Page 12

Nico is going to be here in half an hour to fetch me, and I’ve changed my outfit seven times already.

I can’t figure out whether I should be smart casual or full professional.

I mean, this is a family of businesspeople.

Successful, serious, professional people.

I’ve been practicing answering imaginary questions about my studies and what I majored in, and the articles my professor said were my best. I want them to know I’m capable and smart without sounding like I’m bragging.

I just want to fit in with everyone and have Nico feel proud of me.

I’m so nervous.

I don’t know what to expect from his family dinner, but I’ve heard stories about how rich and successful his family is and how powerful they are in the business world. His family name was one of the main reasons I applied for the job at his company. I wanted to work for the best.

Well, I got what I wanted, and now I am about to have dinner with all of them, and I’m kind of freaking out.

I have to impress them.

This means a lot to me. I assume it would mean a lot to him to be able to introduce me as a competent and professional assistant. My stomach knots tighter. Am I there as his assistant, or something else ?

I want it to be something else, despite knowing it can’t be. He’s my boss. I’m only there to meet his family. People I might at some point need to interact with at work—that’s all.

But we have been getting on so well.

Things have changed drastically since our trip to New York. Since he took my virginity.

Is the black dress the right dress? Should I rather wear the blue one? Or maybe the pink one is professional but also has a hint of weekend style, relaxed vibes.

Dammit, I don’t know.

I stand in front of the mirror, turning left and right to try and see myself from all angles. My hair is pinned up in a cute, messy bun that actually took me an hour to create, and while it looks like I did it completely by accident, it was hard to make that casual mess of curls look right.

I kept my make-up light and clean, choosing a fresh look, mostly focusing on dramatic thick lashes and the soft touch of caramel gloss on my lips.

The black dress is tight and short with long sleeves; it’s elegant and understated. I spin again, getting another look at myself.

“Mm,” I say in surprise. “I actually look really good. I think this is the one.” Thank goodness, because the thought of changing again was going to make me crazy.

I choose to wear my over-the-knee boots because they make me smile when I remember how much Nico liked them. Flashes of that night tease my memory, and my body begins to tingle with desire.

No, I need to focus. It’s a big deal to meet his family. This is an important night, and I can’t be off daydreaming about that type of thing.

I decide to break up the monotony of the black dress with a small blue clutch, and to accent the touch of color, I slip tiny blue diamanté earrings into my ears so that they dangle and catch the light when I move. It is the weekend, after all. A little sparkle goes a long way.

This is perfect.

Yes.

I’m finally ready. Oh my word. What a relief.

Again, my stomach churns with nerves. It’s okay. I’m good with people. I’ll treat it like a business meeting, and as long as I keep my professional nature up, I’ll ace this dinner.

***

“Wow,” Nico says when I open the front door. “You look incredible. As always.” His eyes wander up and down my body with desire.

He looks so damn sexy in his dark jeans, thick sweater and black coat. His dark hair is a little wilder than usual, ruffled on top as though he’s run his hand through it one too many times. And he didn’t shave for the last two days. I find his shadowed beard so sexy.

“The blue really suits you,” he smiles, reaching out to brush his hand over my blue coat that perfectly matches my purse and earrings. His touch causes a ripple of excitement to run through me.

“Will you be warm enough?” he asks with care.

“I’m sure I will,” I say, looking down at my outfit.

“Luka likes the colder weather, so he never turns the heating up high even when it’s snowing outside.” Nico rolls his eyes. “But I think with my sisters being there tonight, he’ll be forced to.” He laughs. “They don’t let him get away with anything.”

I lock my front door, and Nico slips his arm around my waist as we walk towards his car. He holds the door open for me while I climb inside.

Arriving at Nico’s brother’s house, I quickly realize that they are not the intimidating businesspeople that I had envisioned.

I thought they were going to look at me and judge me based on my success, or lack thereof. My wealth, my status, what I’m wearing, that sort of thing. But in actuality, they are warm, welcoming, and incredibly friendly.

When I step into the house, the first person to greet me is Arkady. He’s tall with dark hair like Nico, sharp eyes, and a cheeky smile.

“This is Arkady, my youngest brother,” Nico says.

“Hey, girl in the black dress,” he grins.

“Uh,” I stammer. I mean, I am wearing a black dress—it’s just a weird way to greet someone.

I hold out my hand to shake his. “I’m Serafina,” I say confident and bold. Ark throws a look towards Nico as though he’s about to stir up some trouble.

He pulls me into a hug and laughs. “It’s good to meet you. I’ve already warned Nico that if he doesn’t keep an eye on you, I’m going to steal you. I’m more fun than he, anyway. It would be an upgrade.”

His eyes are shining with mischief when he releases me from the hug.

My cheeks are heated with surprise, but I can’t help smiling at his playfulness.

Nico punches his brother in the arm. “I told you to behave.” He shakes his head, pushing Arkady out of the way and wrapping his arm around my waist as he moves me protectively against his side.

For a second, I’m worried he’s genuinely angry, but he throws his brother a massive smile, and Arkady winks at me.

Luka is the next brother I meet, and he’s less playful, but very welcoming.

Everyone else is wearing long sleeves, but he only has a thin t-shirt on.

He also pulls me straight into a hug. The last thing I expected was for this to be a family of huggers.

But then again, Nico is very affectionate and likes to reach out and touch me often, so why wouldn’t his family be a bunch of huggers?

