AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Neve pours the concentrate into each of our cups, to which we add the desired amount of hot water. I make mine dark as creosote, and Sabrina’s the color of her lovely tan skin. She hasn’t come to appreciate our tea quite yet, not at full blast.
Simon drinks his the old way, with a cube of sugar held between his teeth.
We chat as we eat the stacks of sandwiches and tiny pastel-colored cakes. Or I should say, Neve, Simon, Sabrina, and I chat, while Ilsa sits in near silence. She’s in a somber mood, though not because of me and Sabrina, I don’t think.
Neve is telling Sabrina all about her wedding venue, an old estate in the countryside outside Moscow.
“I’ll send you and Adrik an invitation, of course.”
“Do you do bridesmaids in Russia?” Sabrina asks. “This is your chance to make Ilsa wear pink.”
Neve smiles. “No bridesmaids. Isla will be my witness—it’s like a maid of honor. She gets a sash.”
“And Neve will wear a crown,” Simon says. “As is fitting for my queen.”
He lifts her hand, pressing her knuckles to his lips.
Ilsa doesn’t like that phrasing one bit. Her eyes narrow and she sets her cake back down on her plate without taking a bite.
As we all set our plates aside, Neve says, “If you’d like, I’ve reserved the suite for your use tonight. There will be fireworks over the Moskva—you’ll have a perfect view.”
I would never stay in a room overnight after a normal business meeting—especially not with this much cash on me. But I’ve known the Markovs all my life. I consider us friends as well as allies.
Besides, Sabrina has no poker face—I can see how this idea excites her. If only so we can fuck as loud as we want without the Wolfpack overhearing.
“Spasibo,”I say. “That’s very generous.”
“I’ll send the staff for the dishes,” Neve says, shaking our hands in farewell. I see Simon’s diamond glittering on her finger, bigger than one of our pills.
“We should go for lunch together,” Sabrina says to Ilsa. “If either of us ever takes a day off.”
“I’d love that,” Ilsa says.
I think it’s the only sentence she’s spoken the whole meeting. Sabrina is going to have to meet Ilsa one-on-one if she wants to actually talk to her, because it’s pretty clear Ilsa despises her sister’s fiancé and isn’t going to say shit when he’s around.
In a reverse of our entrance, Neve, Ilsa, and Simon depart, leaving Sabrina and me alone in the suite.
“What should we do?” I ask Sabrina.
She bites the edge of her lip, looking me up and down.
“I can think of a few things …”
* * *
Several hours later,we’re laying on the bed in the dark. The only light comes through the large windows overlooking the river. The clouds have cleared away enough that I can see the flat disk of the moon, cold and silvery, looking down upon its twin rippling in the dark water below.
I hear a faint popping sound. A small flare shoots up into the air, then bursts into thick purple sparks, like a chrysanthemum blooming in the sky. It’s followed by a dozen more flares. Our window erupts in color.
American Money – BØRNS
Spotify → geni.us/savage-spotify
Apple Music → geni.us/savage-apple
The fireworks glisten on Sabrina’s naked body. They tint her skin in brilliant bursts of blue, gold, silver, and green. The sparks reflect in her eyes.
“I got you something,” I tell her.
