I Dare You To Meet Me
Chapter 17

I woke up shaken and sweaty from the nightmare. My sweater was clinging to me in a disgusting way, and I felt beads of sweat sliding down my face.

I reached for my cell phone in my pants that I had left lying on the floor the night before. Eight o’clock in the morning. It read on the screen. A snort escaped my lips as I saw the time. I lay back down and stared at the ceiling as I normalized my breathing.

I waited for my rampant heartbeat to normalize, ran my tongue over my dry lips and swallowed saliva trying to wet my dry throat. When I finally had enough energy to face the day I removed the sheets that covered half of my body, and crawled into the bathroom.

Unlike yesterday, now I took my time, enjoying every second of the artificial water falling on my body. Slowly I began to feel calmer, like a halo of light after a path of darkness. I made sure to wash the concerns from my skin. And I mentally prepared myself to face the day’s events.

I stepped out of the shower with a renewed aura of confidence. I chose my clothes as part of my strategy, like a knight putting on armor before war. Short white shorts that showed off my long legs, a gray blouse closed up to the neck and simple in front, but totally white see-through lace in the back. A set of underwear that didn’t show, instead of putting on my precious combat boots, I chose silver sandals with a stiletto heel that laced up to the calf. And a white denim jacket that hid my tattoos. Once I was dressed I went to my dressing table, and I did my makeup in light tones, I put my hair in a high ponytail, and I put my lips in a pale pink.

At the end I could see the image I wanted to give. I looked like the Natasha I would have become if misfortune had never come into my life. The Natasha that now existed only in my memory. She looked like the princess the damn bikers claimed she was.

Just a mask Tasha, that’s all it is, show them what they want to see so they won’t ask questions you won’t answer.

I took my cell phone, keys and identified myself. I heated up the leftovers from my dinner the night before and ate them for breakfast, by the time it was half past nine, I ventured out of the apartment. As I crossed the reception desk, I could see the guy at the counter nervously glancing nervously at the glass door leading to the entrance.

I followed his gaze and came upon the image of a hot black-clad biker in a leather vest leaning against his bike as he looked around indifferently.

There was no sexier man in the whole world, and if there was, I doubted he would get my attention as much as this insufferable caveman who seemed to follow me everywhere I went.

I frowned and walked up to stand in front of him as I crossed my arms, though his expression didn’t change one iota, I was sure a strange gleam crossed his onyx eyes when he saw me.

-What are you doing here?

-Good morning to you too princess, I hope you had sweet dreams.

I didn’t miss the sarcastic tone in which he said it, a tone identical to mine, which made my lips stretch into a slight smile.

-My name is Tasha, not biker princess.

One of her eyebrows arched and she cocked her head at me.

-I thought your name was Natasha, yesterday your father made that very clear.

My brief smile faded at the man’s mention.

-No one calls me that, I prefer the diminutive,” he nodded.

-I’m Hunter Duncan, everyone knows me as Hell, but you can call me handsome or the love of my life.

A genuine laugh came out of my mouth, and I was surprised to be having a good time with a member of my father’s club.

-Come on, the Prez sent me to take you to the lawyer’s appointment, we don’t want you to be late.

I was about to tell him that his Prez was no one to control my life, but I regretted it, realizing how useless and childish it was to argue over something so small.

I got on the back of his bike, and my hands gripped his side, Hunter soon started the bike and rode through the streets of the city towards the law firm.

When we finally reached the building he stopped right in front of it and didn’t get off with me.

-I’ll go replace a place to park the bike, the Prez should already be inside.

I nodded and thanked him, my stiletto heels made noise and my appearance made several heads turn to admire all the skin I left on display.

The girl who served me yesterday gave me a smile which I returned and told me that the lawyer was waiting for me in his office along with another man. So I continued on my way to the right place.

I knocked on the door with my knuckles and this time I waited for an answer from inside before opening it.

When I opened the door I could see the lawyer in the same way I had seen him the day before, but now he was wearing a different color suit, apart from the clear presence of my father, a huge tattooed man, who looked most ridiculous trying to fit into a tiny chair in front of the desk.

-Good morning Tasha, we were just waiting for you to start,” Mr. Seitz said to me.

