AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You don’t say.”
“Vicious, do you think the girls are okay? Maybe I should call them.”
“Baby, there are five brothers with them, along with Viper and Bayou. Trust me. Those girls are fine. I’m more worried about my brothers. Elizabeth and Adrianna were planning mani’s and pedi’s tonight. Come on, I see Montana over by the bar. Let’s get something to drink.”
I allowed Vicious to guide me through the sizeable crowd. I always felt protected when he was near, and tonight was no different. Several people whispered and stared openly as I walked past them. I knew what they were thinking.
The spare had arrived.
Approaching the bar, I saw a beautiful woman with long blonde hair deep in conversation with Montana, who had his hand low on her back. Of course, I knew more than half of the people here tonight graced the society page. To them, their lives weren’t complete if they didn’t have their picture in the papers or were being gossiped about. This town was fickle and cut-throat. Only those with a strong backbone survived. The stunning and remarkably familiar woman laughed openly at something Montana said, then she turned and smiled radiantly. “Oh, thank God, a familiar face!” Moving away from Montana, she leaned forward and kissed Vicious’ cheek.
“Illyria. It’s been a while. Where are your brothers?”
“Around somewhere. Giovanni is sticking to Layla like glue. She’s due in a few months and he didn’t want to come tonight, but she insisted. Salvatore is off somewhere doing God knows what. And who is your beautiful date?”
“Illyria Valentinetti, I would like you to meet Linsey Duchene, of Duchene International.”
The stunning woman shocked me as she quickly hugged me before taking my hands. “I was so sorry to hear about your sister, Linsey. Davina was a remarkable woman. I will miss her.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, I’ll be damned!” someone shouted, making Vicious and I turn before a man grabbed him into a tight hug. “What the fuck are you doing here, man?”
“Long story,” Vicious moaned, “Salvatore, this is my woman, Linsey Duchene.”
The tall handsome man with jet black hair smiled down at me, taking my hand in his before he bent down to kiss the top of my hand. “Salvatore Valentinetti at your service. If you ever tire of this old bastard, look me up.”
I giggled. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Valentinetti.”
Illyria shoved her brother. “Step away, Sal, before Vicious kills you.”
Sal grinned wickedly. “I’m sure he could try, but between the two of us, I’m betting I’m packing more than he is. Isn’t that right Vicious?”
“Go away Sal. You are annoying tonight,” his sister chided, as she cozied up to Montana again, just as another man sauntered over, his eyes firmly on Illyria. I watched as Illyria stiffened a bit as Montana and Salvatore moved into position to protect her. The man in question was tall. Very tall with thick, wide shoulders. His jet-black hair and dark, soulless eyes glared at the beautiful woman. I could see tattoos barely hidden beneath his crisp white formal shirt. The man looked dangerous and very threatening. Instead of introducing himself, he ignored everyone as he simply said, “Dance with me,Lyubov.”
“My sister isn’t going anywhere with you Maxim, so fuck off.”
The man didn’t acknowledge Salvatore. Instead, he simply held out his hand and waited.
“I wasn’t asking,Lyubov.”
Illyria’s hand slipped from Montana’s before stepping forward as she took the dangerous man’s hand. Her brother Sal tried to reach for her when the man sneered. “This is between me and your sister. I will return her after our dance.”
With that, the man escorted Illyria away from the bar towards the dance floor.
Sal cursed loudly, “Fuck! Gio is going to lose his shit if he sees that motherfucker here.”
“Give it up Sal. If she didn’t want to go with him, all she had to do was say no,” Montana said, swallowing the amber liquid in his glass before asking the bartender for another.
“Who was that man? He looked familiar,” I asked.
“A Russian thug,” Sal muttered, before walking away.
“That was Maxim Fedorov, head of the Fedorov Bratva Family. Russian mafia baby. He was at the compound in Tennessee when all that crap went down with theSociety.” Vicious reminded me.
I didn’t know what to say to that.
Vicious tightened his arms around me as I stepped closer to him. I always hated these things. Parties so damn extravagant reeked of money and pompous moral values. There wasn’t a single person in this building tonight that actually gave a damn about the charity they were supporting. Oh, they would open their checkbooks and give millions but ask a single one of them what they’ve done personally to help, and none of them could give an honest answer.
