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I suppress a scowl, annoyed that he’s not taking the hint and leaving. But I’m not about to give Adrik the satisfaction of kicking him out and making a public spectacle. The man loves an audience.
“Let’s call it a truce for tonight,” Adrik declares. “Right now, we’re just old friends catching up. Come—let’s drink and enjoy the night.”
Two cocktail waitresses enter the box with fresh trays of drinks and Adrik’s gaze zones in on the leggy blonde in the pink bustier.
“I gotta hand it to you, Ruslan: you have a great selection.” He licks his lip and throws her a wink.
I rest my hand on his shoulder, interrupting his intense leer. “Keep those wandering hands to yourself. I have a zero-tolerance policy for guests who harass my waitresses. Is that understood?”
“Of course.” He sneers. “I wouldn’t eventhinkof crossing the mighty Ruslan Oryolov on his own territory.”
I leave him to his entourage and find Kirill in the same spot by the bar where I’d left him. “Well?” he asks the moment he spots me.
I lean against the counter and turn to face the crowd. “I’m not sure what’s going on yet, but…”
“Trouble’s brewing?”
I scan the second mezzanine. Adrik’s entourage remains in the same box, but the man himself is missing.
“Lots of it.”
16
EMMA
I smell him before I see him. The rancid scent of sulfur and vomit burns my nostrils as I remove my heels and tiptoe toward my room.If I just stay quiet enough…
“Where’ve you been all night?”
Dammit.
Ben is propped up on the living room sofa, and of course, tonight of all nights, he happens to be wide awake.
“Just… out.”
He frowns, his tongue clicking softly. “It’s late.”
I drop my heels off to the side. “Which is why I’m heading straight to bed.”
His eyes narrow and, for a moment, I feel like a teenager who’s broken curfew. “The kids were asking for you all night.”
“I wasbusy, Ben. What do you want me to say?” He has some nerve, making me feel guilty about this. “I would think you’d be grateful to spend some quality time with your kids.”
He ignores that and swings his legs off the sofa to snatch up a can of beer from where it’s lying on the floor. “Who’s the guy?”
I tense immediately. “What guy?”
“The guy you missed bedtime for. The guy you’re clearly fucking.”
My lips purse. “Goodnight, Ben.”
I leave him to his depressing pyramid of empty beer cans and seek refuge in my room. My body is throbbing with the kind of slow ache that I used to find satisfying.
Except, in this case, all I feel is guilt.
It started way before Ben opened his big, fat mouth. Right around the time Ruslan flung my clothes in my face and told me, in no uncertain terms, that he wanted me out of his bed and out of his space.
Charming.
