11 | Tightly Wound

FOR THE NEXT WEEK IT snowed almost constantly. It was only mid-November, yet it was unseasonably cold, and the usually persistent rain showers of London had turned to ice. Nobody had seen it coming—not even the doomsday forecasters who were usually the first to point out a storm on the horizon.

Most of London had become inaccessible by car, and even by foot journeys were treacherous. The underground was still running, but that was mostly pointless because hardly anyone left their homes.

I was stuck at the hospital for the first three days. They were desperate for staff, but travelling was treacherous. I'd alternated between sleeping for a couple of hours through the night and working, eager to help people while I was stuck there.

Jonah had been keeping my dad company while I was at the hospital, sleeping overnight to check he was okay. I was grateful, and I couldn't wait to get home.

Three days later, when I finally did make it back, the snow was beginning to thaw. Although the air was still bitingly cold, the sky had opened up into a crisp blue bowl above the London skyline. Cloud free at last.

I practically skipped through the front door, greeting my dad and boyfriend in a daze of happiness. I showered in that same daze, relishing the hot stream of water jetting onto my back.

It was the first time I'd been clean in four days.

Pulling on my comfy pyjamas and throwing my damp hair into a messy bun was the best feeling in the world, I swear. Jonah had cooked some miraculously rich, creamy pasta dish for me while I bathed and I curled up on the sofa beside him to eat it. I chatted happily to my small family, feeling the exhaustion of the hospital melting away from my aching shoulders.

At midday, when I woke with my head on Jonah's shoulder from a nap, he suggested we should go for a walk to our cafe. There was something in his tone that unnerved me, a look in his eyes I couldn't quite place.

I threw on one of Jonah's woolly jumpers that practically swallowed me and stuffed my feet into my old blue wellies. Jonah and I had hardly seen each other in a week. I owed him some alone time, I thought.

"Is everything okay?" I asked as we strolled down the street hand-in-hand. That same peculiar expression was clouding his face.

"Of course," he said and I smiled as he ducked down to kiss my forehead. "Just happy to see the sky again."

"Me too."

It was a ten minute walk from my flat to the cafe Jonah and I often frequented. The pavements were still slick with ice in places so we made slow progress, but it was actually nice just to feel the faint warmth of the sun beating down on my face. I smiled, allowing my eyes to flutter closed for a brief second in utter bliss.

When I opened them again, the smile fell away almost instantly.

Further down the street, leaned against the wall of the cafe, was Alexei. He wore a sleek black overcoat with the collar turned up against the cold, and he appeared to be looking up at the sky.

I felt my hand tighten around Jonah's involuntarily. "Is everything alright?" he asked, shooting me a strange glance.

"Fine," I said and offered a smile.

I was not fine. I knew Alex was eager to get in touch with me, but I'd never imagined he'd actually stalk me while I was with my boyfriend. How did he know where to find me? Was he tracking my phone, or had he just been following?

My stomach tightened as we drew nearer and he turned to face us. In the bright daylight, his dark curly hair was shot through with coppery tones, and his sultry eyes seemed even more piercing.

"Good afternoon, Grace," he greeted politely, in an English accent.

Jonah stopped in his tracks at the same time I did, looking incredulously between us.

"Um..." I tried.

Alexei held out his hand to Jonah. "My name is Alex Hale, I work with Grace." They shook hands, Alex effortlessly and Jonah uneasily.

"Right," Jonah stuttered, eyes sliding to me for confirmation.

"Yeah..." I said weakly and I felt my cheeks burning red as I struggled to lie convincingly.

"I'm a managing director at the hospital," Alex continued. "Pleasure to meet you."

"You too," Jonah agreed. I could see that he was examining Alex closely; his perfectly styled hair right down to his expensive shiny shoes. He screamed a seven figure salary, not anything a position at the hospital might offer.

I took Jonah's hand and dragged him in the direction of the cafe door. "We were just grabbing a drink."

"Actually," Alex interrupted and Jonah pulled me back. "I was hoping to speak with Grace, something has come up at the hospital and it's important."

I tried pulling Jonah's hand again. "I'm sure it can wait."

"It can't."

"Grace," Jonah cut in and I turned to him. "What are you doing? If Mr Hale wants to speak to you then let him."

