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“I want you completely, Raine. Scars and all. Tomorrow, will you spend the night with me?”
CHAPTER TWENTY.
I had woken up in a good mood considering today I turned thirty years old, that was all thanks to the word yes coming from Raine’s mouth last ni
ght. I felt on top of the world as jubilation spread to every part of my body, urging me to want to break out in to acrobatics around my apartment, instead I opted to play it as cool as a cucumber and gave a nod of my head, a smile and said “Good.”
I’d driven her home talking about the plan, again. I could sense she was getting agitated at my continued ramblings and my seemingly incessant need to keep repeating myself, but I needed to ensure she knew what to do, when to do it and how to do it. There could be no room for mistakes or uncertainty, if Max was given a reason to be suspicious, or worse, he caught her in the act of leaving him, then her safety and even her life could be at risk. It was a risk I didn’t want to take.
“So, when do I get to meet her?” Said Hetty, Petra’s girlfriend, bringing me back to the loud chattering surrounding me.
“Meet who?” I asked confused. I continued to eat my delicious meal of Pelmeni – a traditional Russian dish made with minced meat filling, wrapped in thin dough dumplings.
She smirked and rolled her eyes and gave me a look that suggested I was an idiot. “Raine,” she said with a shake of her head.
Immediately my cutlery crashed back onto my plate, my elbows found their way onto the restaurant table and my fingers laced together under my chin. I pinned a dark, unforgiving stare towards my sister. “You told her?”
Petra waved her hand around and laughed, “Come on, Niki it’s no big deal, it’s only Hetty.”
Her reaction caused me to slam my hands down on the table, the plates rattled loudly and Hetty’s mouth gaped open in shock. “No big deal? Of course, it is, Petra. The woman is embroiled in an abusive relationship, I told you about her in confidence. I asked you to keep quiet and keep it to yourself!” I knew my tone was harsh and slightly too loud when heads of the nearby guests turned to look in our direction. My head bowed towards my plate and my hunger disappeared.
“Hetty is not just anyone, she is my girlfriend. I’m not going to keep secrets from her,” Petra retorted through gritted teeth. I caught her bring her hand on top of the table and she covered it over Hetty’s and squeezed.
“Who you’ve known for a week!” I replied disgruntled at the public show of affection between them. It was jealousy. Jealousy that I couldn’t do this with Raine, that I couldn’t take her out on a proper date and be affectionate with her in public because she was married. Our hand holding and kisses had to remain to behind closed doors or in the confines of my car.
“Says you, Niki. How about you climb down off your high horse. Haven’t you only known Raine for a week too?”
I glanced around Lavkas and signaled the waiter, “Can I order a double vodka, please? And whatever these two want,” I asked when he came to a standstill at our table and waited patiently for me to speak.
With a smile and a mumbled of course he left and my attention swiveled back towards Petra. “Yes, you’re right, I have only known her a week, but that still doesn’t give you the right to repeat what I tell you in confidence to anybody else, even if she is your girlfriend!”
“Can you please stop talking about me like I’m not here!” Hetty grumbled as she leant her bosom onto the small space of free table and fired daggers in my direction.
“Look, no offence, Hetty, but Raine has nothing to do with you for now. Once she’s a free woman, I’ll gladly introduce her to you. Whatever my sister has told you, you keep to yourself,” I snapped, pushing my plate away.
Petra looked at my plate than jolted her head back towards me, “You haven’t finished your meal!”
Throwing her a sarcastic smile, I shrugged my shoulders childishly. “I’ve suddenly lost my appetite.”
Her eyebrows met and her face contorted as she muttered obscenities in Russian, then slammed down her napkin onto my half-eaten Pelmeni. “You can be such an ass sometimes, Nikoli. It’s your birthday let’s not fight, not today,” she said sternly with a dark look of warning.
“You have my word, Niki that what Petra told me will not be repeated, and I also promise you that I won’t mention her again. I’m sorry for causing you upset,” Hetty said quietly.
I fleetingly closed my eyes and folded my arms across my chest, “Thank you I’d appreciate that. Raine is a sensitive subject for me right now and the fewer people that know about my involvement with her, the safer it is for her. So, I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable.” Hetty grinned widely and proceeded to talk about tonight’s celebratory drinks as if the last ten minutes of bitching between us all hadn’t happened. My annoyance and frustration at my sister’s blatant betrayal, faded away. I was a sucker when it came to women, I could never stay mad at them for long no matter what the reason and Hetty’s eagerness to forgive me so easily only added another feather in her cap at her suitability to date my sister.
“Thank you,” Petra mouthed. She removed her napkin from the top of my meal and pushed the plate back towards me silently. My guts instinctively grumbled letting me know plainly, that it wasn’t yet satisfied. Reluctantly, I picked up the cutlery and continued to eat.
“I’ve got you a present,” announced Petra as she leaned towards the floor to retrieve her purse, unceremoniously dumping it on the table.
“We, Niki, we have you a present,” laughed Hetty as she waved her hand back and forth between herself and Petra.
“You didn’t have to get me anything, Hetty. I appreciate the thought,” I replied gratefully, then diverted my attention to my cell phone when Petra and Hetty shared an intimate kiss, making me suddenly feel like the third wheel.
My cell lit up, vibrating in my hand. My sour face broke out into a lazy smile and my insides danced for joy when I saw RP flash up on the caller ID. Raine. Mumbling my excuses to the two women still playing tonsil hockey with each other, I headed outside to take the call away from Petra’s supersonic ears. “Raine,” I gushed.
“Happy birthday, Nikoli. How is your day going?”
Leaning against the widow of Lavkas I sighed. I battled against the dancing sensation that gripped my guts when her voice came through the speaker. “It’s okay, but it’s even better now you’ve called,” I replied, sounding, and feeling like a love-sick puppy. “Where’s Max?”
