The Hidden Toxin ✔(#6 in the Our Side of The Dice Series)

Chapter 23: Russian Roulette

Songs for this chapter are:

What's the move - Jon Keith & Darius James

Outta Reach - Jon Keith

Summer is Ours - Jon Keith

—••—••—••—

Mr. Dolotov Park swallowed when he heard Ebun say, "This man right here is my boyfriend." and her hand! Holy Moly. Her hand was resting on his buttocks. Crouching slightly and stepping a few inches backward, the Caribbean taxi driver took the nasty view as his cue to leave. The chauffeur knew he couldn't do much to tame a Russian teenager that had chosen the path of destruction by having sex recklessly.

Although Ebun wasn't Russian, she was in Russia — not in Africa or his small community in the Caribbean, where it would have been easier and acceptable to chastise her.

"Oh... Goodnight then. Stay safe, I guess, " the man said and turned off the light from his torch. He turned, retreating into the darkness as he walked further and faster into the far end of the street.

Ebun stared wide-eyed, watching the man disappear into the darkness beyond the glimmer of the street lamp. The snow descending slowly from the sky filled up for what was left of the voidness afar off. When Ebun could no longer see the man, she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Then, she heard Sean breathe too before he said:

"You remembered to let go of the breathe you were holding but still have my buttocks in your grasp."

Blast! Why does he have to say it like that?

Immediately, Ebun let go, unwrapping her arms from Sean's lean body and stepped away from him. Ebun looked at her feet, embarrassed for a moment. When Ebun felt a bit better, she looked up at Sean and saw that his eyes had narrowed the fraction of an inch in anger.

"What. The. Hell. Was. That?" Sean emphasized every word through clenched teeth.

"Forget it happened. I only did that save myself, " Ebun snapped, still trying her hardest to maintain eye contact with Sean, but his gaze promised to freeze her faster than a night spent in Antarctica.

"Hmm. You forced me to take a selfie with you in the bus yesterday morning. Now, you are snuggling up to me and pinching my butt. Were you also doing that to save yourself? It rather seems to me that you are enjoying making fun of me, and I don't understand what exactly is funny about me."

"I swear that I was doing those things to save myself!" Ebun snapped. Heat rose to her cheeks. "You have no idea the number of people that have been assigned to spy over me here in Russia. I'm sure that man works for my sister. I have to be more careful now, and you being here right now is not helping me to accomplish that mission!"

"I...I'm sorry, " Sean cleared his throat, the steely look of his eyes now flattened by remorse and unease. "I just followed you to apologize, as I said earlier. Also, I promise to protect you for this short period till we're done with this case."

God! This was the second time he was apologizing in one night. Was hell freezing over or something?

"I'm sorry for being mean to you, " Sean continued.

Yes, hell had frozen.

"I'm sorry too, " Ebun also decided to apologize to wane off the air of awkwardness she was now beginning to feel. "I was also prideful. I should have let you do your job earlier. But I was just so obsessed with wanting you to have a good impression of me. I guess I didn't want you to...to...never mind."