Natalia POV

‘How was your date last night?’ Oleg asked me between sips of coffee. Oleg, Alexander and I were at Oleg’s parent’s restaurant, sitting at a small table in the back. Around us sat many people, all talking animatedly and having fun. The familiar smell of Oleg’s mamas cooking was thick in the air, and the smell felt like home to me.

Oleg and Alexander sat at one side of the table, Oleg with his laptop in front of him, trying to fit both his laptop and his plate of food onto the confined space. Alexander’s plate was empty, having been a fast eater and not having the distraction of a laptop before him. He sat with a coffee now, sipping at it slowly as we talked. I sat on the other side, a plate of steaming hot food in front of me, seeing as I was late, I had ordered later than them.

‘We went to a soup kitchen,’ I replied to Oleg’s question and Alexanders head shot up from his coffee, like that was some huge shock of which he needed to be fully focussed on me to comprehend it.

Oleg’s eyes widened, ‘He’s that poor?’

‘No,’ I laughed, ‘We volunteered.’

‘Wow, you volunteering to do something, I wish I was there just so I could see history in the making.’

I slapped his arm and Alexander stifled a laugh.

‘Hey! I help charities all the time.’

‘Yeah, with your daddy’s credit card, not actual physical labour,’ Oleg corrected and I guess he was right.

‘Maybe she’s a changed woman,’ Alexander offered, then he looked me up and down, ‘Nah, probably not.’

Oleg laughed with him and patted him on the back, congratulating his apparent comic victory over me.

‘You two are cruel to me! Honestly, I did a nice thing with Dexter, stop the judgment please,,’ I defended, I didn’t like this view these two seemed to have of me.

I may like nice things, but I am not a selfish person, and I know the value in helping others. Yeah, maybe I usually do it with money, but last night Dexter showed me the value in helping personally. 

‘Okay Okay,’ Oleg folded, his hands up in submission.

‘Good, now that that’s sorted, what did you two do last night?’ I asked changing the subject. I had expected them to have some snarky remark or just say they did nothing, but no words were shared.

They just looked at each other, surprise and worry in their eyes. Oleg opened his mouth slightly, before closing it again. Like he was about to say something but the words eluded him.

Was something going on here?

‘Is there something you’re not telling me?’ 

‘Nope,’ Alexander stated.

‘I’m going to get some coffee,’ Oleg quickly left.

Good. He left me with the weak one. He will crack under pressure.

‘So Alexander..’

He looked a smidgeon frightened, and I hoped that might allow me to break him.

‘Yes?’ he asked quickly, his eyes not exactly meeting mine across the table.

‘What’s going on with Oleg?’

‘N-Nothing,’ He stuttered and I knew he was about to break. He was like a bodyguard most of the time but there were times when I was thank-full he was a little afraid of me.

I leant forward and he leant back, so I rested my arm on the table and gave him a smile, ‘Alexander honey, you ca-’ my phone started ringing and the look of relief on Alexanders face was frightening, what was going on here?

‘Nothing gets past me,’ I whispered to him before answering the call, making sure that the threat in my tone was clear.

‘Hello,’ I answered quickly.

‘Natalie?’ Shit! I didn’t attempt to hide my accent as I said hello. Whoops.

‘Hey Dexter,’ I made sure to keep my speech as American as I could without going over the top.

‘Hi, so I had a great time last night.’

A smile I didn’t intend to have leapt onto my face and I tried to wipe it off before Oleg came back, he would surely notice it.  

‘Yeah me too.’

‘So, do you want to come over and have lunch with me tomorrow? I’ll even cook?’ There was a hint of nervousness in his voice, like he was a bit sceptical that I would say yes, of course I would say yes, I had to, but a part of me was actually looking forward to it.

‘I would love to,’ I told him, just as Oleg came and sat down at the table again, and shot Alexander a look. I watched Alexander mouth, ‘I didn’t say anything’ to him, and observed Oleg visibly relax. They have a secret and I hope they don’t intend to keep it.

When I knew there was a secret I was like a shark who smelt blood, and if they didn’t come clean soon, then I would be out for blood. There’s specifically.

‘Natalie?’ Whoops, I may have been a bit distracted by Oleg and Alexander and, well, my thoughts of sharks.

‘Oh Sorry, what were you saying?’ I asked him and he repeated what he had said.

‘I was just saying that I am really looking forward to getting to know you, you are a lovey girl Natalie.’

‘Thank-you Dexter, I am looking forward to our date. I’ll be there at eleven?’

‘Sounds good, I’ll text you my address.’

‘Goodnight Dexter.’

‘Goodnight Nat,’ he said, and I ended the call.

Nat. No one had ever called me that before.

My nickname had always been kitten. Natalia or Kitten. I liked Nat, it was sweet, and the way he said it made me feel happy, special.  

‘Why the giant smile?’ Oleg smirked at me, a coffee in his hand.

‘Why the giant secret?’

