Chapter 15

I pulled myself away from Blaine before he had a chance to protest, not that he seemed like he was going to. The blonde woman was still holding him.

“Madeline!” Blaine called after me. I was running towards the front door. I was too shocked to think about anything. I only knew that I had to get out of there and as far away as I could from Blaine.

“Wait!” He yelled.

Blaine caught up to me just as I was going down the steps of his house. Looking around the area was just as impressive as it had been when Blaine and I had arrived earlier, maybe even more.

I started walking down the long driveway that led out of their place.

“Stop,” Blaine ordered, reaching out to grab my elbow, bringing me to a halt. He tugged on my arm and brought me face to face with him—or face to chest, since he was almost a foot taller than me. Unlike the leggy blonde that had kissed him, I was short.

“I thought you’d want to be alone with that woman,” I said, roughly pulling on my arm so that he would let me go.

I crossed my arms over my chest as soon as I was free from his grasp. I was just about to turn around to walk away, but Blaine sidestepped me and blocked my path.

“What you saw back there, that was nothing,” he said, frowning down at me. He was acting like if I’d been the one sucking face with that bimbo looking girl.

“Okay, it was nothing,” I shrugged, looking away from him and down at his chest. He was breathing heavily. When I looked up at his face, I realized that Blaine seemed nervous. That got my attention. “We’re nothing, right? You don’t owe me an explanation.”

I walked away from him again. I only managed to take a couple of steps when Blaine was stopping me again.

“Justine is my step-sister,” Blaine started to explain.

“Well you two are rather friendly,” I said, and the bitterness slipped right through my voice.

“I don’t know why she kissed me. I can only assume it’s because you were there with me.”

“Right,” I said, shaking my head at him. As far as excuses went, his was pretty lame.

“I’ve never brought a girl home. Never,” Blaine said, sounding serious.

“Your, uh, step-sister has nothing to worry about.”

“Madeline…” Blaine said, lowering his voice.

“I’m not doing anything, Blaine. I’m going home. I don’t want to be here anymore and I honestly don’t feel like looking at you right now.

“You can’t be on your own. It’s not safe,” he insisted. When he spoke, I actually noticed that there was a panicky tone in his voice. I didn’t want to think too much of it, but he had gone after me. It made me feel better. I was still mad at him, though.

“She kissed you while you were holding me. She had to know we were something. You don’t want a girlfriend, whatever. But I was right there with you. She had no right to do that, unless you’re lying to me.” I was looking at him with narrowed eyes, waiting for him to explain himself. Blaine pulled away, creating some distance between us, but he was still fairly close to me.

“Alright then,” I said when he stayed quiet. “I’m leaving.”

Before I had a chance to walk away, Blaine wrapped his arm around my waist. His hold wasn’t really tight, but I found myself not able to pull away. Blaine closed his eyes, and sighed loudly.

“Eleanor always thought that Justine would end up with either Alex or me. Since she married my father, she’s been shoving Justine in our faces—wanting her to pair up with my brother or me.

“Well your sister seems-”

“Step-sister,” he interrupted.

“She seems to want the same thing as her mother.”

Blaine nodded, and I noticed his face grew serious. He was upset. “I moved out of this house as soon as I turned eighteen. I hardly ever see Justine. There has never been anything between us but a polite, distant relationship.”

“I don’t believe you,” I told him, honestly.

The way she had seemed so familiar with him bothered me. She had kissed him right in front of me, shamelessly. It made me insanely jealous.

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

“You’re right, I guess. It’s not like you care about what I think,” I shrugged.

Blaine sighed again, but this time he sounded annoyed. “If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have explained anything. I have never explained myself with anybody, not my brother or my father—especially not with a girl.”

“You’ve never had a girlfriend.”

“You’re as close as I’ve come to one,” Blaine countered. “You should give me some credit, Madeline. I’m trying, here.”

“Do you think that you trying means you can treat me the way you do?” I asked, my voice sounding harsh. I hadn’t intended to ask him that question, but now that it was out there, I couldn’t take it back.

“You don’t like the way I treat you?” Blaine asked, sounding surprised.

