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"How much has he had to drink?"
"It's not a party until someone ends up dancing naked on a table."
I cringed. "Promise me you'll make sure he gets home safely. There's no way he can
drive like that."
"I'll make sure he gets a cab." Ivan tilted his head and smirked. "Although I have a
feeling, he won't need my help getting home."
My jaw dropped as one of the women grabbed Eric's backside. Feeling uncomfortable
watching my cousin groping and grinding, I quickly glanced away from the trio.
"I see that Sergei is still on Nikolai's shit list," Ivan remarked with a laugh.
I spotted Sergei standing guard over the gift tables. The unhappy expression on his
face wasn't directed toward his current position but the sight of Bianca dancing closely
with her date. She'd chosen a doctor as her plus-one and I could tell it was grating on
Sergei.
Not wanting to delve into Sergei's unrequited attraction toward Bianca, I said, "I can't
believe Nikolai is making him babysit those gifts."
"Considering the gifts being dropped on those tables, it's an important job."
Judging by the sizes of those stacks, I was going to be writing thank you notes for a
month. The sight of envelopes piled in baskets made feel uncomfortable. Nikolai wasn't
as wealthy as Yuri but he was doing very well. The going rate for my artwork would
likely increase over the next few years so we definitely didn't need the money we'd been
given by our guests.
"It's about respect."
I glanced at Ivan. "You can read minds now?"
"I can read people very well. I can see it in your face when you look at the gifts. You're
thinking that you don't need the money, but that's not why people gave it to you. They
gave it to you because they want to show Nikolai they respect him."
"I don't like it."
Ivan shrugged and sipped his beer. "These are the rules of Nikolai's world." He eyed
me carefully. "They're the rules of your new world. You have to learn how to play by
them before you can change them."
As Ivan's advice rattled round and round in my head, Nikolai finally made it upstairs
to retrieve me. Ivan crossed his arms and blocked the way. I saw him hold out his hand.
Nikolai made a production out of withdrawing his wallet and slapping some cash against
Ivan's palm.
The ransom paid, Nikolai triumphantly retrieved me. The catcalls began and Nikolai
grinned down at me. He slid his arms around my waist and claimed my mouth in a
passionate kiss that left me trembling with excitement. Our guests whooped and hollered
and clapped.
Nikolai dragged me away from the balcony to a more private area. He brushed his
knuckles across my cheek. "You're blushing."
"You just kissed me in front of hundreds of people."
He traced my still buzzing lower lip. "I'm your husband. I get to do so much more
than kiss you now."
I gulped and tried to ignore the throbbing heat between my thighs. "Nikolai& "
He silenced my protest with another sensual kiss, nibbling my lower lip and sucking
gently on the very tip of my tongue. "One more dance," he said, "and then I'm taking you
home."
Hand in hand, we made our way downstairs to the dance floor. The live band Erin
had arranged started a slower song that allowed us to sway together. It felt so good to be
held so closely in his arms and to feel his body heat radiating through me. Sometime
during the night he'd lost his jacket and tie. Now his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows,
displaying the many tattoos curling around his muscular forearms.
Nikolai's fingers sifted through my hair as we danced. I pressed my cheek to his chest
and reveled in his strength. As we moved around the dance floor, I noticed our friends all
around us. Ivan held Erin close while Dimitri kept his hand on Benny's noticeable bump.
Lena sat on Yuri's lap and giggled while he whispered in her ear.
It was amazing to me how things had changed so much since that day Erin had
bravely walked into Ivan's gym in a desperate bid to find her sister. Now Erin was
engaged to Ivan. Benny and Dimitri were married and expecting their first child. Lena
and Yuri were madly in love and I was a married woman.
When the song ended, Lena popped off Yuri's lap. Seconds later, he swooped in to
grab me right out Nikolai's arms. With Lena, Benny, Bianca and Erin flanking him, he
carted me off to the restroom. My friends dragged me inside and Yuri blocked the door.
Once inside, Lena unfurled the white napkin she'd been clutching in her hand. "Kisses,
girls!"
I giggled as my friends pressed their lipstick covered pouts to the linen. My lips were [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]