Using You

by Ariel Arnold

  Ilya was dressed head to toe in black and grey. His button up shirt was a light grey color and looked to be silk. The first few buttons were undone exposing his chest making him look like a rakish bad boy. His dark black dress pants were molded perfectly to his body, obviously it was fitted. His hair was unkept and hanging all over the place strands hanging in his eyes making me want to run my fingers through it and comb it back. Everything about Ilya just invited me to touch him. “Ilya.” I said murmuring his name without thought.

  I walked down the few steps in a daze. Here I was running scenarios through my head as to how I would be able to run into Ilya again yet I never considered that he would be waiting for me. “We need to exchange numbers.” Was the first thing I said to him as I stopped before his large frame. “I wanted to call you and apologize for last night and once again I realized that I didn’t even have your number.”

  “You don’t need to apologize to me. You said what you felt and were thinking, there isn’t anything wrong with that.” Ilya replied. There he went melting my heart again being all understanding. He reached into his slacks pocket and took out his cellphone. “What’s your number little one.”

  I rolled my eyes as I rattled my number off to him. “Don’t start that again, I’m not that small.” I told him a little exasperated. He chuckled as he dialed my number.

  “I can’t help it that you are so much smaller than me.” His lips were curled up into a small smirk and I smiled as I watched his face. Without thought, as if it was something natural and that I did all the time, I reached out and brushed some of his hair away from his face. He froze in what he was doing as his locked onto my face. Feeling self-conscious I quickly pulled my hand away.

  Why the hell did I just do that? Me and Ilya are not a couple. Not when I’m lying to him and he’s lying to me. Not when I’m supposed to be gathering information and evidence to put him and his friends behind bars for a very long time.

  “Let’s go somewhere.” I said trying to get away from the awkward air. I also needed a way to bring up going to Nikolai’s club. I don’t know if it would be possible to find anything but I had to try. “My friend Yazmeen used to work at this club called Cheirsh. I’ve never been to a strip club before and I want to see what it’s all about, with you with me I won’t be scared.” I rushed out.

  Ilya looked skeptical. “You, Nana Valencia, afraid to something? Doesn’t seem accurate.”

  “Hey, I’m not super woman. There are plenty of things that I am afraid to do and going to a strip club alone is one of them.”

  “Okay. Does it specifically have to be Cherish?”

  I watched him trying to figure out if this line of questioning was because he figured out something was up. I was already starting to get a headache trying to keep up this façade. The constant worry of if I was saying something that was making him suspicious. Did he already find out and was trying to feel me out for how much I knew? It was all too much and I was definitely in over my head.

  “Yes it has to be there because I know that it isn’t skeevey thanks to my friend having worked there.” I told him as I glanced away with my lie.

  “Okay. Whatever you want Nana.”

  Yeah whatever I want. It was so easy to say that. What I wanted was for Ilya not to be who he was, for us to be able to date regularly and let our relationship develop. What I wanted was to not to have to investigate a guy I was pretty sure I had already fallen in love with. But contrary to what Ilya had said, It wasn’t whatever I wanted.

  Chapter Fourteen: Nana

  We arrived together at Cherish and my I was immediately on alert hopping that I would see the infamous Nikolai Prakenski. Despite being friends with his girlfriend I’d never seen the man in person.

  The bouncer outside the club’s door nodded at Ilya and immediately let us inside further reminding me of just who Ilya was. I had to remind myself that he wasn’t just Ilya, my Ilya he was, Ilya ‘the ghost’ Volstolv.

  As we walked through the club’s main floor Ilya placed his large palm on the small of my back sending warm tingles all up and down my body. I knew this man wasn’t good and yet he still had this effect on me. What was it about Ilya Volstolv that I just couldn’t resist?

  He led me to a table that was vacant and pretty much out of the way of the main action of the club, which was fine with me. I wasn’t actually here to see anything. I was on a evidence gathering mission and that was it. I had to remind myself that no this was not some simple outing or date with Ilya, I was doing my job. “Do you want anything to drink?” He asked leaning over whispering in my ear. His cool breath blew over me making me shiver and simultaneously heat up at the same time. “Uhmm yeah, you can get me whatever.” I stuttered out.

  Ilya chuckled obviously knowing what he was doing to me. That bastard. He knew that he was dangerously handsome and impossible to resist.