“Blaine, you don’t want to define our relationship. Every time I ask you about it, you change the subject or get mad. Then we arrive at your parents’ home and your step-sister starts getting friendly with you. What am I supposed to think?”

“I already explained what happened with Justine. I will talk to her about it.”

“To give her more opportunities to hit on you?” I could hear the jealousy in my voice. I couldn’t stop myself. He was making me feel really insecure and I hated that.

“I will talk to her with you there. Do you want that?”

“What will you tell her—that your friend got mad because she kissed you?”

Blaine shook his head. He was clearly annoyed with my questions. I hadn’t expected him to be so open. By then, I thought he would have already cut me off and tried to change the subject. I was slightly enjoying that he was being straightforward about us for once.

“We have known each other for less than two months. I wanted us to get to know each other more before we throw ourselves into anything serious. You make it difficult,” he said, speaking through gritted teeth. That didn’t stop him from wrapping his arms around my waist, pressing me to his chest. I was looking up at him, feeling genuinely stunned.

“So it isn’t because you’re scared of commitment?”

“I’ve never been committed to anything but my family’s business. I simply wanted us to take it slow.”

“If that was what you wanted,” I told him, patting his chest with my hands, “then you should’ve kept your hands to yourself.”

Blaine smirked, nuzzling his nose against mine. “I couldn’t do that. I tried, at first—when we were in Russia. I found myself angry at your for being a gold-digger, but I wanted to be around you. I think that even if you had been a gold-digger, I would’ve still wanted you.”

“You were mean to me.”

“I didn’t want to let you go. I think that should’ve been the first sign that I wanted you by my side.”

The drive to Blaine’s apartment was quiet. I hadn’t been able to stop grinning since we left his father’s home. Blaine had wanted me to go inside to meet his father and his brother, but I turned him down. After what had happened with his step-sister, I wasn’t in the mood to meet anyone. Blaine seemed disappointed, but he didn’t argue with me.

I still wasn’t used to going around being followed by bodyguards. They were discreet. I mainly saw them when we arrived anywhere. When we made it to Blaine’s apartment, they were out of their car before Blaine even turned off his.

“Do you always go around with an entourage?” I asked, nodding towards the guards.

“I usually only have two to four guards. The extra security was hired in case Vitaly tried anything.”

Blaine and I walked hand in hand towards the elevator. He had a blank expression on his face. I was still smiling. I had no doubt that the happy smile would remain on my lips for a while.

“Ruben was here?” I asked when we made it into his apartment. Again the table was filled with food. It was nicely decorated, and there were different choices to pick from. Now that was the lifestyle. “You’ll have food leftover for the rest of the week.” I said, taking a seat on the table.

“Did you do the application already?” Blaine asked, changing the subject

“What application?”

“You were going to apply at Hale Industries.”

“I haven’t had time.” I started serving food on my plate. Other than the snacks I had while watching movies, I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

“You can do the application after dinner. I can help you with anything you need.”

Blaine was more focused on me than on his food. He kept gazing back at me. “We can do that,” I told him. “I wanted to talk about the scholarship…”

“I will have the proper people look into that. Odds are if your scholarship was rejected, others are having problems too. The Hale Scholarship isn’t the only way we donate money. I want to know that people are doing their jobs.”

I nodded. “You’re not going to fire anybody else, are you?”

“I got my assistant to get in contact with that security guard I fired the day you sneaked into the building,” Blaine said, clearing his throat.

I couldn’t help but smile at him. “He made it difficult for me to sneak in, you know. He’s a good employee. I just happened to outsmart him.”

Blaine chuckled at me, and snaked his arm around my waist, while pulling my chair closer to his with his other hand. “Lucky me that you did,” he said.

“You didn’t feel lucky when you were kicking me out of Hale Industries.”

“A bad call in judgment—I’ve had those before,” he shrugged.

“I wonder when it was that you started calling it a bad call in judgment.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were annoyed with me. You were mean and rude, snobby. Suddenly, you were caring and protective. I’m just wondering when the change happened. Not that you aren’t rude now, but you’ve definitely toned it down.”

