Chapter Thirty-Eight
There are many upsides to travelling with a billionaire who owns his own private jet, one of which is avoiding passing through the main airport. Reggie drove the SUV up to the exclusive entrance, which was reserved for those who own their own planes and for high-status clientele such as celebrities and government officials.
Aliannah sat up fully and watched through the SUV's window, hoping to see someone famous. Jason Momoa? Johnny Depp? Margot Robbie? She was like a meerkat on high alert.
“Darling, would you relax?” Ivan laughed; Aliannah nudged him in the ribs.
“You never know who could be flying from this terminal; us ‘normal’ folk never get to see this bit.” She continued her watch. Much to her disappointment, she did not see anyone, much to her disappointment, as Reggie pulled up on the tarmac near the jet.
“You are not ‘normal folk’ as you called it. You are my fiancée, so you better get used to this way of life, darling.” Ivan kissed the back of her hand before exiting the car. Aliannah took one last look around at the bottom of the steps to the jet, and Ivan stood at the top, shaking his head and laughing.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Aliannah pouted as she climbed the steps. In an act of defiance, she purposely chose the seat furthest away from Ivan and continued her observations out of the window. Ivan’s shoulders shook from the laughter he was trying to hold back.
The cabin crew completed their final preparations before closing the door and buckled their seats in the crew area for take-off. It was not long before they were up in the air without a hitch. Aliannah was too busy watching the outside world disappear below her to notice that the crew had closed the curtain to their station or that Ivan had left his seat.
“Don’t be mad at me, darling.” Ivan knelt before her, resting his hands on her thighs. Aliannah would not look at him; she was annoyed with how he had made her feel. Ivan began to massage her thighs. He bowed his head and placed a kiss on each thigh. Aliannah felt a sensation deep inside her beginning to spread; she cursed herself for choosing a short dress to travel in.
Ivan began kissing higher on her thighs; he hooked her legs over his shoulders and pulled her towards him. Aliannah let out a squeak as she was pulled down the chair. Ivan continued his motions, higher and higher up her thighs. He stroked her over her thong; she was soaked through already. Aliannah squirmed, needing more friction. Ivan pulled her thong aside and worshipped her. Aliannah breathed a sigh of pleasure as Ivan worked. The pressure was building inside of her. He placed one hand on her lower stomach while the other joined his worship. She began to buck her hips as the pressure peaked; Ivan held her firm. Aliannah bit down on her lip as she exploded. She tried so hard not to make a sound, knowing the crew were ten feet away. Ivan kept working as she rode out wave after wave of pleasure. He sat back on his heels when she was done, wiping his mouth with his fingers and licking the last of her juices off them.
“Feeling better now, darling?” He winked at her before taking the seat next to her. Aliannah was speechless. “Welcome to the mile-high club,” Ivan teased.
Aliannah turned bright red. She tried to straighten herself up as the crew began the meal service but she was soaked. There was no comfortable way she could stay like this. She excused herself to the bedroom at the back and changed into black linen trousers and a white blouse for the remainder of the trip. Ivan pulled out his laptop to deal with work, and Aliannah put on a movie and fell asleep beside him. Every so often, Ivan would reach out and rub her leg in a comforting way as she slept.
“Darling, we’re home.” Ivan gently woke her as the crew prepared to land. Aliannah smiled as she looked out to see a sunny New York coming into view below her. She was excited for the whirlwind to come, which was the next few weeks, as they pulled this wedding together between them. She held Ivan’s hand as the jet came in to land.
When they stepped off the jet, they were swarmed by paparazzi.
“Mr Kozlov, can you tell us more about your fiancée”
“Mr Kozlov, where did you meet this lovely lady?”
“Mr Kozlov, when will the wedding take place?”
Ivan put his hand up in refusal to speak and led Aliannah to the SUV where Lorenzo was waiting for them. He moved to stand behind Aliannah so she could enter first. Lorenzo shut the door when Ivan got in. Aliannah let out a breath.
“That was intense!” she pushed her hair from her face.
“The media will escalate this to no end…. I will have extra security posted at our building, and you will have a security guard with you at all times.” Ivan pulled out his phone to text Igor.
“Ivan, seriously? My work?” Aliannah raised her brows.