When Luka steps away from me, he smiles and says, “I hope you aren’t a vegetarian, because we made lamb shanks for dinner.“ He pulls a face, suddenly worried.

Nico sighs. “You don’t think that’s something you should have checked a day or two before?” he laughs.

“Well,“ Luka says tensely.

“I eat almost everything. Except snails. Just the idea of it freaks me out.”

“In that case, you’ll fit in just fine. Let me take your coat.” Luka steps behind me and shrugs the heavy blue coat off my shoulders while he talks to Nico. “That crate of red wine you ordered arrived this morning. Jade just opened a bottle now. It’s freaking good.”

“I knew you’d like it,” Nico nods.

“Thanks, man. I appreciate it,” Luka smiles. He throws my jacket over his arm, then disappears to hang it up somewhere.

Jade and Aliyah rush over to me, bubbling with excitement.

“These are my sisters.” Nico gestures towards them.

“Oh my goodness, Nico said you were gorgeous—but wow,” Aliyah says, and my cheeks are red again.

They both hug me, and before I know it, they’ve pulled me away from Nico to introduce me to everyone else, including Radmir Kuztnetsov, who is married to Jade. When he reaches out to shake my hand, I notice that he has a gun strapped to his hip. He’s not the only one.

Luka and Arkady are also carrying guns. I wonder if everyone is?

By the time I get to the dining table and sit down next to Nico, I’m doing my best to remember who is who, and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.

Beneath the table, Nico brushes his hand over my leg.

“Are you doing okay?” he whispers, leaning close to me.

“They’re all so friendly,” I whisper back.

“Mm. They are. They’re also all a pain in the ass sometimes,” he chuckles.

“I heard that,” Aliyah says, catching her brother out. “Don’t pretend like you aren’t the biggest pain in the ass out of all of us.”

“Hey,” Arkady says, sounding hurt and disappointed.

Nico shakes his head at his sister. “Don’t do that to Arkady. You know he works hard to be the most annoying and unpredictable out of everyone in this family.”

Jade throws her hands in the air in defeat. “Sorry, Ark. I didn’t mean it,” she giggles.

The banter continues all through dinner, with everyone taking a turn to tease someone else and then everyone joining in on the laughter.

It’s strange that in my mind, I spent two days preparing to be questioned about work and business and my qualifications, and no one here has mentioned the office, not once.

They’ve asked me about what I enjoy doing, my favorite foods, and whether or not I like a particular artist. They’ve asked me about my travels, or lack thereof at this point, and where I would go if I could go anywhere.

They’ve asked me if I’ve ever been diving before, and hiking, and which beach I like the best.

But they haven’t asked me about work.

“What was Nico like when he was young?” I ask, cutting a very sharp knife through my lamb shank. It’s so soft and tender that I hardly need a knife at all.

Yilian is the one who answers by chuckling first. “When we were all much, much younger, my parents had to go out one night—some kind of event, I can’t remember—and they lined us up to give us a very stern talking to. And what they said that day—I think it set the tone for the rest of our lives.”

“I don’t remember this. What are you talking about?” Arkady says.

“I remember,” Nico smiles, only one side of his mouth curling upwards.

“We were lined up oldest to youngest, so Nico was there on their end, and my dad said to him, 'You are the man of this house whenever we are gone. Your brothers and sisters are your responsibility. No excuses. You take care of them.' ”

Nico pulls his mouth tight, carrying the weight of those words in his memory.

I look between him and Yilian.

Luka nods his head towards Nico. “He’s been looking out for us ever since. I think he was ten at the time. But damn, he took our father seriously that day and every day after.”

Jade is walking past the table with a fresh bottle of wine. She hugs Nico from behind. “He’s the best big brother you could ever ask for,” she smiles. She leans over and tops up our glasses with a dark red pinot noir before moving away to make sure everyone has wine.

My smile spreads from cheek to cheek as I watch them. My heart is warm and happy. I lean close to Nico, who looks proud, but also a little embarrassed beneath all the praise and love.

“So, is this what it’s like to have brothers and sisters?” I whisper.

From across the table, half a potato comes flying and hits Nico on the chest. It bounces off him and rolls to the floor.

We look up to see Arkady smirking. “Don’t go getting a big head about it, bro, or we’re hauling out the baby photo albums. You know Mom loved to put the most embarrassing pics in there—“

Nico, look at me. “No. That is what it’s like to have brothers and sisters.”

Everyone at the table starts laughing.

It’s the perfect night. I couldn’t ever have guessed it would be so much fun, so relaxed. His family is incredible.

My eyes are constantly wandering over Nico’s beautiful features.

I’m imagining a life with him. It’s ridiculous to be thinking things like that, but I can’t help it.

He’s kind and generous and caring. He’s drop-dead fucking gorgeous, and confident and full of strength.

The way he acts possessive and protective over me—it drives me wild with desire.

But he’s my boss.

He’s also the first man I’ve ever been unable to stop thinking about, every moment of every day. He’s always on my mind. No matter what I’m doing, I’m also wondering where he is and if he needs anything, and when I’ll see him again.

After dinner, we say goodbye to everyone. Nico keeps me close, his arm around me, in front of all of his brothers and sisters. I wonder if it means anything. I shouldn’t read into it, though. I’ll end up getting hurt at the end of the day, because I want this more than I dare to admit out loud.