Blaine looked at me with guarded eyes. He stayed quiet, deep in thought from what I could tell. When he spoke, he sounded unsure of himself. “You make it sound as if I didn’t notice you the day you went into my office. I noticed you,” he said, his eyes roaming my body—which was mostly covered—before looking up at my face.

“So you were attracted to me? Why kick me out?”

“You wouldn’t be the first girl trying to get my attention. However, you have been the first who is as persistent as you were. Only you have made it to the top floor without a badge. You didn’t even do it to get my attention, but to fix a problem you had with Hale Industries. That is definitely a blow to my ego,” Blaine said, smiling at me.

“I should be proud of myself, then?” I asked, laughing.

He stayed up later than I did that night. After he helped me submit the application for a job at Hale Industries, I went to bed and he went to his home office. I was tired but happy. Blaine seemed content, and I was glad I’d caused that change in him.

Blaine dropped me off at my apartment late at night on Sunday. My mother had been home all day, but neither Blaine nor I had been in a hurry to make the trip. I wanted to spend the day with him. He finally drove me home when my mom phoned him asking for me.

We had spent the entire day together. He had been working, but I figured that was something I’d have to get used to. He was an important guy, and a lot of people depended on him.

Other than a few hours he spent in his office, in which he allowed me to keep interrupting him, we spent the day watching movies and eating junk food. He wasn’t a fan of either things, but I kept pushing him into trying this or that. He gave in every time, claiming I was very convincing. It was either that, or he liked that every time I asked him to try something, I rewarded him with a kiss. He definitely liked that.

“I will have a busy day tomorrow,” Blaine told me when he parked the car right outside of my apartment building.

There was a sign telling drivers they would get towed away if they blocked the entrance. Blaine either ignored it or didn’t care.

He went around the car and opened the door for me. I was getting used to his chivalrous ways—another thing that made me smile.

“I got this for you,” he said, handing me a brand new phone. It looked twice as expensive as the one Vitaly broke on the trip to Russia.

“A phone…”

“You don’t have one. I want to call you whenever I want.”

Although the thought of him wanting to call me was pleasing, it still didn’t sit well with me that he kept spending all this money on me. I kept feeling like I owed him and that the tab just kept growing and growing.

“My mom told me I could use her phone. You already have her number,” I told him.

I didn’t take the phone from his hand, which he was offering to me. I started making my way towards the apartments. Other than the distant sound of cars honking, the night was quiet. If it weren’t for the street lights turned on in every corner, it would’ve been dark outside.

“Your mom should have her phone, Madeline. It isn’t safe right now—I already explained that to you.”

“Vitaly is still out there,” I said, flatly, repeating what Blaine kept telling me.

“I’m not going to risk either of you running into trouble. I’m doing everything I can to keep you safe. You would make my job easier if you would take the phone,” he said, putting it in my hand and forcing me to accept it.

I was frowning by the time we made it to my front door.

“You look cute when you pout,” Blaine said, pulling on my hand and making me stumble. Blaine brought me to his chest, while his other arm wrapped around my waist. He ran his thumb over my lower lip. “You’ll keep the phone. I’ll call you tomorrow in the morning.”

He didn’t give me a chance to protest. I couldn’t argue with him when he kissed me deeply, enough to forget about the conversation we’d been having.

“So you two are together now?” Alan asked me the following day.

I had told him what had happened with Blaine’s step-sister. I was still annoyed about it, but all of Blaine’s reassurances made me feel better. I wasn’t sure if he realized how his little admissions made me feel. I was a total girl when it came to him. I overanalyzed everything he said. It was the only way I felt like I could keep up with him.

“I think so,” I admitted, grinning.

“You think or you know? Has he asked you to be his girlfriend?”

I was sitting down in my desk, with my laptop open. I was transferring the pictures I’d taken of Blaine and me to both my external hard drive and my laptop. I wanted to make sure I had extra copies of those pictures everywhere.

“Can you go with me to the store? I want to print some of these,” I told him, without moving my eyes from the screen.

“I’ll go, but don’t change the subject, Mads. Are you two really together or not?”

