Perfect Opposite by Zoya Tessi
Publication date: May 18th 2014 (paperback)
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, RomanceCover Artist: Deranged Doctor Design (http://www.derangeddoctordesign.com/ )
Synopsis:Their wishes were simple and modest. Fate had other things in store though, and she can be a real bitch sometimes.
- All he wanted was to get the job done and somehow to endure those long months playing nanny to a spoiled little rich girl. Without strangling her with his bare hands in the process. Well, it is going to be much easier said than done.
- All she wanted was to escape the past and live like any other nineteen-year-old girl. Her plan definitely didn’t include the arrogant, tattooed savage, with his awful mohawk hair and lack of social graces, whose only mission was to stick real close and mess up her life.
But, people aren’t always what they seem to be, are they?
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/ 21917934-perfect-opposite
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Interviewer: Hello, Sasha. It’s nice to have you here today.Sasha: I’m glad to be here. Thanks for having me!Interviewer: I'm sure our readers can't wait to get to know you better, so can we start with you telling us something about you that no one else knows?Sasha: Oh, you’re starting with the tough ones, I see that. ( smiling ) I'll have to think about that.Interviewer: Please, take your time. It can be anything, maybe something from your childhood?Sasha: Well, there are some things from that time that I haven’t told anybody. Like the big clock in the hallway I broke once.Interviewer: You didn't!Sasha: I'm afraid I did. I was around five, running through the house and playing around, when I saw that it was dinner time. I really didn't want to stop playing, so I climbed up on a chair, opened the clock face, pulled off the hands and stashed them in the nearest drawer. I felt sure at the time that I’d be saved from having to eat green beans for dinner.Interviewer: You sure were resourceful. And you knew how to tell the time when you were just five?Sasha: Of course. Vova thought me.Interviewer: Your father's employee Vova?Sasha: I've never seen Vova as just employee. He’s more like favorite uncle of mine, even though we aren’t really family.Interviewer: You’re close?Sasha: We were very close when I lived at my father's place. He was my hero and he always saved me from trouble. When I got up to any mischief, I’d always run to his room and hide there. Like when I took sand from behind the shed and spread it all over the hallway floor.Interviewer: Why on earth did you do that?Sasha: I’d watched some cartoon about Indians, and wanted to see if I could read tracks. I was sure I was going to be a hunter when I grew up, and I wanted to practice my tracking skills. I was around seven then.Interviewer: If I understood well, you didn't have close connection to your father even then. What about your mom?Sasha: She was very young when she married my father and I always had impression that she was more like a sister to me than mother. But, when I think of her now, I think she wasn't mature enough to be a mother.Interviewer: Why do you think that she wasn't mature enough? She wasn't responsible, or...?Sasha: She was… extreme. In every way. Sometimes, she reminded me of a beautiful wild animal that got trapped and was forced to live in gilded cage. Unlike me, since I’ve always lived like that, my mom had been raised without any restraints and it was really hard for her to get used to having bodyguards following her everywhere.Interviewer: I suppose it was very hard for you too, living like that, being treated in a different way to your friends. What was the hardest part?Sasha: Holidays, definitely. I always dreamed of going to the seaside or visiting other countries with my friends, but I was never allowed. Don't get me wrong, I know it was all for my own good, but even though I wasn't exactly unhappy, I wasn’t filled with joy either.Interviewer: And what is your idea of perfect happiness?Sasha: Being able to decide, in the moment, to go somewhere for a weekend and just packing up your things. Doing that without looking over your shoulder to see if someone’s following you, or having the idea that someone might try to kidnap you round the next corner.Interviewer: Do you think you’ll ever be able to feel that way? Completely free…Sasha: Probably not. Habits are really hard to overcome. ( smiling ) But I am really happy now.Interviewer: And what’s the reason for that bliss? Or should I ask ‘Who?’ … ( laugh )Sasha: I think you know the answer very well. He came into my life like a storm. An unstoppable hail storm. It was enough for him to look me once with that icy gaze of his, so that I felt he’d poured all of his coldness right over my head and made a total mess of my life. But it seems like even the thickest of icebergs can melt, given time.Interviewer: From what I know, he’s a difficult man to be around.Sasha: I would say extremely challenging. I have an urge to kill him in cold blood at least once per day.Interviewer: Have you tried? ( arching eyebrows )Sasha: Many times, but he’s so damned agile. He dodges my every strike.Interviewer: Lucky him. ( laughing )Sasha: So far… My aim’s getting better every day.Interviewer: And do you think that you two are a good match?Sasha: The worst! It's like putting two crazy, egocentric roosters in the same room. We can't help trying to strangle each other. At first I was sure we were completely contradictory personalities with nothing in common. But… in time I realized that I was wrong. We’re more similar than I thought, but I’d never admit that in front of him.Interviewer: How so?Sasha: We both had the same fear - letting another person inside those defensive walls we built around us, to make them important to us. For Alex, it was the fear of having feelings for someone who he’d eventually need to let go. For me, it was the fear of watching people I loved getting killed.Interviewer: But you overcame that fear of connecting with people. How?Sasha: Hmm… there wasn't any conscious decision like: “OK, from today I’ll let him be something more to me“, you know. It was more like: “Oh, shit. This isn't happening!” ( laughing )Interviewer: Were you scared when you realized that?Sasha: To my core, yes. To be honest, Alex can be a really scary guy sometimes, and realizing you’re in love with someone like that, makes you seriously question your sanity.Interviewer: He didn't look very scary to me. I mean, OK, he’s pretty huge and those tattoos definitely don't make him look cuddly, but he doesn't look like a serial killer either.Sasha: Hah! You’ve never seen him trying to strangle some random guy who dares to look at me the ‘wrong’ way.Interviewer: He's rather possessive, I see.Sasha: Like a dog with a bone. It's not like he tries to control me or anything, just… he doesn't like seeing good-looking guys around me. Usually, he doesn't say or do anything and pretends that he doesn't even notice them, but I can see it in his eyes - that urge to grab me and drag me back to his cave. (laughing) Like a kid who doesn't like to share his toys with the other children. It’s funny, really. And to be completely honest - it bothers me less then it probably should. I guess I feel flattered.Interviewer: And what about you? How do you react when you see girls flirting with him? I suppose it happens a lot.Sasha: All the time, but I've found rather productive strategy for those situations. And, it never fails.Interviewer: Oh? Would you share it with us? I'm sure it would come in handy for our readers.Sasha: Sure. It's really simple. Whenever I see a girl flirting with him, I just put on my brightest smile and make she hears me when I say: “Honey, your parole advisor just called. Better call him back or they’ll haul your ass back to jail for another ten stretch.”Interviewer: Well, that would do the trick.Sasha: It does, every time.Interviewer: Thank you so much, Sasha. Unfortunately, our time is up. Is there anything you’d like to tell our readers before we finish?Sasha: Don't be afraid to take risks and follow your heart. Most of the time you’ll end up hurt, but those few times when you don't – they’re worth it all.
“You won’t have to give up on classes. I know this situation’s pretty tough for you, and I want you to go on living the kind of life you’ve been enjoying lately. Just... with some minor adjustments.” my father said.
Minor adjustments?
I glanced at the ‘minor adjustment’ sitting in front of me. Totally chilled, as though he’d made himself at home already, he wasn’t paying any attention to us. He was young, maybe just a few years my senior, but at first glance he looked older. I took in his broad shoulders, but when butterflies unexpectedly took flight in my stomach, it seemed urgent to look away.
“How... just how do you think I’ll explain this to Bethany? Or my friends? I can’t tell them I have a bodyguard, but I’ll have to give some reason for his being here.”
“Tell them he’s your new roommate. You can even add that he’s a relative, whatever you think is best.”
“Are you even listening to yourself? A relative? Of mine?” I waved my hand in disbelief, “Just... Look at him! He’s the very image of a jailbird!”
“Who are you? What do you want?” I took a quick step back, glad the gift of speech had finally come back to me.
He cocked his head to one side and threw me a condescending look, the kind a mother would give a small kid who was trying to be smart.
“You have something on your head.” he said after a pause, flatly ignoring my question
Completely distracted, I raised my hand and touched the shampoo bubbles in my hair, which instantly brought me crashing down to earth. The realization came that I was naked save for a small towel, standing and staring at a tattooed stranger twice my height and four times my weight.
