Page 71 of Night So Silent

Moaning a string of curses, I run my hand up and down Barrett’s thigh while we both come down. She rolls her head to the side, letting her hair fall over my shoulder.

“I love you…I love you…I love you…” I whisper to her, inhaling her sweet scent with each breath.

She rests her head in the curve of my neck, her bound arms hanging limp at her sides while she catches her breath.

“Mine,” she whispers back, just loud enough for me to hear. “All mine.”

I don’t move. I don’t want it to end. I want to stay inside her, in this moment forever. But my euphoria is interrupted when I catch something in my periphery. I glance to the side, at something lingering in the shadows next to the door.

Astrid Avery’s ashen face stares back at me with eyes wide, mouth ajar, and paralyzed with shock.

But I don’t feel anger or mortification. Instead, I tighten my hold on Barrett, pulling her closer as she melts into my body.Safe.Then I meet Astrid’s horrified eyes, holding her gaze before lobbing her a menacing smirk. I don’t know how long she’s been standing there, but she will commit this image to memory and remember where my loyalties lie.

As if snapping out of a trance, humiliation takes hold and Astrid drops her head, eyes darting around as she grabs the door handle with a trembling hand and silently flees the office. Barrett and I are alone once again, and I begin the intimate process of putting us both back together. We still have a wedding shower to attend, after all. And since I’ve always been one to face my problems, this is what I plan to do as soon as I encounter my disgraced employee. But it seems that I won’t get the chance.

Dallas and Brett can barely hide their suspicion when we return to the party.

“What?” Barrett asks, fluffing her hair casually.

“Sergei, did you yell at her again?” Dallas asks.

“Yell at who?” I reply.

“Astrid!” she chortles.

“I have not spoken to her since we left the table.”

Because I haven’t.

“Well, she ran out of here looking like she’d seen a ghost,” Brett snickers.

“Oh?” Barrett glances up at me with a glimmer in her eye.

Suddenly, Lutz brushes past my shoulder. “Nice hair, Dreamboat,” he quips, popping his brow.

Shit.

I didn’t even realize I walked back out with my hair loose. I suppose Barrett got her wish after all.

“I went after Astrid to yell at her for being such an unprofessional bitch and embarrassing everyone,” Dallas explains. “But when I found her, she was talking to her dad and he lookedpissed.Like, ather.When she came back, she asked me where you were. I don’t know what she told Royce, but I think she was afraid you were going to scrap the contract and tell him to pound sand.”

“Is Royce still here?” Barrera asks, switching into surveillance-mode and searching the crowd behind Dallas. “He might attempt damage control.”

“He knows better than that,” Lutz says, wrapping his arms around Brett’s midsection and running a hand over her bump. “He’ll wait you out to see what happens when you get the contract.”

It’s just as well. I have no desire to engage in any more asinine interactions on what is supposed to be a celebratory night. Her hand clasped in mine, I lead Barrett to the bar to get a drink for each of us—as well as two tall glasses of ice water while we wait. I lift her hand to my lips and give her a kiss, admiring the star sapphire engagement ring on her finger. She picked it out herself, telling me that it looks just like the stars the first time she saw them from our house on the snowy mountain.

“I saw her come into your office,” Barrett says with nonchalance.

I still for a moment, then slowly lower her hand.

“You did?”

She nods, looking almost impish as she turns to the bar.

“And you didn’t say anything,” I point out.

A smile plays on her lips. “Should I have? I was busy having an orgasm. Even she could see that.”

“Hmm,” I grunt. “Maybe I’ve been a bad influence on you.”

She looks up at me knowingly. “I think it’smethat’s influencedyou.Then again, you didn’t say anything to her, either.”

“No,” I reply, gazing into Barrett’s silvery eyes that take on a metallic shine in the low light.

She’s mesmerizing; the quiet storm, the gale on the mountain, the fiery avalanche that tore me apart and flooded me with a warmth I’ve never felt.

“I heard that sometimes silence is enough. Sometimes silence speaks louder than words ever can.”

THE END