Page 8

NIKOLAI

Istand behind the one-way glass, looking down at the club. There are eight women on table service, but my gaze keeps going to Serena. She wears the same sparkly dress, the same heels, but there’s something different about her. Earlier, when she told me I wasn’t overstepping, I felt a quick heat in me. I thought about turning around.

She’s beyond fine. Her eyes are dark brown, her hair oak, in soft wavy down to her waist. She’s got all the damn curves, and the dress pinches at her hips, emphasizing her hourglass shape. But it’s her little smirks that get me, her lips twitching like she’s privately laughing at a secret joke. I’m curious about her when I probably shouldn’t be.

She leans over a table now, collecting glasses. Her dress rides up and shows her thick thighs. My groin aches, lust swelling. I imagine moving softly up behind her, wrapping my arms around her. Except in this scenario, she moans and leans against me, instinctively gripping my arms. I feel her hips shifting as she moves her ass against my groin, letting me feel her shape, her thickness, through that thin dress⁠—

I turn away and walk to my desk. I need to calm down.

I don’t know what grips me. Maybe it’s this new-day-new-me vibe I’m trying to rock, but I grab the envelope. Tear it open. As I read, I almost let myself hope for a moment. It’s an invitation to Maksim and Lia’s wedding. Lia, who was kidnapped as a result of what I did. Lia, who could’ve died. Lia, the woman my brother was obsessed with from the first moment he saw her.

Swallowing regret, shame, self-loathing, and probably some bonus stuff too, I call Maksim. It will be the first time I’ve spoken. I can say it’s about the wedding. But man, I just want to hear his voice.

“Are you safe?” Maksim asks, voice tight and urgent.

I almost laugh. That’s the only reason he thinks I’d call. “I read your letter. I wanted to say congratulations.”

A long pause. “It would look strange if my brother wasn’t there.”

That’s fair. What more can I expect?

“If you want me there, I’ll be there. In whatever way you need that. I just want to make sure Lia’s okay with it.”

“Lia…” Maksim laughs ruefully.

“What?” I ask.

“It’s just… she’s more forgiving than me, let’s put it that way. She seems to think you had no choice, or that you were justified because of Rachael and Mikey. But we both know you could’ve come to me.”

“I know that now,” I say, voice husky. “But I was terrified. I hate admitting this. But they had them dead to rights and… and I’m sorry, Maksim. I am. For Daniel and Li⁠—”

“This isn’t the time for that,” he says, voice ice. “I shouldn’t have mentioned anything. We’re comfortable with you being at the wedding.”

“Has Anton been giving you his reports?” I ask.

I’m a thirty-seven-year-old man, and yet I sound like a desperate little brother, eager for his approval.

“Yes,” Maksim says. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

He hangs up. I hold onto that morsel for all it’s worth.

Of all the people I’d think to have a standoff, bald, scarred Anton and hipster, red-haired Celeste were not it. Anton is standing in his plain grey suit, hands folded, staring at me blankly. Celeste is waving her hands. “I know you want increased security,” she says. “But there’s secure and then there’s… scary.”

“I scare you, Celeste? You wound me.”

Is Celeste blushing? No, somebody’s spiked my Diet Coke, surely. Anton doesn’t flirt.

“Please,” she says, turning to him. “Just be a bouncer. Not a… march around and scare everyone man.”

“If they scare, that’s their problem.”

I hide a smile behind my hand, then tell Anton, “It’s temporary. I’m hiring someone tomorrow. I know it’s beneath you. But please, just stand and watch. This isn’t…” I stop myself before I say Bratva work. Celeste isn’t stupid. She knows we’re criminals, but she knows better than to ask too much.

“You convinced me,” Anton says. Now I know I’m losing my mind. He winks at Celeste.

She rolls her eyes. “For the record, you don’t scare me.”

They leave. That’s funny. That’s what I asked Serena, if I scared her. Should I be, Mr. Volkov? She had that look on her face then, that secretive smile, that suggestion that she was secretly laughing. I like it. It makes me want to get in on the joke… even if I am the joke.