Page 18

“We have another party?” she says tensely, leaning her back against the kitchen counter and fidgeting with her hands.

“Yes, it’s not open to the public, it’s just with the Dubrovs and my family. We are pretty close to them and often have joint gatherings to catch up with each other. I’m sure you’ve figured out through all the paperwork that we do a lot of business with them too.”

She nods, biting her lip.

“Ok.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask, reaching out to her and gently touching her cheek.

“Um, maybe I’m just tired.” She smiles. “I’ll have a little sleep this afternoon before I get ready. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“If you don’t feel up to it I will stay home with you.” I touch her forehead to feel her temperature, but she feels fine.

She giggles. “Don’t be silly. Of course, I’ll go with you. I get a little overwhelmed meeting new people and the Dubrovs—well, they seem pretty powerful from what I’ve learned.”

“You mean through the paperwork?” I ask, wondering what she means.

“Yes, they have huge transactions and must be a powerful family.”

“They are amazing people. You’ll like them,” I reassure her.

“Don’t mafia families get that powerful by being more ruthless than everyone else?” she asks, finally letting me understand what her worries are about.

“Jade,” I say, pulling her into my arms, “I’ll be right at your side, and I promise you, you have nothing to worry about there.”

She leans into me and I hold her tighter, enjoying the moment.

“Alright,” she says after a while, looking at me with a bright smile. “Just help me decide what to wear.”

***

It’s a very casual get together, an extended family barbecue at Oleg’s place. Everyone is in jeans and a comfortable sweater or a hoodie. It’s early in the afternoon but that cold bite is in the air again and Jade is latched onto me for warmth.

Except, after roaming around a little while and introducing her to everyone, I realize it’s not warmth she was looking for but familiarity and safety. Comfort.

She is overwhelmed and nervous.

Her usual sassy, vibrant self is a little subdued and almost hiding behind me.

Oleg reaches his hand out to her and shakes it enthusiastically. “Jade, welcome, what a pleasure to meet you,” he says. Raisa Is standing next to him looking proud of her husband.

“How long have you guys been together?” Jade asks, relaxing slightly.

“Oh wow, it’s been so long , so many years . My wife is a difficult woman to be around, so time moves slow, so much—“ Oleg gets cut off when Raisa punches him playfully in the arm. “We’ve been married for a year now.” She grins and glares at him. He smirks a wide, sparkling smile back at her and drags her into his arms to kiss her.

“It’s been the most magical time of my life,” Oleg says, looking directly at Raisa.

“Wow, that’s a gorgeous necklace,” Jade says, gesturing towards the ruby rose pendant around Raisa’s neck.

“Thanks. I love yours as well. Seems our men have good taste. I have a bracelet as well—to match.” My sister winks at me and I notice Jade’s cheek flush bright pink.

“I have a ring,” Jade says, pulling her sleeve up away from her hand.

“Wow. Oleg, I think I might need a ring too.” Raisa grins at her husband.

“ And a unicorn,” Oleg teases.

“And a unicorn ,” Raisa says excitedly.

I pull Jade towards me, away from the two of them.

“Are you doing ok? You see? Everyone is really friendly.”

“They are. I actually really like them.” She smiles, her eyes lighting and her face looking relaxed.

I cup my hand around the back of her neck, and she stands up on her tiptoes to kiss me. In front of everyone.

My heart stammers a little at the gesture. Then shyly, she steps back and scrunches her nose in that way she does when she’s thinking really hard or feeling a little awkward.

Throughout the afternoon I watch her as she talks to my sisters, laughing and joking, getting on especially well with Ruslana. She chats to Ruvim and I can see he likes her. At one point he even grabs her and gives her a one armed hug, exactly the same way he hugs our sisters.

She fits in with us. She gets on with everyone and has such a down to earth perspective of life.

I sip my drink, leaning my shoulder against the wide patio doorframe, admiring her from a distance.

What would it be like to have her as a permanent part of my life?

What would it be like if she were really my wife, emotionally, physically and entirely belonging to me?

The more I am around her and the more time we spend together the more I want that.

I don’t know how to tell her or how to show her, and I have no idea if she wants the same thing.

