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“So, what do you think?”
“I love it.”She beams at me.“Very posh.”
“Pavel likes to overdo stuff.” I place my hand at the back of her neck and tilt her head up. “The only reason I would come to a club is because you asked me to. I hate them. And that loathing is becoming exponentially stronger with every second.”
Bianca narrows her eyes at me as her hand lifts to trace the shape of a question mark on my chest. I love when she does that.
“Because I notice every man who looks at you, and there are at least fifty of them here,” I say, then bend my head to whisper in her ear. “I’m afraid that someone may try to take you from me, and I have this compulsion to kill them all before they have a chance to give it a go.”
Sighing, Bianca climbs onto the barstool behind her, takes my face between her palms, and pulls me toward her until I’m standing between her legs. She touches her nose to mine and starts caressing my face with her hands while holding my gaze, unblinking. She starts with my chin, tenderly moves over my cheeks, then buries her fingers into my hair. I close my eyes and let myself drown in the warmth of her touch, forgetting about the people around us. A kiss lands at the right side of my chin, just over the thickest scar. I still find it unexpected, the way she touches my ruined face, with so much affection. Another kiss, at the tip of my nose this time, and I feel my lips curve into a smile. The next kiss lands at the corner of my mouth, then on my left cheek. I keep my eyes closed, waiting for what will be next. The left eyebrow. Then my right cheek. Tip of my nose again. My mouth widens even more.
“You are...” a soft whisper right next to my ear, “so beautiful... when you smile.”
I squeeze my arms tighter around her and brush my cheek against hers. My silly little sunray.
“No one...” another whisper, “compares to...you.”
Her hands wrap around my neck, and I feel her breath near my ear as she moves her mouth even closer. “I love you... Mikhail.”
I press my face into Bianca’s neck and take a deep breath, inhaling her scent. She has no idea what hearing her say my name does to me. It breaks me and puts me back together every single time. Each touch from her melts my insides.
“If you knew how crazy in love with you I am,” I say into her neck, “you would be scared shitless, Bianca.”
She pulls away a little, so she can look me in the eyes, smiles, and nudges my nose with hers.“Never,”she mouths then crashes her lips to mine.
Chapter 18
The phone has been on the counter in front of me, with a message window open, for five minutes. I exchanged numbers with Nina when we went to the pakhan’s place the other night, and I’ve been planning on messaging her for several days now, but I’m not sure if she’ll want to answer my questions. We’re not friends or anything like that, but I have no one else to ask, other than Mikhail. I’m pretty sure he’d tell me if I asked him directly, but if my suspicions are correct, I don’t want to make him talk about it. I take the phone and start typing.
19:09 Bianca:Hey. It’s Bianca. Are you busy?
19:11 Nina:Well, I don’t think that keeping my head above the toilet since 6 am constitutes as being busy. Lol. It’s no fun, that’s for sure. You know how they say the morning sickness lasts only for 2 months? THEY LIED! I’ve been puking since the 3rd week, and that “morning” part is not true either. You two want to come over for a coffee or something? How’s Grumpy doing?
I look at the last line and snort.
19:14 Bianca:Mikhail is still at work. Does he know you call him Grumpy?
19:14 Nina:Of course, he does. He doesn’t come here often but when he does, he usually sits in the corner and broods.
19:15 Bianca:Yeah, he does that a lot. I wanted to ask you something. It’s about Mikhail. But if you are not comfortable answering just tell me, it’s ok.
19:16 Nina:Sure. Shoot.
19:16 Bianca:Do you know what happened to him?
A couple of minutes go by until Nina responds
19:18 Nina:Yes. Roman told me.
19:18 Bianca:He was tortured, wasn’t he? I saw the scars, and those are not a result of an accident or something, they are too precise, almost clinical. His back is covered with whip marks. Can you please tell me who tortured my husband? And why?
19:20 Nina:It was the old pakhan. Roman’s father.
I stare at her answer, shocked. Roman’s father did that? The phone in my hand starts ringing. It’s Nina. I take the call.
“I know you can’t reply, but I think it’s better if I tell you than type. It’s... it’s a really bad story, Bianca.”
Nina’s voice is low and strangled, so different than her usual cheerful tone, which tells me that whatever she’s going to say will probably be worse than I could have imagined.
