Chapter One #2
“Oh? Another thing for my fiancé to get jealous about,” he laughed.
“Oh, please…you called me the hottest woman in the room two minutes ago,” she retorted, gazing up at him.
“Vissarion!” a beautiful brunette called, her powder blue dress glimmering as she approached us with a big smile.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Sorry, Anya. I have to steal him for a second. These old women won’t let me breathe until they see him.”
“It’s fine,” she replied, chuckling. “But meet my best friend, Mila.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the lady rushed, turning towards me. “Great to meet you. I’m Rebecca, everyone calls me Becca.”
Oh, Becca.
Anya had told me about Vissarion’s carefree but friendly sister even though we’d never met.
“It’s good to meet you, too, Rebecca,” I answered.
“I’m Vissarion’s sister,” she added. “I’m not usually this ill-mannered, believe me.”
“My baby sister,” Vissarion clarified before I could speak.
“Whatever,” she shot back at him, taking his hand.
“We’ll meet properly later, I hope,” she told me.
“Sure,” I replied.
As the siblings left, Anya was standing next to me again.
“You’ve met Becca; Polina is next,” she said. “How come you’ve not had a drink?”
Just then, a waiter passed by and she claimed two champagne flutes from his tray, muttering a “thanks.”
As she handed me the glass, she asked, “So, what do you think so far?”
“Of the party? Or your potential in-laws?” I joked, taking a sip of the champagne.
“Everything, come on,” she pointed out, twirling the drink in her glass.
I chuckled. “It’s beautiful, even though it’s nothing like the small affair you tricked me to believing it was…”
“Tricked? I meant it! I mean, it’s only family and a few friends.”
“Oh?”
She held my questioning gaze for a few seconds before she looked away with a playful, resigned sigh. “Okay, okay, I over-simplified… it’s a Lobanov affair. But this is relatively small on the event scale, trust me.”
“I think I’m done doing that,” I answered, scrunching up my nose.
“Mila!” she uttered, laughing.
I took another sip of my drink. And then another.
And just as the rim of the glass left my lips, my eyes landed on Alexei.
But that wasn’t what made a jolt of electricity run through my spine.
It was the fact that his eyes moved from the young man he was talking to and met mine. And he didn’t look away.
“You would have started your needless worrying if I had told you, you know I’m right,” Anya went on, calling back my attention.
“The drinks have to be the best part of elaborate events, though,” I admitted, feeling Alexei’s eyes on me.
“Let’s see if you still feel that way at the end of the day.”
My eyes moved across the room before I could think about it. He was walking away from the men he’d been talking to. I watched as people instinctively made space for him, like he was a storm they could sense.
“End of the night, more appropriately put,” I corrected, not wanting my friend to catch me staring.
“Same thing,” she answered, grabbing my arm again. “Time to mingle.”
We had only walked past two or three people when Anya called, “Elena!”
“Elena? As in your Russian friend?” I asked under my breath. At the same time, the lady turned away from the young man she had been talking to and faced us.
“Hm-mm,” Anya confirmed.
“Anya! I thought I’d find you first, bride-to-be,” she remarked, pulling Anya into a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Anya said as their hug ended. “This is Mila, my best friend. We’re doing our master’s together here in New York, and she’s also freelancing on the side.” Then she turned to me, “Mila, Elena. We’ve been friends since forever. She’s an attorney.”
“Lawyer, please. Attorney sounds pretentious,” Elena joked. In a lower tone, she added, “Unless I’m in the mood to intimidate.”
Chuckling, I said, “It’s nice to meet you, Elena. I’ve heard so many good things about you.” I extended a hand for her to shake, but her arms came around me instead.
“It’s nice to finally put a face to the name, Mila,” she replied after the hug.
Her smile was real, and she seemed… grounded. Like someone who didn’t need to be anything but herself. However, her red slip dress and maroon lips highlighted the hint of power and danger beneath her smile.
She has to have Bratva ties, I’m sure.
“And I’m not even jealous she’s your best friend, and I’m not,” she told Anya, who giggled, shaking her head.