  Ilya strode away heading for the bar as I looked around me. I knew from conversations I’d overheard with Yaz and Amanda that Nikolai had an office in this club. An office that he was always in and would no doubt probably have all types of juicy and confidential information. I already had my game plan, now was the perfect time to slip away and search. If Ilya came looking for me I could just say that I was looking for the bathroom.

  I began slipping out of the booth when I glanced over at the bar and stopped in my tracks. The pretty bartender that I’d noted when we first walked in, had her hand possessively wrapped around Ilya’s bicep. Lydia was her name, she was friends with Yazmeen. As I watched the two I wondered if they had something going on and that immediately made me want to throw up. I was so jealous that I was seeing red. I would have to ask Yazmeen about the two’s involvement. But wait I can’t do that, she doesn’t know anything about me and Ilya. I’m also not supposed to know that Ilya and Yazmeen know each other. See all these lies and half truths and evasions were too much for me to keep up with and I didn’t like it.

  I had to force myself to turn away from the sight of Ilya and Lydia together, as much as it bothered me I was here on a mission. A mission to find information that would put both Nikolai Prakenski and Ilya in jail.

  Epilogue: Ilya

  “I don’t know when this started but she’s obviously using you to investigate me.” Nikolai said angrily as we stood watching Nana enter Nikolai’s office on the screen. It was a live feed from one of the security rooms in the back of the club. My stomach churned as one thought circled my mind. Shen knew. Somehow she had found out who I truly was even though I’d worked so hard to keep it from her.

  As she bent down and began opening Nikolai’s desk drawers a felt a bitter sense of betray. I know I shouldn’t be feeling this way, not when I hadn’t been truthful with her either, but that didn’t stop the feeling. I didn’t like thinking that she had been using me this whole time in order to get to Nikolai.

  “I’ll handle it. I’ll handle her.” I told Nikolai who in turn snorted.

  “I’m not so sure that you will. If this was anyone else they’d be dead right now. I don’t understand why you brought her here in the first place, let alone let her out of your sight when you know who she is.”

  Nikolai was right and I didn’t have any excuses. I should have been watching her but the truth of the matter was that I trusted her. Which was stupid of me, I knew from experience you couldn’t just give trust so easily.

  “You are too blinded by your little cop.” Nikolai continued. “If I actually kept anything important in there we would be fucked.” He said. I could feel his eyes on me but mines were still glued to the TV screen, to Nana as everything about ‘us’ had changed.

  To be continued………

  Be sure to continue on this journey of lies, betrayal, and deceit with Ilya and Nana in the last installment of the crew we’ve come to love in, Because of You.

  Because of You will be out soon, so stay on the lookout.

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  "Man, you need to let that go. I’m telling you… you won’t be able to pull yourself back from that one…trust me.”

  Jakobe tilted his head. He became real serious.

  “Are you speaking from experience?”

  “No! I know my limits,” replied Major.

  Every step he took to reach Nakida across the room, his friend’s warning seemed to repeat in Jakobe's mind about him just leaving her alone. He had to admit, this woman was more woman than any he had fucked around with before. She might not have the same number of zeros in her checking account as he did, but the way she handled herself with him would make a person think otherwise. She had a strength about her that said she was near unbreakable. Even still, he knew there was a variability about her that she chose to hide. There was a sadness, a longing that she hid behind her cold smile. Her intelligence was almost blinding to behold.

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  When she's offered a place to stay by her 3 male bosses in exchange for some extra work as their personal housekeeper, Cassandra wearily accepts. Of course, she is completely unaware of the plot going on behind the scenes to taste her innocents one erotic experience at a time.

  Challenges can be exciting...

  If these powerful males believe that Cassandra will be easy game they might find themselves biting off more than they can chew. They will come to see that their Kat has secrets and claws of her own.

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  Kema Ryuuji had finally met the father of her daughter after seven long years. She didn’t intend on getting anywhere with him, yet fate had other plans. When she met Gabriel, she was stunned by the 6’2, rugged, tattooed, epitome of lust all put together to create the man before her. Everything kept pushing them together until she couldn’t deny it anymore. There’s only two problems: Her family that kicked her out comes back into play, and the thorn in her side, Scott Broderick. Will her family stop her from her happiness? Or will her stalker and abusive ex-boyfriend that is lurking in the shadows be the catalyst that destroys their last chance at happiness? Will Gabriel and Kema make it through this PERFECT DISASTER?