In Love with her Bodyguards: Reverse Harem Enemies to Lovers Mafia Romance (New York Bratva Book 2)

Prologue – Olya

I tossed my head back, the beat of the music throbbing through every inch of my body, and threw my arms over my head. If this was going to be my last night in Budapest, I was going to make sure it counted.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been out for – it must have been past midnight now. My friends and I, the girls I’d been on that English Lit course with, had headed out to the Ruin Bars for a few hours, toasting to the fact that our degrees were finally, well and truly, behind us. We were officially finished, our final projects turned in. I wouldn’t be sticking around for graduation, receiving my degree once I arrived back in America with my father, but I didn’t care. Tonight wasn’t about what came next – no, it was about this moment, right here, and letting myself get entirely and completely lost to it.

I need another drink!” Kara called to me, as she grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the bar. I opened my eyes, grinning, the alcohol already filling my head, making me tipsy and giggly.

Hell, yes! I agreed, looping my arm through hers and letting her lead me down to the packed-out bar. Being two young women, it didn’t take long for us to get in, a couple of guys stepping aside to make sure we didn’t have to wait. One of them was eyeing Kara with an open appreciation, and she cocked an eyebrow at him, as though daring him to talk to us.

Can I get you a drink? he yelled to her, over the music. She put her arm around me.

Only if you get one for her, too!” she called back, and he shrugged, nodding, clearly willing to do whatever it took to get Kara to pay attention to him right now. His friend, the guy standing next to him, flashed me a smile, and I returned it. He wasn’t exactly my type, but I wasn’t going to go stepping on Kara’s toes when she was just trying to have some fun, right?

The rest of our friends were off dancing or making out with the guys they had met over the course of the night, and I was pretty sure I would be the only one going home alone. Not that it bothered me. No, I had waited this long to find a guy I wanted to hook up with, and I wasn’t going to throw it away on some random dude at a Budapest nightclub who wasn’t even that hot.

The guys got us our drinks, and Kara leaned in to her new conquest, laughing at something he said. His friend tried to rest his hand on the small of my back casually, but I pulled away, smiling at him politely, hoping he got the message. I wasn’t out here trying to have some guy feeling me up or acting way too friendly; I was here to celebrate my last night in Hungary, before I returned home to my father once more.

It was hard to believe it had been a whole year since I had arrived here when my grades had been good enough to allow me a study abroad opportunity. My dad hadn’t exactly been enthused about the idea, but I had convinced him it would do me good to get out of the country and see a little more of the world. I didn’t want to sit around in my dorm room and just wait for my degree to be over. I wanted to have some fun.

Kara and her new man were already huddled up together in a corner, sipping on the drinks he had just brought, and his friend leaned over to speak into my ear.

You want to dance? he called to me. I sighed, glad he couldn’t hear me over the music. I mean, yeah, he seemed nice enough, but I wasn’t here to focus on anyone else. I was here to drink, dance, and have fun, without some guy trying to get his hands on me in the process.

I’m good, I replied, and his face darkened for a brief moment before I pulled away and headed back to the dancefloor. I didn’t care. Let him be mad at me – this time tomorrow, I was going to be on a plane back to America, and none of this was going to matter.

The song shifted to something slower, sultrier, and I moved slowly in time with the beat, letting it wash through me again. I could feel eyes on me, but I didn’t care. Hell, maybe I liked being the center of attention like this – maybe I liked to feel them looking at me. I grinned as I lifted my hands up again, swaying my hips this way and that. One last night of fun before I went home and picked up where I had left off – and I was going to make damn sure I enjoyed every second of it.

And, if I’d known what was waiting for me when I returned to the USA, I would probably never have left at all.