FOUR
“ Let ’ s go get you cleaned up,” Courtney says and leads me to the bathroom.
The music dampens behind the door though the mirrors still vibrate my own reflection. The smooth, silky hair I entered the club with is now matted to one side while the other is frizzy and unkempt. Dirt sprinkles my cheeks like freckles, and there’s a distinct smudge in my lipstick.
“You all right?” she asks, handing me paper towels from the dispenser near the sink.
“Kind of. Maybe. I don’t know, Court. We should probably just head home,” I sigh more than say. Truth is, I don’t know how to feel right now. What Nik did was horrible, but somehow felt justified … in a sick way. You heard your cow , the man’s words stung, sure, but hurt no more than being shoved to the ground or the embarrassment of lying there in front of the club. In front of Nik.
Courtney shakes her head and closes the distance between us. “Nat.” She puts a hand on each of my shoulders. “That gorgeous man just beat the shit out of a guy that assaulted you and had the audacity to act like it was your fault. You should be getting him a fucking medal, not questioning whether or not you should run out on him.”
“I know, I know. But isn’t what he did kind of dangerous?” I ask, gnawing at my lip.
She gives a single laugh and her face draws serious. “It was absolutely dangerous. Dangerous for you because now every woman in that club would like nothing more than Mr. Vostik pinning them over the bar next.” Courtney winks and I fucking despise her for it.
I smirk and throw a wad of napkins at her. “What about Wiktor?” My imitation of his voice isn’t a great impression, but still fun to say, nonetheless.
Courtney glances at herself in the mirror, ensuring not a single hair is out of place. “Eh, I haven’t decided yet. He’s cute, sure. A bit bulky for my taste.”
Menacing is more like it. I don’t know what it is, but every time he looks at me, there’s something sadistic in his gray eyes. And when he watched Nik at the bar, the large man struggling under his firm hold, he didn’t look shocked like the rest of us. Viktor seemed to be enjoying it.
“I know you, Natalie. And you’re going to do whatever you can to talk yourself out of this. Out of Nik. He’s attractive, well-off, and obviously very into you. Stop overthinking it.”
She’s right. I fucking hate that she is, but I can’t lie to myself. If anyone would know how I’d be looking for an exit strategy, it would be the friend I’ve had since high school. Well, my only real friend, come to think of it. Am I overreacting about Nik? Possibly. He’s been nothing besides charming and protective. Women would create a bigger line than the one Volk has every night to have him buy them a drink. And for some reason or another, I’m the one he wants here.
“Okay,” I finally say.
“Okay?” Courtney squeals and shakes my shoulders. “Good, because it’s about time you were properly fucked, and something tells me Nicky likes it rough.” A devilish grin emerges on her face.
Blush creeps to my cheeks along with immediate regret. “I hate you,” I say, brushing off my dress and smoothing it down my thighs.
“No you don’t,” she says, then adds a familiar accent to her voice. “ Natalia. ”
*
Alek is wiping down the bar when we re-enter, a large rag in his hand soaked in what surely is the well vodka still dripping on vacant stools. Nik and Viktor have their backs to us as we approach, and despite not knowing what the hell they’re saying, it doesn’t sound good. They might be fighting about something. The club getting sued for what he did to that guy? I have no idea, but if I had to guess, they’re only moments away from trading fists with each other. Viktor peers over at me in annoyance and nods to Nik. When he turns, the anger seemingly vanishes from his face, leaving only softness in his glowing eyes to return.
“Natalia,” he says and gestures his palm in my direction.
When I take it, he pulls me close to him. The scent of cedar swirls around me, and despite my best efforts, I can do little else than peer up at him anxiously.
“I was starting to get worried. Are you hurt?” There’s a gentle rasp in his throat, a stark contrast to the anger filling his voice not only during the scuffle, but when he and Viktor were deep in discussion. About what still has me gnawing the inside of my cheeks. If they were talking about me, what did I do to cause so much tension between them?
I smile wanly and curl a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m fine. That was … well, a lot.”
Nik places a palm on each side of my waist, centering our bodies and ensuring I have nowhere else to look but him. Not that I could, even if I wanted to. Christ, his touch is like needles piercing every inch of my skin. The sensation burns hot under each of his fingertips, and when he closes the distance between us, I feel my lungs deflate inch by suffocating inch. “I’m sorry for my outburst. I should’ve let the bouncers handle him. That’s what I pay them to do.”
“It’s fine—”
He shakes his head and cuts me off, his long hair swaying over his broad shoulders. “No, it’s not fine. The last thing I’d ever want to do is scare you.”
I swallow hard and look up at him. “You don’t.” I’m not even sure if I believe it. Does he scare me? Maybe. Maybe he scares me because he’s handsome, successful, and a few inches from my face, his minty breath kissing my lips. Maybe it’s because he checks all the boxes and then some. It could be the way he stares at me with those glowing eyes, and not through me, the way everyone else has my entire life. He does scare me, and not because some asshole had a big dose of Nikolai Vostik Karma coming. Nik scares me in all the right ways.
