Page 40

Matteo comes up behind Mona, wrapping his arms around her. My sister’s whole face lights up. It makes my heart clench. I’m thrilled that they found each other. A love match was something neither of us thought we’d get a chance to have.
“We’ll be back,” Matteo tells us before dragging Mona off. I’m sure he’s taking her up to his office.
Sal holds his hand out to me. I accept it, and he spins me around, making me laugh. I have no clue how to really dance, but at the moment, I don’t care. It might be due to the few drinks I've had.
“This is going to hurt.” I think Sal is next to my ear.
“What?” I ask, but Sal is yanked away from me.
“Nikolai!” I gasp when he pulls his arm back and lands a blow to Sal’s stomach. Sal stumbles back a few feet. I grab hold of Nikolai. “What is wrong with you?”
“You’re what’s fucking wrong with me.” He grabs me by the wrist.
“Hey.” I pull on it when he tries to get me to come with him.
“We’re leaving.”
“Am not.” I yank harder, but it’s useless. He’s got a firm hold on me.
“Are you done?”
“Done with what?” This man is giving me whiplash with the way he’s acting. He’s so damn hot and cold when it comes to me.
“Thinking you’re getting your way over mine.” I stand on my tippy toes to try and get in Nikolai’s face. I get nowhere near it, but that doesn’t stop me. Not right now, anyway. I’m sick of his crap.
“That’s a bunch of bullcrap!” I shout loudly over the music. Nikolai smirks. “Don’t smirk at me, you jerkface!” Then Nikolai does the last thing I think he'll do.
He kisses me.
7
NIKOLAI
Isink my fingers into Riley’s hair as I deepen our kiss. It tempers some of the rage I felt after seeing Sal touch her. That asshole had the balls to even dance and laugh with her. I’d seen fucking red.
I tried to give her space. I let her hang out with her sister and made sure no little fuckers came near her, but that only lasted for about two seconds.
Riley’s fingers dig into my shirt. Her tongue tentatively meets mine. She lets out a sexy little moan, making me momentarily forget where we are. Not that it matters. Sal needs to get it through his thick fucking skull that Riley isn’t for him. Hell, she isn’t for me either, but I don’t give a shit. She’s mine. I don’t deserve her, but I need her.
When I lift my mouth from hers, Riley’s eyes flutter open. Her full lips are even more luscious after what I did to them. In a small way, I left my mark on her. The dazed look in her eyes draws me right back to thoughts of making her come hours ago.
“You kissed me,” she says when she starts to get her bearings.
“I did.” I’m not going to apologize for it.
Because I'm so close to her now, I can see the subtle makeup she put on. It covers up her freckles, which I love so much. Jesus, what is wrong with me? I helped Church torture someone for an hour three nights ago, and now here I am loving freckles.
“You can’t just kiss me,” she huffs, her bottom lip puffing out. I want to suck it into my mouth. There are so many things I want when it comes to her.
“I can.”
Riley scrunches her nose. “Do you ever speak in sentences that are longer than two syllables?”
“Yeah, fucking let Sal touch you again, and I’ll kill him.” Her eyes widen. Does she think I’m bluffing? Riley knows what I’m capable of. She’s seen a sliver of it before.
“That’s rude because Sal is lovely.”
“We’re leaving.” I take her by the wrist again, leading her toward the back of the club. Lovely is not and will never be a word used to describe me.