That Summer In The Country

Thirty-nine:

Thirty-nine:

Alina woke up to find both of the boys in her bed. Aleksander and Mal. Mal was on her left side, Aleksander was on her right. Both of them were gripping her hands tightly. She didn't like the idea of either of them being near her just then. She carefully pulled her hands out of their grasp, then slid from the bed. She went to the shower, grabbed clothes from the walk-in closet, and went to the kitchen. She knew that there were servants around that could probably make her anything she asked, but Alina liked cooking when she had the chance.

She rummaged through the fridge and found something to make blinis and morning tea. As she was cooking, she heard the doorbell ring. Alina went to answer it. Standing there before her was a beautiful young woman with red hair and amber colored eyes. "Oh, hi!" she said. "Is Aleksander here?"

Alina tilted her head to the side. "Um, he is. He's asleep though. Who are you?"

"Genya," she said with a smile, "Genya Safin. You must be the maid. It's been a while since I've been here. What happened with Milana?"

Alina blushed. "Um, I'm not the maid."

Genya's eyes widened. "Oh. I'm sorry. I just---I could smell cooking from the kitchen, and the staff is usually the one that does that. Are you Aleksander's assistant?"

Alina hesitated. "Um...."

"Sorry," she said, "I guess I should know better. It's the Morozova brothers. Asking questions about them usually leads to trouble. But is Aleksander here?"

"Yeah, he's here," said Alina, "would you like me to go get him?"

"If you could, that would be great," said Genya, "oh and um.... don't let Mal know that I'm here if you can."

Alina winced. "Sure. Of course."

She turned off the stove in the kitchen, then went up the stairs. She poked her head into her bedroom where the boys were still sleeping. "Aleks?" she called softly.

Aleksander stirred in his sleep. "What is it, Kiska?"

"There's someone here for you."

Aleksander sat up, wiping sleep from his eyes. "Who is it?"

Alina hesitated. "I think you should come downstairs and see for yourself."

Aleksander frowned, then he got up from the bed. "Alina, why won't you tell me who's at the door?"

"Because I don't feel like telling you much of anything after what happened last night between you and Mal. So, you can go deal with whatever this weird nonsense is. I am going to go eat the breakfast that I made for myself."

He walked over to her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Come on, Alina. Don't be that way. This weekend is supposed to be about me relaxing, about the two of us ravishing each other."

"I'm not in the mood to be ravished. I'm in the mood to eat, though. Which is exactly what I am going to do." She went down the stairs, to the kitchen where she got her breakfast.

After a few minutes, Aleksander emerged. He was still in his clothes from the night before. His hair was a mess. He glanced at Alina, who was sitting on the kitchen counter, eating blinis while sipping a warm mug of tea. She gestured to the door to where Genya was still waiting outside.

Aleksander saw her through the window, a flash of her red hair. He winced then glanced back at Alina. "Did she say what she wanted?"

"All she said was that she needed to talk to you," said Alina, "Aleks, why won't you just tell Mal what happened with her? It seems to be what's driving a wedge between the two of you. Then, you could put an end to this silly rivalry between the two of you."

Aleksander walked over to where Alina was sitting on the kitchen counter. "I can't, Alina. It's not as simple as me telling him the truth. If I tell him the truth about what happened, it will change everything. Mal won't think of himself as my brother anymore. He won't want anything to do with me or being a Morozova. I can't do that to him or to my family."

"Fine," she said, "but for the record, I'm not sleeping with you."

"What, why?"

"For a start, I'm supposed to be Mal's public girlfriend. Second, I refuse to be part of whatever this weird little thing is."

"I have never, not once, screwed Genya Alina. I promise you. You are the only one that I want."

Alina finished her plate of blinis and put her plate in the sink. "Go on. Genya's waiting for you." She gestured to the door.

Aleksander heaved a sigh, then he went outside, and closed the door behind him. Through the window, Alina could see the two of them talking. Aleksander was waving his hands in the air, Genya was sobbing about something.

"We decided you wouldn't keep it!" Alina heard Aleksander say. "That was part of the deal!"

"You don't know what it's like!" Genya said. "You weren't there! You didn't---"

"I gave you the money for your company. I kept you safe. What more do you want?"

"I want Mal to stop thinking I'm the whore that broke his heart! He deserves to know the truth, Aleks."

"The truth will wreck him, Genya! You signed a contract. I signed a contract."

It was muffled through the window, so Alina had no way of knowing exactly what they were saying. But what she could make out left a bad taste in her mouth. They were out there for what seemed to be an extremely long time.

Alina heard movement from upstairs then.

"Lina?" Mal's voice called her.

She jumped off the counter and bounded up the stairs.

Mal met her in the hallway. "Morning," he said, "listen, Lina I'm sorry about last night---"

Alina shook her head, and she kissed him deeply. "It's fine."

"Really?" Mal said.

She nodded. "You and Aleksander both warned me that this would be complicated. I am here for whatever complications come, as long as I get to be with you."

He smirked. "But....you....you had to walk home by yourself."

"It was fine," said Alina, "I came across a bachelorette party bus and they gave me a ride home."

"That was nice," said Mal.

"Very," said Alina.

"Where's Aleks?" Mal said.

She shrugged. "Who knows? But why don't you and I go back to bed?"

He kissed her again. "I like the sound of that." He licked her lip. "You taste like syrup. Did you eat?"

Alina nodded. "I made blinis."

"And you cook? Is there anything you can't do?"

"Wait for you to fuck me," she purred, and then she pulled him into her bedroom.