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When the request is given, we sit at our assigned table near the bridal party and enjoy our meal. When the opportunity arises. I escort Madison onto the dance floor and take her into my arms. We move well together even though it’s our first time dancing with each other in a public setting. Our compatibility is tested when the slow song is replaced by an upbeat fast one. I try to draw Madison off the floor, but she pulls me back forcing me to join the myriad of others for the popular Cha-Cha slide dance. Despite myself, I seem to be wearing a ridiculous grin the whole time and manage to keep in step with the music alongside Madison. She’s a huge hit with the crowd, so we stick around for the equally popular Macarena line dance.
“Enough,” I laugh when the song ends and another upbeat one begins to play. “I’m sitting this one out.”
Some of the younger girls plead with Madison to keep dancing with their group for the Electric slide, and she glances at me. I shrug. So she waves at me and allows the girls to pull her back onto the dance floor.
Needing a bit of air to cool off, I head toward the patio where a few guests gather to smoke or just have a bit of solitude. I look back inside and note that Dmitri and his brother are never very far from Madison. I’m satisfied she’s in good hands.
The night air is crisp and refreshing. The stars sparkle against the brilliant black sky. A warm feeling spreads through me as I think about how well the proposal display went off. Sure, it cost a small fortune to hire the firm to orchestrate the drones to spell out the proposal, but it was worth every penny to hear her say yes.
“How dare you?” I hear the caustic words spoken in a heavy Russian accent.
I turn to see Natasha staggering toward me. She’s drunk. Very drunk.
“It wasn’t enough you humiliate me by calling off our wedding,” she’s now speaking in Russian as she closes the distance between us.
“Hello, Natasha—”
“You have to bring your brown whore here to rub in my face.”
“The only whore I see around here is you,” I can’t resist saying. “I’ll bring my fiancée wherever I please. Get used to it.”
She growls and takes a swing at me. I easily step out of her reach. “You’re drunk, Natasha. Why don’t you go back inside before you freeze to death.”
She spits at me. “Don’t tell me what to do, you pig!”
“Natasha!”
We both turn at the sound of her father’s voice. He’s standing in the doorway, but now makes his way over to her.
Her blue eyes are wide as he approaches.
“I told you to go home?” he barks at her. “Why are you here making a fool of yourself?”
“When are you going to do it?” she shouts at him. “When are you going to—”
The brisk slap across her face cuts her words short. “Go inside now!” Gregor roars at her with hand still raised.
“I hate you!” she screams at him and then staggers toward the door. “Where is my Sergei? He would cut your balls off and feed them to you!”
Whether that was directed at me or Gregor, I couldn’t be certain. I was just glad to see her go. The chill in the air is starting to cut through to the bone.
“Please accept my apology for my daughter,” Gregor says. “It’s been a difficult time for her,” he glances back to the banquet hall where Madison is, “given the circumstances.”
I’m about fed up with this pretense over his daughter’s alleged heartbreak. “Natasha was with Sergei during our entire six-month engagement, so spare me your outrage, Gregor. If she’s drunk off her ass, it’s not over me.”
His brow furrows, but he doesn’t deny the accusation. “It’s been over a week, and no one has seen Sergei,” his gray eyes darken. “Word has it you took him out at Last Call, then made it all disappear.”
I shrug. “For all I know, Sergei’s off on a bender in Vegas with a bunch of hookers. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
He gestures emphatically at the reception hall. “Regardless, did you have to bring her here?”
“Yes, I did,” I snap. “She’ll be my wife soon and you’ll—” His derisive laugh cuts me short.
“Not if you plan to be head of the family,” he snorts. “Try getting her past the heads in Moscow.”
“I plan to do precisely that,” I say so ardently Gregor’s grin falls and his eyes narrow at me.
“You’re serious,” he states, then the devious smile spreads across his thin lips. “If Sergei’s really gone, it looks like I’ll be head of the family after all.”
