Chapter Seven

Aurora

Maybe I had prejudged Bethany because I actually had an enjoyable lunch with her. She was a nice woman. Came from a media background. Her parents were more than thrilled with her marrying Andrei Belov. The arrangements had already been made and the wedding set for December. Not too far away, and she was excited.

During all of her talk of her wedding, not once did she invite me, but I figured it had something to do with Slavik and the whole Bratva thing.

We had lunch several times a week. I invited her to dinner. We talked about everything and nothing. In fact, I’d been that heavily involved with Bethany, I had nearly forgotten about the uncomfortable conversation with Sergei.

He was there all the time, watching and waiting.

Each day, I had a new date with Bethany.

She’d be returning with Andrei to wherever he lived. I couldn’t recall where, but it was in one of the cities. I was never good with locations.

“You and Bethany seem to be hitting it off,” Sergei said.

“Slavik wanted me to be nice and have dinner. She’s only here for a couple more days and then she’s leaving.”

Sergei nodded.

What also played on my mind was the kiss I’d shared with Slavik in the bathroom. There was no one to talk to about it. I wanted to know what a kiss like that meant. Was it normal to share one so intense? Every time I thought about it, my lips tingled, and like now, I touched them.

Would it be so wrong to give in to him?

We hadn’t had sex.

My period had started a few days ago, so that meant no baby. To have a baby you did have to do it regularly, right?

Talking to my mother was useless. She never came to the phone. Isabella was always talking about a party she’d been to and what fun she had. Me, I’d been left with Slavik, confused.

The only place to go would be the internet, and trying to figure out the truth was way too complicated. Also, my searching had sent me to a porn site. If Slavik had a way of checking through what I looked at, there would be questions.

Even our sex didn’t match up to the porn videos.

Sergei parked the car outside a cute Italian place. I’d read the reviews, and they were amazing. I called Bethany up immediately.

I arrived at the table and took a seat. Bethany was ten minutes late, but she arrived. She wore a low-cut dress that stopped above the knee. She was so beautiful.

I got to my feet, kissing her cheek as we’d started to do. This was the first time I’d ever had a girlfriend, and it was glorious.

“Sorry I was late, Andrei, well, he didn’t want me to leave.”

“Oh, are you living with Andrei?”

“Yes.”

This was another part of how different we both were. Her family was happy with her traveling with her husband. The engagement ring was on her finger, and to the rest of the world, they were going to be married. Bethany had confided in me that Andrei wasn’t her first boyfriend. She’d gone to an all-girls school and had met a guy there. She wasn’t a virgin.