He shared a look with Alexander, ‘I won’t ask questions if you don’t,’ He offered with a smile.

‘Deal.’

Oh, we so did not have a deal.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

‘So he’s a demon?’ I asked.

‘No he,’ Dexter pointed to the television ‘is an angel and that guy standing next to him in the black, he is a demon.’

‘Oh. So do they both work with the brothers?’

‘Uh sort of, it’s hard to explain. That demon is usually against them.’

‘Oh, and he’s the King of Hell right?’

‘See, you’re getting the hang of it,’ He nudged my arm.

I laughed, ‘we have watched three episodes already and I am just working out who is who.’

‘You’ll get there,’ he smiled and passed the popcorn.

Dexter had spent the entire day with me, showing me television shows. When he found out that I had never seen some show called ‘Supernatural’ and then went on a ten minute rant about how deprived I was and how I needed to see it as soon as possible. I have to say, it’s pretty good. 

Dexter has a pretty small apartment, but he kept it well. Everything was clean and spotless, including his kitchen. Where he and I spent over an hour cooking lunch. We made a chicken dish, which would have taken about half an hour to make, but I sort of burnt it. I am usually a great cook, we had just gotten to talking and I completely forgot about taking it out of the oven.  

I had expected him to get mad and ban me from cooking but I was surprised when he just gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, ‘It happens to everyone, don’t stress’.

Don’t stress? I think I was speechless for a few moments after that. I was expected to learn to cook young and cook meals for my family as a teenager. I did a pretty good job of it, but when I would make a mistake my father would always be furious for a while before calming down, and my brothers looked on me with disappointment. Leo wasn’t as bad, but he usually followed Erik’s attitudes, he was the strongest one, the one with the biggest opinions and Leo respected that. Erik knew how to get his own way, so when he was mad at something, so was Leo.

My father and Leo would always apologise when they got upset with me but Erik never did.  

Somehow we ended up on the couch at seven at night watching television and eating popcorn, and I realised that this had become as much a date for him as me. Not what I had planned at all. I got swept up in the date and forgot about my mission, my goal here. I had to prove to my father and Erik that I was capable, and this was the way, so I acted.

‘Dexter?’

He paused the show and looked at me, ‘Yes?’

‘Is being a cop, uh, is it hard?’

‘Hard?’ he questioned and I pretended to think before replying.

‘Yeah, you know, you must see some awful things on the job.’

‘There are ups and downs, and yes I do see some tragedies,’ he said, genuine sadness flashing through his eyes as he spoke and I wondered what tragedies he was thinking of in that moment.

‘How do you keep going when you know you can’t get them all?’

‘Everyone makes mistakes eventually, and that’s when I will catch them.’

‘What about those powerful people, like the people who killed that man? The Cherkesov men?’ I tried to sneak Cherkesov into the conversation, and it didn’t work as well as I planned. Then again, no one said it would be easy.

He grabbed my hand, a move I wasn’t expecting.

‘I know that you are worried, but those men, I will catch them.’

‘How? I have heard that they have been paying off cops?’

‘Yes, they have, and they have tried to do that to me too, but I won’t ever say yes to them.’

‘And why is that?’

‘Because of people like you,’ he said gently, kindness in the man’s big eyes.

‘People like me?’ I asked, looking down at my lap.

‘Beautiful girls who should be protected and loved, not subjected to a world where Cherkesov and his men roam free.’

He thinks I am beautiful? Me?

Snap out of it Natalia!

I make myself focus on his words and any information that might come from them. I had to ask him something that could lead to what he knows, maybe I could ask about the man I saw die in the alley. It’s a good excuse for my interest.

‘Well it’s good to know that there are good cops in this city. Do you have any information that would be able to get Cherkesov and his men? Any leads on the guy who killed that man?’

‘Not yet, but I will,’ he said strongly and I was disappointed. Either he didn’t know as much as my father thought, or maybe he was hiding it from me. My cover was still intact so he didn’t suspect me, but maybe he was trying to protect his ‘girlfriend’? It made sense I guess.

I was going to ask him more but he started talking.

‘You know, what happened in that alley was awful, but things have a way of working themselves out. People slip and get arrested, and people meet. People you wouldn’t have met otherwise,’ I was then suddenly aware that he had leaned towards me and the rational part of my brain told me to give him the cheek, but the rest of my brain was screaming at me to let my lips meet his, if only for a second.

What was happening to me? Why did I suddenly want to kiss him? It wasn’t Natalie who wanted him, it was Natalia, and that was most concerning.

All thoughts left my head as our lips met and it felt like sparks were moving through my body, starting at my lips and at my hip, where his hand had come to rest. I gently wrapped my arms around his head and my hands threaded into his hair as his other hand came to rest on my lower back. We seemed to fit.

But who was fitting? Natalie and Dexter? Or Natalia and Dexter?

The former was most preferable, but there was a slight twinge in my heart as I kissed him, a feeling that lingered as his lips caressed mine.

I was torn.