingers hovering over the screen as she debated what to say. In the end, she couldn’t find the right words. How could she explain what was happening to her? How could she tell him that her feelings for Alex weren’t just some fleeting obsession, but something deeper—something that seemed to claw at her from the inside?

She typed a quick message back.

Natacha: “I’m fine. Just needed some air. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

The lie tasted bitter, but it was the best she could do. She threw the phone down on the bed and buried her face in her hands. Everything was slipping through her fingers, and she couldn’t hold on to any of it. She didn’t want to lose Eric, but she also didn’t know how to resist the pull Alex had on her.

She couldn’t trust herself.

She couldn’t trust anything.

---

Alex’s POV

---

I sat in the darkness of my apartment, the only light coming from the faint glow of a lamp on my desk. My mind was racing, thoughts colliding with each other in a chaotic whirlpool of emotions and plans. The message from my associate earlier in the day echoed in my head, the words ringing in my ears:

“You’re getting too involved, Alex. Your judgment is slipping.”

I didn’t need anyone telling me that. I already knew. I’d never been one to let emotions cloud my decisions, but when it came to Natacha, I was losing control. She was messing with me, and I couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything we’d been through.

She was mine. I had to remind her of that.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? She had slipped away from me once before, and now, with Eric in the picture, it seemed like I was losing her all over again. Every moment spent in her presence reminded me of what I had lost—and yet, it also made me realize what I was willing to fight for.

I had always been a man of control. Everything in my life had been meticulously planned, down to the smallest detail. But with Natacha, I was improvising, and it scared me.

But the fear? It made me want her even more.

I picked up my phone and dialed the number of my trusted associate. A few moments later, his voice crackled through the receiver.

“Alex. What’s the situation?” he asked.

“I need you to do something for me,” I said, my voice tight with resolve. “Find a way to get closer to Eric. I need him to doubt Natacha.”

“Doubt her? What do you mean?”

“I need to make him question everything,” I said, my fingers tapping against the table. “I need him to feel like she’s hiding something from him. I need him to question her loyalty.”

There was a pause on the other end, then a low laugh. “You think that’ll work?”

“I know it will,” I replied, my jaw clenching. “If I can make him doubt her, make him feel insecure about their relationship, she’ll come back to me. She’ll realize that I’m the only one who understands her. The only one who knows how to make her feel safe.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Alex.”

“I’ve been playing dangerous games my entire life,” I said, the corners of my lips curling into a smirk. “And I always win.”

---

Natacha’s POV

---

The next few days passed in a blur. Natacha tried to bury herself in her studies, but her mind kept drifting back to Alex—his touch, his words, the dark intensity that seemed to radiate from him whenever he was near. She had tried to tell herself it didn’t matter, that she was better off without him. But the truth was, every time she looked at him, every time their eyes locked, she felt something she couldn’t ignore.

It terrified her.

Eric had been increasingly distant as well. His texts were fewer, his calls less frequent. He had started to pull away, and Natacha couldn’t help but feel the weight of his silence. She had tried to talk to him, to explain what had been bothering her, but every conversation seemed to fizzle out, leaving her feeling more alone than before.

Something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones. But what could she do? She was stuck in this twisted triangle, unsure of who to trust or where to turn. And then there was her father, who remained a mystery, his actions only deepening her confusion.

She couldn’t even find solace in her relationship with Mr. Delacroix. Every time she tried to confront him about the things she’d discovered, he evaded her questions, giving her vague responses that only left her with more doubts.

She needed answers. She needed clarity. But everything seemed to be slipping through her fingers, like sand in the wind.

And then, when she least expected it, she got the call.

It was from her father’s office. The voice on the other end was cold, formal, but there was something beneath it—something that made her blood run cold.

“Ms. Delacroix,” the voice said. “We need to speak. It’s about your father.”

Natacha’s heart raced. She had been waiting for this moment, but now that it had come, she wasn’t sure if she was ready.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“There are things you don’t know,” the voice continued. “Things about your father’s involvement with Mr. Delacroix. Things that could change everything.”