“Shit!” I squeaked, quickly closed the door and locked it twice. “The Parole office is in the building across the street!” I called through the now secure doors.
Cursing my dumb self, I pinched my forehead and shook my head. Of all the doors he could have knocked on, this ex-con chose mine. Instead of getting himself tattooed all day long in prison, he should have taken the time to learn how to read, so he could at least hit the right address. Of course, something like this could only happen to me. Where was my mind, opening the door without checking who was behind it?
I bowed my head and eyed my father angrily as he pulled a cell from his pocket and hit a speed dial number. He spoke in Russian, the language I never used but understood well, and I listened as he started to give orders.
“I need someone to come here and stay with Sasha.” he said, his brows furrowed in the manner he adopted when turning over a serious issue.
“No, not him.” he looked at me for a second and seemed to weigh the situation before answering. “I want you to come.”
The person at the end of the line exploded then and an outburst followed that was peppered with a host of such creative curses that for a moment I sat there dumbstruck. Never in my life had I heard anyone stand up to Nikolai, much less dare to hurl abuse at him that way.
“Shut your dirty mouth, Aleksey! I don’t care if supplies are late. You’d better get here in the morning, is that clear?” my father yelled into the phone and then hung up, not waiting for an answer.
“Who was that?” I asked, my eyebrows firmly raised. “Your new bodyguard.”
Darkness was falling outside and my eyes felt fuzzy after long hours spent gazing at the screen. I didn’t know how much time had passed while I was writing, but the paper was almost finished when the silence was broken by a shrill and piercing scream from the direction of the kitchen.
I leaped out of bed and headed for where the sound had come from, almost colliding with Bethany in the process. She was standing near the entrance to the kitchen, a hand over her mouth and a terrified look on her face. Following her gaze to the source of her anxiety, I almost screamed myself... but whether out of fear or something else I couldn’t say.
Alex was standing by the open fridge, leaning on the door with one hand while holding a carton of milk in the other. And he was wearing just his sweat pants.
I found myself staring in astonishment at the web of interwoven black tattoos covering the entire surface of his chest, continuing around his back and down his arms as far as the knuckles on his fingers. They were scary and magnificent at the same time.
Only when the initial shock had passed did I notice that the black pattern was broken in some places by pale marks. Scars. And there were more than a few. It didn’t take long for me to realize that two round ones, on his stomach and right shoulder, had to have come from bullet wounds.
“What’s wrong with her?” Alex drawled, pointing the top of the carton at Beth and bringing me back to reality.
“I don’t think she expected to see a tattooed monster jumping out of our fridge.”
“Let go of me... right now.” I hissed “I’m no good at following orders. Maybe you should try asking. Nicely.” “Hah! In your dreams!” “OK. As far as I’m concerned, we can stay like this till tomorrow...”
It didn’t cross my mind to reply, so I immediately began flailing around, doing my best to get free of his arms, but it was no use. He didn’t budge an inch and held me like I weighed nothing at all. Figuring out there was nothing I could possibly do to wrestle free, I let out a groan and sunk my teeth into his shoulder, biting down hard.
“You crazy bitch!” he barked and threw me down on the bed below, making me bounce twice.
I had a feeling that I wouldn’t come out of it well if he got his hands on me, so I clambered over to the other side of the bed and sprang down. Taking a quick look in Alex’s direction, I saw him clenching his jaw. Catching a murderous gleam in his eyes, I yelped and fairly flew out of the room.
Reaching my bedroom, I quickly turned the key in the door behind me just a second before he got to it and brought the palm of his hand down with a thud. Backing away, I eventually felt the edge of the bed behind my legs and collapsed in a heap.
You idiot, who knows how many people he’s killed just for looking at him the wrong way, and here you’ve just bitten the guy.
“Tomorrow morning, Princess...” I heard Alex’s voice from the other side of the door, “...we’re going straight to the pet store to buy you a nice muzzle.”
“Hah! Very funny!” “We’ll choose a pink one. It’ll match your outfit.”
With the air of an explorer, I approached the sink and began to assess the task ahead, rummaging around to drain the dirty water and decide what would get cleaned first. Watching me from behind, Beth giggled, pleased to have played a winning card.
