AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The next few days, I decided to keep my distance from Alexandra, for two reasons. Firstly, I was making sure she didn’t distract me from my job; we were now in a place where serious danger could present itself at any moment, and I wanted to stay sharp. Secondly, I needed time to try and make sense of the feelings that had suddenly risen within me. I felt that she was special, and I’d fallen for her much quicker than I’d imagined possible. Even with my hard demeanor and my brutal past, I found myself afraid that I would get hurt, which made me push her away even more. But a nagging thought in the back of my mind kept telling me that I needed to make a decision because there wouldn’t be any second chances with this girl.
Alexandra spent the next five days with her two friends, shopping and spending far too much money on shit they didn’t really need. They’d spent the nights partying at expensive nightclubs, extravagant pool parties, big mansions, and even once on a luxury yacht moored on the river.
I’d stayed with them throughout but kept my distance. Partying wasn’t my thing, a realization I’d come to nearly fifteen years ago. I just wasn’t fond of going somewhere with music so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think, let along what anyone else tried to say to you. And it was pointless trying to talk to women under those circumstances. Plus, how was a man supposed to enjoy his drink under such conditions?
Needless to say, instead of joining the girls in their partying, I became a silent, protective figure. Alexandra was the only one of the trio who even noticed me, giving me an occasional smile or wave. She would even come over to speak to me sometimes when her friends were goading drunken rich guys.
She’d confided in me that she was getting pissed off with her friends, who only wanted to look good, party, and sleep with random men. She said she’d been laughed at when she’d mentioned wanting to visit a museum, or even going out just for a fancy meal instead of getting drunk.
“Do what you want. Fuck what your friends think. You ain’t gonna be in Paris forever. Gotta make the most of it. So to hell with those airheads,” I’d said to her, gesturing to her friends who were taking selfies with some half-dressed guys eager to show off their top heavy, gym sculptured bodies. It was the most words I’d spoken to her in one go since we’d chatted on the plane. She had beamed at me in return, glowing radiantly from the small bit of attention I’d given her.
As it turned out, she took my advice and had persuaded the girls to visit a few museums during the day, and even talked them into dining at one of Paris’ most exclusive restaurants that evening.
Lucy and Olivia had been making a show of being incredibly bored throughout the day, as they’d traipsed behind Alexandra. While she had marveled at artwork, antiques, and various historic artifacts, they had spent most of their time plastered to their phones, flicking through pictures of their various exploits from the previous nights on Facebook and Instagram.
I watched them, feeling irritated over their seemingly pathological need to show off their exploits online, as well as the way they obsessed over taking perfect pictures rather than actually enjoying the moment. It seemed a bit soulless to me, but I’d grown up before cellphones, the internet, and even home PCs, so maybe I just didn’t get it.
At least Alexandra seemed more down to earth though, actually enjoying doing real stuff. Seeing her happy reignited the fire within me, and I was struggling to repress it for a second time.
Alexandra
Much to Lucy’s and Olivia’s annoyance, I’d taken great pleasure in dragging them through various museums throughout the day. I’d genuinely enjoyed the exhibits, artwork, science, and natural history. But I’d almost enjoyed their petulant boredom even more.
I’d gotten fed up with the constant partying, drinking, and mindless shopping, not finding any of it meaningful. I especially didn’t like drunken rich guys who just expected me to jump into bed with them.
Olivia and Lucy, on the other hand, had enjoyed that attention, and had both had a precession of one-night stands with various sleazy men—much to Cruz’s annoyance, as his flawless security perimeter had been breached. He would often sleep on an armchair outside of my room when Olivia and Lucy were ‘entertaining’ in their respective suites.
The guys mainly ignored Cruz, as they only had one thing on their mind. Cruz tolerated them, but watched them carefully. I doubted he would think twice about swatting them like flies if they even hinted at causing any sort of trouble. I’d half hoped that one of them would give him an excuse to do just that; the thought of him showing his strength and dominance made me hot just thinking about it.
Unfortunately, none of the guys were that stupid.
As I was getting ready for our outing to the expensive restaurant I’d booked for the evening, I partially was getting ready for Cruz. I wanted to flaunt myself in front of him and see if I could get away with some flirti
ng, even if just for a few glorious moments.
All three of us were getting ready in my room, with Olivia and Lucy seemingly forgiving the ‘boring’ day I’d put them through as they chatted away about their various conquests and exploits from the previous week.
I was only half-listening as I curled my hair, catching small pieces of their conversation. “…not very good. Didn’t know what he was doing. His dick was massive, though. So that sort of made up for it,” Olivia was saying, regaling Lucy with sordid details of her most recent encounter. “See, look!”
I turned around to see Lucy staring with fascination at Olivia’s phone screen. “Alexandra, you gotta see this!” she said.
“No, thanks.” I turned back to the mirror and resumed curling my hair.
“You’re so frigid, you boring old lady,” Olivia said. “I bet you got turned on by those statues earlier though, right?” she said, laughing condescendingly.
“Those museums were so boring,” Lucy chimed in. “There’s still quite a few shops I want to see though. We coulda had a look around those.”
I bit my tongue, thinking that if I had to traipse around another ridiculously expensive department store or boutique, I would murder them both. Or maybe persuade Cruz to do it.
“Look, I’m sorry I had to drag your uncultured asses to see something interesting of actual historic value. I was wrong in thinking you might enjoy it,” I sighed, my voice sounding harsher than I meant to it.
“Whatever. It’s just not our thing,” Olivia said.
Her attitude made me think of Cruz’s advice to essentially just tell them to fuck off. In my mind, I replayed the deep rumble of his voice.
Apparently, things were simple when you were Cruz Miller, but that made sense, considering his size. I personally didn’t think I’d get away with his solution, but it was damned tempting.
“Oh, look at this,” Lucy said. “The guy I met the other night, you know, the one with the yacht?”