“Yes, Aliannah, that circus was nothing compared to the lengths they will go to for answers and gossip. I don’t give a fuck what your boss says. You will have one of my guys with you at all times. Your safety is paramount. I will not accept any compromise.” Ivan abandoned his text and called Igor.
He spoke in Russian in what Aliannah thought was a very aggressive manner; he seemed spooked, too. The fact Ivan had used her name and not Darling made it clear to her how serious this was. He never calls her by her name, ever. Aliannah sat back in her seat and didn’t speak for the rest of the journey home. Ivan made several calls, some in English and some in Russian. Aliannah gathered from the English portions that he was arranging security sweeps of their building and posting his guys, who would cover and when.
“Hello! How was your trip? I hear congratulations are in order; it is all over the newspapers,” Harry greeted them as they entered the building. He held up a tabloid, Ivan’s photo splashed across the front page. ‘Europe’s most eligible bachelor is off the market’.
“You really should choose a better paper, Harry. Trash is trash.” Ivan rolled his eyes, took Aliannah's hand, and continued to the elevator. Aliannah looked over her shoulder and mouthed an apology to Harry.
When they entered, two of Ivan’s men were waiting in the penthouse. Ivan looked at both of them.
“Sir, the place is clean; we did a thorough sweep,” one of the men spoke. Ivan nodded before heading to the office; the men brought the cases to the dressing room before taking positions at the entrance. Aliannah had never seen Ivan so worked up before.
Gilda was in the kitchen. “Miss, Can I prepare a grilled cheese for you?” Aliannah smiled and accepted the offer. It had been so long since she had one of Gilda’s grilled cheese sandwiches. Aliannah plopped into a seat at the dining table while she waited and texted Michelle to let her know she was back and to come over.
Aliannah was unpacking her cases when she heard a disturbance coming from the hallway.
“You can’t be here; how did you get up here?” the man shouted.
“Who the hell are you? Where is Ali?" Michelle fired back, “Don’t you dare touch me asshole!”
Aliannah smiled as she walked out into the hallway.
“Ali! Who is this goon?” Michelle was fuming as the man tried to guide her back to the elevators.
“Boys, it’s ok, this is Michelle, my best friend. I invited her to come,” Aliannah motioned for them to let Michelle by. They refused to move. She raised a brow as one spoke to his radio. A door to the left burst open as Ivan stormed out.
“What is going on out here?”
“Sir, she doesn’t have the authorisation,” the man spoke firmly. Aliannah rolled her eyes. If this is what life would become, things would have to change. This guy was taking his role too seriously.
“Did you not hear my fiancée? She told you who this woman is. Her word is as good as mine. You will respect her as such and listen to her.” Ivan raised a brow, “If you do not agree to this, then I will assign you both to a different post.”
The two men shuffled their apologies and let Michelle pass before returning to their posts. Michelle humphed and held her chin high, strutting towards Aliannah in a told-you-so fashion. Ivan looked to the men once more before returning to his office. Aliannah linked Michelle’s arm and brought her into the dressing room.
“What’s with those guys?” Michelle quizzed.
Aliannah filled her in about the paparazzi swarm at the airport and how Ivan is on edge for an escalation. Michelle nodded. It was logical to ramp up the security, but Aliannah hoped that Ivan would talk to the rest of the guys about this macho-man behaviour.
“I think we should head out tonight,” Michelle piped up.
“I just got off a nine-hour flight. Are you mad?” Aliannah threw a bunched-up T-shirt at her.
“We never got to celebrate your birthday girl! We could go to Zino’s,” Michelle through the T-shirt back.
Aliannah froze. She had not been on a night out since Halloween, and she had not even driven by Zino’s since that night. She did not know if she could face going back there.
“Gavin is on the door tonight. Bring Ivan and fill the venue with every goon he’s got if that’s what you need, but we are going dancing.” Michelle began going through Aliannah's wardrobe for options.
“Mich…. I don’t know…” Aliannah fidgeted with her ring.
“Mr Manning has put in all new security systems, and I think it’s the one Ivan told him to get. There is also a new strict ID policy, and he has doubled his interior security guards. Come on, Ali… you need to get back out and live a little” Michelle held up a dress in front of the mirror.
