AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My stomach flutters when he calls me that, and I smile at him, hearts in my eyes, I’m sure. “I know.”
“Alright, enough with the lovey eyes,” Dmitri says, not even looking at us. “Let’s get fucking drunk already.” He looks pointedly at Annie, who proceeds to smirk.
“And what makes you think we want to get drunk with you?” Annabella asks him with a raised brow.
“Maybe we’re not in agreement with this and want to bounce, yeah, girls?” Gigi adds.
Viv and Calypso just sit there with stunned expressions, seemingly not recovering. They don’t say anything, so I interject, “Oh, come on. I got married. Let’s celebrate.” I smile at my girls. “You can get along for an hour, right?”
They look at each other and roll their eyes, “A round of tequila and then we’re done.” Annie replies, seeming to catch the drift of everyone else.
“Fine.” The others reply in unison.
“On me,” Nik says, clearly trying to get in their good graces. He flags down the bartender and gets everyone the first round of tequila. “Thank you for staying and accepting this.”
“We didn’t accept shit,” Gigi says. “But whatever makes our girl happy.”
“She’s my girl now,” Nik mutters and I roll my eyes.
“Down, boy.” Annie laughs.
We all put salt on our hands, then tap the shot glass on the table. Once we take the shot, we set it back down with a slam. The one round they promised turns into three, then five, and then everyone is wasted. For some reason, I knew this would happen. We’re all chill, and so are the guys, and surprisingly, once drunk, no one makes any offhand comments. We’re all getting along. Not that I needed to adjust in that matter. I actually like his friends, and they seem to like me too if helping Nik move me in and get a storage unit is any indication. However, they could’ve just been doing it for their friend without caring about me. At least they’re nice to me.
The more we drink, the more Dmitri relaxes next to Ilya and doesn’t shoot daggers at Annie with his eyes. She and Ilya do keep looking at each other, though. Before the end of the hour, she ends up excusing herself to go to the bathroom and he promptly follows. Dmitri appears uncomfortable, shifting in his seat, looking in the direction of the restrooms, then gets up and goes after them.
Fuck.
The drama is real between these three. Maybe that’s what they need—to be a little trio. Or a big one since both men are massive.
Other than that little stunt Annie just pulled, the night goes by smoothly, the girls rapidly warming up to Nik. Even Calypso relaxes, but that may just be the alcohol. Her eyes are glassy, so she’ll probably forget about this in a few hours, returning to her animosity. It’s okay, since the rest of the girls will convince her he’s decent all over again.
I’ll take that as a win for tonight.
My girls are all here with me, accepting my husband, and that makes me happy for now.
18 Years Old
My stomach drops when I make it to the playground, and I pat my pocket to check for my knife. It’s there, and a bit of relief fills me. I stay rooted to the spot, unsure if I need to intervene or if she’d be better off if I stayed back.
“I asked you a fucking question,” Leonardo growls, getting in Camilla’s face. “What. Are. You. Doing. Here?!”
“I—I just come here sometimes.” She squeals when he pulls her hair, and I grab my pocketknife and flip it open. Over my dead body will he fucking hurt her. “When I want to be alone.”
But just as she says that, he turns his face, and our eyes meet from a distance. His narrowed gaze looks between her and me as if putting the puzzle together. His eyes widen when he figures it out—or he thinks he does, which the assumption is probably close to being right.
Leonardo’s gaze fixes on Camilla, and she cowers. I hate that she does, that she’s shown him a weakness, that she’s even scared of him. She should never be scared of anyone, because I’ll always protect her.
“Have you been fucking him?” Leo whispers as I get close enough to hear it. “Have you?!”
Camilla whimpers, “No!” She shakes her head, “I’d never do that!” My heart hurts with those words, but I know she’s only saying them because he would kill her otherwise. “We’re just friends.”
“Friends?” Leonardo spits out, “He’s theenemy, Camilla.”
“Not hers,” I call out. “Just yours.”
Leonardo grabs Camilla by the neck, pressing her against the playground. Her face turns red with the tight grip, and she’s clawing at his arms. I cross the last of the space between the parking lot and playground, walking across the mulch. “Don’t. Lie. Camilla.”
“I love him.” She mouths, and he lets go of her throat.
