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Short dresses turned out to be out of the question for the evening. I had automatically gravitated toward them on habit alone, but the love bites on my inner thighs would only invite further questions and, while everybody invited likely knows how I spent the night last night, there are some things that I’m going to keep private.
Instead, I opt for a loose sweatshirt. One of Alexei’s from high school that I had stolen and cut up so that it falls off of one shoulder. The worn fabric is old and soft which is exactly what I need right now. Paired with yoga pants and huge fuzzy socks it might be the most comfortable that I’ve been in months.
The buzz off conversation fills the small apartment that I’m staying in. Soft music plays in the background that nobody is really paying any attention to. The TV plays a romcom with the sound on mute because none of us can be bothered to do anything but eat and talk. It’s been so long since I caught up with my girls that it might just be the best night ever.
For the better part of the last hour, Jodie and her new girlfriend have been puttering about my kitchen making snacking trays and arranging junk food onto cute little platters. Pizza boxes are stacked high on the island next to whatever jungle juice concoction Jodie chose to make for the evening. I gave up attempting to ask her what goes into her drinks when she made them for me years ago. She never tells. All I know is that they always taste amazing and get you knocked on your ass quickly.
Which is the whole point anyway.
Marci, obviously, has chosen not to drink in her current condition. When she arrived, it was with and abundance of Chinese food in hand. She claimed that she had had a severe craving for egg rolls. I don’t care how much food we make or what we drink so long as nobody has to go to the grocery store and there are absolutely no dishes involved. Besides, it turns out that Jodie’s new girlfriend is a baker and brought the most to die for cookies that I’ve ever tasted in my whole life.
My sides hurt from laughing so much. My face burns from the smile that I can’t seem to push away. Not that I would want to. Jodie’s new girlfriend seems to beabsolutelyperfect for her and I can’t be more thrilled that she’s with such a great person. Nora always talks the most when she’s tipsy and I’m living for the stories that she’s telling me about my brother. Trade secrets, sure, but nothing that anybody says in this room is ever going to go anywhere but right here.
I missed this.
Honestly, I think that I allowed myself to get so wrapped up inside of my travels and finishing up my degree that I had been neglecting the friendships that have always been so important to me. No amount of fine hotels and hot tubs could make me feel half as at ease as I do right here and now with my best friends around me.
It was a damned shame that it took such a tragedy to bring us together like this… but now that I’m here, I make a silent vow to myself never to wait this long between girls’ nights like this again.
The doorbell rings again.
I wait for a moment to see if Alexei’s men are going to simply let themselves in or if they will bring in whatever delivery food that is on our behalf.
“I don’t know what you guys ordered, but I really hope it’s Indian food.” I call over my shoulder as I push up into a standing position from where I had been lying on the floor. Hell, with how drunk Jodie is getting I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a stripper here for me.
I pull open the door without checking through the peep hole, feeling secure in my safety given the private street and the sheer number of guards.
I should have known better than to make assumptions like that.
All thoughts swirl right out of my head as I’m faced not with a delivery person or a stripper holding an old school boom box… but a man in a black balaclava and a gun pointed straight between my eyes.
I wish I could say that this was the first time that a gun has ever been pulled on me, but it’s not. I take instant note of the height of the man in front of me and his massive build. The only thing that occurs to me is that I need to make sure it’s me he wants, and not the girls behind me. They don’t need to be frightened. I have to find a way to close the door so that it’s only me that’s affected.
I have to…
The gun goes off.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LUCA
Crashing a girl’s night was not exactly how I thought that I was going to be spending my evening.
For the last several hours I have been hidden away, observing Katya’s apartment from a safe distance and listening to all of the nonsense that they speak about behind closed doors. Some part of my ego assumed that I would be brought up at some point or another, and I cannot deny being a little bit disappointed that she didn’t seem to want to tell her friends about the night we shared.
Stalking.
I have been reduced to stalking. This is a new low, even for me. Out of all of the terrible things that I’ve done in my life I neverthought that I would have to be doing this myself. But I am learning a hell of a lot about Katya and her friends.
Nonetheless, she does not seem to be doing much of the talking at all. Rather, her friends seem to be carrying on most of the conversation. I must be certain to tell Dario how Marci spoke about him escorting her home. I had been so preoccupied with my own business that I had forgotten to ask him how it went between them last night. Physically, Marci is just his type. Though, I don’t know what his stance would be on the rest of it. Not that he’s ever been the sort of man who shies away from a fight or uncomfortable situation. He’s my right-hand man for a reason.
Given that he didn’t go home last night, I assume he stayed at Marci’s. I can’t imagine what they might have gotten up to or if his night was anything like mine, but, for his sake, I hope it was.
For the most part, it seemed like an average evening but something in my gut tells me to move closer to the building. It is simple enough to move around Alexei’s guards. I have been trained my whole life to not be seen when I don’t want to be. It’s a skill I’m rather proud of, given how large of a man I grew to be.
The sounds of a scuffle catch my attention from inside of the building and I move in to investigate. There on the floor were Alexei’s men guard the door, somebody has managed to slip in past me and is eliminating all of the security. Seems like I have my work cut out for me. I don’t need to see the man to know that it’s likely whoever else my father has hired as my competition.It’s a bold move to attack Katya while still inside of Alexei’s territory. A reckless move.
I take the stairs, bolting up the floors until I reach her floor. The elevator chimes just moments after I step into the hall and the doors slide open. I press myself against the nearest corner and pull my gun from my pants just in case. It’s second nature to move with a gun in my hand these days, given how my father has been acting.
