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“You fucking piece of shit. You think I won’t fucking slit your throat over this? You screwed me!” The guy with the knife yelled.
She saw Lucca reach for the man who held her, not even noticing the one with the knife behind Lucca. It all happened so fast, when the guy with the knife charged toward her in an attempt to stab the guy using her as a shield. She reacted on instincts, her self-defense training immediately kicking in. She gripped the man’s forearm that was using her as a shield for support, twisted his wrist, turned, and she kicked the knife from the other man’s hand, counter moved the guy holding her and flipped him onto the floor and then forearmed the guy in the throat that had the knife.
Her forearm burned, and her heart raced as multiple men went into action.
Lucca grabbed the guy who had the knife, and the bouncers grabbed the other guy and were dragging the men out of the place and through the crowd. Someone gripped her upper arm and she went to strike in defense but a strong hand encased her wrist, and a thick arm wrapped around her waist pulling her against a hard, steel chest. She lost her breath a moment, cologne attacked her senses and then the strong tone of voice had her frozen in his arms.
“You’re okay. I’m not one of the bad guys.” He said to her in a thick Russian accent. The gorgeous big guy with the grey eyes? She stumbled for her words, now sort of embarrassed for using her self-defense training, but holy God, what were the chances that something like this would happen on a job interview? Her lips parted but no words came from her mouth as the intense man before her seemed to inhale her perfume. She felt oversensitive. Her mind hardly focusing on what just happened but instead how close this man’s hand was to her ass, how firm he held her, lost in an embrace by one large man both in size and charisma.
A hand pressed onto her waist, Lucca right behind her.
“Are you okay Annabella? Holy crap that was awesome.” Lucca said and then Mr. Mulcheck was there to ask if she was okay. Somehow she was surrounded by multiple men in black suits, one more intimidating then the next and mostly this one guy who held her wrist, slowly released her but then looked at her arm with a scowl on his face.
“Ice, Griska now.” He said.
Griska moved toward the bar barking orders.
Her eyes locked onto the tall, good-looking stranger’s face. Handsome, lethal, hard, and seasoned, those were the words that infiltrated her mind at the sight of him.
She stumbled to refocus and not look like some inexperienced, immature teenager who encountered a masculine, older, sexual God.
“I’m fine, really. Sorry I was going to hit you next. The adrenaline I guess.” She said to him, she lowered her eyes, pushed her hair behind her ear and felt the ache to her arm. He nodded then released her and thank God he did. Her entire body was tingling and she couldn’t take her eyes off of him and it seemed he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
“That was impressive miss. I’m Commerce, and where the hell did you learn to do moves like that, and in stilettos?” The blonde guy asked her, winked, and she chuckled. She wasn’t wearing stilettos, just regular high heels, then placed a hand over her heart as it raced uncontrollably.
“Sit.” The dark haired Russian guy commanded.
Why did he speak in such short, abrupt words and such a deep, hard tone? He looked so serious and her reaction was instant. She gulped and did immediately as the man ordered. Commerce pulled out the bar stool and she sat down, feeling her legs shake as well as her body. The adrenaline was leaving her system fast.
She crossed her legs and then took a few unsteady breaths, brought her hand to her forehead, closed her eyes and exhaled trying to calm her breathing. The multiple, tall, seemingly important men surrounding her weren’t helping to calm the shaking. These were some badass men around her and she needed to pull herself together. She wanted this job? She glanced at Commerce then back at Ivan, the scowl still there. Griska handed over the bag of ice the bartender got for her and she was grateful for the distraction.
“I hope this situation doesn’t make you decline the job offer Annabella. Now that we’ve seen you in action I think you could handle things just fine.” Griska said to her giving a soft smile, yet looking concerned.
He kept glancing at the Russian guy, and she sensed the tension around the men. She had also noticed that the bouncers removed those men quickly and two of the men that were with the Russian when she first came towards the bar, had left with them. It made her think that something else was going on, but then these men were watching her, her arm was aching, and she hoped she didn’t just blow a great opportunity.
The silence as they watched her was unnerving. They each were charismatic in their own way, yet certain ones stood out more than others, and the good looking Russian dude was one of them.
“Working here?” The Russian asked, his accent thick and his eyes narrowed at her as he stared at her eyes and then her lips. The oddest sensation hit her as if she felt his touch against them. She licked her lower lip.
“Oh how rude of me. Annabella Asiago, meet Ivan Sokolov.” Griska began the introductions.
She swallowed hard and then reached her hand out for him to shake. Another Russian guy? Her gut clenched. Was this an opportunity to face her fears? Not that she had anything against Russian people, it was just that the storefronts on either side of her parent’s storefront in the city had also gone up in flames, and early investigation showed that the police suspected arson yet nothing could be proven as the culprit seemed to be an old furnace that combusted.
The original belief that someone going after the Russian businesses had caused the explosion that set fire to her parent’s place as well, simply because it was in the middle, was never proven or investigated as a possibility. She hadn’t learned much. She was a kid, not even in high school yet when the accident happened. She had wanted to know who had been responsible and never found out. Perhaps if she knew she would get some closure, or maybe it would bring back those angry sensations she had, and vengeful thoughts? She pushed those thoughts aside. She was reading into the whole Russian thing. What did she know about the investigation anyway? What did it matter? They were all dead.
Ivan reached for her hand and she was shocked by the instant attraction she felt. “Pleasure to meet you, Annabella.” He said and it looked like he was biting the inside of his cheek before he brought her hand to his lips, kissed her knuckles and held her gaze.
The way he said her name did something to her. Made her core tighten, and her heart react. It was so odd. How could she be attracted to such a man? He was older, maybe in his thirties, hard looking, like he went through a rough life or something, a completely different type of man then she was ever attracted to. Hell, she hardly dated. Only fooled around a little in college. The blonde guy smiled and stepped closer.
“Annabella, beautiful name for a beautiful woman. I’m Commerce.”
“Yes, you said that earlier. Nice to meet you, Commerce.” She said and then took the ice pack they had given her earlier, and placed it down onto the bar.
Commerce flirted with her, reached out and stroked her arm. “What’s your…position, going to be here?” he asked, putting emphasis on the word position. Seriously what a flirt in a half. She chuckled.
“Cute one.” She said and rolled her eyes and then slid off the stool. She ran her hands along her waist, took a deep breath and released it, and spoke to Griska. “Well, thank you for a very interesting interview.” She felt a hand go around her waist and Lucca was pulling her close.
“It isn’t over yet. We have things to discuss. Hours, pay, personal information.” He whispered into her ear. She tightened up and pressed down on the arm he had wrapped around her mid-section.
