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I cringed from both his beer-soaked breath and the carelessly uttered words that set off a flood of self-doubt. No, I wasn’t sure he was into me. I knew Ivan didn’t want to be attracted to me and he often succeeded in making me believe he wasn’t. I felt a little more confident about his interest tonight, but dealing with Ivan was like handling unstable chemicals—at any moment it could blow up in my face.
“Since your boyfriend is nowhere to be seen, I’ll just take his place,” he said, his lips suddenly lowering toward mine.
Repulsion tore through me. “No, stop it!” I turned my head away and started pushing at his chest.
Before his mouth made contact, a hand was thrust between us, wrapping around the man’s throat and pulling him backward.
“Apparently, you didn’t look too far, motherfucker,” Ivan’s voice snapped out from behind him. Relief had me practically dropping to my knees.
Gripping the collar of his dirty t-shirt, Ivan gave him a sharp punch to the stomach. The guy bellowed and tried to move away, but Ivan’s firm hold kept him motionless.
Ivan punched him two more times in the face, but instead of letting him fall to the ground, he jerked the guy up, his big fists holding him by the fabric of his stained t-shirt.
Ivan looked like an avenging god. His features were set in a snarling grimace of rage, an expression that would have terrified me if it had aimed in my direction.
“She said no, fuckhead. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I-I-I’m sorry. I’ve been drinking. I didn’t realize,” he blubbered desperately, his eyes wild with panic.
“Oh, yeah?” Ivan slammed the guy against the wall, in the same position I had just been in. Ivan leaned in closely and braced his forearm across the other guy’s windpipe. “Doesn’t feel too fucking good, does it?” he whispered menacingly.
The guy choked but shook his head frantically.
“Tell me why the fuck shouldn’t I take you outside and put a bullet in your head?” Ivan asked with soft menace, as I gaped in shock.
Murder? He was bluffing, right? It was hard to say because his expression was absolutely serious.
The frat guy’s eyes bugged out. “I-I-I didn’t know she said no. I didn’t hear her,” he said quickly, clearly as unsure as me if Ivan would, in fact, actually kill him.
Ivan cocked his head, then looked at me, his expression softening noticeably. “You believe him?”
I looked at the guy who grabbed me, his eyes wild and desperate as he silently pleaded with me to say I believed him. Sure, he was a disgusting, rapey douchebag, but was I prepared to hand him a death sentence?
“Well, not really, but I also don’t want you put in jail for killing him either.”
Ivan appeared to consider my words and nodded. He gave the guy several jabs in the stomach that had him curling over with agony and sliding to the floor.
“Consider yourself lucky. She’s far nicer than I am.”
Ivan gave the guy a sharp kick to the ribs and stepped back. Still scowling and his chest heaving like a bellows, he grabbed my hand and started dragging me in the opposite direction of where we’d been standing with Laney and Will.
I wanted to ask where we were going, but one look at Ivan’s fierce, angry expression had the words stalling in my throat. I would find out our destination soon enough.
Chapter 16
Ivan
Fury practically blinded my vision as I dragged Emmy to the back of the basement, people jumping out my way. Adrenaline and anger burned through my system like gasoline.
As I led Emmy through the party, I thought back to my conversation with Will right before going to look for her. A conversation that only added to the intensity of my feelings right now.
I had been standing impatiently talking to Will, periodically pulling out my phone to check the time and see if Emmy had texted me. After my fourth time doing it, he laughed out loud and punched me in the shoulder.
When I gave him a questioning scowl, he shook his head. “Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? Do you have a fucking timer on that thing? Are you really going to enforce your ten-minute rule?” he asked, still laughing.
“It was a fifteen-minute rule, and I’m here to protect her. I need to know if something is wrong when I’m not with her.”
I was getting a bit edgy. She’d been gone for eighteen minutes.