Chapter 12
Cynthia
Igive my best friend a quick hug while Sasha says something to Niki in Russian and Sav whispers in my ear, “Oh my god, who is the guy in the hoodie?”
Grinning, I pull back, but before I introduce her to Niki, I squeeze the large hand that’s still holding mine and say, “Sav, this is Sasha.”
Her eyes widen a bit when he steps closer and she takes in the full, intense sight that he is.
With a T-shirt on, she can easily see his tatted hands and arms, and without a turtleneck or scarf, there’s no hiding the tattoos on his neck.
Add in the six-five height and muscular body, and, well, there’s no hiding him.
Sasha holds out an inked hand to her and gives an almost-full smile when he says, “Nice to finally meet you, Sav. Cyn’s told me a lot about you.”
She takes his hand while raising a brow at me. “Well, Cyn,” she says, accentuating the nickname no one has ever once called me, “has told me plenty about you, too.”
The corner of Sasha’s mouth twitches when he says, “All of it good, I hope.” Before she can ask if by good he means murdering people, he says, “This is my cousin Niki. I asked him if he could join us. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course,” Sav quickly says, and even though she’s still looking calm and collected on the outside, I know my bestie well enough to know she’s definitely liking what she’s seeing.
I look around our small group, trying not to get my hopes up about a possible love match that would ensure I never have to be far from the one person who’s a constant in my life and more my family than the one I was born into, and say, “Thanks for putting up with a vegetarian meal for me. I swear someone else can pick the place next time. Most restaurants have vegetarian options, so I’m fine with whatever. ”
“Vegetarian?” Niki asks, eyeing the small restaurant he’s leaning against with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.
“They’re surprisingly good,” Sav tells him. She grins and adds, “I mean, not as good as a double bacon cheeseburger, but they’re not as bad as you’re thinking they’re going to be.”
“That’s what I always aim for with meals,” he says while a grin plays at his lips. “Not as bad as I think it’s going to be.”
Sav laughs while I try very hard to not smile too big. When I look up and meet Sasha’s eyes, he gives me a wink and then leans down to whisper in my ear. “Don’t start planning their wedding yet, my little Cyn. Niki’s already married to his computer.”
I know he’s teasing, so I just smile and kiss his cheek before he stands back up and leads me inside.
We find a quiet booth in the corner. Sasha scoots in next to me, so Sav and Niki are left to share the seat across from us.
I notice the worn leather messenger bag that Niki tucks in between the wall and his body.
I’m guessing it’s the laptop that he’s supposedly married to.
While everyone looks over the menu, I ask, “So you’re good with computers?”
Niki raises his eyes from the paper menu he’d grabbed on the way over. His eyes are a pretty grey-blue, and he looks like he wants to laugh when he says, “Yeah, I’m pretty good with them. Why? You need me to erase your student debt?”
I laugh while Sav turns her head to look at him. “You can do that?”
“I can, among other things.”
“Wow, my laptop just likes to glitch out and throw up those annoying reminders that I need to do updates,” she tells him, oblivious to the horrified look he gives her because she’s too busy looking at the menu again.
“Please tell me you do the updates,” he says, and I bite back a laugh at the almost pleading tone of his voice.
“Oh hell no,” she says, “I just hit the remind me later button.” She gives a nonchalant shrug, not realizing that Niki is practically cringing at her blasé attitude towards technology. “I mean, if it was really important, wouldn’t it just do it itself?”
Sasha laughs and looks across the table at his cousin. “That sounds about right, doesn’t it, Niki?”
Niki groans, mutters something in Russian and then tells Sav, “Did you by any chance bring your laptop with you tonight?”
“No, it’s charging in my room. It doesn’t seem to want to hold a charge anymore. I think it’s mad at me.” She looks up from her menu to meet his eyes. “That doesn’t mean anything bad, does it?”
“I think you need to let me look at your computer,” he says. “It’ll probably give me a heart attack to see what you’ve done to it, but I can check it out if you want.”
She flashes him a smile that’s big enough to show her dimple. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. George can be very temperamental, though, and he might not like you manhandling him.”
Niki raises a brow. “George?”
Sav shrugs and brushes her long, blonde hair over her shoulder. “I named my laptop. I needed a name to scream when he pisses me off and does stupid things like freezes or the screen goes black.”
