Chapter 7
The restaurant is packed when I arrive for Nicolette’s party.
Swiping my hair back from my face and re-clipping it into the claw clip, I climb up the stairs beneath the long maroon awning that covers the stairs and the sidewalk protecting the valet helping customers into their cars.
Once I’m inside the restaurant, a lead ball sinks to the pit of my stomach. This place is gorgeous with dim lighting, black marble flooring, and a large crystal chandelier dangling in the center of the entrance way. A sense of high class hangs heavy in the air.
Thank god I had this dress in my closet. It hugs my curves, accentuating my hips in smooth satin with the perfect amount of enough stretch to keep it from suffocating me.
“Hi, I’m here for Nicolette Yakovlev’s party.” I say to the pretty woman standing behind the hostess podium.
Parking was brutal. Nicolette’s warning had been right. I’m twenty minutes late, but well within the window of fashionably late.
“Your name?” The hostess asks while tapping on the iPad mounted in front of her.
“Maxine Hartman.” Glasses clink, and laughter bubbles from the background while she searches her tablet.
“Yes, here you are.” She smiles brilliantly, tapping the screen of an iPad.
If she’s unimpressed with me, she’s hiding it perfectly.
“They’re upstairs in the private room; follow me please.” The hostess leads me through the restaurant to an elevator.
Two men stand on opposite sides of the doors wearing fierce expressions, their hands clasped in front of them. They’re dressed in well-fitted suits that would probably empty my bank account, but they look more rugged than the rest of the guests in the restaurant.
“Maxine Hartman,” the hostess announces me to the man on the right.
He pulls out his phone and scrolls through a screen before giving her a curt nod. Only then does she hit the elevator button.
“Second floor. Have a good night.” The hostess sweeps her arm toward the open elevator then waits for me to get inside before walking away.
I swallow several times, trying to wet my dry throat and run my hand over my dress making sure there aren’t weird wrinkles before I’m swept up to the second floor.
Another guard steps in front of the elevator when the doors slide open.
“Name?” He asks, his Russian accent thick.
“Maxine Hartman,” I say with some exasperation. This is the third time I’ve had to give it, and it’s not like I could have smuggled someone in under this dress with me.
He steps out of the way, and I step off.
“Max!” Vee grabs my arm as soon as the guard clears the way.
“Hey.” I smile, letting her pull me down the hall to the open doors where music is filtering out. “You look fantastic.”
She’s wearing a navy-blue dress that hugs every bit of her slender frame, accentuating her figure. A single diamond hangs from a slim gold chain around her neck.
“Thanks.” She touches the necklace. “I wasn’t sure about it, but Ivan picked it out and you know how he is.”
“Obsessed with you? Yes, I know.” I laugh; it’s so good to see her happy.
She’s had too much loss in her life, it’s her turn to have her happily ever after. As if by thought, Ivan steps out of the room into the hall, immediately finding us and stalking toward us.
“You were gone for a while.”
“I was gone for a minute. I ran into Max.” She links her arm through mine. “C’mon, let me introduce you to the rest of the girls.”
“I should say hi to Nicolette,” I say as we walk into the party room.
It’s beautiful. Crystal chandeliers glitter overhead, bathing soft light over designer dresses and men in perfectly fitted suits. Laughter floats through the air, smooth and rehearsed.
Wealth drips from every corner of the room. Servers glide through the crowd with silver trays of delicious appetizers and champagne. The air is thick with perfume and power.
“Max?” Vee squeezes my arm when I become frozen in place.
“Oh, wow.” I swallow again.
“I know. It’s a lot,” she says quietly. “Like a different planet, right?”
“Champagne?” A server stops in front of us with a tray half full of champagne flutes.
“Yes, please.” I grab the closest one to me.
“None for you,” Ivan whispers into Vee’s ear and waves off the server.
When I glance in his direction, I’m ready to bite off his head. She can have a glass if she wants, but when I see the soft look he’s giving her, I pause. He runs his thumb along her jaw and kisses her cheek.
“I need to speak to Alexander. Don’t leave the floor.”
“I’ll be fine,” she says, kissing him when he leans into her.
“Lev is in the back talking with the manager, he’ll be out soon,” Ivan says to me, throwing me a wink while I’m chugging my champagne.
“Why would I care where he is?” I ask, but Ivan’s already headed to the back corner of the room where two other larger-than-life men are huddled together.
Vee laughs. “He’s teasing you.”
“That man teases?” My eyes go wide. “I’m not sure pushing you to give him a chance was such a good idea.”
