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“Ugh, I’m the worst,” I said, sick of talking about my troubles. “How’s Andrew? How’s the peanut?”
Lynn married her high school sweetheart, our other best friend, Andrew, and now they were expecting their first child. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact she was going to be a mom soon, at only twenty-three. I loved them both, they were the world’s most perfect couple and would be great parents, but I couldn’t imagine living their life at our age. As she rambled on about her doctor’s appointments and cravings, and how sweet Andrew was being, I couldn’t stop a microscopic kernel of envy. I quickly stomped it with a little internal laugh at myself. Of course I wanted a family one day. But far, far in the future. Without a job, that future was pushed even further down the line. I sighed deeply and Lynn stopped talking.
“You can always come back,” she said, seeming to read my mind.
It would have been easier to go back to Kansas, definitely cheaper, but there was too much anguish there that I was free of here. A little more than a year ago, after my father’s murder and the police bumbling that kept it unsolved, I couldn’t take the memories, seeing him in all the places we used to go together and haunted by the fact he wasn’t getting the justice he deserved. It was just us for the longest time since my mom died when I was only five. He was my rock and my hero, and being alone up there got to be too much for me. Miami held no such memories, so I was safe from ghosts here.
“You know I can’t.”
“Listen,” she said, her take-charge tone in full effect. “We’re not going to get maudlin or feel bad about ourselves. I suggest, no, I demand that you get yourself all fancied up and go out tonight. It’s about time you take advantage of the famous Miami nightlife I always see on TV.”
I snickered at her country bumpkin act. “I go out all the time.”
“Pfft. To scout. I’m saying go out and drink and dance and find some guy to help you forget about Talbot’s for a few hours. It’s Friday, Reina. You can start fresh on Monday. Do it for me, so I can live vicariously.”
I was shocked that Lynn, with her perfect life, might be a little envious of my mess, so I agreed I’d go out. We switched to video chat when I got back to my apartment and she helped me pick out an outfit, a slinky red dress I bought and never worked up the nerve to wear. It seemed like it was finally getting its tags removed and given a chance to make me shine. She wished me luck and I ended our three-hour-long call and headed out to get over a very bad day.
The club I chose was one I’d scouted at before. It was loud and packed and, thanks to my extremely revealing outfit, I had someone buy me a drink within minutes of hovering around the bar. I slammed back the first margarita and chatted with the out-of-state businessman for a few minutes while I sipped the second, but then as soon as he got distracted, I headed onto the dance floor. A few people I knew from the industry waved at me and I shouted greetings at them since it was obvious word hadn’t gotten out that I wasn’t at Talbot’s anymore.
The alcohol started working its magic, and the heavy bass beat and the flashing lights took over. I forgot I wasn’t tall and willowy like the models I was surrounded by all day and none of the men on the dance floor seemed to mind that I had ample curves, especially one man who sat in the VIP section just off the dance floor. Every time I turned in that direction our eyes seemed to lock. Was he going to be the guy to help me get over being fired today? A shot girl worked her way through the crowd, and I grabbed one, slamming it back before jumping back into the fray.
As I whirled and shimmied with the crowd, my attention kept getting drawn back to the man in the VIP section. How could it not, since he was basically a golden god, aloof on his velvet throne. Though he had a small crowd around him in the roped off area, he seemed set apart, like he really was a god. And I was really drunk, so I waved at him the next time we locked eyes.
A few minutes later, a big, muscly blond man took my arm. “Ivan would like your company,” he yelled over the music.
I jerked my arm away. “Who?” I yelled back. He pointed and my golden god raised a hand. No smile, but he lifted an eyebrow. Was he actually summoning me? The intense stare he was casting my way oozed confidence and control. My insides wobbled, thrown off kilter by the way he seemed to devour me with his eyes. I turned back to his drone and laughed. “Well, tell him, if he wants my company, he can come out here and get it himself.”
The man looked stunned, but I danced away from him, not a care in the world. Music and margaritas were my new best friends so who needed a man? The next time I turned around, my golden god was right there in front of me, looming over me, in fact. Holy crap, he was handsome up close. Like he was carved from ice, chiseled jaw and cheekbones, stormy, sea-blue eyes that went straight through me. His golden blond hair that made me give him his nickname fell in soft waves over his forehead and curled around his ears. Who needed a man? Me. This man.
I wanted to take some time to really check out the rest of him, but before I knew it, he had his arm wrapped around my waist, and I was pinned against his big, hard body. Yep, as muscular as he looked from his throne.
He kept me held tight to him despite it being a fast song, and I stared up at him, intoxicated by his beauty and hard body, and just plain intoxicated to boot. He licked his lower lip, as he leaned closer to me and I melted. My legs actually went weak. I grabbed his shoulders to keep from swaying and eagerly accepted his rough kiss. Oh, yes, this was going to be the man who made me forget I got fired.
Chapter 2 - Ivan
I got to my club, one of my legit businesses, and saw something that darkened my mood, and my mood wasn’t great, to begin with. I went there to check on things, but also to unwind, have a few drinks, and oversee one of the lighter sides of my empire. One of the legal sides.
Which was why I nearly lost it when I saw one of my bartenders selling something other than alcohol from behind the bar. I thought I could trust this young man, had given him extra jobs to do that were very lucrative for him, and this was how he repaid me?
With a snap, I sent my cousin Dmitri to retrieve the illicit substance from the girl he’d sold it to, then had my other cousin, Maksim go search his locker.
“Bring him to me,” I told my younger brother and second in command, Aleksei, then headed to the back to see if anything turned up in the employee lounge.
Maksim had cut the padlock off the locker and pulled out a treasure trove of things I didn’t want in my club. I slammed my hand into the locker, denting the metal. I don’t like being taken for a fool, or betrayed. This seemed like both of those things. Maksim looked pityingly over my shoulder, and I turned to see Aleksei hauling in the bartender.
“I don’t get what’s—” His glib voice cut off as he saw his stash revealed, and the smile fell off his face.
“I don’t expect that you can explain this,” I said. If he didn’t lie to me, he’d live. The thing I hate more than being taken for a fool and betrayed, is a liar. “But why don’t you try.”
“I have no idea what that is,” he said, sweat dotting his forehead. “I’m not the only one who uses that locker.”
“You weren’t selling these pills to a young lady a few minutes ago?” I asked, keeping my hands loose, my voice calm. When he caught my eyes, he withered, seeming to shrink a few inches. I’ve been told I can act as calm as I want, but my eyes always gave me away.
“What? No, of course not,” he said, inadvertently taking a step back. Aleksei and Maksim took a step forward. “Ivan, you know me—”
I raised a brow. “Mr. Morozov,” I said coldly. After all, our family name meant frost. “You’re honestly telling me you were not selling drugs in my establishment?”
He looked hopeful, the poor soul. “Absolutely not. Believe me, I’m aware of your rules about this.”
