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That would not go over well with my father.
“Bourbon, neat.”
I leaned against the bar, closing my eyes for a brief moment as I tried to keep myself contained.
“That’s quite a drink.” A deep male voice that I did not recognize said.
My eyes flew open, and I looked to my right surprised to see a tall, dark-haired man standing next to me. He was in an immaculately tailored black suit.
“Do I know you?”
I was sure that I did not. I would have remembered a man like this. He was tall and built. Though he was leaning on the bar in the same way that I was, I could still see the way that his arms bulged against the arms of his suit. He was also about a head taller than I was even leaning, which made me think that he was over six feet.
The bartender placed my drink in front of me.
“Are you getting that for your boyfriend?”
Immediately, all of the attraction that I felt towards him evaporated, and I gave him a scowl as I brought the glass to my lips. “Are you fucking serious?”
He didn’t blink at my language.
“About?”
I tipped the glass back allowing the amber liquid to burn its way down my throat and warm my belly.
“Because I am a woman, I can’t drink.”
The man shrugged. “I didn’t say that. I’m simply surprised that a girl like you would drink bourbon straight.”
My knuckles were white as I gripped the glass. If I had the strength, I would have shattered the thing.
“Don’t look so put out. It’ll give you wrinkles.”
The man lifted his glass and walked away, leaving me with my mouth hanging open, and my heart pounding in anger.
Gripping my glass, I began to make my way towards him, so that I could tell him to fuck all the way off. But I didn’t make it far before my father stepped in my path blocking me from going after the man who had dared to question me.
“You should not be drinking,” he scolded.
He took the glass from me so quickly that I barely had time to open my mouth and argue. I was not in the mood to be so kind to my father. He was my only parent, and while I loved him, the two of us were not particularly close. My father had always been more interested in the Bratva than in raising his child.
“I have had one drink,” I raised it for him to see. “And I’ll remind you that I’m here despite the fact that I would rather not be.” And that was putting things mildly. I wanted nothing more than to rage at my father. I wanted to scream at him that he was making a mistake by passing me over for some random man simply because he had a dick.
“You should not be drinking at all,” he said, looping his arm through mine. The gesture lacked warmth, and I knew he was not happy with me. I could feel him practically pulling me towards the tables. “This is a celebration for Henry. No one wants to hear you’re upset.”
I snorted. “Because of one drink?”
He was smiling as we walked through the room, nodding to the groups that were socializing while practically dragging me towards whatever table he and my grandmother were occupying.
“You are hurting me,” I bit out, surprised that he was gripping me so tightly. My father’s normal modus operandi was to pawn me off on my grandmother. He never grabbed me the way that he was right now, and I felt my heart starting to beat heavily in my chest.
“I know that you’ve been with Stephan,” he spit out through his teeth.
My head snapped towards him so quickly that I was sure that I had whiplash. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
The feeling of his fingers on my bicep tightened until I nearly could not stop myself from crying out.
“Leo Petrov was watching you,” he spat, as he threw me into the hall of the hotel.