Mr Hale! On the inside I wanted to laugh at how ridiculous this was. Jonah had no idea the sort of person Alexei was. Hale probably wasn't even his real surname, in fact, and under that smart coat of his I was sure he harboured a gun. Now my boyfriend wanted me to let him speak to me.

Jonah was shooting me a disapproving glare and I felt my face flush red. I knew he thought I was being rude, but I was just trying to save my own skin. It wasn't my fault Alexei was making it exceptionally difficult to avoid him.

I took Jonah's hand again and smiled sweetly at him. "No, no, this is our time." I shot a pointed glance at Alex who seemed amused. "If you'll excuse us, Mr Hale."

"Grace." Jonah's tone was soft yet carried with it a weighty condescension, like a parent trying to discreetly scold their child. "Why are you acting like this?" He sounded perplexed.

"Grace is a very modest woman," Alexei said, catching Jonah's eye and shooting him an amiable smile. "I'm sure she's just trying to avoid me embarrassing her with praise." Jonah looked at me as if to say see? I scowled at him.

"Sounds like Grace," Jonah agreed.

I couldn't believe how friendly he was being towards Alex, who had just suggested he knew me very well. Shouldn't that spark some sort of jealousy? Or suspicion?

"Jonah, was it?" Alex continued and my boyfriend nodded. "So, would you mind if I stole Grace away from you for a little while? I will, of course, return her as she is."

Both men chuckled and I felt like banging my head against a wall.

"Sure thing," Jonah agreed and turned to me. "I've got some errands I need to run anyway. Call me when you're done."

The moment Jonah turned his back, Alexei's smile fell. His eyes turned hard and cold. "Shall we?" He held the door open for me and I noticed he'd dropped the pretence of an English accent. "If you try to run, you won't get far." He must have noticed me weighing up whether it would be worth the risk. Evidently the answer was no.

I followed Alex into the cafe and sat down while he went to the counter. I probably looked less like a twenty three year old and more like a sulking toddler with my arms folded.

Alexei came back with two mugs. "What is that?" I asked when he slid one in my direction.

"Coffee," he said and I rolled my eyes. "Are you not familiar with the concept?"

I pushed the mug back across the table. "I can't stand coffee with milk."

Alexei raised a brow but shrugged, stirring at least three teaspoons of sugar into his cup. "Interesting," he mused. "I'd have pinned you as the latte type."

"And I'd have pinned you as the black coffee, no sugar type so I suppose we're both wrong."

Alexei leaned back in his chair and took a long sip of coffee, his eyes connecting with mine over the rim of his cup. He seemed amused, though that wasn't unusual; from the moment I'd met him he seemed to have laughed at me. "On the contrary, I have you all worked out, Grace." His tone was light but something in his expression made me weary.

"You don't even know me."

"Don't I?" Alexei leaned closer and I felt my heart jolt. "Ask me how I knew where you were."

"Do I want to know the answer to that question?"

He continued without prompting. "When you were asleep I put a tracker in your phone." I glanced down to my pocket where it was kept. "A few of my men have been following you."

"Th—that's illegal," I stuttered and he laughed. It was a cold, scathing laugh. "I could report you," I threatened but he only laughed harder.

"Go ahead," he offered holding his phone out to me.

I took it and stared at the screen. "It's locked."

Alexei pressed his thumb to the button at the bottom of the screen and then typed in a long passcode. Double authentication. He put the phone back into my shaking hand. "Go ahead, kotyonok."

(Kitten)

"Somebody's a little paranoid," I said to stall for time. My mind was whirring through the possibilities of what might happen if I did try to call the police.

"Not paranoid," he corrected, "careful."

"The two are synonymous."

"Perhaps," he shrugged and his eyes locked back on to the phone. "Go ahead. Call."

"What happens if I do?"

Alexei smiled that cold smile of his and cocked a brow. "Are you willing to find out?"

"Can't you just tell me?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I didn't come here to frighten you, kotyonok."

(Kitten)

"What do you keep calling me?"

"Kotyonok," he repeated that same foreign word again.

"I know what you said, I meant what does it mean-"

"Refill, anyone?" A waitress interrupted and I realised how close I'd leaned over the table. I sat back, cheeks flushing red, as the waitress indiscriminately flirted with Alex. "I'll get you some milk," she crooned, leaning far enough over that we both got an eyeful of her chest.

I glared down at the checkered table cloth until she'd gone.