His eyebrows knit together. “I—I don’t?”
I wrap my arms around his neck. “No, Nik. You don’t scare me.”
A smile spreads wide on his face. “Good. And about the vodka,” he says and waves his arm to the floor collecting the well vodka. Then, he brings his lips to my ear. “It isn’t flammable. But he didn’t know that.”
Relief settles in my rib cage. It was a bluff. He was tricking that guy the whole time, tricking all of us really. The lighter would’ve done little else than leave a nasty burn mark on his face. How the hell could I believe he would seriously set a person on fire in the middle of a packed club? I shake my head and ignore the conclusions I practically leapt to. Courtney is right. All I’m doing right now is looking for new ways to talk myself out of this. Maybe it’s time to finally tell the little voice in my head to get in the backseat. But then again, maybe I’m letting this man steer my car off a cliff.
“How about another drink for our new friends, brother?” Viktor interrupts, taking a tentative step forward.
Nik runs his teeth to his lower lip. “Excellent suggestion.” He turns toward the bar, his hands staying firm on my hips. “Alek. Napitki .”
The bartender nods and pulls a bottle from the middle of the shelf. When he points the bottle neck in Viktor’s direction, the large brother snatches it with irritation.
Nik releases me, and although his hands are no longer on my side, the spots still burn hot, radiating the heat from his fingertips. Courtney gives me a flirty grin and follows behind him to the front of the bar. The idea pounding at the back of my head is almost in beat with the club music. This man will be the death of me.
A shot glass is given to each of us, and when Nik extends one to Viktor, his menacing appearance returns in spades. Something has crawled up his ass and obviously put a serious strain on his social skills. His bowling ball shoulders are no longer relaxed but stiffened and flexed. His smile, if you could indeed call a snarl a smile, is small and tight. He glances between Courtney and Nik, and for a brief moment, he shifts his focus to me. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but with a sinister grin like that? It can’t be good.
Nik clinks his glass with mine and winks. In one fell swoop, he downs the entire shot, not a muscle or fiber of his face flinching at the burn sure to be careening down his throat. I follow suit and my reaction is, well, quite the opposite. It’s like someone lit a fire on my tongue, and the only way to put the damn thing out is the heavy saliva filling my cheeks. Oh, no. No, this isn’t happening. I try to swallow down what I can but the nausea comes back tenfold. Of fucking course I’m on the verge of puking now. First, I get knocked to the floor, and now I’m about to redecorate Nik’s club with my insides.
I manage to keep most of the vodka in my mouth while a small dribble glides down my chin. Breathe. In and out. Just breathe. It helps but doesn’t do anything to unclench my tightened face.
Nik lifts his hand to my chin and catches the small drops before they trickle downward. “You must be careful with this drink,” he says, and sucks the alcohol off his thumb. “It’s very strong.”
Fuck me. I wasn’t wrong before. He really is going to be the death of me. How did Natalie die? Well, she went into cardiac arrest at a club playing some remixed version of Taylor Swift. Why must everything this man does stir something inside me? It’s like all of my organs have been pushed aside to make room in my body for incredible lust. There’s a need, no, a desire for his hands to return to their rightful place. My hips. For his eyes to always stay trained on mine. His lips, those soft, full lips to brush against my ear when his secrets are for me and me alone.
“It’s not that bad,” I lie, the sour expression on my face a dead giveaway.
Nik smirks and more heat floods my cheeks. Fuck, I hate what that smirk does to me. “It also tastes like shit. I’m not sure why we keep it in stock.”
“Because Father would go apeshit if we didn’t,” Viktor interrupts and throws back his shot. He, just as Courtney and Nik, also shoot the alcohol with ease. Apparently, my tolerance is the weakest of the bunch.
I right myself and stare up at him. “Why would your dad care what you serve at your club?”
Nik reaches for the bottle standing alone among the empty shot glasses and spins it around until the label faces us. Small swirls decorate each side, surrounding letters I can only imagine are Russian. The brand name, however, is distinct and familiar. Vostik.
“It’s been in our family for a long time. How we were able to afford—” He pauses and waves his hands around the club. “This.”
There’s something else on the bottle that catches my attention. Just below Vostik is a symbol I’ve seen before. On the bouncer out front, the bartender I only know as Alek, and on Nikolai’s wrist and Viktor’s head. The moon. “And that?”
Nik grins once more. “Also in the family a long time.” He leaves it at that.
Viktor leans over the bar, his impressive stature blinding the bottles and lights behind it. “She’s a curious one, brother,” he says, pouring himself another shot and slamming it.
Nik continues to stare at me despite the irritation in Viktor’s voice. “I know. I like that.”
Blood heats my face and erratic heartbeats slam in my chest. He leans in closer, close enough that the warmth of his body seemingly wraps around mine.
“Tell me, Natalia,” he says, the gravel in his voice as rough as sandpaper. “What else do you want to know?”
Everything. No, Natalie, play it cool. Nothing. You couldn’t care less how he became who he is. His life before he owned this club. Nothing. There is nothing you are interested in knowing. Nothing , I scream at myself.
