Tainted Innocence

C H A P T E R 1 1

Leilani

Dinner was tense, but that wasn't anything I wasn't used to at the Kuznetsov Manor. Everything here was tense. Tonight Ms. Kuznetsov and I prepared bolognese, I was quite skilled at this considering I was half Italian.

Ms. Kuznetsov twirls the noodle around on her for, "So," She starts her mouth pulling into a thin line as she chewed, "Alexei tells me that you met Mr. Devereux at the market today." She makes intense eye contact with me as she says this.

Upon hearing Mr. Devereux name my ears perk out and I sit in my chair a little more straight thenI was before. I just nodded my head in response in her statement. Her eyes squinted at me.

"Mr. Devereux comes here from time to time and it is best to not say anything rude to him, he is a very powerful man around these parts." She tells me but it's more like a warning. With her final remarks the rest of dinner was silent.

After dinner I decided to explore the house since the other night I just went straight to bed. Once I was dismissed from dinner, I walked up the creaky steps and instead of turning left into my room I turned right.

I've never seen the east wing of the manor so this was new to me. I passed a thousands of portraits, a thousand of eyes following my every move. Then I stumbled across a portrait of Ms. Kuznetsov. She was younger but she still had that strict look to her. Her thin lips pressed down into a line and a slight furrow in her eyebrow.

Suddenly I heard voices from another room. I ran into a room and hid in there and pressed my ear to the wall to listen. I heard a deep male voice.

"...good to know that she's doing good here." The deep voice said. Then Ms.Kuznetsov's voice replied.

"I suppose. She is quite nosy though I saw her snooping around the barn the other day." And in response I heard a deep chuckle.

Before I could finish listening I heard somebody's throat clear behind me. It was Alexei. This was his room. I did I mental face palm because how did I not recognize his presence. "Yes you are quite nosy." Alexei said.

"It's not what it looks like I promise. I was just exploring the house and all of sudden—" I didn't get to finish my sentence.  Alexei raised his hand to cut me off.

"Save it." His voice was calm, but his eyes looked angry. He was definitely going to snitch on me, I thought. Alexei stepped closer towards me.

"It's best not be so nosy all of time. Especially because curiosity killed the cat." He said as he stepped toward so more.

"But satisfaction bought it back!" I blurted out and immediately slapped my hands over my mouth. Alexei paused.

"What?" He asked with a laugh in his voice.

"Well my brother would say the same thing when I was younger and I would always say satisfaction brought it back. So it was kind of a reflex,don't be mad." I rambled on but Alexei just chuckled.

"Go back to your room Leilani." I couldn't decide if I wanted to argue back or apologize, but I decided to not push my luck so I nodded my head and dipped out of his room. The walk back to my room was tense and heavy, and I couldn't help but wonder if Alexei was going to tell Ms. Kuznetsov.

I hoped that he wouldn't. I wouldn't want to face her infamous "consequences" that she keeps hanging over my head. I looked behind me and Alexei was still watching from his door, this made me put a little pep in my step.

Finally I made it into my room and shut the door firmly behind me. Alexei was very intimidating. I rubbed my temples and switched to my pajamas.

Slowly but surely I let sleep consume me.

•••

short chapter. but only because a lot is happening in the next two chapters.

Who do yall think her love interest is?

Team Alexei

Team Elias