“He didn’t really ask me out, ask me out—like actually say the words and all. But I’m sure we’re together,” I said, and I couldn’t get rid of how unsure I sounded.

Alan had been lying down over my bed, throwing one of my pillows up in the air. After I answered his question, he stood up, pulled up a chair by my desk, and made me face him.

“Make him ask you out. Or what—he gives you a few words that tickle your stomach and you lower your expectations for him?”

“I’m not doing that,” I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ears, and turning back to face the screen. I had hundreds of pictures from the road trip. Most of them were of Blaine and me, or Blaine by himself. Some of them were of the scenery, and cool things I’d seen during the trip. It was taking a while to pass them all, and I wanted to organize them too.

“You’ve never had a boyfriend before. During high school, you never wanted to give anybody the time of day. Hell, I’m lucky you didn’t drop me too. You were too focused on school, your grades, and extracurricular activities. And you had plenty of guys chasing after you. Now high school’s done with and your first pick for a boyfriend is a guy with commitment issues, who hasn’t even asked you to be his girlfriend. No offense Maddy, but I have all the reason in the world to be worried about him.”

Since the store was further away, Alan drove us there. He wasn’t necessarily mad at me, but he was on the quiet side. I had tried to start up a conversation, asking him about Lara. Alan answered, but his replies were short.

“I will talk to Blaine the next time I see him. I don’t want to do it through the phone. I want to see his reactions,” I quietly said while we walked around the store.

I had opted for the hour wait prints, so Alan and I were trying to kill time while the pictures were out. “You had all weekend to talk to him,” Alan reminded me.

“He wants us to take it slow.”

“Great, that sounds like a good plan. How about you tell him to back off a little? For a guy who wants to take it slow, he sure has found ways to include himself into your life. He gave you that phone just last night and so far, he’s already called you three times and you’ve received countless of texts from him. I thought you said he was a busy guy.” Alan sounded accusing. He was definitely upset.

“I like that he’s been calling and texting me,” I told him, defensively. “I’m not going to tell him to stop.”

“You don’t see it, do you?” Alan asked, shaking his head. “Mads, I’ve met the guy only once, and I could already see how he’s absorbing you. He’s not even here and you’ve been focused on him. It’s like he doesn’t want you to forget that he’s there.”

“So what are you saying? I should ask him to be committed to me, and he’s trying to be but you’re still judging him,” I snapped.

I left Alan behind while I went to the photo center. We hadn’t been there nearly long enough, but I already wanted to have the pictures so that I could go home. Alan wasn’t happy about Blaine, and I didn’t like that. He was my best friend. I wanted him to see things my way.

Alan didn’t speak to me on the way home. Not even when we arrived and split our own ways. He only told me he’d see me later, and that was all. Whenever Alan thought he was wrong about something, he’d apologize. He hadn’t done that this time. I was thinking about that while I looked through the pictures I’d printed out.

I had also passed some pictures of Alan with me or Alan with Lara into the flash drive I’d taken to the store. I even had pictures of Alan with his friends. But mostly all of them were of Blaine or of Blaine with me.

My mom found me in my room while I had all of the pictures scattered over the bed. I was trying to decide which ones to pin to my wall. I had printed out around one hundred photos—which was slightly excessive. I’d had a hard time narrowing down the shots I wanted, and Blaine had looked great in all of them.

“You had fun this weekend?” my mom asked, pulling up a chair beside my bed. She was picking up some of the pictures.

“It was fun,” I shrugged. I was still feeling guilty over what had happened with Alan.

“I like Blaine a lot. He’s a good boy,” my mom told me, running her hands through my hair lovingly. She was smiling at me, with that motherly way of hers that always got to me. “I’m glad you found him, Maddy.”

“Thanks, I think…” I said, making us both laugh.

“He’s photogenic,” my mom said, picking up one of the pictures with Blaine by himself. He wasn’t looking at me. I didn’t think he knew I’d taken it. He was sitting down, facing his laptop, wearing one of his suits. The camera he’d bought me for the trip was a lot better than the digital camera I owned. Every picture taken with his camera was sharper and clearer—as if he needed anything else to make him look good.