“Neither am I jealous she’s your forever friend,” I said.
“Okay, I like her,” Elena declared, taking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
Ah, I like her.
“Are you done fighting over me, then?” Anya teased.
“Mila, you’re a freelancer. I hope the American marketspace isn’t too jampacked? How has it been?” Elena inquired, her curious gaze on me.
“Jampacked is one word for it, but it has good and bad days. There are days when it looks like work won’t stop. And then, there are weeks when it’s like there’s been a ban somewhere. It gives me flexibility, just that it’s the limited kind. I can’t say I don’t like it, though.”
“Liking it is what matters the most.”
“She likes it a bit too much,” Anya chipped in.
“That makes it sweeter,” Elena practically crooned, and I chuckled, giving my best friend a half shrug.
“I bet you’re killing it as a lawyer.,” I told Elena.
“Ah, I like to think I am. Between figuring out what I want to focus on and doing the norm, it’s not kicking my ass.”
“That’s good. It gets clearer with time… sometimes,” I said, making the three of us giggle.
“Bitter truth, though,” Elena agreed before asking Anya, “Did you get Ian’s text? The sly dog.”
As they talked and giggled about a friend who clearly couldn’t make it to the party, I emptied my glass. That was when my eyes met his again.
Oh, God. Why?
We had both changed positions, so why didn’t he fix his attention on anyone or anything else?
The vibration I felt along my spine made me wonder if he felt anything, too. I blinked but couldn’t look away. His eyes didn’t move either. His gaze was steady, like he was doing the most ordinary thing.
Maybe he’s just trying to remember where he met me.
Maybe I just look familiar, and he doesn’t remember me as his sister’s friend?
But the heat in his expression told me that wasn’t it at all.
“Mila!” Anya’s voice forced my gaze off the man across the room.
“Sorry, what?”
“I was saying we should circle back before either of us leaves, yeah?” Elena said.
“Yeah, absolutely.”
“It was lovely meeting you, Mila.”
“Same here.”
As Elena left, I turned to Anya. “I like her.”
“Really? So soon?”
“Yeah,” I answered, chuckling.
“She clearly likes you, too.”
“Is that you, Mila?”
Anya and I looked to the side to see the owner of the voice.
It was Roman Lobanov.
“Roman, you know Mila?”
“Mr. Roman. It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s great to see you, too,” he answered, turning to Anya as he said, “I know her. Mila’s brains have helped me out with the business before. She worked with Konstantin, too.”
“Oh, wow,” Anya uttered. “When she was still an accountant?”
He responded with a nod.
“And here I was thinking I’d be introducing my best friend to you all,” she uttered.
“That’s not something to sulk over. You can still introduce her to the others,” he pointed out, his smile charming as ever. Then he asked me, “You’re no longer in auditing?”
“Done with it. I’m currently pursuing a Master's of Psychology.”
“I’m sure you’ll be great at that, too.”
“Thank you.”
“Even Konstantin will be surprised when I tell him you were here. He would have been here, but he’s out of the country with his family.”
“I would have loved to see Alina. I hope she attends the wedding,” I said.
“She’s attending. She has no choice,” Anya disclosed.
“That’s settled, then,” Roman uttered. “Make yourself at home, Mila.”
“Thank you.”
“I know you told me you’ve worked at one of the Lobanov’s clubs as a forensic accountant, but you didn’t say you knew Roman. And Konstantin. You’ve been holding out on me, girl,” Anya accused, squinting her eyes in mock suspicion.
“He was in charge of the club. I didn’t know him personally, only professionally. Same with Mr. Konstantin… it’s just that his wife was an old friend.”
“Don’t tell me you’re my best friend while she’s your best friend.”
“Anya! Can you calm down?” I inquired, chuckling. “I’ve not spoken with Alina in a long while.”
“O…kay.”
“If it’s not the latest bride-to-be,” a tall, lanky guy with black locks and a small smile came towards us.
“I need to take a break, bride-to-be,” I told her, slinking away before she could voice her protest.