Aliannah didn’t speak. She was torn. She wanted to go dancing, but going back to Zino’s would be hard.
“Look, if it gets too much for you, we can always leave and come back here?” Michelle’s voice held a note of promise.
Aliannah sighed and agreed to go; she knew Michelle would be like a dog with a bone until she agreed to go. She picked up her phone to text Ivan.
Hey, sorry. I know you are busy in a meeting right now. We are going to Zino’s tonight for my birthday. How many of your guys can come with you?
On the one hand, she expected Ivan to fly off the handle since he was so on edge being back in New York after what had happened, but on the other hand, she hoped he would be calmer since she had asked for his protection. She bit her lip as she watched her phone screen. A few minutes passed.
*PING*
I will arrange the guys, don’t worry. I can’t wait to dance with you , darling.
Aliannah let out a breath. That went a hell of a lot better than she thought it would. She looked at Michelle and smiled.
“Ivan’s gonna sort the security team.”
“See! Sorted! You will be safe. No more bears,” Michelle winked at her. Aliannah’s jaw dropped.
A few hours later, they were ready to go. Ivan looked at Aliannah with hungry eyes. She wore a black mini dress with strappy heels.
“Down, boy,” Michelle teased.
As they got out of the car at Zino’s, Aliannah was surprised to see ten men standing away from the queue and monitoring it. These men looked serious. The touch-her-and-die type of serious, and they were packing too. Aliannah could make out the holsters on a few of them. She swallowed hard. She stepped closer to Ivan.
“Is this really necessary?” she whispered in his ear while looking towards his men.
“I would do anything to keep you safe, darling.” He kissed her cheek.
They entered the club and found Gavin on duty at the VIP booth.
“Mr Manning stationed me here when he heard you were coming in.” He smiled and kissed Michelle before hugging Aliannah.
Aliannah stood in the booth for a few moments, just looking around the club. It was packed as usual; the only difference was the very obvious presence of security guards now. She began to clam up, her heart rate increasing, and her breathing becoming shallow. The memories started taking over her mind as she surveyed the club. She jumped as Ivan wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“It’s okay, darling; it’s just me.” He began moving their bodies to the music, and he kissed her neck. Aliannah was as rigid as an ironing board. He turned her to face him and placed her arms around his neck.
“Hold on, darling, it’s just you and me; forget the rest.”
Aliannah began to loosen up; she soon forgot about the world around them. The music pulsed as they moved in perfect harmony. The flashing lights and distant whoops from the crowd on the main floor added to the euphoria. She laughed as he twirled her around and dropped her into a cinematic dip kiss.
As the night wore on, Aliannah regained her confidence and even dared to venture out on the main floor. It felt good to be back. She let the music take over her body and moved to the beat. Ivan, surprisingly, was a good dancer. She wondered: Is there anything this man is not good at? The DJ played hit after hit as she danced all night long. She had truly forgotten how good it felt to be one with the music.
She eventually surrendered to dehydration from all the dancing and returned to the VIP booth. The bottle service brought over some drinks for them. Ivan insisted on taste-testing Aliannah's drink first to be sure it was not contaminated. He handed it to her once he was sure. She was glad to have so many goons surrounding the booth. It provided the safety net she needed.
Aliannah was unsure if she would ever feel 100% safe again on a night out, but she felt protected tonight. As the night drew to a close, Gavin approached them.
“You will need to leave through the side door; the paparazzi have set up outside the main door.” A chill ran down Aliannah's spine as Gavin spoke.
“Everything will be fine, darling.” Ivan reached for her hand and squeezed it. She trusted him completely as she surveyed the floor once more. She noticed the security guards near the door were starting to gather. She swallowed hard.
“Now!” Gavin ordered as shouting began at the entrance. Gavin led the way, Michelle and Aliannah followed, with Ivan right behind. Lorenzo had reversed the SUV down the alleyway so they could jump straight in without being seen. Aliannah, Michelle and Ivan jumped in, but Gavin did not. Michelle looked to Gavin for answers.
“I can’t, babe. I’m working. Go to Ali’s. I will meet you there later.” Gavin’s eyes were laced with torment. It was clear to everyone that he did not want to stay behind.
“I’ve got them covered.” Ivan nodded to Gavin. He nodded back before shutting the door to the SUV.