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“There’s something else,” I say.

Ilya turns his chair, the soft whir filling the room. “Lay it on me, Boss.”

“Erin and I are planning to elope to Aruba.”

“Fancy.”

I grin. “Not really, but nice, warm, pretty, and a simple wedding with no fanfare.”

“The word is intimate.”

He drives the chair to the wet bar and gets the vodka and two glasses, then returns to my desk and pours drinks.

“Will you be my best man?”

“Are you sure you’re doing the right thing? The answer is yes, but we do this now, you do this now, and Sergio will retaliate. It's just a matter of when.” He wraps his hand around one glass of vodka.

I know what he’s doing. “I’m not afraid of Sergio. And you know marrying Erin is the most sane decision I’ve made in a very long time.”

“Da, it’s true, but my friend, now?”

“Now.”

He nudges the other glass to me. I pick it up and he raises his. “Za tvoye zdorov’ye!”

“To your health,” I say back to him, also in Russian.

We drink the liquor down.

“Are you sure, Demyan?”Erin asks, sitting on our bed.

I turn to her and sit, moving close, then I kiss her. “More than anything. We’ll fly to Aruba next weekend, and we’ll exchange our vows on a private beach. It’ll be perfect, a romantic beach ceremony with our family and friends. And then we can have an intimate dinner at a fancy hotel.”

“A fancy hotel?”

“I have one in mind.”

“How intimate can a dinner be at a fancy hotel?” she asks, a blush brightening her face to a rosy glow. She’s so fucking gorgeous I can barely stand it. I trace her lips with my finger.

“Fancy doesn’t mean big. Do you trust me?”

She searches my face and leans in, kissing me softly. “Yes.”

“Good. While our friends party, we have our honeymoon and don’t get out of bed for a week.”

“And Sasha?” There’s laughter warming her voice.

“Auction him off to the highest bidder?”

She sits back and counts on her hand. “You want to make money from friends and family. It’s going to come down to Ilya versus Alina in terms of funds, but Kara’s wily and?—”

I grab her, rolling her under me so I can make out with her for a while. I’m hard, always so fucking hard for her, but I roll us so she’s on top. I curl a hand through her hair.

“Speaking of money, I’m paying. Accommodations, flights, everything, so everyone invited gets there.”

She frowns. “You don’t mean Ilya or Alina.”

“I do. And Kara.” I pull her in and kiss her again, her lips soft and warm, sweet.