That Summer In The Country

Thirty-four:

Thirty-four:

Mal wasn't supposed to be bothered by Aleksander making Alina sleep in his room. He had learned, from a young age, that he had a very, very specific place in the Morozova family. He was the spare. Adopted, simply, because the Mrs. Morozova wasn't able to have more children. She had a weak constitution, and it didn't help that she hated her husband, the man Mal had been made to call 'father' his whole life. Even though he wasn't really his father, he was his uncle.

In his younger years, he had been a plaything for her. A companion so to ease the balm that there wouldn't be anymore children. As an adult, his presence became less and less certain. While Baghra seemed to care for him still, she looked at him warily, as if afraid he might swoop in and take everything the family had in the middle of the night. Not that it mattered. His father had made his own fortune, and his grandfather hadn't left him a damn thing.

Since he had started college, his place seemed even more uncertain. He wasn't around the family anymore. Aleksander seemed to be gaining more control and looking for more ways to push him out. He had thought that maybe with Alina things would change, that he would soften. It only seemed to make him increasingly paranoid. Aleksander was looking at him like he was the enemy again, and after everything that happened with Genya he didn't know if he could ever trust him. Even with the ridiculous pact that the two of them had made together. Sharing the girls might have kept their cocks satisfied, but the other things that fueled their blood----rage, hatred----they were still there, all bubbling beneath the surface.

Aleksander and Alina had locked themselves away in Aleksander's room. So Mal went to his, and he changed into his running clothes, shoved his ear pods into his ears, then blasted a playlist from his phone and went running. He had just reached the bottom of the driveway when he saw something out of the corner o his eye that made him stop-----a flash of vibrant red hair he would have known anywhere. Genya.

"Mal?" he heard her call him.

He froze, stopped, and slowly turned, taking his ear pods out. "Genya."

She smiled at him. "Hi. How are you? What are you doing here?"

"Vacation," Mal supplied, "you know Aleksander. He's got some new girl that he's obsessed with. We're squiring her about."

Genya's eyes darkened. "Oh. Who's the girl?"

"You wouldn't know her," he replied, "old family friend. Anyway, what brings you to The Islands?"

She blushed. "Oh. Um. Well, I'm actually having my engagement party this weekend."

"Engaged," Mal's voice cracked, "aren't you still in school?"

She beamed. "I decided to go a less traditional route. Daddy invested in my company, so I'll be opening up a boutique on Os Alta this Spring. It's already under construction and everything. Plus, I had some investors show interest because of my online following."

"Wow," said Mal, "that's great Gen. I'm.... I'm happy for you. Who is the lucky guy?"

She smiled. "Someone I met at Uni during my first year. David Kostyk. He's a friend of Nikolai's."

"Lantsov?" Mal said.

Genya nodded. "Zoya introduced us, actually. Well, I introduced myself. You know how I am when I want something. Are you going to be here the whole weekend?"

Mal nodded. "That seems to be the plan. Aleksander said that he was burnt out and needed a break, so. You know him. I go where he goes."

"Sounds about right."

There was a long pause, and the two of them stood there staring at each other. When had he seen her last? He couldn't even remember.

"Genya," he said, "can I ask you something?"

She smiled. "What do you want to know, Mal?"

"Why do people always pick Aleks over me? I mean, Saints, I thought we were wildly in love and you still.... you still chose him, Genya. You fucking---"

Genya squinted at him. "Mal, what are you talking about?"

"The letter, Gen. The one that you left me the night of the accident. You told me you didn't even feel comfortable around him in that house, but you still went with him. I'm not saying you had to be with me, but why the hell was it Alekander? You saw what we were like. You knew how much.... how I...anyone but my brother, Gen."

She frowned. "Mal, I was never with Aleksander."

"Did he force you?" he asked.

Genya shook her head. "No! Saints, no. Aleksander isn't the monster everyone wants to make him out to be, Mal. I mean, he was one of the investors in my company, and it wasn't because I was sleeping with him. It was because he wanted to help me escape...."

"Escape what?" Mal asked.

She sighed. "Look, I don't want to cause trouble. That was never the intention. But you know that big house is full of secrets, and I spent a lot of time waiting on you there....and I.... I never meant for any of it to happen. Just know that."

Mal's throat tightened. "Any of what to happen, Gen?"

She shook her head. "Look, I can't talk about it. I legally can't talk about it, or I'll lose everything. But just know, Aleksander's a lot of things, but he's never the type of person that would steal your girlfriend, Mal. He's a very, very good brother. He'd do anything for you. I promise you that. Don't think bad about him, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Have you met the guy?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I have. And you have too but um...listen, if you're going to be here tomorrow, come to the engagement party. Seriously. Meet David. I think you'll like him. He's an engineer."

He sighed. "I don't know. I don't know what Aleks has planned."

"Well," said Genya, "bring him too, and the girl."

She hugged him tightly before he could stop her, and his heart felt like it was going to burst. He smelled her perfume, then she let him go quickly, and just like that she was gone, down the street.