Chapter 7
1261 Words
•|• Thessira's POV •|•
I knew trouble the second the black SUV stopped in front of my apartment building.
My stomach dropped so hard it physically hurt.
No.
No, no, no.
Not here.
The evening air suddenly felt too cold against my skin as I stood beside Elijah near the entrance steps, grocery bags cutting into my fingers. We had just gotten back from buying snacks for the twins after they practically bullied me into saying yes over the phone with Elijah earlier.
Everything had been normal.
Peaceful.
Safe.
Then Alexsander Volkov stepped out of that vehicle and ruined all of it.
The first thing I noticed was how enormous he looked walking toward us beneath the dim streetlights. Tall. Broad. Powerful in a way that demanded attention whether you wanted to give it or not.
The second thing I noticed—
Was that he was looking directly at me.
Not around me.
Not at the building.
At me.
Like I was the only thing he saw.
My pulse started hammering instantly.
Beside me, Elijah stiffened.
I felt the exact moment he sensed danger.
His body shifted subtly closer to mine, protective instinct taking over automatically. Normally I would have rolled my eyes at how territorial men could be.
But right then?
I was grateful for it.
Because Alexsander terrified me in ways I couldn’t explain.
Not because he’d threatened me.
Not because he’d hurt me.
But because every time he looked at me, I got the horrible feeling he could somehow see through every lie I told.
And upstairs—
Upstairs were my sons.
His sons.
I tightened my grip on the grocery bags as Alexsander stopped in front of us.
“Volkov,” he greeted calmly.
His deep Russian accent sent unwanted memories crashing through me instantly.
Spain.
Whiskey.
Dark hotel sheets.
Large hands gripping my waist.
I shoved the memories away violently.
Elijah’s voice turned cold beside me.
“Arnold.”
Neither man offered a handshake.
The tension between them was immediate and suffocating.
Alexsander’s gray eyes slid back to mine, and for one horrible second my breath caught. God, his eyes were unfair. Sharp and silver and completely unreadable.
“You left work rather quickly today,” he said.
I crossed my arms tightly. “I had somewhere to be.”
His gaze flickered briefly toward the apartment building behind me before returning to my face.
“I can see that.”
Something about the way he said it made me uneasy.
Elijah moved slightly in front of me.
“What do you want?”
Alexsander finally looked at him fully, expression calm in a way that somehow felt more dangerous than anger.
“I came to speak with Thessira regarding the partnership proposal.”
“At night?” Elijah asked flatly.
“It was the first available moment I had.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Fantastic.
Two possessive men squaring off in front of my apartment building was exactly how I wanted my evening to go.
Alexsander looked at me again.
“I would like to continue our discussion privately.”
“No,” Elijah answered immediately.
The Russian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“I wasn’t speaking to you.”
“And yet you’re standing outside her home,” Elijah replied. “So now you are.”
Oh God.
I could practically feel the testosterone poisoning the air around me.
Alexsander took one slow step closer.
Elijah matched it instantly.
Both men were tall, but Alexsander still towered over him slightly. Maybe an inch or two. It shouldn’t have mattered.
But somehow it did.
Because Alexsander carried himself like a predator completely aware of his own strength.
I hated how intimidating he was.
Hated even more that part of me remembered exactly how those shoulders had felt beneath my hands five years ago.
My cheeks heated at the memory.
Alexsander noticed.
Of course he did.
His eyes darkened slightly.
“You seem uncomfortable around me, Thessira.”
“You showed up uninvited to my home.”
“I came to discuss business.”
“At nearly eight in the evening?” Elijah asked sarcastically.
Alexsander ignored him completely, gaze never leaving mine.
“We got off on the wrong foot,” he said quietly. “I’d rather correct that.”
There was something dangerously smooth about his voice.
Something that reminded me of Spain all over again.
The confidence.
The intensity.
The way he looked at me like he already knew how I sounded when I lost control.
I shoved the thought away so hard my chest hurt.
“Elijah’s right,” I said firmly. “This isn’t appropriate.”
His jaw flexed slightly at Elijah’s name.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
I suddenly became hyperaware of Elijah’s hand resting against the small of my back.
Alexsander noticed too.
The temperature in his eyes changed instantly.
Jealousy.
Possessiveness.
And that made absolutely no sense.
He barely knew me.
Yet he stared at Elijah’s hand like he wanted to remove it himself.
Elijah noticed the look too because his arm tightened around my waist possessively.
“She said no.”
Alexsander’s gaze slowly lifted to his face again.
“You seem very comfortable speaking for her.”
“And you seem too interested in a woman you met two days ago.”
Silence.
Sharp.
Dangerous silence.
I looked between both men and suddenly understood exactly why wolves fought over territory in nature documentaries.
Male ego was exhausting.
Alexsander smiled then.
Not warmly.
It was the kind of smile that belonged on dangerous men.
“Interesting.”
Elijah’s expression hardened. “What is?”
“You.”
I nearly groaned aloud.
Could they both stop acting like mafia bosses in a movie for five seconds?
“Enough,” I snapped.
Both men looked at me immediately.
That should not have affected me as much as it did.
Alexsander’s expression softened slightly when his eyes met mine again.
“Invite me inside, Thessira.”
Panic exploded through me instantly.
No.
Absolutely not.
If he walked upstairs and saw Mikhail and Nikolai—
I felt physically sick thinking about it.
Especially Nikolai.
That child had Alexsander’s eyes.
Anyone with functioning eyesight could see it.
“We can discuss everything at work,” I said quickly.
“I prefer privacy.”
“Elijah is right here,” I shot back.
His gaze sharpened.
“That doesn’t explain why he keeps answering for you.”
Elijah laughed humorlessly beside me. “You’re standing outside her home acting like a jealous boyfriend. Maybe worry about yourself.”
Alexsander took another step closer.
My pulse spiked.
God.
They were going to fight.
I could actually see it happening.
Elijah squared his shoulders.
Alexsander’s expression turned lethally calm.
Neither man looked willing to back down.
And suddenly all I could think about were my sons upstairs.
If this escalated—
If neighbors came outside—
If Alexsander found any reason to push past us—
No.
I couldn’t let that happen.
Then it hit me.
A terrible idea.
A reckless idea.
But maybe the only thing strong enough to stop him from insisting on coming upstairs.
I grabbed Elijah’s arm tightly before I could lose my nerve.
“My husband doesn’t like unexpected visitors.”
The silence afterward was horrifying.
Elijah turned toward me sharply.
Alexsander didn’t move at all.
But his eyes—
God.
The look in his eyes made my stomach twist painfully.
“What?” he asked quietly.
I forced myself to keep breathing.
“Elijah is my husband.”
- Writer