"Something the matter, Grace?" Alexei asked and I shook my head.

"She was flirting with you," I said, "you could have made a pass."

"Why would I do that?" I shrugged and laced my fingers together beneath the table. "Do I look like the sort of man who has time to waste on chasing women?"

"It didn't exactly look like you'd have to do much chasing."

"Regardless," he shrugged and his eyes fell back to the phone. "Are you going to call?"

He and I both knew that the answer was no. Of course I wasn't going to. I set it down on the table and shook my head. "No, I don't think so."

"Good." He reached for the phone but I put my hand over it to block him.

"Unless, of course, I need to." He raised a brow. "Will I need to?"

"Define need," he said and I scoffed at his nonchalance.

"Be serious."

"I am always serious, Grace."

Alex looked like he was about to say something more but just then the waitress returned with his milk. She put it down and shot me a glare. If looks could kill, I thought, I would be ten feet under.

A sudden flash of irritation rose up in my chest at Alex. I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be sat here. "So are you going to tell me what you want?"

His eyes rolled slowly up to meet mine. He didn't rush, but moved in a leisurely way as if he had all the time in the world. As if he couldn't sense my impatience.

I knew he could.

"What I want?"

"Why I'm here," I clarified and he sat forward suddenly.

"Why do you think you're here?"

"Certainly not to play mind games," I growled and a faint smile flitted across his face. It vanished quickly as he reached his hand out to trace the delicate skin under my eyes. I sat back just enough so that he couldn't physically touch me. Instead he traced his finger in a loose "u" shape at the left, and then the right, of my face.

"You look exhausted," he mused and I suddenly frowned. I knew the bags under my eyes were darker than they should be, but I tried not to think about it. "More so than the first time we met."

"So?"

"You work too hard."

"And what business is that of yours?" I challenged. Alex shrugged, but I could see the light flickering behind his eyes. "The hospital needs me." Again, she shrugged. "Are you going to say something?" Now my hands were gripping the edge of the table tightly. He stared at them, without looking up, until I blushed and relaxed my fists.

"You're very tightly wound, aren't you, Grace?" he drawled and I felt a pang of desire in my stomach. For some reason I couldn't look away from his full lips as he formed those words, his expression amused but intense. I let out a breath. "They work you hard, don't they?" I couldn't answer. My mouth had dried up. "Until you're exhausted, you poor thing. I bet your body aches."

"I, um..."

"Or does your boyfriend do it for you?" I looked down. "No, I didn't think so. You don't take any time for yourself."

"And here we are again, back at the same issue of it having absolutely nothing to do with you." I could see Jonah loitering by the entrance to the cafe, he didn't seem worried but surely he was cold. "Are you done yet? Can I go?"

"You weren't so eager to leave me the first time we met," he observed.

"I didn't have a boyfriend then," I told him sharply, and realising how that sounded, I tacked on, "and you were different."

"I was?"

"I don't know, I guess so, um..."

"How?"

How could I explain the subtle difference in Alexei's demeanour? It wasn't outwardly visible, it didn't stand out. I had spoken to him only a handful of times, could I really be certain of the change? But yet, there it was as I looked at him. A hardness in his eyes that wasn't there before. A firmness of his lips, his whole face calculating. "Well?" he prompted.

"You are...colder," I said and he raised a brow. "Your eyes, they used to be warm when you looked at me, but now..."

"Now they're not," Alex filled in. I nodded. "I suppose we've both changed."

"Like you said, I'm stuck in the same dead end job. I'm exactly the same as I was two years ago."

"Not exactly."

"I am."

Alexei's long fingers wrapped around his coffee mug, but he didn't take a sip. "When you looked at me for the first time," he said slowly, "I lost my breath. You had these wide, bambi eyes, full of hope and excitement." You have a boyfriend Grace you have a boyfriend you have a boyfriend. "I don't see that anymore."

"And...what do you see now?"

"Nothing," he said simply. "I see nothing. You are exactly the same as the rest of them." I couldn't ask who 'they' were because the lump in my throat had grown too big.

"I..." don't care, I wanted to say. But if I didn't care why had his words cut through me? Why could I feel their shards prickling in my eyes?

"I've been following you, Grace, to offer you a simple choice." This is the point where he's going to let you choose how you die. "Either continue on with this mediocre life of yours—"

"It's not—"

"—or come and work for me."

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