“He scares me a bit,” I told my mom, pressing my back against the wall, slumping myself more on the bed.

“Scares you?” my mom repeated.

“What I feel for him—it scares me.”

“You’re young, Maddy. It’s okay to be scared. You might be confusing it for excitement.”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I really like him.”

“Don’t be scared,” my mom said, smiling warmly at me, taking my hands in hers. “Enjoy it.”

After picking ten pictures from the bunch, I started pinning them up in my wall. I spent the rest of the day organizing the rest of the prints in a box I had full of pictures, and cleaning my room. My mom had left to work, so I was on my own.

Around six in the afternoon, while I was sitting in front of the TV eating my dinner of pepperoni hot pockets, Alan strolled into the apartment. He had two Dr. Peppers and two bags of chips.

“Anything good on?” Alan asked, dropping on the couch right next to me.

“It’s Always Sunny,” I said, nodding towards the TV. There were commercials on, but I still kept facing away from Alan.

“Here,” Alan said, outstretching his arm to hand me the soda and a bag of chips.

When I finally turned to face him, I saw the apologetic look in his eyes. “I think I understand how you feel every time I get a girlfriend,” Alan said, grumpily.

I smiled at him, and the pouty look on his face. It made him look younger than eighteen, despite his height. “I’m going to talk to Blaine, I promise.”

“You do that. I’m still worried about his intentions,” he said, but this time, he didn’t sound annoyed or mad at me.

I’d been texting with Blaine throughout the afternoon. He had tried calling me after Alan arrived, but I let it go to voicemail. When I texted Blaine and told him I couldn’t talk, he called me three more times. I wanted to answer his call, but I thought that would be like rubbing it in Alan’s face. I set my phone aside and ignored the rest of Blaine’s texts and calls.  

Alan and I watched TV for almost two hours before either of us got up from the couch. Alan’s friends were playing soccer in an empty lot the guys called The Zone. They usually hung out there at night, most times to play soccer and some people used the space to walk or run. It was a few acres of free space, near the apartments. Mostly everyone around our age that lived at the apartments ended up in The Zone in the afternoons.

Alan got a call from one of his friends about a soccer game at The Zone. We took off around eight at night. It was dark out, except for the street lamps. Despite it being summer, it was fresh outside. I didn’t feel the need to wear a sweater. The wind was a nice welcome.

Alan and I were just about to make it to The Zone. We could hear yelling and cheering from where we were at. Someone was playing the music loudly, and it carried down a few blocks. It was a wonder no one had called the police on us yet.

We were across from the lot littered with people when Alan pressed himself to my side, and he lowered his head near mine. “What are you doing?” I asked, trying to pull away. Alan was holding on tightly to my hand.

“Am I being paranoid or is that black car following us?” Alan whispered against my ear.

I was about to look around and see what he was talking about, but Alan squeezed my hand. “Don’t make it obvious. It’s that black Bimmer—too fancy for this neighborhood. I noticed it when we went to get the prints.”

I tried to look at the car Alan was talking about. When my eyes landed on it, I could feel the start of an argument with Blaine. Alan had freaked me out. I was imagining the worse. Vitaly and his men were the first that came to mind.

“They’re Blaine’s men,” I said through gritted teeth.

“He’s got you babysitters?” Alan asked, with humor in his voice. “Heck, this guy doesn’t need me to interfere in your relationship. He’ll ruin this all by himself,” Alan said, laughing. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and started walking us towards his group of friends. Lara was there with her friends—girls who I knew but had only spoken to once or twice.

While Alan and his friends got ready to play a match against the guys from another neighborhood, I called Blaine.

He answered in the first ring. “I have been-” he started to say, sounding very angry.

“Why are your guards following me around?” I interrupted, and that got him to shut up.

He stayed quiet for a long time. I could hear him breathing heavily. No doubt he was furious that I had been ignoring his texts and calls since Alan had dropped by at my apartment.

“The guards are there for your safety.”

“You didn’t ask me if I wanted them.”

