Undercover Heart

Chapter3

After that night Zee had been avoiding Alexei, she was too embarrassed to face him. She had gone to the kitchen in the middle of the night to get a glass of water when she bumped into Alexei on his way out of the kitchen, he was shirtless, revealing his well-built masculine body

“Watch it” Zee snapped

“I’m sorry” Alexei quickly apologised.

“What are you doing up so late?”

“I came down to get a glass of water, you?” Zee asked.

“Same I couldn't sleep” Alexei replied.

“Hmm……..” Zee cleared her throat and continued.

“About the other day am sorry” she finally said feeling a bit embarrassed.

“It’s cool”

“Thank you, I will just get my water and head back to my room” Zee said walking towards the fridge.

“Good night Zee”

“Good night Alexei,” Zee replied on her way out.

The following day Zee got Alexei a bar of chocolate to apologize. “Here you go, just my way of saying sorry for slapping you the other day” Zee said handing Alexei the bar of chocolate

“I know, am fine you didn't have to…”

Then Andrey walked in, Andrey was Igor’s right-hand man he was his top associate and trusted man but since Alexei had joined the empire Andrey had been competing for Igor’s attention and he hated Alexei for that, he hated him for taking his spot in Igor’s heart, even though he was still the number one of his men.

“What is going on here Zee, is he harassing you?” he asked, his gaze heavy on Alexei.

“I’m fine Andrey”

“You better be careful around here don't go about thinking you’re the boss because you’re the boss's favourite now, I got my eyes on you,” Andrey said with hate in his eyes

“Andrey, I just said am fine and he wasn't harassing me, please stop creating a scene,” Zee said and walked out.

She hated how Andrey would always overreact to certain things, she saw it as him doing too much to gain favour from her father. One time when he was her bodyguard he had beaten up someone that she went out on a date with and he had mistakenly spilt water on her. The person was hospitalized for days and she went to visit him till he was discharged after that he blocked her number and that was the end. Andrey was the reason all the dates she had gone to had never worked out, he seemed too possessive of her.

Andrey walked up to Alexei who was sitting by the poolside, he seemed busy with his phone like he was texting someone important

“Stay the hell away from Zee, I won’t warn you again,” Andrey said announcing his presence

Alexei looked up and returned his attention to his phone

“I’m talking to you man,” Andrey said, pushing him by his shoulder. Alex stared at Andrey’s hands which were still against his shoulder

“I’m not going to warn you again” Andrey added and left.

Alexei went back to what he was doing ignoring Andrey He was still busy with his phone when Zee walked up to him

“Hey you” she greeted with a smile tugging on the corner of her lips. Alexei raised his face to meet her gaze.

She looked beautiful in a short flowering dress with long blonde hair, dark eyes and a straight nose that fitted her pretty face.

“Hello Zee”

“Are you busy?” she asked as she took a seat beside him.

“No, do you need anything?” he asked

“I just wanted to say sorry about earlier”

“It’s fine you don't have to apologize, it is not your fault, l have already gotten used to Andrey, I think the best is just to avoid him,” Alex said with his gaze still on Zee.

“Yeah I guess so too”

There was an awkward silence after that. The air thick with tension

“Have you always been like this?” Zee said finally breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean have you always been this cold and different, I mean this quiet and observant?” Zee added curiously.

Alexei let out a soft smile

“So you think am too quiet?”

“Yeah, I mean you always mind your business and besides you always hang out alone without father's other men, it’s either you are here or at the balcony when you are not busy with father. You are very preserved”

“I see, so you have been watching me?” Alexei asked

Zee quickly adjusted in her seat; she had probably said too much.

“Not exactly, I mean why would I, it’s just pretty obvious” she quickly replied in defense

“Okay”

“Yeah, and besides it has been a gossip among Father’s mansion”

“Okay then”

There was another awkward moment of silence between them and then Alexei stood up to leave

“Please excuse me, Zee, l have something to attend to”

“Hmm……. Yeah sure you can leave” she replied feeling embarrassed.

She had made him feel uncomfortable with her questions and now he was leaving

Alexei walked out and Zee stared at him till he was out of sight.

*********

The evening air outside Igor's mansion was sharp, biting through the fabric of Alexei’s tailored suit as he stepped into the courtyard. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he picked it up to glance at it, he stared at the encrypted message flashing on his screen.

He looked around the mansion, through the ornate, tall windows, he could see Igor and his trusted men laughing over drinks, completely unaware of the tension that gripped him.

“Meet me at the docks. Now, and make sure you come alone.”

The message read. The message was from Andery and if he was calling him out in the middle of the night it wasn't for a friendly chat. But Alexei had to go because when Andrey summoned, you answered.

He put his phone back into his pocket, his pulse quickening, something was off about this call. Ever since he had come into Igor’s inner circle Andrey had never fully trusted him.

Andrey had never fully trusted Alexei. He had always watched him with suspicion as if he was waiting for him to slip up. And today could be the night that everything went wrong.

As Alexei drove to the location, his mind ran through every possible scenario in his mind. What was the call for? Was it a trap or a test or maybe something worse?