“Nat,” Courtney says from behind us, her voice wavering. “I—I don’t feel so—”
I turn to see her bright green eyes close as her body flops forward, like all of her bones have magically been sucked out of her body. Everything from Courtney’s neck to her arms go limp, the way a dead fish will still sway in the current of a river. Viktor takes a tentative step backward, while Nik, only mere inches from me, lunges forward and catches her head on a collision course for the floor. He scoops her up and stands, her arms and legs dangling lifelessly.
“Courtney!” I shout above the gasps from those around the bar.
Nik brings his ear to her mouth. “She’s still breathing. Maybe a few too many,” he says and chuckles. For the smallest of moments between frightened glances at my friend and Nik, I swear at one point he snarls in his brother’s direction. Not just with his eyes or mouth. But … the sound is coming from his chest.
“I think you’ve both had enough excitement for one night, yes?” Another laugh, this time missing the sound of a car’s engine growling beneath his partially buttoned shirt.
“I’ll get us an Uber,” I say and start for the front doors.
“ Nyet ,” Nik says and moves behind me, carrying Courtney with ease. “No. My driver will take you home.”
Bouncers open the doors for us and clear a path of those outside waiting their turn to get in. The line still seems to go as far back as I can see, and while some are on their phones or too busy talking to each other, most watch me lead Nik to the sidewalk carrying Courtney’s limp body.
“Dimitri,” he says to the biggest bouncer out front. “Get me a car.”
The bald man nods and says something while cupping his earpiece. When I pass the bouncer there’s an odd expression on his face. Not annoyance like Viktor was proud to show me. Beneath his stern almost angry features, there was something different. It kind of looks like … relief.
Tires screech a few blocks over. Under the flickering streetlights, a black sedan comes into view, racing toward the entrance of Volk. Smoke billows behind it when it stops along the curb, swirling gray clouds into the crisp winter air. A small man with urgency in his eyes steps out from the driver’s side and runs to open the backseat for Nik. Next he opens the passenger door. If I had to guess, he has a tattoo somewhere on his body as well, but right now, I’m more concerned with getting Courtney back to my apartment. She can sleep off the Vostik in my bed, and me, well, I’ll just spend the rest of the night swimming in it from my couch. At least, swimming in the thought of him. Wondering how the rest of our interrupted conversation would’ve gone. I blew it. My one shot with the man lowering my friend to the backseat of his Mercedes, is over.
Nik closes the rear door, careful not to clip Courtney’s foot. “Yuri. Get these girls home safe, yeah?”
The driver nods and takes his spot behind the wheel. When he does, Nik finally turns toward me. I stand there in the cold, trying to look anywhere but him. Embarrassment creeps up my thighs and forearms, leaving gooseflesh on the parts my dress doesn’t cover.
Fuck.
This was supposed to be my night. My one chance for things to, I don’t know, go right in my life for once. And now, here I am, on the verge of tears, too ashamed to even look in his direction.
“Yuri will take you wherever you need to go,” Nik says and stands in front of me, his shadow large enough to block out the city lights.
I shake my head and force back the tears biting at my eyes. “I’m sorry, Nik.”
Lifting his hand to my chin, he tilts my head upward until our eyes meet. Even at war with the glow of skyscrapers shining down from the heavens to the LA streets, his eyes are still brighter. Beautiful even.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He brushes the hair from my face and behind my ear. Our lips are inches away from each other, and I can taste the tang of vodka on his breath. “I should be the one apologizing.”
Apologizing? Him? He wasn’t the one who pushed me to the ground, asked questions that were none of his business or caused issues for his family or club. Why in the hell would he apologize?
“You? Why would you apologize?”
Nik flashes the signature grin that will surely haunt me for the remainder of the night. “Because I didn’t do this sooner.” He brings his palm to the back of my neck, slowly bringing me closer to him. Everything around us fades to static. The car’s low rumble. The chattering coming from the sidewalk. The muffled music of the club. All of it is white noise when our lips are on the verge of colliding.
“Nikolai.”
He stops short and lowers his head in a huff. “Da?”
Dimitri places an arm on his shoulder apprehensively. “Viktor says he needs to see you. That it’s urgent.”
Nik sighs and rubs his thumb on my cheek. “Little brothers,” he says and shakes his head. The scent of him fills the air, replacing the smell of soon to be wet pavement and the rains looming overhead. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
I bite at my bottom lip, the same spot his mouth should be right now. “I’m—I’m not sure.”
He continues to stare at me, his eyes unyielding. “Come. I promise to make it worth your while.”
“Okay,” I finally say and nod.
“Okay.” He stands upright, smooths his shirt down each strong arm, and takes my hand in his. When Nikolai Vostik kisses it, fires erupt in my palm like an explosion will start at each knuckle and work its way up my wrist. “I will see you tomorrow, Natalia.”
With that, he follows Dimitri to the front of Volk, and as I plop down in the seat of the black sedan, I stare out the passenger window waiting for him to look back.