Chapter 7 #2
“Jaxon.” Lev moves to my side. There’s not enough room for a single atom to pass between his arm and mine.
“Good to see you.” Jaxon shifts his weight to his back foot, leaning away as though preparing to flee if needed. “Do you, uh, know Maxine?”
“We’ve met,” I say before pouring the last of my champagne down my throat.
“Jaxon.” Lev leans forward. “Go away now.”
All color rushes from Jaxon’s face as he nods. It’s as though he’s become a bobble head and can’t stop his head from bobbing up and down in his rush to get away from us.
“Yes, of course. We’ll talk later.” With only a quick glance at me, he spins around and hurries off.
“Is there no limit to your rudeness?” I sigh with my question, making my best attempt at boredom.
If he could see inside of my body, he’d find how fast my stomach is trembling. How horribly quick my pulse is.
Lev takes one step forward, putting himself directly in front of me and blocking my view of the rest of the room. A server passes with more drinks, and I place my empty glass on it, reaching for another. If I’m going to deal with him tonight, I’m going to need reinforcements.
“No.” He slaps my wrist before I can get a grip on the stem and jerks his head, signaling to the server to leave. “No more for her.”
The server, a short woman with a pixie cut, nods, flashing me a small look of pity before taking her tray and moving into the crowd.
“You can’t tell me if I can have a drink or not,” I shoot at him.
His eyes settle on me at the same time his jaw clenches. Everything about the fierceness of his stance and his expression warns me to shut my mouth, but I’ve never been good at keeping quiet.
“I have never met anyone so rude, so condescending, so…so….annoying before.” I’m barely able to stop myself from stomping my foot, but I do manage it.
His expression only hardens.
“The only reason you’re here is because Nicolette insisted, and it’s her last night home. If it weren’t for the amount of extra security I have in place tonight, you wouldn’t be allowed within a hundred feet of my sister.”
I’m taken back by his words. He thinks I’m a danger?
“Do you have the information?” He questions, taking advantage of my momentary lapse of words.
“First of all, I’m not a danger to you or to Nicolette. I would never put her in danger.” I clear my throat when my voice cracks a little. “Second of all, you said I have until tomorrow.”
“Your brothers obviously have ties to people who aren’t friends of mine. You being here is a danger to her.”
“Why would who my brothers do business with have any effect on her or you? I don’t know them, and they don’t know me.”
“Did you tell your brothers what I want to know?”
I pause, take a deep breath. He obviously wants to argue, and I’m not in the mood for it.
“Yes. Now. Since my attendance is such an annoyance to you, why don’t you go away. I’m sure you have plenty of other people you can bother with your angry eyes.” I lean to the left, purposely looking into the crowd. “I think I see Jaxon; I’ll go finish my conversation with him.
“You won’t.” He sidesteps, blocking me again.
“Why not? I can’t possibly be a danger to him, too.”
“He’s not someone you should be involved with.” His tone dips.
“That’s not really your business, is it?” I fold my arms over my chest.
“It is.”
“It’s not.”
“Do you always argue every point?”
“When they are stupid, yes.” I give a hard nod.
“Oh, looks like you found Lev.” Vee is back, Megan and another girl behind her.
“She did.” Lev’s demeanor softens as he turns to the girls. “I need to speak with Alexander; I assume he’s around.”
Megan nods. “He and Ivan are by the bar.”
“Good.” Then he stalks off.
“That man is unbelievably rude.” I clench my hands at my sides. “He actually told me I can’t have another drink. No, that’s not right. He told the waitress not to serve me anymore.”
Vee exchanges a look with Megan, then laughs. “He’s probably still irked about having to pour you into your apartment that night at the club.”
“I wasn’t that drunk.”
“No, but I heard you were drugged,” Megan adds.
“We don’t know that for a fact,” I mutter, folding my arms over my chest.
“He’s overprotective, just like my brothers.” The third woman smiles. “Sorry, we haven’t met yet. I’m Elana.”
“She’s Ivan’s sister,” Vee explains.
I smile, hoping it’s warm. Lev has put me in a mood again.
“How many Volkovs are there, exactly?” I ask.
She looks familiar, but I can’t place her. It’s the champagne, maybe two drinks on an empty stomach wasn’t the best choice.
She laughs. “Just us four that we’re aware of, but with our father, who really knows.”
I’m not exactly sure how to respond to her remark. Having never had an actual father or mother, I’m not really the expert on these things.
“Damn.” Megan looks up from her phone. “I was hoping Mira would be here tonight, but she’s sick.”
Elana laughs. “Sick or tied to a bed?”
“Rurik is a little possessive, but even he wouldn’t keep her from tonight.” Megan tucks her hair back behind her ear. The two thick white strips of hair stand out against the rest of her black hair.
“Why does that man keep staring at us?” Vee questions, gesturing with her chin behind me.
I turn slightly. “I think he’s been assigned to keep me in his eyesight all night.”
“Why?” Vee’s brow furrows.
“Because.” I don’t want to get into the details right now. It’s supposed to be party, and dragging my drama into it will only bring down the vibe.
“What’s going on?” Nicolette appears at my side. “You look like something’s wrong.”
I push on a smile. This is her night. And I won’t get to see her for months after this, there’s no need to ruin it beaus her brother is a big ass.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“That guard is glaring at Max.” Vee answers at the same time as I do.
Nicolette glances over at the man in question. “He’s one of Lev’s personal guys. I’ll go tell him to knock it off; he’s being weird.”
“No.” I touch her arm. “It’s fine. Don’t start anything.”
“Start anything?” She frowns. “What did Lev say? Is he being an ass again?”
“He’s just protecting you.” I check the time on my phone. “It’s okay, I have a really early morning anyway. I should get going. I only stopped in to say my goodbyes before you got on the plane tomorrow.”
Her shoulders drop. “You’re leaving already? We haven’t even had dinner yet.”
“It’s fine.” The little hairs on my neck stand at end. When I glance over her shoulder, I find Lev watching us from the far side of the room.
“What did he do?” She demands, grabbing my arm.
“Nothing, Nicolette. I swear. He didn’t do anything. I really do have an early morning, and I need to stop at my brothers’ apartment before I head home.”
“Are they causing trouble?” She lowers her voice with her question.
“No. No. I promise. Everything’s fine.” I pull her into a tight hug. “Have the best time, and don’t forget to call or email or whatever.”
She rests her chin on my shoulder, holding me tightly.
“Whatever is going on, it’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah. I know.” I pull back with a forced smile. “Be good over there, but you know…not too good.”
She laughs. “Same to you.”
I say my goodbyes to the rest of the girls, avoiding Vee’s questions when she tries to demand what’s going on between Lev and me. As I pass a waitress bringing out a tray of something absolutely delicious for what I assume is part of dinner, my stomach rumbles.
I could stay. I could sit down and eat, and pretend Lev and his men aren’t glaring at me. That I’m not being watched like some criminal who is about to steal the sterling, but who needs that sort of drama?
Standing on the outside, I’m good at that position. Growing up in the foster care system, I learned quick where the real family lines were drawn. Plenty of them tried to pull me into their circle, but at the end of the day there were always the insiders and the outsiders.
And I’ve always been the outsider.
These girls, they’re family. Connected by blood and by marriage and by a loyalty I’ve never experienced. They’re the inner circle now. And me being here is going to create awkward moments. Like when I’m asked why the mafia guards are staring me down like I’m about to steal the china.
Better to go.
It would probably have been better if I hadn’t come to begin with.