Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“No thanks needed. I didn’t do anything.” I’m not lying. I didn’t. Millie put the steps into play. She just used my name to get Tyler over the fence. “Why don’t you give them to Yev now?” As I nudge my head to the door, Saka enters it. His ruffled expression exposes he needs time to gather his thoughts after what must have been an intense phone call. “I’ll ask Saka to take you.”
“No. It’s fine. I don’t want to be a bother.”
“It’s not a bother,” I assure Polina while spinning her and marching her to the door. “Polina needs a ride to Yev’s apartment building.”
Saka shocks me by not snapping out an instant denial. “That’s the building Alek owns, right?”
“Yes,” Polina answers, adding a verbal reply to my nonverbal response.
My eyes shoot to Saka when he replies, “Okay.” He returns my stare for barely a second before he checks, “Will you wait here for me to collect you? Or shall I wait for you at home?”
I’m so stunned it takes a mammoth effort to reply. “I’ll wait for you here.”
“Okay. I should be back in around an hour.”
I’m left open-mouthed when he gestures for Polina to lead the way before following her outside. He usually gives me an hour-long lecture about staying put before leaving me for a rushed bathroom break. The first time I asked him to be Polina’s chauffeur, his lecture lasted two hours.
Jax scares the living daylights out of me when he sneaks up on me. “Is she the roomie he’s been sneaking around with?” When my eyes dart to his and he spots their narrowed appearance, he waves his hand to the bar. “I just overheard a rumor. I didn’t realize you were unaware.”
“You shouldn’t believe gossip, Jax.”
“But is it gossip?” he asks, following me to the bar, sashaying his hips as much as I do.
When Tyler spots my return, he disses the client he’s helping to place my favorite cocktail in front of me. As he dries his hands on a tea towel, he asks, “Everything okay? You look a little ruffled.”
“Yeah. It’s just been a long week.” While digging through my purse for some bills, I ask, “How much do I owe you?”
I look up at him when he replies, “Nothing. Your drinks are on the house.” He takes a moment to relish my flushed cheeks since he has no idea they’re caused by fear. “But perhaps I could get your actual number this time around?” He slings his eyes to Jax. “No offense.”
“None was taken,” Jax replies. “If she had a dick, I’d be interested in her too.”
With a chuckle that could tingle any girl’s insides, Tyler returns his focus to me. “So, what do you say, Nat? Are you willing to give this lovesick fool a chance?”
All the women circling us call me an idiot when I reply, “We’ll see.”
It’s easy for them to respond that way. They don’t have the deadly glare of a god burning up their panties, and a warning ringing in their ears that only an insane woman could ignore.
Tyler grabs at his chest before hitting me with a playful wink. “It wasn’t a no. I can work with that.”
When he moves down the bar to serve other patrons, I collect my drink, then spin to seek a suitable spot to cool the inferno blazing through me. Tyler’s hope isn’t charring me from the inside out. It is Matvei’s watch that grows more heated the longer I seek anything but his narrowed gaze.
There’s no chance to douse the flames when, a couple of seconds later, a hand flattens on the lower half of my back to guide me to the VIP booths. It isn’t a stranger who’s about to lose their hand, since the zap that rips through me from the briefest touch announces it comes from Matvei. But how will I bring the flames under control when he’s barely an inch away from me?
His voice is as hot as lava when he cranks his neck back to the bar and instructs, “Have the rest of her order delivered to my booth.”
With his brows pulled together in suspicion, Tyler angles up his chin to Matvei’s snapped command before watching him guide me across the happening space.
Jax is the last man I’d call in an emergency. A second after collecting his mouth off the floor, he shadows our walk to the booth, then slots in next to me like we’re joined at the hip. “You have the envy of every woman in the room,” he announces, loving the attention.
Hopeful he’ll see the other side of the coin, I murmur, “And their hatred.”
I agree with him when he whispers, “Better than their pity.”
Jax is sitting so close to me he’d have to feel the shiver that runs down my spine when Matvei places his hand on my thigh. My skirt’s hem is more modest than the dress I wore during our “date,” but my body acts as if I’m naked.