I kept walking until I got out onto the rear corridor. The cool evening breeze made me sigh in relief. The sound was somehow muted, and the darkness made me feel more alone and less watched. The city stretched out beneath the night sky, glittering and distant.
“Oh, God,” I breathed, grabbing the cool steel railing with both hands on either side of my waist.
I closed my eyes and took in another deep breath, and that was when I sensed him. I threw my eyes open but didn’t turn around as the scent of his cologne filled my lungs.
“Alexei,” I whispered.
Even though I hadn’t seen him yet, I felt him as he approached.
“You shouldn’t stand out here alone,” he murmured, his voice like silk but wrapped around steel.
I turned around to face him, and he held my gaze, his left hand resting casually in his pocket.
“Social battery is drained, I guess,” I said, chuckling.
Best thing to say, smartie.
When he didn’t say anything, I went on, “Not a real battery. It’s just a term. Like, the social part of me is tired and needs recharging.”
“Hm,” he muttered, standing in front of me with his eyes locked on my face. He didn’t even touch me, yet it felt like he was holding me. I was suddenly feeling exposed, and heat crept up my skin as he just stood there like he had nothing better to do.
“I bet you’re happy Anya is about to get married. She’s your only sister, after all,” I remarked, desperate to fill the silence.
“I am.”
Does he have something against full sentences? God!
“I mean, you’ll miss her, but it’s inevitable,” I said. “It’s a good thing.”
He nodded.
“It’ll take some adjusting for Anya, too. Leaving this house and all,” I went on.
Another nod.
And then he started moving again, making my heart speed up within my chest. I swallowed, my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth as he slowly closed the distance between us. I instinctively took a step away and my back touched the wall.
He didn’t stop moving until I had nowhere to turn or run to.
I looked up and his hazel eyes burned into mine.
His lips touched mine before I could blink or think.
It wasn’t a tentative kiss in any sense; it was claiming.
His lips moved over mine like it wasn’t the first time.
I couldn’t help but kiss him back. I felt his left hand on my waist as his hard body pressed against mine, his other hand held the side of my face.
He nipped my bottom lip, and I let out a soft moan, granting his tongue access.
If I was hot before, I was close to combusting as his tongue danced along with mine, urgency and fervor in every lustful stroke.
As I ended the kiss out of breath, I was grateful that a wall was behind me. Else, he would have noticed that the kiss left me dizzy.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice even deeper than I remembered.
Fuck, he’s sexy.
I looked up and those darkened orbs gazed into mine, searching. I didn’t know what to say. I doubted if I could even form coherent thoughts without rambling like I did before.
“Yeah, I’m—”
My words died on my tongue as a flash of reddish yellow filled the sky.
The thunderous boom that accompanied the light told me I wasn’t seeing things.
The sound of screams and shattering glass surrounded me, the blaring alarms adding to the sense of danger in the air.
I could hear the echo of relentless gunshots and the scrape of chairs as people scrambled around the ballroom.
Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm. I looked up from the steely grip to see a masked man. He yanked me forward before I could think or understand what was going on. My heart slammed into my ribs when he pulled me to the edge of the balcony.
Then I was pulled backwards suddenly as the man was shoved. By Alexei.
He delivered a blow to the masked man’s neck, making him release his hold on me. Alexei’s movements were swift and precise, his eyes deadly. He slammed the man against the wall and snapped his head in one fast motion.
I felt the warmth before seeing the blood that spattered the side of my dress.
“Stay with me,” he ordered, his voice void of softness.
I nodded up at him.
Shielding my body with his, he led me through smoke and screams, down a short hallway.
“Anya… ” I whispered.
“It’s fine,” he answered.
Not until we were outside, surrounded by armed soldiers, who were clearly Lobanov men, did I realize what was going on.
This isn’t a random attack.
If it were, they would have grabbed any of the Lobanov brothers or the couple we were gathered to celebrate. But the masked men came for me. They grabbed me.
They aren’t here for them.
They’re here for me.
And that led me to an even more chilling question.
Why?