Chapter 10
The club music pounded my head like a sledgehammer as I stepped back inside the VIP room. Immediately, I found Ivana alone, and immediately, I went into maniacal rage, thinking Mikhail stole Lana and I’d never see her again. Why was Ivana alone?
I approached the window overlooking the dance floor downstairs, my eyes practically searing through the crowd like lasers trying to find Lana. Ivana pointed to the bar downstairs. “I wouldn’t let her drink, so she took off downstairs.”
“And you didn’t follow her because…?”
“I’m not her bodyguard. I’m yours.”
“She will be my wife.”
“When that happens, I will happily lay down my life for hers. Until then, you matter more.”
I split the Italian deal instead of losing the whole deal when he took down the people I’d made the deal with in the first place. Ivana for Lana was something I hadn’t anticipated.
I felt her gaze on my profile. “How much did we lose?” she asked.
“Forty percent of the Italian deal. He called off the mission.”
“Good.”
I scrubbed my jaw. Lana turned in her bar chair downstairs, and, as if sensing me, she raised her gaze. Up here behind reflective mirrors, she couldn’t see me, though that didn’t stop her from waving.
“Mikhail wants an eye for an eye,” I said.
“Meaning what?” Ivana asked.
Ivana wouldn’t appreciate me beating around the bush. “He wants you.” I faced her. If this were funny, I’d have laughed at her expression. Eyes wide, mouth agape, she stared.
Recovering, she narrowed her eyes, “Did you say yes?”
“I did.”
For a few seconds, I saw uncertainty, betrayal, and hurt in her eyes, and it pained me, made my heart bleed. But then something happened. My cousin thought of something and smiled like a shark.
“This is my ticket. An opportunity, and if he won't give me what I want, I’m gonna gut him and hang him from the ceiling with his own intestines. After that, I will take over his organization, something I could never do to you.” She hugged me. “Thank you, Nikola. I love you.”
Some people wallowed in their misfortunes, while others saw misfortunes as opportunities in disguise. One lunatic would meet another lunatic. This ought to be fun to watch from afar. I wouldn’t get involved in their personal business, and I felt sorry for anyone who tried.
She stepped back, rolled her shoulders, pulled out both her pieces, and handed them to the guard. The guard took them, telling me without words I was allowed inside Mikhail’s den with the Sig. It had nothing to do with Mikhail trusting me, and everything to do with how crazy he was.
“Take me to Mikhail,” she ordered the man.
He looked confused. A rookie. He’d get used to her, I was certain of it.
“Hey,” I said while she walked behind the Russian.
“Take care, Ivana,” she threw over her shoulder. “Yeah, I know. Don’t worry, I got this.”
I tucked my hands into my pants pockets and balanced on the back of my heels, chuckling.
That went great. Wonderful. Way better than I expected.
Nobody had died today. I lost lots of money, but in the long run, it would be worth it.
I never played for small wins anyway. Big wins that took time were the real wins.
“Drinks on me tonight,” I announced and laughed with people I didn’t know who all knew me. I’d entertain tonight.
Turning, a big smile on my face, I looked out the window to where Lana had sat and saw her dancing on top of the bar, thousands of eyes up her fucking skirt.
A dark haze fell over my vision, and I bolted out of the VIP room to the stairs, slid down the rail, hopped off, knocked a tray of shooters from the server’s hands, and did not apologize as I shouldered my way through the sweaty masses, their bodies rubbing against mine like damn sandpaper.
So many people, so few bullets in my Sig.
“Lana!” I roared over the music. “Get down right now.”
She couldn’t hear me. I pushed people out of my way to reach the bar and climb onto the chair.
I caught her behind her thighs and tugged.
She screamed as she fell and landed right across my shoulder, kicking.
I held her legs, but not before I slapped her ass.
When I turned, the entire dance floor stood there, watching.
I marched for the exit, people parting before me as if I were breathing fire.
Outside, I found Lovac limp-running toward our limo, and in seconds, the limo appeared before me as if a fairy godmother had conjured it out of a pumpkin.
I didn’t wait for Lovac to get back out and walk around the car to open my door. I yanked that shit on my own and practically threw my future wife on the back seat. I sat down, huffed out a breath, and slammed the door closed. What was that thing Ludi did before a kill?
Mental yoga.
I mental yoga’d for a minute, even closed my eyes for maximum concentration.
A soft hand landed on my thigh, then trailed up and grabbed my dick, squeezed.
I snapped open my eyes and glared. That did nothing to scare Lana.
She climbed onto my lap and took my face between her palms. “Do you know what really gets me excited?”
“Is it solitary confinement?”
She laughed while unsnapping my belt, pulling out, then fisting my dick. “Your aggression.”
I ripped her panties and grabbed her hips and lifted mine at the same time, plunging into her in a single thrust. She threw her head back and shuddered. “I love your dick.”
“My dick loves you back.” I checked the limo’s divider to see Lovac had put it up a while ago.
This was good. As my gaze returned to her, she watched me.
I leaned in and kissed her gently. “What?” I couldn’t read her, and it had just occurred to me I was no longer mad about her bar dancing or how many men saw her panties.
I couldn’t get mad at her even if I wanted to, because…
Well, because I’d fallen for her, likely the second I watched her toes curl inside the think tank.
I kissed her again, this time with a little more force so I could express the things I couldn’t say.
She’d understand me, though. She always had.
She knew before I did we were meant for each other.
It was my thick head that couldn’t see it until today.
But better late than never. I fisted my hands at my sides and let her ride me, touching me everywhere. Her hands didn’t feel like sandpaper as they glided over my chest, then braced on my shoulders so she could fuck me and make us cum.