-I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long. I answered with a sweet smile, my father looked at me with a frown on his forehead because of my tone, and disapproval coming out of his pores, possibly because of my clothes.

-Don’t worry, I was just explaining to your father the instructions your mother left in order for her will to be read. Like the fact that you would need to be twenty-one years old, and that both of you had to be present-.

I nodded, knowing what he meant.

-As both of you are already present, I can proceed to read the last will and testament of Mrs. Anabella Kozlov.

-White, Anabella White, stopped using her maiden name when she married me,” interrupted my father, I gave him an annoyed look and the lawyer a surprised one.

-Kozlov, my mother and I changed our last name when I turned seventeen,” I couldn’t help but blurt out harshly and I saw the man’s expression change to one of regret.

The truth is he looked like hell, his eyes were red and puffy, black bags shadowed under them, his hair was messy, his clothes were wrinkled, and his knuckles were open and freshly scarred.

A pang of pity shot through me, but I was quick to ignore it.

-As I was saying, this document was written in a different way than usual, instead of being narrated as a contract, Mrs. Anabella wrote it as a letter, addressed to the beneficiaries, her only daughter and her husband, that said, I proceed to read it- She took some white sheets of paper from a black folder and cleared her throat before starting.

-Dear daughter, and beloved Demian, if you are listening to these words, it is because of my father’s insistence to make a will in case the worst happens to me or them. If so, it means that either I am dead, or I am in no position to make any decisions about my life. And first of all I want you to know that I love you with all my soul.

Daughter, every day I thank divine providence for having you, you are my ray of light, my reason for waking up every morning, my hope in the storm. I want you to know that I am extremely proud of you, and I always will be. I will always be with you in your heart, and do not feel sad for me, for I am already in a better place, and I hope you can replace peace and joy in your life.

Beloved husband, Demian, you are the only man I have loved in all my life, and I thank you for showing up in that parking lot at that time in the morning, the years I spent by your side have been the happiest of my existence, and not a single moment passed when we were apart that I did not miss your hugs, your k****s. I know we had our conflicts, but I trust that you know how to make up for all the mistakes we made. I don’t hold any grudges, and I hope you will forgive me for any failures I may have had as your wife.

Having said all this, I want you to know that it is my will that the following requests be carried out:

1-All earnings generated in my name, during my lifetime, be separated in equal amounts between us both-.

2- The properties left in my name become the property of my husband Demian and those in my parents’ name become the property of my daughter Natasha.

3- All the capital collected and left to me by my parents, as a family inheritance, passes only to my daughter Natasha.

4- My shares in the family business will be divided in equal amounts between my husband and my daughter. The shares that belonged to my parents will be at the disposal of my daughter Natasha. Making her, the only main head in charge of the big oil company Kozlov’s Inc.

5-All other material assets, such as cars, art pieces, airplanes, jewelry, and other things of value. They will be divided between the charity, leaving only one third to be divided equally between the two of us.

Remember that I love you, and that I will always be with you, with all my love, Anabella-.

Silent tears slid down my cheeks, as well as my father’s, but I kept my composure. He covered his face and began to sob loudly.

The lawyer gave us a few minutes to collect ourselves before continuing.

-That will was written five years ago, and a year later Mrs. Anabella added a separate last clause.” A look of distrust crossed my face at the lawyer’s words, but both my father and I urged him to continue, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible so we could go and cry our sorrows where no one would see us.

-It is my last will in life, that in order for my husband Demian and my daughter Natasha to receive all of the above benefits, they must remain in continuous cohabitation, under the same roof, for a minimum period of one year, where every so often they must show proof that they are in compliance. Otherwise, all the capital, real estate, and material goods, will be given to various charities and to the government of Russia and the United States, I hope that both will forgive me and keep the respective promises they made to me at some point in time. Sincerely, Kore-.

My mother’s words in the lawyer’s mouth made me go into shock, just as it happened to my father.

-It’s a f*****g joke.

I mumble with annoyance in the direction of the lawyer in front of me. I may sound like an ungrateful brat, but this was definitely not the direction I thought the reading of the document would take.

-I’m afraid it’s not, Miss Kozlov, your mother made the conditions very clear in a handwritten letter given to several managers, if you like you can see it.

-No no and no, I refused completely, the government can keep everything in that case, I don’t want shit if those are the conditions, but like hell I’m going to be locked up in a property with you for so long.

