I moved to follow, but Andrei shot his hand out to stop me. He turned to me, no more fake and polite smile. “Did you tell her?” His voice was ice.
“Tell her what?”
He scowled at me, like I was an enemy, not his best friend of the last thirty years. “The whole fucking thing! Don’t pretend you’re an idiot now!” he huffed as he let me inside. “Or were you too busy shoving your tongue down her throat?”
“I didn’t tell her,” I responded with as much negativity as he threw at me. “But I will tonight. What did Moretti say at the press conference?”
But he ignored my last question, his eyes paranoid as always. “Don’t tell her. You’ve ignored all my other warnings, butdo not tell her.”
“What did he say at the press conference?” I asked again, but it was as if he didn’t hear me.
“Are you really that fucking stupid or do you just enjoy riling me up? Alex, she’s hisdaughter.” He nodded, and I scoffed, genuinely annoyed at his behavior. “You think this is a good idea? She’s fucking with your head to get out of here, and then, when she fucks you over, and you're doing twenty-five behind bars, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself! But I will also blame you because I’ll be sitting in a cell beside yours!" Andrei was getting heated now. "You're placing us both in danger! And I have a family!"
I had no idea what the fuck he was saying.
"What are you talking about? How’s she tricking me?"
He paced the front entrance of his gigantic house and then spelled it out for me. "She. Is. Using. You. She’s made you fall head over heels for her; you’ll do anything now—including letting her go—and she’ll run right back to daddy and then we’refucked. Donotfucking touch her. Do not go down this road. We're tryingnotto end up in jail, that's why we started this whole thing!"
While I always appreciated Andrei's cool head and logical thinking, I was certain he was lost in the woods on this one.
"I’m not letting her go anywhere,” I assured him, peeking behind him to see where Olga took Jade. I headed in the direction of her voice but turned back at the last moment. “What did Moretti say?”
Andrei sighed heavily, as if this was all too much for him. “He didn’t have a press conference, but he followed our instructions and passed a message. He’s willing to talk.”
My heart skipped a beat, both from the exhilaration that our plan was working and the devastation that talking to us meant negotiating. Andthatmeant…we’d have to release Jade if he accepted our terms.
I sat across from Jade at the dinner table, unable to concentrate on the food, the conversation, or real life. I only saw her in my eyes.
I hadn’t felt this good in my entire life.
This was what I wanted—her with me, like this, nothing insane or crazy, just regular daily life with her.
Olga and Andrei were in the kitchen brewing coffee, having left Jade and me alone for a few minutes. She leaned across the table, her eyes wide and enchanting.
“Can we go to the bathroom and you can show me your piercings again?” she whispered with a silly grin.
“You like piercings?” I moved closer too, finally feeling free to enjoy my time with her.
“Not particularly.” Her gaze jumped to my lips. “Just on you.”
Andrei coughed loudly as he approached, and Jade pulled back, but her smile never left her lips. Olga plated some sort of dessert, but I didn’t even know what it was, having zero interest in anything except Jade.
“So, can you tell me your name now?” Jade addressed Andrei once everyone sat back down. “Since I’m here having dinner with you? Or are you still undercover?”
Andrei didn’t smile, and I chuckled internally at the way Jade’s personality could destabilize Andrei.
"Why are you both so secretive?" Olga piped up. "Judging by your make-out session, I'd say Jade has now switched sides." Olga winked suggestively. "Andrei. His name’s Andrei,” she added kindly, and Jade smiled in response, lighting up my whole world.
"Nice to meet you, Andrei." Jade nodded politely, and he threw her a nod too, struggling, but trying to let the situation go.
Powerless to stop staring at her, I watched the way she lifted the little fork to her mouth, but then she paused.
Slowly, her eyes met mine.
"Andrei?” she asked carefully. "An-dre?Like Dre? Like Dr. Dre?" She stared at me, for some reason repeating the name in different ways. It’s like she was frozen. The fork was still at her lips, but then she looked from me to Andrei. “Does anyone call you Dre?”
Andrei sat with his arms folded on his chest, both of us on edge from her strange reaction. “Some people call me Dre.”