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He finishes his drink and sets the crystal glass on a nearby table. He adjusts his trousers like he’s tucking his shirt in, but I know better. He’s checking his weapon.

That’s Artem. He might be cocky, but he knows when to be cautious. And prepared.

He waves across the room, and when I turn to look, I find he’s greeting Sergey, who weakly smiles back at us with a wave of his fingers. Yeah, we are about the last people on Earth he wants to see tonight. Can’t blame him. He knows there’s a price to pay for dipping into the cash he’s been laundering for us. He just doesn’t know what that price will be, nor when it will be time to pay it.

But he’s about to find out. The man’s number is up. Christmas Eve be damned.

“I say we wait until the party clears out. I don’t like excess collateral damage,” Artem says.

I shake my head. “Fuck the collateral damage. Sergey’s been warned once and didn’t make things right. Personally, I don’t think people should even get one warning. Sends the wrong message. Makes us look weak,” I say.

Like I have to share my opinion. The guys know where I stand.

We both look at Valentin as if he’s the tie-breaker and has more sway than I do. Which he does not. “I’m with Grisha. Sergey’s a bum.”

That’s the brother I know and love. His vote may not count for a lot but I appreciate the buy-in.

“Well, shit,” I say, rubbing the empty spot where my watch should be. “Look who’s heading our way right now. And are those fuckers behind him his backup?”

My hand flies to my gun and rests there. Ready and waiting.

Sergey is weaving through all the idiots salivating over the bullshit art hanging on his walls, pausing to shake hands and slap people on the back, like he’s some fucking rockstar.

“Guys,” I say, “let me get my watch first. Wait here.”

I take a step in the direction of where Lily the redhead ran off to, but before I get any further, Artem shouts my name. When I turn to look at him, he has his gun drawn. Reflexively, my hand grabs mine, even though I’m still assessing the situation.

It doesn’t take long to understand why Artem yelled for me.

Sergey’s only a few feet away, a big a smile on his fake-tanned face.

With a gun in his hand.

* * *

CHAPTERTWO

LILY

I wasn’tsure whether the man was going to hit me, kiss me, or bend me over to have his way with me.

That’s how oddly he reacted when I dropped shrimp cocktail on him.

Seriously. When he first saw the stuff all over his wrist, and then his watch, he looked for a moment like his head would explode. But in a matter of seconds, after he’d looked me over, his expression transformed. Like he understood how terrible I felt and was even a little sorry for me.

It was an accident, of course. He knew that. I knew that. The guys he was hanging out with knew that. But you never know how rich people at these parties are going to behave. Some are nice and others are total dicks.

But that comes with the territory when you work for an event planning company, particularly one of the best in New York City.

I don’t like pity, but if that’s the price of avoiding the rage of some good-looking rich guy at a ritzy gallery party, I’ll take it.

Now, I just have to figure out how to clean his darn watch. I consider running it under the water, but I don’t want to risk damaging it. I’m pretty sure these expensive watches are pretty much waterproof, but I can’t take the risk. I wipe at it with a clean towel, but that just pushes the red stuff into its nooks and crannies.

Good move, Einstein.

If only I had a toothbrush. Yes, that’s what I need.

So. Freaking. Embarrassing. But when it comes down to it, tonight’s klutziness isn’t much of a surprise. I am exhausted nearly to the point of tears, having worked for the last ten nights straight, putting on all manner of holiday parties for affluent New Yorkers. I’ve been out until two a.m. most of those nights, yet my boss still expects me in the office by nine. Sure, the holiday season is a busy time of year like it is for any reputable party planner, but the pace this year is going to put me in an early grave.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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