AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You wanted pink,” I tell her, pointing at her cotton candy and black hair. “You chose pink.”
“I like it in bridesmaid formin theory,” she says, “but I’m not sure about execution. With my complexion?”
I roll my eyes and dissolve into laughter. “Do it! Now!”
“Yes ma’am.”
She does, and when she steps out of the dressing room, the dress is beautiful, a simple cut, one that flatters her lithe form, from the soft A-line to the raw silk, and ends just above her ankles. I hand her a box, and she gasps when she opens it. “Roz! This is Nikolai Wilder money. It’s bad enough he flew me here, and…” Her eyes darken. She still isn’t his number one fan, and I’m okay with that.
Nikolai scares the pants off her when he cuts her a dark look or uses his menacing tone. She’s still not comfortable with her family connection to organized crime, or how Niko threatened her on my behalf.
But, she said, he told her one night, a month or so ago, that he’d do anything for me, that he thinks they’ve got that in common, and the look on her face when she told me said she’s coming around.
I get it, I do. Niko’s a bastard to everyone, except Rush and me.
“You know I inherited a lot of money. Money I really don’t want, money Nikolai insists I keep a huge chunk of. So, I’m getting your dress and these boots.”
She touches one. “Silk fucking pink combat boots, Roz. I’m gonna bedripping!”
“I’m still not sure about my dress,” I confess.
Genius looks up from where she’s sat herself on the floor. “The wedding’s sooner than we thought, and you couldn’t decide.”
I want Nikolai to pick the dress, or at least help me. I can do it, but there’s something weirdly intimate, erotic, fitting for him to. I get how that looks to others, but for us, it’s perfect. Or would be.
“He’s not into the wedding,” I say.
She goes still, then slowly gets up and takes my shoulders. “He’s not a dude who’s into showmanship like a wedding. I think he’s very much into yours, which is weird. If you’d asked me that six months ago, I’d have laughed. He might not be into the dress and suit and big stage show of it, but he’s into you, marrying you. It’s a win.”
I nod.
The dress is pretty, what I would have picked a few months ago: romantic, fitted from breast to hip, a slip dress wrapped in dreamy lace. Now? I’m not sure it’s the right dress. I’m not sure I like it for me. It’s…pedestrian and mainstream with a label.
I’m being silly, I tell myself as Genius goes to get changed, and I pay for the items. We get a private boat back to the casa with its private bridge and yard. Inside, it’s all modern touches made to fit with old-world style. Pure Nikolai.
He’s in his office, and Genius goes off in search of food, so I head for him.
Everyone’s in there: Mia, Tony, Rush, Rafe, and some others I don’t know. They’re talking low, with an urgent undercurrent that makes me sidle up to listen, but a hand grabs me.
My heart jumps into my throat.
“Rose, let’s get you and your friend unpacked. I’d love to see the dresses.” Mia is firm but gentle as she steers me away from the office.
I keep forgetting she’s not just Nikolai’s trusted housekeeper—she’s all the way in the mafia. She might not pack a gun, but she understands the world. After all, Tony’s her husband, and—
“What’s going on? Did he get all the information he needed?” I ask.
She presses her lips together a moment. “I don’t know anything, Rose. We just got here.”
“You know,” I accuse.
“I know,” she says, “that we all have our place. Learn yours, and trust Nikolai.” With that, she heads off deeper into the house.
A few hours later, I’m beyond frustrated. Tony’s not going to breathe a word to me about anything, and the others I don’t know turn in the other direction when they see me. Rafe’s stone face gives nothing away, his mouth even less. The man is worse than a clam.
I stomp off to find Genius when I hear laughter.
Rush.