“Jesus,” Niki whispers, clearly haunted by the knowledge that Sav’s computer is most likely riddled with viruses and who the hell knows what else.
She grins and says, “George and I have grown very close.”
“Well, I’ll give George a very gentle touch if you ever allow me to poke around.” Niki looks over at me, and I think it’s only because he’s desperate to change the topic away from abused and neglected computers. “I have no idea what to order.”
“Don’t worry. Sav and I are on it.” I scoot out of the booth and wait for her to join me. “We’ll go up and order. I promise you won’t regret it,” I tell him.
Sasha’s hand is firmly planted on my ass, and before I walk away, he gives it a squeeze. I’m still grinning about it when Sav hooks her arm through mine and says, “Oh my god, Cindy.”
I look over at her and laugh. “The lines are looking a little blurred now, aren’t they?”
Her blue eyes quickly dart back to where Niki is sitting. “Yes, they are.” After a few seconds, she whispers to herself, “Murder is wrong. Murder is wrong.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure Niki spends most of his time doing illegal hacking things instead of going out there and killing people.”
She shakes her head and gives a soft laugh. “I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation. God, he is gorgeous, though, and I love a man with a brain.” After a few seconds, she nudges my arm. “Your guy looks pretty good without a mask and knife in his hand.”
“He does,” I agree. I don’t add that he also looks pretty good with those things, because that’s a truth I’m still struggling with.
Sav’s been here enough times with me, so when it’s our turn to order, she already has her favorites in mind.
Between the two of us, we place a massive order that will ensure we all leave here stuffed, and when I reach for my debit card, I’m stopped by a large hand covering mine, pinning it gently in place as Sasha hands over his own card instead.
Looking down, he squeezes my wrist and then kisses my forehead. “You’ll learn one day, Cyn.”
“What will I learn?” I ask, breathing in the familiar scent of him while enjoying the feel of his long fingers wrapped around me, the way it’s both gentle and firm.
His lips brush my skin when he says, “That you’re mine, and I take care of what’s mine, krovinka.”
He pulls me under his spell so easily, and when he hears my shaky exhale, he gives my hair a gentle tug while letting out a soft huff of a laugh. Keeping his arm around me, he takes back his card and then Niki saunters over to help us carry back the embarrassing amount of food we’d ordered.
“Wow, you girls went all out,” he says as he sets a couple of trays down and scoots into the booth with Sav. He looks down at the array of tacos and dips and then turns to my friend. “Okay, help me out here. What should I try, and what should I avoid?”
He glances over at me and grins. “No offense, but you love this stuff, so I can’t trust your opinion. You’re biased as a vegetarian. I need a meat-eater’s point of view.”
“No offense taken,” I tell him. “No one who eats here hates it, so I’m confident it’s going to become your new favorite place.”
Niki laughs, clearly not believing me, but he’s kind enough to say, “Maybe. It would be handy since it’s so close to the club.”
“What club?” Sav asks.
Niki looks over at Sasha and says something in Russian. Whatever Sasha says has Niki nodding before he says, “The Red Room. Our family owns it.”
“Wow, really?” Sav asks the question while also nudging a plate of black bean tacos and the Galactic Guac dip and homemade chips, letting him know that’s where he should start.
I don’t miss the smile he flashes her before grabbing one of the tacos.
He takes a bite, and we all watch to see if he’ll like it.
With his mouth stuffed, he looks around at us and groans.
“Seriously?” The question is muffled because his mouth is so full, but when we all keep staring, he just groans again and keeps chewing.
While he finishes, Sasha says, “Yeah, our family owns The Red Room and a few other clubs around town.”
This is news to me, and I file it away so I can ask more about it later. I’m curious what all his family does. What does a Bratva do exactly? I know he kills and Niki hacks, but surely there’s more to it than that.
When Niki starts taking another bite, I smile over at him. “Told you.”
He stops mid-bite and says, “Yeah, these are pretty fucking good.”
We’re all quiet for a few minutes while we fix our plates and eat, but it’s not long before Sav looks over at Sasha and addresses the giant elephant in the room. “So, do I need to worry about you hurting my best friend? Judging by how you met, I’d say you’re more than capable of it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Sasha says. His hand is on my thigh, and he gives it a firm squeeze when he tells her, “How we met proves that I’m incapable of hurting her.”
“He’s right about that,” Niki says. “Trust me, if he didn’t want her here, she wouldn’t be.”