She links her arm through mine again and hugs me to her. “It definitely was the best advice.”
“Oh, good, you’re here!” Nicolette pops up from a crowd.
She’s gorgeous as always with her midnight black hair pinned back from her face with diamond-encrusted pins.
With her ruby red lips and winter-pale features, she gives off a Snow-White vibe.
Though, the silver sequenced dress draped over her slender body doesn’t have a single innocent element to it.
“Of course. I said I would be.” I hug her, careful not to spill a drop of my champagne. “I can’t believe you’re leaving tomorrow.”
She sighs. “I know. But it’s only for a year, and I’ll be back after the New year for a few weeks. I get a two-week break.”
“This is such a big opportunity,” I smile, genuinely happy for her. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks.” She cranes her neck to look behind her, then steps closer to us. “Tell me if you see Lev coming, he’s all pissy because I didn’t get the staff list to him before tonight.”
“Aren’t they his staff?” Vee asks.
“His?” I question.
“This is his restaurant,” Nicolette explains. “But when I told him I wanted to have tonight here, I was supposed to get him a list of the staff members so he could clear them again. I don’t know, he’s insane with all his security measures.” She rolls her eyes.
“And you wanted him to pick me up tonight?”
She gives me a once over and smiles. “Yes, he definitely needs to see you.”
“I don’t like the look in your eye.” I’m already groaning. I’ve been here five minutes, and already I’m looking for the exit.
“What look?” Nicolette plays innocent.
“You had the same look when you suggested the drinking game at the bar.” Vee laughs. “And here he comes.”
Nicolette glances over her shoulder then yips. “I’m going to make my rounds before I deal with him. Don’t leave until we get to really talk, okay?”
She hugs us each then disappears into the crowd.
“We’re not going to see her the rest of the night, are we?” I nudge Vee with my elbow.
“Nope.” She laughs. “That’s okay, we’ll have good food and get to hang out.”
“I can’t stay too late. I have to open the store in the morning.” I snatch an appetizer from a roaming platter. It’s some sort of lobster concoction in a puff pastry, and it’s absolutely delicious.
I snag another one before the server walks off.
Vee looks off to the corner where Ivan is glaring at one of the men he’s talking with in the corner.
“Who are all those guys with Ivan?” I ask before she takes off.
“His brothers. The taller of the three is Alexander; Kaz is the other one. It looks like Megan’s here; let me go save her from them and bring her over.”
“I’ll stay here.” I offer, better to keep my feet planted near the door for an easy exit if one is needed.
After she makes off, I pull out my phone and message Keith and Joey again. They’ve done a disappearing act. Once they heard that Lev wasn’t going to stop until he got the information he wanted, they stopped answering my calls.
If I can’t get them on the phone by tomorrow, I’ll have to go over to their apartment. I need something, anything to give Lev before he makes good on his vague, but dangerous sounding threat.
“Hi.” A man steps up to me with a Tinder-profile smile. “I just noticed you standing over here and thought you should have some company.”
“Oh?” I drop my phone back into my purse. “I looked that lonely, did I?”
“You looked a little lost. I thought maybe you wandered into the wrong party?” His chin drops. “But that’s all right, I don’t mind a little party crashing.”
He butts up to me, until the tips of his toes press against mine. I try to move back a step, as the thin pleather material of my flats aren’t doing anything to protect me from his weight, but he only presses harder.
“I’ve just never seen you before at one of these things. And you don’t seem to be with anyone. Am I wrong?”
“Oh. I’m a friend of Nicolette’s. I’ve never been to one of these parties.” I point down at our feet. “You’re standing on me; can you back up?”
“Shit!” He flusters, then steps back. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”
There’s an honesty to the flush in his cheeks that makes me believe him.
“Are you all right?”
I laugh. “It was just a toe. I’m good. I’m Maxine.” I offer him my hand, and he takes it in a firm grip and brings the back of my hand to his warm lips.
“I’m Jaxon, good to meet you. So you know Nicolette?”
“Yes. What about you?”
“Oh, not Nicolette. I mean we’ve met, but I do business with her brother.” He stops a server passing with champagne and takes one, then puts my empty glass on the tray and replaces it with a fresh glass.
Before I can thank him, a dark shadow appears over my shoulder. The little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I don’t even need him to speak to know who it is.
“Lev.” Jaxon’s eyes widen.
It’s as though some big hairy monster has come down off the mountain to terrorize the village below.
I sigh, taking a healthy swallow of my champagne.