Page 58 of Alexis

Dimitri and I both look at each other. We know whatever it is can’t be good and after the shit Lionel tried to pull, it feels like whatever this is, has his name written all over it.

“Donny boy, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Dimitri whispers as his head falls against the seat.

“We can handle it. Dinnae jump to any conclusions until we know what she needs to talk to us about. We are not assuming anything bad.” We can’t because if it is, neither of us is going to be able to handle it.

Me: Want us to meet at yours?

Gorgeous: No.

Gorgeous: Can we meet at the coffee shop around the corner? Morning Brew at 5pm.

Me: Aye we’ll see you then.

She doesn’t respond.

“Donovan, how can you not think it’s bad? She doesn’t want us to meet at her place. Instead, she wants it to be in public. Why do you think that is? I know it’s so we can’t make a scene and she can easily get away if she doesn’t like the answer. I swear to god I’ll have my dad kill that fucker if he’s trying to screw this up for us.”

“Dinnae do anything rash, Dimitri. Let’s just be patient. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s nothing or something we can explain. Stay calm and wait to see what she has to ask.” I turn the car on and pull out of the driveway, leaving our future home in the background.

We drive back to the gym, where Dimitri left his car, in silence. I know he has to check in on some things at the club, and I need to handle things at the gym. But neither of us is going to get much done while worrying about what's going to happen this evening.

I know I told Dimitri not to worry, but I just wanted to calm him down. In reality, I’m scared as shit about what’s going to happen. As much as I hate it, I agree with Dimitri. If her ex, Lionel, tries to screw us over, I’m all for having his ass killed. I won’t even shed a tear for his life being cut short.

We pull into my parking spot and turn off the car. We both sit there for a moment in complete silence.

We’re nervous. This could change everything for us.

“I’m going to go. I need to make the food order for the week.” He opens the door and goes to get out, but I take hold of his arm, stopping him.

“Look, Dimitri, I know it sounds bad, but just keep the heid until we talk to her. Do you want tae meet me back here at four-thirty, or I can pick you up at the club and we can go together?”

He sits there a moment, staring blankly out the window. I let go of his arm and wait for him to answer.

“You can pick me up.” With that, he exits the car and heads straight to his.

God, I just wish Alex had given us some kind of hint about why she needed to talk to us. I think if we had that, our anxiousness wouldn’t be so bad.

Dimitri was standing outside leaning against the building when I pulled up at four-thirty. He heads my way before I even pull to a stop, moving that damn lighter between his fingers. He’s done that for as long as I’ve known him. Especially when he’s anxious, claiming it calms him down. It’s always been the same lighter, except this time I notice it’s not. That’s weird.

“Hey,” comes out gruffly from him when he opens the door and slides into the passenger seat, gripping the lighter in his hand.

“We still don’t know what it is, mate. She could just want some coffee and that’s why we’re meeting her there. Dinnae jump to the negative just yet.”

“I’m trying, it’s just hard.”

Trust me, I know. We spend the ride to Morning Brew talking about the game coming up this weekend on television. Dimitri and I both love soccer, so anytime it’s on, we’re glued to it. We’ve even thought about coaching at the local recreation center.

We get there a few minutes early, so Dimitri takes a seat while I go up to the counter. I know Alex likes to drink Caramel Macchiato, so I order one for each of us.

Once I have them, I head over to Dimitri. I can see his legs bouncing from here and that damn lighter moving through his fingers. But it doesn’t seem to be calming him like it normally does. Before I can ask him about it, Alexis opens the door and steps inside.

Dimitri sits up straight when he sees her, and I smile. She heads over to me and I set the cups down on the table and take a seat beside Dimitri, while Alex sits down across from him.

Something’s off. She almost seems nervous. Her body is stiff and her eyes don’t have the normal sparkle. She clenches her lips and picks at her nails.

Fuck. Any hope I’ve been holding onto suddenly flies away.

“Alright darlin’, how was your day?” I ask, trying to break the tension.

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