52
I look around and find them on the long sofa at the end of the club. Ilan is sitting in the right corner and Irena is sitting topless on his lap. Mike and Tommy are sitting next to him, holding bottles of beer. Ralph is leaning back and watching the main show and Liam is drinking from a lowball glass and lighting a cigarette. I fight my urge to run to him and throw myself into his arms.
I march forward. It feels like everyone is staring at me and I cover my face with the fan, hiding my flushed cheeks. The music is turned down and I continue marching forward on the red carpet. “The Duchess is back!” the host announces excitedly.
Liam raises his head immediately and stares at me. His eyes open wide in shock and the cigarette nearly falls out of his mouth. I smile behind my fan and my heart thumps wildly. I hear whispers to my right, and I turn my head to the side. The men sitting there fall silent.
I look back at my man. He stands up and looks at me with an awestruck expression.
Ilan pats Irena on the butt and gestures for her to leave the table. Everyone sitting near him stands up. I wave my hand in the DJ’s direction and the music is turned back up to its regular volume. I stop in front of my man’s stunned, cat-like gaze and close the fan, wrap my arms around his neck and cling to him. My fingers caress his scars and stop when they reach his lips.
“It’s Wednesday today,” I whisper and kiss his lower lip. “So, I was thinking,” I kiss his upper lip, “that my man might want to spend some time with me at the observatory’s open night at the university.”
His arms are wrapped around me and he kisses me passionately. “Are you sure you want to go out into your world looking like that?” He inspects me in astonishment, and I push him backward until he’s sitting down on the sofa. I raise my left leg and place it on the sofa between his legs. The long slit reveals the garter around my thigh, and he bites his lip when he sees the pocketknife. I pull it out and flick it open, lean forward and hold it to his neck.
“Are you ashamed of me?” I ask throatily.
He places his hand on mine, and suddenly twists it behind my back and sits me on his lap. “Ashamed?” he trails his finger down my cheek and screws up his eyes. “Try… in love, crazy… mad about my Duchess.” He grasps my head and kisses me again.
I turn to everyone else at the table. They stare at me, stunned.
“Ralph,” I laugh, “close your mouth. You never know what could get in there by mistake.” He looks at me in disgust and shuts his mouth right away. I stand up and hold onto Liam’s hand. “Come on, get up. You’re all coming with us.” I order them.
“Where to?” Ilan stands up immediately, looking amused.
“To the observatory.” I snuggle up to Liam. “Let’s see who can find some black holes.” I wink at him.
Ralph gets up. “I like holes. I don’t care what color they are.”
Tommy shrugs his shoulders indifferently. “I’m up for it.”
Only Mike scratches his head and gapes at us in bewilderment. “Wait, what? Why can’t I ever understand what you’re talking about?”
“You don’t have to,” I smile. “Your eyes will explain everything to you.”
We all walk toward the exit together and I stop and pull Liam’s hand. He turns his head toward me and smiles lovingly.
“My name’s Elena and I’m an addict,” I whisper to him.
“I love you, Elena. And I’ll never make you need to go to rehab.”
I jump on his back and we go outside to the street. A short, chubby guy takes a picture of us with his cellphone and I lean forward and kiss the most beautiful, exceptional scars I’ve ever seen in my life.