Chapter 30

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The warm sunrays and shadows of the trees from outside the window played on his skin and the bedroom walls. He woke up tangled up in Tai's hair and her face in his neck, breathing soundly as she slept.

He ran his fingers over her neck and brushed her hair back. His thumb caressed her peaceful face until she fluttered her eyes open and gave him a shy smile. A childish grin spread over his face and he tried to hide it, leaning over and pressing a kiss on her neck.

"Good morning." He whispered with a chirpy note in his voice.

"Mm, it is a good morning." She lazily cuddled closer to him.

"Mhmm." His lips traveled to her shoulder and then he brought his head up. "Crap, it's morning."

Tai opened her eyes wide. "Oh time..What's the time?"

Fussing, they both got up in a hurry looking for their phones. Tai grabbed her phone from the charger next to the nightstand and sighed in relief. "It's around 9. I'm sure everyone is still asleep."

Aleksei reached for his clothes. "Not my grandpa. He is an early bird. It's only a matter of time before he sends the housekeepers to wake everyone up for breakfast. I have to go back to my room before ..more importantly..your father realizes I'm here."

Tai chuckled. "I think he was impressed by you, yesterday."

Aleksei paused confused. "What did I do yesterday?"

"Troubled me." Tai grinned. "I almost never get troubled over a guy. Certainly not fly to another country and sneak into his birthday party without an invitation. Though for my father, that was probably adventure on its own."

Aleksei shook his head. "That has to be fixed. I will properly introduce myself to your father."

Tai got dressed and walked over to him, helping him with the collar of his shirt. "I'm leaving that matter to you then."

He smirked and caught her chin playfully. "You bet little one."

They opened the door carefully peeking into the hallway. Luckily no one was there.

"See you later." Aleksei leaned over for a short kiss.

"See you." She accepted the kiss.

Once they broke the kiss, Aleksei turned to leave and saw Kasimir leaving his room calmly. He was so silent, that they didn't even hear him open the door. He looked at them with a smirk, then he just closed the door and headed downstairs.

Tai grabbed Aleksei's sleeve. "You and your brother are cool now, right?"

"Yeah." Aleksei smiled. "We're cool."



At the breakfast table, Tai was the last one to arrive, and she took a seat next to her father. There was a small chatter on the table as everyone was in a good mood.

Happy there was a large happy gathering on the table, Alekei's grandfather had a bit more appetite than usual and he ordered all sorts of things cooked for breakfast.

After the meal was over, everyone stayed in their chairs immersed into the conversation, finishing their coffee. Aleksei pushed his chair back and rose to look at everyone earnestly.

"Thank you everyone for coming to my birthday party." He glanced at his grandfather. "Thank you grandpa for throwing me such an amazing party, thank you Zakhar for organizing so that everyone is here and.." he turned towards Tai's father. "Thank you sir for letting your daughter fly you over here for me and accompanying her today as well."

Tai's father nodded and then glanced at her while Tai proudly smiled at Aleksei.

"I love you Tai." Aleksei proclaimed at the table and after a small silence, Nikita clapped his hands saving the awkward tension. Everyone joined the clapping.

Aleksei proudly grinned.

"I love you too." Tai blew him a kiss and Aleksei winked back at her.

"Alright. Enough with the lovey-dovey thing. This is beyond embarrassing. We get it." Kasimir brought his coffee mug up and finished it.

Aleksei snorted. "I'm just getting started."

"Then prepare for a lot of complaints," Kasimir answered.

"Or we can find you someone and you can be annoying as well."

"You are dating for one day and you're already picking on single people."

Aleksei opened his mouth to reply to that, then noticed the dead silence on the table. It was apparent their little brotherly thing shocked everyone to the point where no one understood what was happening.

The silence continued and neither Aleksei nor Kasimir knew what to reply. They were aware their little feud had affected everyone, and they were used to them ignoring each other, but this new turn of events had left everyone speechless. Unsure how to make amends for that the brothers suddenly felt awkward as well.

Clearing his throat, the grandfather took his fork and reached for another piece of the pie. "They really did an amazing job with this pie. I'll tell them to serve it after lunch for dessert again."

Tai saw the man's eyes water and the proud smile on his face so she got up and reached for a piece herself. "I would love to have as much as I can from this pie too."