“They will keep you safe.”

“You decided that without asking me?” I snapped.

“You got kidnapped not once, but twice. Both Vitaly and I were able to take you easily. Clearly, you have no idea how to keep yourself safe,” Blaine said, sounding unapologetic.

“Tell them to go away. I don’t want them. I am really mad at you right now, Blaine.”

I started walking towards a deserted area. There was a lot of noise around us—from the music and loud chatter, but I didn’t want anyone to overhear me. “I’m serious, Blaine. This is a deal breaker for me. Get rid of them.”

“They stay out of your way, Madeline,” he practically growled out. “I’m not getting rid of them. You will keep them until I think it’s safe for you to be on your own.”

“They’re obviously not as discreet as you thought if Alan noticed them,” I argued.

“You’ve had them since the day I dropped you off at your apartment. You hadn’t noticed them before,” Blaine said, calmly.

“What?” I yelled, and that attracted the attention of several people around me.

I walked further away from the crowd, keeping myself more in the dark. I couldn’t see the black car where Blaine’s men were at anymore.  

“I’m driving to see you right now. I’ll be there soon. I don’t like that you’re out in the open,” Blaine told me.

He sounded worried, and that calmed me down, if only because I was still cheering every time Blaine did something to solidify our relationship. Worrying about me definitely earned him cookie points.

“You don’t have to come see me, Blaine. Look, I just don’t want anybody following me, okay? Just tell them to leave and we’re good. It’s late and I know you have to work tomorrow.”

Blaine hesitated. I wished that I could’ve seen his face. Reading him when he was in front of me was hard enough. When we spoke through the phone I had to sense his mood through his tone, and he had a great way of sounding unemotional.

“I want to see you. It’s been a long day,” he sighed. A smile took over my lips at his words. “I just left the Hale building ten minutes ago. Alexander and I are going to have a tight schedule for the rest of the week. If I don’t see you tonight, I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance.”

Hearing that was not reassuring at all. “I guess I’ll see you in a bit then. I’ll go back home.”

I completely forgot what we had been arguing about, that was, until I hung up the phone and started walking back towards the crowd. I saw the black car again.

After letting Alan know that I was leaving, I made my way to the black car. If they were going to be following me around, they might as well give me a ride back home.

The two guys were surprised when I opened the back door and slipped into the car. “Miss Madeline,” the one on the passenger side started to say.

“I know, Blaine already told me. Just take me home. He’ll be here soon,” I told him. They didn’t owe me any explanations and I wasn’t mad at them. They were just doing their job. It was their boss who had some explaining to do.

They both nodded at me and started up the car.

For bodyguards, they were both pretty young. I imagined they were in their twenties. They were both good looking, and that suit did wonders for them. They seemed like military men. I had never met any military people, but they appeared to be what I would expect from someone who had been in army, navy, or marines. I wasn’t sure why, but that thought made me smile.

They had short cropped hair, tanned skin—it seemed to be from spending hours in the sun, strong features, well-built bodies, and an intimidating height. There were differences in their appearance, of course, but they both had the same type. The dark suit made them appear tougher, yet in control.

I blushed when the one in the passenger seat caught me checking him out. I wasn’t thinking anything bad, but they were both there and I had nothing better to do.

“Umm… Thanks for the ride,” I said when I was getting off.

The waved at me, as if saying that it was alright. I hurried up to my apartment, mainly wanting to get out of their view.

My mom hadn’t arrived at the apartment. I locked the front door and walked straight to my room. I didn’t bother turning on the lights. I was using the light that the screen from my phone gave off.

Even before I turned the light on in my room, I noticed the figure that was standing right next to my bed. I could feel my hand trembling when I switched on the light. I had already recognized him, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t imagining him there.

“Yurik?” I said, a shaky breath escaping my lips.

Yurik was standing in the middle of my room, his gray eyes focused on me. He looked the same, more or less. The only difference was that the area around his eyes was dark. It seemed like he hadn’t been sleeping well lately, and he looked tired.

“Do you know how hard it is to find you?” Yurik asked calmly—his voice smooth. That worried me even more.

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