“You know, when I think about it, that sharp tongue of yours has its plus side.” she said, and made a point of examining her perfectly lacquered nails, “I’ll save a fortune on manicures.”
“Is that so?” I grinned mischievously.
Glancing around the sink, I soon found what I was looking for, and my grin widened. Grabbing the detergent bottle with both hands, I quickly turned and squeezed, letting out a shriek as the soapy liquid shot out in Beth’s direction. Or, better said, where I thought she was.
“Oops!” was the only thing I was able to say before I doubled over, laughing hysterically.
Instead of Beth, Alex was standing in front of me, bright green liquid streaking the white t-shirt he’d apparently changed into, and a few drops of the same hanging from his chin. I was sure I’d never seen a more peculiar sight in my life, but what really threw me was how utterly astonished he looked. He was probably determining the most painful way to strangle me, but I laughed my ass off all the same.
Alex snorted in response, shook his head and slowly got up from the couch. Without breaking eye contact, he went on looking down at me as if I were an insect that could easily be trodden under foot. While it was true that I’d spent my life surrounded by tough guys and had learned to handle them, having Alex leaning over me sure made me falter.
“Stop looking at me like that.” I hissed. “I’m not sure what you mean. How am I looking at you?” “Like I’m some kind of dessert and you’re about to eat me up.” “And risk food poisoning? I don’t think so.” “I doubt you’d die, somehow. It’s impossible to get rid of people like you.”
Though it wasn’t easy by any means, I forced myself to hold his gaze, my jaw clenched tight. I felt sure this was a special achievement and thought I might even add it to my resume.
“Don’t you think it’s time to earn some of the money Nikolai pays you?” I asked quietly, careful not to let Beth overhear.
“On the contrary, Princess. I don’t think Nikolai pays me enough. Spending all my days in your sweet company qualifies me for special, early retirement.”
“Oh really...” I looked him full in the face and pointed to the chandelier, “The bulb blew this morning and needs replacing.”
“You’re right.” he nodded and continued to look at me, with no intention of making a move.
“Are you trying to make me lose it, or am I just imagining it?” “No. I’m waiting for you to ask me nicely.”
“Are you serious?”
I couldn’t believe that he, of all people, felt entitled to instruct me about manners. God, he was infuriating. I narrowed my eyes and regarded him carefully, a wicked smile building at the corners of my mouth.
“Alex, honey, would you be so kind as to change the bulb in the chandelier, it would mean such a lot to me?” I asked in the most sugary voice possible.
I watched as a barely noticeable look of satisfaction appeared on his face, and smiled even more. Some men actually lived in the conviction that their word must always be the last.
“And please, while you do that...” I blinked at him like some kind of cartoon, “...be sure and get electrocuted, would you?”
When I got outside, I rushed to meet Bethany and Paolo, who were standing by the car looking annoyed at being kept waiting.“It’s about time!” Beth pointed a threatening finger at me. “We’ll enter a new geological era waiting for you.”“It looks like it was worth it. Sasha, my dear, that’s a dangerous combination...” Paolo hugged me so that I left the ground just a little.“Thanks, sugar.” I laughed and gave him a wet kiss on the cheek.“Hey, I don’t want to panic anybody...” he whispered in my ear, “but there’s some big strange guy standing over behind you. He’s looking in our direction and seems kinda mad. Friend of yours, maybe?”I glanced over my shoulder and saw Alex standing not far from us, his hands in his jeans pockets.“Ah, that’s my socially inept cousin. Ignore him.” “I don’t think he likes me. Should I be concerned?” “Oh, don’t worry, Alex is harmless. He just looks weird.”
AUTHOR BIO
A teenager in an adult's body. A rebel in the guise of an ordinary citizen. A lady with very unladylike language. A dreamer with a rational mind. A woman born into the wrong era, she still believes that chivalry's a feat to define the perfect man.
Zoya spent years doing volunteering work all across Europe, from cleaning school basements in Northern Russia to excavating Stone Age artifacts in Euskadi (the Basque country) and renovating castles from the middle ages in Southern France. She always dreamed of working with 'Doctors without borders' somewhere out in Africa, but ended up doing an 'ordinary job' in one of the smaller European countries.
Her greatest passion is devouring each and every book that comes within her reach.
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