Trying to deal with the wave of emotion and tears of joy, their parents reached for a piece of pie and circled the conversation back to normal.

***

Aleksei walked hand in hand with Tai, taking her down the street of the city and showing her around. The weather was particularly sunny and warm for the usually chilly forecast, so they used it for an ice cream date.

"I hate that you have to fly back home." Aleksei leaned over her ice cream cone and tried her flavor. "Too sour."

"Hey, I like it." She laughed. "Also, we agreed you'll fly over in two weeks and stay in my hometown for the rest of the summer."

"I did promise." He grinned and brought his ice cream up so she can try it. Tai leaned over to try his ice cream. "Mm sweet."

"Just like you." He smirked.

"Ugh." She laughed at his comment but she was loving every minute of his corny affection. She smacked her lips and licked the ice cream off from the corner of her mouth, and then pulled him to sit down in a cooling shade.

"What are your plans for the next two weeks?" Tai asked.

"Kasimir and I are going to hang out with grandpa here. Probably trying to talk about the years we spent avoiding each other. And lot's of pool playing."

"Sounds fun."

"And, he is going to try to talk grandpa in, to let me go to a law school. Kasimir already took on the obligation of inheriting the family business, giving me the freedom to choose, but at least he likes the steel business. He studies for university and works with my dad at the same time. You have to have some sort of passion for what you do, to keep up with that pace."

Aleksei looked at Tai. "I've always wondered if it was possible to have it all. The girl I like, the friends I need, the close relationship with family and accepting myself without hating the worst parts of me. And in one swirling month, I was so sure everything was going to take a turn for the worse, I got the opposite."

"Are you happy now?" Tai playfully pushed his hair back.

Happy? He was over the moon. Aleksei grinned sheepishly.. "I'm so happy, it makes me anxious."

Tai gave him a comforting smile. "Well, I'll tell you why you're anxious. You have too much free time."

"Aha?" He raised his brow.

"I have a theory." Tai cleared her throat. "You and the sinners worked too long on solving issues. You can't just quit."

"Well high school is over; we no longer have the same work environment." He explained.

"We can take it global." Tai pulled out her phone. "Just because you're out of high school doesn't mean there's no demand for problem solvers."

Aleksei was just plain confused now.

"Seems like my sister's vacation in Valencia has taken a turn for the worse. Someone in the resort is stealing from the guests and the victim lists get bigger and bigger."

"Did they call the police?"

"No, because here's the thing. The thief is not stealing money or jewelry. They steal only possessions couples gift each other on their vacation. It ranges from pictures together, to cheap beach jewelry. They have no idea who is next or how to hide their things. There is a lot of sentimental value involved and people would pay to get their stuff back."

Aleksei's mouth curved at the ends in excitement. "Any clues so far?"

Tai's eyes glinted with equal curiosity. "None. Aren't you curious?"

He knew at that very moment, that he couldn't quit. "We can present this case to Zakhar later."

Tai nodded in agreement and then unlocked the phone turning on the camera. Aleksei looked at her hand. "Is this related to the case?"

"Nope." Tai smirked. "I just have to send proof to my friends that we got together or I owe them a trip to Greece."

Aleksei shook his head. "I give no consent for this."

Tai brought her hand down. "Why not?"

"Not unless you post this picture everywhere, claiming me as your boyfriend."

Tai gave him a look. "Really Aleksei?"

"I don't care how good the cake is. It's mine."

She sighed and brought her hand up again. "You'll never let that go, will you?"

"I might, if you spoil me."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Sold. I'll post you everywhere."

He wrapped his hand around her and posed for the picture. Tai took the photo and after sending it she posted it on her social media.

"There. Happy?" She raised her eyes to look at him, only instead of the usual playfulness, he was staring at her with adoration.

She put her phone away and wrapped her arm around his waist, waiting for his kiss. "Guess that's what I get for falling for a sinner."



THE END

Ah, another story I have to say goodbye to. I can't believe their adventure is over. This was such an amazing experience. Thank you to everyone who was supporting me while I was posting it and patiently waiting for every new chapter. ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ’•โœŒ๐Ÿป

I'm going to miss these characters so much and will miss all my readers too. Until the next one my loves.


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