Page 189 of Dance of Devils

Brooklyn smiles widely. “So I’m going to stay here with the Zakharova.” She winks as she pulls closer to me. “I don’t know if you're aware, but it’s actually aworld-class company.”

“So I hear,” I murmur, grinning at her.

Brooklyn’s lip catches in her teeth. “Moscow isn’t where I need to be. The Zakharova is my home. New York is my home.Youare my home. Besides,” she shrugs, “I never did save up enough to live in Moscow for a year.”

I chuckle. “You could always sell that Hermes gym bag you never use.”

“Okay, seriously, who uses a five-fucking-thousand-dollar gym?—”

“Language.”

“Deal with it.”

“Sucha fucking brat,” I groan, smiling at her.

She grins impishly as her lip catches in her teeth and her eyes lock with mine. “Punish me for it later?” she whispers quietly.

“Why wait?”

I grab her ass firmly and yank her tight against me. My hand cups her face, lifting it to mine.

“I love you,” I say.

“I love you, too,” she whispers back.

When my mouth sears to hers, there’s an explosion of cheers and claps, and I’m pretty sure I hear Val Bancroft crowing “B-D-E!”

Fuck it.

Call it chemistry.

Call it the stars aligning.

Call it Big Dick Energy.

Or maybe, just call it love.

EPILOGUE

BROOKLYN

Eight Months Later:

“I’m fairlycertain I said you weren't ever to come back here.”

I roll my eyes as I wrap my arms around his waist and grin, looking up into his scowling, albeit gorgeous face.

“Yeah, but it isn’treally the same.”

Actually, the club isn’tat allthe same. The Mirage is now officially The Oasis, which is almost comically on point. Before, the “mirage” was exactly what it was: a place of false hope, promising a way out but really only dragging you further into the desert.

Now, it’s a whole new place.

When Dimitri Moskovic pulled out of New York, as per his peace agreement with Kir, his intent was to close the club. After all, he only owned it because as a cash-heavy business, it was perfect for money laundering. And if he was moving back to Russia… What was the point?

That’s when I stepped in with a different idea.

“I’m still not entirely sure how you convinced me to become the owner of a goddamnstrip club,” Kir grunts next to me.