THE RUSSIAN MAFIA HEIRS

14/Facing my fears

Tatiana's POV

We left Pulkovo airport in a black SUV car , Everything just seems perfect and surreal . It seems like he has planned everything in a long time, I really loved the flowers and I kind of regret sleeping on his thigh because when I woke up my heart skipped a beat waking up to see his face above mine , at that moment, I could not help but think about the other night that we almost kissed and when my lips brushed his . Just thinking about it makes my heart beat faster.

Denis is sitting in the front seat while Alexei and I are sitting at the back having random conversations . The driver has been driving for over forty minutes, I have been asking Alexei about where we are headed and he keeps saying it's a mini surprise.

“For the umpteenth time, where are you taking me? “ I asked curiously .

“It's a surprise, “ we said simultaneously. “Come on , don't ruin the surprise “ he told me as we continued walking.

Five minutes later, the driver was still driving. I noticed the road looked quite familiar, I kept trying to remember if I had passed through this road before but I could not remember anything until I saw a billboard about “igora resort” being ahead . That was when it clicked.

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I started yelling for the driver to stop the car. He stopped driving while Alexei tried to calm me down but I just left the car and stood beside the road while Alexei tried to calm me down and take me back to the car but I refused.

“Tatiana look at me “ , I looked at him then he said “what's wrong, please tell “ he asked and looked really worried .

“I can't go there “ I responded with a trembling voice as I shook my head and tears rolled down my cheeks, my vision was getting blurred from the crying . Alexei did not ask questions, he just pulled me closer to him and hugged me .

He did not say anything, just hugged me until I was calm . Then he took me into the car and asked if I needed to be alone .

“No , It's alright “ I said .

“Do you want to talk about it? “ he asked, still looking concerned.

I stared at Denis and the driver and without a word they left us alone , "I can't go there , I just can't “ I replied staring at nothing.

“Blue, it's fine if you don't want to go there , we can go somewhere else or even go back home if that's what you want “ .

“I'm sorry, I ruined your plans “ I replied feeling bad about the situation.

“No you are not ruining anything, I just want you to be fine “ he says as he pats my hair .

“I think I want to talk about it , I don't want to run from my problems or pain anymore “ I replied, staring into his eyes .

“Okay blue, I'm all ears,” he replied, waiting for the words to leave my mouth .

“I came to igora resorts with my brother about five years ago and that was the last time I spent with my brother because he died two days after “ I explained as I tried to hold back the tears that were about to roll down my cheeks. Alexei noticed and wiped my tears. I can't even explain how I felt at that moment. If I was broken or healed, just his touch on my cheeks made me smile .

“I thought Lev is your brother “ he asked

“Yes , he is my cousin's brother while Dimitri is_was , sorry is my brother. sorry I can't use it to talk about him . My brother is a part of me “ I said with an awkward smile.

This is the first time I'm showing my weakness and pain and I'm showing it to Alexei and for some reason I feel relieved.

“I'm sorry about your brother, “ he tells me.

I and Alexei just sat in the car not saying anything. “Let's go to igora resorts” I said with a smile.

“No , we will go somewhere else , you are not comfortable going there and I would _” I placed my finger on his lips trying to hush him , and it worked but he kept staring into my eyes while my hands were on his lips . My heart started racing and a stupid thought crossed my mind to lean in and kiss him but I stopped myself by removing my finger from his lips and clearing my throat.

“I want to go to the resort , so call the driver and let's start going. We would not have enough fun if we stayed here , remember I have to go home” I said.

“You just said _” before he could continue I interrupted.

“Yes ,I said that I didn't want to go there but that was because I was scared It would remind me of my brother but I don't think going somewhere else would stop me from thinking about my brother “ I paused to catch my breath. “So would you do your friend a favour by taking her to igora resorts” I replied with a smile.

“Fine , we will go there “ he replied as he gestured for the driver and Denis to come back into the car .

They got in and in less than five minutes we arrived at igora resort. The driver stayed in the car while I , Alexei and Denis were welcomed specially by some staff. Then a man who seemed to be our guide , asked what activities we would like to do or if we would like to go to the cabin that Alexei rented .

I decided to go to the restroom and retouch my makeup which was almost ruined by my tears . After that we went ice skating. When we got to the rink , there was nobody there which is unusual. “Don't tell me you rented the whole rink “ I asked.

“Yes , I did, “ he replied .

Alexei keeps reminding me of dimitry. “ Is it weird that I chose to ice skate first , even when I don't know how to skate? “ I asked as he laughed .

“Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh . I will teach you “ he said and we started skating, but I was only able to when he held me, whenever Alexei let go of my hands I will end up slipping . He held my waist to help me stay steady , we started spinning slowly while a Russian love song played in the background from the speakers.

Just when I thought I had finally learnt how to skate and Alexei let me go , I was skating until I fell and thankful I didn't get hurt but Alexei thought I got hurt and ran towards me.

“Are you okay? “ he asked as he approached me .

“Yes , I'm fine,” I replied as I stood up .

“Maybe we should rest “ he suggested but I have had enough skating for the day .

“I think that's enough skating for today “ I told him and we left the ring while I informed our guide that others can actually use the ring even though Alexei paid for the whole day but I don't think others should wait till tomorrow until they can skate.