AllFreeNovel
Share Us
YES, I wanted to yell. But I wasn’t quite ready to lose my job just yet. Keep it professional, Sienna!
“So, what’s going on here?”
A voice broke our moment, and we snapped around. Pavel was strolling into the lounge, eyes narrowed and hard.
“Brother. Always handy with an intrusion,” Ondrej said, raising his mug.
“Oh, so I am intruding?” Pavel said.
“No, not at all,” I jumped in. “We were just chatting. Enjoying some…what’s it called? Never mind. I won’t be able to say it. Some hot wine.”
“Svarák,” Pavel said with an undisguised note of disdain.
“Right, sorry,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up.
“What’s your problem?” Ondrej asked.
Pavel’s eyes darted between us. “No problem. What’s going on?”
Ondrej flicked his gaze to me, then back to his brother. “Nothing. Like she said. Chatting, enjoying some wine.”
“Defrosting from the Christmas market,” I said with a laugh. I swear I caught a wince in Ondrej’s eyes.
Pavel raised his brow. “The Christmas Market? Let me guess, you ran into each other accidentally.”
“Pavel, please,” Ondrej said with exasperation.
There was clearly something deeper going on between them, and I suddenly felt like a mouse between two cats. I drank down the rest of my wine too fast, nearly choking.
“Um, I should probably go. I have a lot of work to do. Thanks for the wine and—well, everything.” Ondrej and I exchanged a look, and I quickly turned to leave.
* * *
I left the bar as quickly as possible, not entirely knowing what was happening. Pavel had seemed like my one ally in this situation, and now he was quickly turning into an adversary as I got to know Ondrej.
And Ondrej—I shook my head as I all but ran through the hotel. I had no idea what was going on there. I was letting myself get distracted by a pair of broody eyes and some magical castles and not focusing on my job.
I pushed open the back door and stepped into a secluded courtyard. The cold nearly knocked me back, but I needed the shock.
A small fountain with ambient lighting cast shadows across the courtyard, and overgrown ivy gave it a private feel. I plopped down on a stone bench and got lost in the gentle ripples of the fountain’s water.
A million thoughts swam through my mind. What happened between Ondrej and me in the chilly Prague streets? And why was Pavel so angry about it?
“You’re tough for an LA girl.”
I looked up. Dominika had stepped out into the courtyard. She was wrapped in a trim cherry red trench coat with cream fuzzy gloves and a matching hat. Her eyes were makeup-free, but she had on her cherry red lipstick.
I tried to laugh, but I think it came out like a grimace. I was suddenly exhausted.
“This is the kind of night made forSvarák,” she said, coming over.
“So I hear.”
She leaned against the wall and let her eyes lazily wander the scene.
“It’s a lovely courtyard. Even in the freezing cold, it’s like a refuge.”
I smiled in agreement.
