AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I can see Jorden and Anya laughing and dancing in the middle of a circle of people. I should have suspected the two of them would hit it off. They’re birds of a feather, for sure.
Even Francia is having a better time than me. At least she’s drinking.
I’m sober, alone, and bored.
I wish Ivan was here.
Francia was the only one smart enough to bring a purse, so she is holding everyone’s phones. Maybe when she gets back, I can ask for my phone. I won’t text and ask Ivan to come. That would be pathetic. But I could tell him how boring it is. How much more fun it would be if he was here. I could allude to the idea that he should come and rescue me.
Rescue me from what, though? From a night out with friends? The Coop is hardly a horror show. I could be having a good time. I just…don’t want to be here.
A couple breaks away from the dancers and swirls close to my table. They almost crash into one of our chairs, but they hardly notice. It’s hard to pay attention to your surroundings when your mouths are fused together. Their hands roam over one another, lips teasing and tasting. They are lost in the music and each other. Free.
That could be us.
I’m still lost in the fantasy when a dark figure glides in front of me. For a moment, I think my prayers are answered.
Then I realize how wrong I am.
“You look like you need a dance partner.”
He’s tall and towering over me. His face is completely silhouetted by the strobing lights behind him. “No. Thank you. I’m here for my bachelorette party.”
Number one, I have no interest in this guy.
Number two, it’s giving me nauseating flashbacks to the night Ivan and I met.
“Then youdefinitelyneed a dance partner,” the man replies with a wicked grin.
I smile tightly and turn back towards the bar. Francia has only been gone for thirty seconds, but I wish she was back already. “I don’t need anything. I’m just fine.”
“You are fine indeed.” His words take on a sinister edge that has me snapping my gaze back to his face. He’s still obscured by the lights, but I catch the familiar angle of his jaw.
And just like that, my stomach bottoms out.
No. No, it’s not him. He’s not—I’m imagining it.
Then he leans down, giving me the first clear view of his face.
“Mikhail.” His name rushes out of me in a breathless gasp. It’s like the sight of him knocked the wind from me.
“Bachelorette parties are supposed to be fun.” He holds out his hand. “Come on, Cordelia. Let’s have some fun.”
Adrenaline pumps through me at the sound of my old name. The name of another girl from another life. A life where my stepfather had me betrothed to this slimy, snarly, sadistic lunatic.
I have no idea what he's doing here, but it can’t be good.
I dart out of my chair and try to lunge for the bar. But Mikhail is there before I can take a single step away from the table.
“Dance with me,” he hisses in my ear. “Or I will make things painful for you.”
Yasha is here. He’ll find me. He’ll stop this, just as soon as he realizes what’s happening. Until then, I just have to play along.
Mikhail holds out his hand again. I slowly lay my fingers in his palm.
It’s a familiar position. We’ve danced together before. When we were engaged, I was trotted out like the show pony my stepfather wanted at weddings and benefits and things like that.
But this time feels different.
