Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Ivan
It had been a week and the grannies were still putting up the appearances that they were here to see I was well fed and that I was being taken care of.
If I didn’t know any better, this was a spying attempt from either my mother or my brother Dimitri.
I just knew they couldn’t stand that I’d disappeared and didn’t call.
I felt mostly guilty about not speaking to my mother. She had always been in my corner growing up and had made sure I was kept unaware of the bloodshed our family was known for. I smiled to myself. Somehow, I still lived up to the legacy of the Cristof clan. It was funny how that worked.
I’d taken care of the mule deer easily, and whatever I couldn’t process on my own, I brought to town.
The roads were mostly drivable, and the sun was making a rare appearance.
It made me want to remind my grandmothers that they were free to leave at any time, but they would only stay longer if I pushed.
So instead, I ate the food they had delivered and listened to them talk at dinner about whatever it was they were doing back home these days.
Something about another male strip club and how they couldn’t wait to bring Dimitri’s flame with them. By the end of their little speech, they were cackling. They wanted to get under my brother’s skin, and by the sounds of it, they were successful in their due diligence.
With the roads not being blocked off, I wondered if I could sneak away for the night and go to the local ski resort.
I had a membership there, even if I didn’t care for skiing.
They had good food, and for the most part, good company when I went looking for it.
Tonight was one of those nights that I needed it.
If I didn’t get out of here before the roads were bad again, I was going to severely regret it.
I placed my fork down beside my plate and eyed the two women holding me hostage.
“How’d you know what I did for a living?”
I knew it was mostly Benson.
“Benson,” they said in unison as if it were obvious.
Thank goodness that was it. He only answered to the grannies and Dimitri.
No one else would know my secret unless Dimitri decided he wanted to share it, but he was in office and he was bloodthirsty himself…
he wouldn’t risk his political status or his demons coming out to play. I was in safe hands, for now.
“I think I’m going to go out and have a drink tonight,” I said, carefully.
They smiled, and this time it reached their eyes. “Just what we wanted to hear! You have fun!”
How was it that easy?
I knew it was better not to question and just take my freedom where I could.
I hated driving a truck. Out of all the things in this town and this place, I hated having to be confined in such a large vehicle.
I missed my motorcycle. I missed the wind around me.
I hated being trapped, but I also hated being cold, so you could guess which one won out.
It was a nice truck, as I wouldn’t be allowed in the ski resort without one.
When I came here, it was under the pretense that I was still rich or that I still cared what people thought about me and my family name.
When I came here, it was just for one thing.
Prime real estate and high-class pussy. There wasn’t much to choose from in the dive bars, and I wasn’t exactly ready to go down that rabbit hole and have to worry if I was sleeping with someone’s wife or not.
The locals around here didn’t fuck around, and the last thing I wanted to do was wake up to my house on fire…
or not wake up at all due to the house fire.
I dressed like I still belonged with these people, and I curved my lips into a smirk as I slammed my truck door closed. Squeals echoed around the lodge as I walked in, and I smiled, almost to myself.
My boots crunched on the rocks and ice as I made my way up the long drive to the wooden lodge, looming from above.
It was a gorgeous establishment with many amenities.
The old me—the innocent me—would have loved this place.
I probably would have even tried my hand at snowboarding, but that side of me was long gone.
I no longer cared about the things the rich were doing unless they were my mark.
People milled past me with their thick, designer snowsuits. Not a lick of gear in sight. These people were too rich for their gear to be carried on their own backs. They had people for that.
I ignored everyone as I made my way through the lodge and to the bar that overlooked the slopes.
I ordered a brandy neat and waited with my back to the rest of the crowd coming in from a full day of skiing, snowboarding, and probably networking.
Work didn’t tend to stop for these kinds of people. It was almost like golfing.
When my drink was finally placed in front of me, I took my time turning back to the rest of the room. There were plenty of women, that wasn’t the issue. It never was.
The issue was that I didn’t know if I actually wanted to spend a few moments with my cock buried in one of them. I heavily considered leaving as the brandy burned its way down my throat until a soft laugh drew my eye across the room.
Her dark hair was braided down over her shoulder, and her cheeks were pink with windburn.
Her snowsuit wasn’t this year's model exclusive, and her boots looked like they’d been worn a few seasons.
Even though she belonged here, judging by the women surrounding her who did wear this season’s hottest attire, she seemed like she didn’t belong at all.
She picked her bottle of water up off of the table and drank hungrily from it before her eyes finally met mine.
My lips curled slightly as her dark eyes slowly perused my body.
I could have been mistaken, but I swore her cheeks darkened further under my gaze.
One of her friends looked over her shoulder to see what she was staring at, and it took no time for her to give me the go-ahead.
Almost every single woman surrounding the one I was interested in now had their sights set on me, and they were interested.
It was like a tribe of women in heat. The woman I set my sights on seemed to notice this at the same time, and I watched as her shoulders slumped in defeat.
It didn’t matter, but for a brief moment, I wondered if she was usually passed over to one of her friends.
I downed the brandy in one gulp, tossed a hundred on the bar top, and decided it was time to make my move.