I spit in my father’s direction while glaring daggers at him.

-Tasha… The clubhouse is part of that property along with several other club businesses.

His voice sounds raspy from crying and his eyes are red.

-What about me? I say sharply.

-If you don’t, me and all the brothers, whole families, will lose our home and our livelihood.

I try to reassure myself with a soft voice the intimidating man of six feet and six inches full of tattoos, with his emerald eyes and black hair identical to mine who was standing next to me. The truth is, he didn’t look very pleased with my mother’s last wish either.

I hold his gaze for what seems to me like hours, my mother’s words echoing in my ears and my promise to try to listen to my father burning in my memory, I finally let out a snort as I roll my eyes and give in to his pleading gaze.

-One damn year only, after that, you will disappear from my life again and this time for good Hades.

I say with disgust his road name, the one I had heard Mom curse years ago during a phone call, he nods accepting my terms.

-Well, when do we start?

-It must be immediately, by tonight at the latest you must be installed in his property, or he in yours.

-I can’t leave the clubhouse, so I’ll make sure to set up a room in the residence for you.

I narrowed my puffy eyes as I restrained the urge to squeal.

-You must be out of your mind if you think I’m going to live in the middle of a bunch of bikers with c**k complexes and cavemen.

The tattooed man let out a sigh as he rubbed his face with his hands.

-Tasha, please, I don’t want to argue about this, do me that favor, I promise I’ll keep everyone in line so they don’t bother you.

I opened and closed my fists looking for the voice of my conscience telling me it was for the best.

-Okay, but I don’t want you meddling in my business. You are no one to control me or tell me what to do or not to do, I will live under your roof, but don’t expect me to follow your rules.

-That last point is debatable under certain circumstances, but that’s okay. I will try to stay as far away from your life as possible, I will send one of the brothers for you to where you are staying to bring your things.

-It’s not necessary, I’ll take a cab, I know the address by heart” I said with heaviness.

-Tasha… I interrupted him with a raised hand.

-Let me enjoy the little time I have left of privacy, I won’t be late, Mr. Seitz, if you would be so kind as to tell me the date when I will be able to start disposing of the goods inherited from my mother, I don’t like the idea of being a servant in someone else’s house- I said the last thing with a resigned annoyance.

-Both of you can have access to your assets, from the monetary to the material ones from this moment on, several people of your mother’s trust, whose names I cannot reveal, will verify that they comply with the last will of Mrs. Anabella every certain random period of time. All the information on how to access her inheritance is in these letters.

two blue envelopes, each with our name on it.

Both my father and I thanked the lawyer, then we both stood up and walked out of the office towards the exit of the building.

I was the first one to go through the doors to the outside, therefore I was also the first one to see the biker who had picked me up in the morning, and with whom from that day on, I would live with for a whole year. Hunter was waiting for us, or waiting for my father, leaning against the shadow of a lamp post on the sidewalk in front of the buffet.

His gaze rested on me before moving to a point behind me, at the end he directed his words towards me.

-What happened?

-Ask your beloved Prez if you are so curious.

I answered curtly, I was not in the mood to be interrogated, and I did not take long to avoid him and raise a hand to stop a cab that was circulating around.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as my father looked between me and his VP with a confused gesture, and then began to argue with him in a low voice.

The cab pulled up in front of me and I opened the door ready to get in, pausing only for a moment when my father’s husky voice came through.

-Don’t be late Tasha.

I gave him a hard look, I also gave him a grimace of annoyance, to finally rest my eyes on the other biker and clicked my tongue.

-Don’t tell me what to do.

And I got into the car, slamming the door shut, I asked the cab driver to drive to the nearest shopping mall, and he soon obeyed. Little by little the image of the impressive tattooed men disappeared from my sight.

With trembling hands I took my cell phone out of my pocket, and dialed the number of the person who would help me calm down in those moments. Reykon answered after a few rings, and I wearily told him what had happened in the last twenty minutes.

He listened to me patiently, without interrupting, letting me unburden myself.

As I listened to his opinion about my mother’s last move I leaned my head back on the seat and closed my eyes, not realizing until that moment that my head hurt.

F*****g shit.

I’m going to regret this, I’m sure.