Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“Michelle, you suck,” I giggled as we made our way to the dance floor.
Fortunately, there were no little green men.
Unfortunately, there were plenty of annoying Neanderthals.
As I tried to dance with my girlfriends, one man after another sidled up behind me, bumping and grinding. So gross.
After brushing off yet another pair of sweaty hands on my hips, I gestured to Michelle and Stacey. “I’m getting a drink.”
They nodded and gave me a thumbs up.
Thank God, I’d taken a small enough hit that all I had was a mild, but still fun, buzz. Since it was already wearing off, I figured it was safe to now have my preferred party favor, an extra filthy dirty martini with blue cheese olives.
As I crossed from the dance floor toward the bar in front of the high-backed velvet lounge tables, an arm wrapped around my waist and yanked me down onto a lap.
“What the fuck?” I called out.
Some douchebag with more gel in his hair than sense licked his lips. “How about a private dance?”
Gross.
“Get off me.”
“Hey, don’t be like that, babe.”
“I’m not your babe, now get your hands off me or—”
He laughed as he tightened his grasp around my waist. “Or what?”
“Or you die,” growled a voice behind me.
Uh oh.
CHAPTER 23
VAR
If I forced Serg to deal with a fourth dead body this week, I would be the fifth.
With ripping the man’s head off and showing it to his corpse off the table, I was forced to deal with the situation in a more civilized manner.
Leaning down, I wrapped my arm around Vivian’s waist and pulled her off the should-be-a-dead-man’s lap. “I will deal with you later,” I warned as I tucked her behind me.
Before the idiot had a chance to respond, I grabbed the back of his head and slammed it forward onto the cocktail table. The loud music deprived me of hearing the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking, but the gush of blood was a decent consolation prize.
Vivian tapped me on the shoulder. “Are you really here?”
“Baby, I’m a little busy trying not to kill the man who laid hands on you. Can we discuss this later?”
She smiled as she patted my shoulder. “Oh, my God, that sounds exactly like something you would say if you were really here.”
I kept the pressure on the back of the man’s head so he couldn’t raise his torso. Scanning over the people at his table, I asked, “Are we going to have a problem?”
Two of them raised up their palms in submission and shook their heads. The third lifted his drink and toasted me. “Nah, the guy’s a dick.” He then took a swig from his drink.
I wrenched the man’s head back. As his head bobbed, he looked at me through glazed, half-lidded eyes.
“Hey, listen. This is important.” Once I slapped him, I had his attention.
“What the fuck, dude? Did you break my nose?”
Ignoring his stupid question, I said, “Here’s the thing, asshole. Only men with power, money, and balls can pull off anti-Me-too caveman shit. By the looks of it, you have none of this.”
His eyes teared. “Damn, that’s mean. By pigeonholing my existence into my economic status, you’ve hurt my feelings.”
I inhaled deeply through my nose. Fucking snowflake millennials.
Was it any wonder women were flocking to older men? They wanted a man in the bedroom and a gentleman on their arm. Someone who knew how to cage them against a wall and pick up a goddamn check.
As I was about to respond, Vivian tapped me on the shoulder again.
I turned my head. “Yes, krasivaya. How can I help you now?”
She leaned her chin against my upper arm. “Can you promise not to tell Var about this? I have this weird feeling he’d be super pissed,” she said as she threw her head back and laughed.
My baby was high as a kite.
I cupped her jaw as I leaned my forehead against her. “You’d be right, baby. He would be furious at you putting yourself in danger like this,” I responded, playing along.
She put her finger to her gorgeous matte red lips. “Then shhhh. It will be our little secret.” She then gave me an exaggerated wink.
Fuck, she was adorable.
It was hard to stay pissed at her. And until a few moments ago, I was very irrationally angry with her. The fact that I had absolutely no right to be annoyed, let alone angry at her being at a club with friends, did nothing to assuage my rising rage when I pinged her phone at the new club in Fulton Market.
She was too beautiful, too tempting, too fucking sexy to walk into a place like this without drawing male attention.
Even as a child, I’d refused to share my toys.
And I had no intention of starting now.
Vivian was mine.
Her body, her smart mouth, her gorgeous smile, the mischievous glint in her emerald eyes—it was all mine. I planned to jealously guard every bit. If I had my way, no other man would even get treated to the sound of her voice, let alone the pleasure of her company.