Love and Sin (2022)

Chapter 17

There was a thrilling rush of heat taking over both as she teased his lips with hers. She was playing around with the kiss as if she was tempting a reaction out of him.

He replied eagerly with a warm kiss and a hot steady hand around her neck.

The words that he said echoed in her head. He liked her. It was such a comforting warm feeling that took over her whole body despite the tension in the air between them. She wasn't sure what liking her meant for him, but she hoped it meant she could have him for a short while. His hands slid down and he grabbed her by the waist.

He kept her close, kissing her back with equal enthusiasm, but he never got to finish what he wanted to tell her like why he had hesitated in pursuing her. Telling her everything including the story about his brother was still hard. Maybe he could not say anything at all. He could make his past irrelevant with her. Showing her love without the heaviness. He was confident in that.

There was one thing that all men in his family had in common, and that was they took commitment seriously. Once they found their person, they were all in. Full commitment or nothing at all. And Tai was the right woman for Aleksei.

He lowered his lips down to her neck and she tossed her head aside holding him close. His grip on her tightened.

Her eyes opened halfway for a moment, and at that very moment, she noticed someone outside the window. When she took a better look she noticed a person holding a camera and then that person retraced their steps and vanished.

"Aleksei.." She nudged him away. "I just saw someone out the window."

"What?" He asked still in a daze.

"Someone was taking pictures of us. I saw a person with a camera." She hastily got up and grabbed the jacket from her chair putting it on.

"Are you serious?" He got up and grabbed his things in a hurry. "Was it a girl or a guy?"

"I don't know, I just saw someone and they panicked when they got caught and ran off. I think they noticed through the camera lenses."

Aleksei took her hand. "Come on. Show me exactly where you saw that person standing.

***

Lev leaned over the counter in the kitchen when Nikita showed up, leaving his empty coffee mug in the sink. Things were awkward between them for a full day now.

"Are you by any chance free, right now?" Lev suddenly broke the silence, making Nikita tense up.

"Yes, why."

"Want to have lunch with me?"

"What?" Nikita asked, trying to avoid the jolt of panic. This was not a ..date invite right?

Lev raised his phone showing him the chat with Aleksei. " He has reservations at this place but he and Tai are in school studying so they can't make it."

"He and Tai?" Nikita didn't recall Tai saying anything about a date.

"It was last minute but they were supposed to go on a date today. So are you free? Wanna go?"

Nikita was having trouble getting all the information through his head. While he was thinking, Lev pulled out his pack of cigarettes and zippo out of his pocket. "Just go get ready, I'll smoke one outside." He headed towards the small balcony on the villa leaving Nikita to process how this was going to go down.

Half an hour later, Lev and Nikita were in the restaurant sitting opposite each other, waiting for the meal to arrive. Nikta was hiding his fidgeting under the table and the unsteady leg under the chair. He was trying to look calm on the outside but his heart wasn't having it. He knew Lev had probably forgotten all about their little incident as he didn't look uneasy at all around him. He probably didn't think twice about it. But Nikita replayed the scene over and over in his head and he couldn't help himself thinking this looked like a date.