My heart flips wildly when she turns to look at me across the party and her lips curl up into that beautiful smile.

My eyes trace over her body, utter perfection and beauty.

If I had my way, I would drag her to the backroom right now and let her know what she does to me.

How crazy she makes me.

I grin and start walking towards her.

When I get there, I stand behind her and wrap my arm around her, over her shoulders, holding her back against my chest.

“What are you ladies talking about?” I ask my sisters.

“You,” Raisa says.

“Obviously,” Ruslana confirms, rolling her eyes in exaggeration.

Jade giggles, and the sounds send a current of electricity through me, like a shiver of enticement.

I can’t wait to get her home.

Tonight, I am going seduce her. I’ve been holding off, waiting, trying to be patient, but tonight she is mine and I will do everything I’ve been dreaming of doing to her. Her legs will be shaking for an hour when I am done with her and she will gasping for breath.

“What have you been up to?” Jade asks, tilting her head backwards against my chest.

“Mm. Just thinking about you.” I grin.

“Oh, please, get a room, you two,” Ruslana huffs, waving her hand at us and hiding her smile.

“I am almost ready to go home,” I whisper in her ear.

She glances at her half-finished cocktail. “Me too, after this.”

“Yes, Radmir, after her drink. She still belongs to me for at least twenty minutes,” Ruslana says, gesturing for me to beat it and go talk to the guys.

I chuckle and reluctantly step away from Jade to start winding down the evening and saying goodbye to everyone.

I’m even more eager to get her home now that I’ve touched her. She is a drug in my veins and as soon as I get the smallest taste, I go wild for the rest.

When we do eventually leave, Jade is a little rosy in the cheeks from the cocktails and a fun evening.

I usher her into the car and clip the safety belt in place.

“I’m glad you got to meet everyone,” I say, climbing into my side.

“Me too. They are all really cool. They were welcoming and friendly.” She nods.

“I told you.” I grin.

At home, Jade says she wants to shower, but I grab her and tug her onto my bed. I can’t wait anymore.

Somehow, my room has become her room and she hasn’t slept in her own bed since that night I brought her to mine. Of course, this is exactly what I want.

Jade giggles as she flops down onto the bed next to me.

She looks up at me with those glittering hazel eyes.

Her dark lashes framing them perfectly.

“You are really special, Jade. There is a reason everyone likes you.”

She bites her lip, looking away from me and I take her chin in my hand to turn her face back towards mine. “I’m serious. Everyone there enjoyed being around you. Everyone in my businesses loves you, too. You are a good, kind and beautiful person. Someone I really enjoy being around.”

“I enjoy being around you too, Radmir. And you’ve been so generous since I came to stay with you since you helped me—“ she stammers a little and chokes back her words, sounding emotional.

“Hey, there’s nothing to be sad about,” I chuckle, pulling her close and holding her against me.

“I know.” She grins. “It’s just… there aren’t a lot of people in the world who would have done what you did, who would’ve helped me like that.”

I tilt my head to the side.

“Did you really used to race cars?” I ask, grinning and changing the subject to make it less of a serious tone in here.

She cracks up laughing.

“You’ve been dying to ask me that since I mentioned it, haven’t you? Don’t you believe me?” she asks with all the sass in her voice.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but girls don’t generally do street racing.”

“Well, I’m driving next time we go somewhere,” she says more of a challenge than anything else.

“Uh, no. I drive,” I say, shaking my head.

“Well, no matter what I say you aren’t going to believe me, so I need to show you, smartass.”

She giggles and rolls onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

“I love driving. And working on cars too. Grigor taught me everything. He was doing it from a lot younger than me, but then he got me interested in it and it was like our thing. You know.” She glances at me. This is the first time she has spoken about her lost brother without that ache of pain I usually see in her eyes. This is a fond memory, and she is allowing herself to feel it.

“What kind of car did you race?” I ask, leading her deeper into the memory and enjoying hearing about things that are close to her heart.

“Well, my favorite was this beaten up old Reno five. I mean it was old. It was the first car I ever raced, and I think they let me drive it because no one cared if I crashed it. But then it turned out I was actually really good at driving and they tried to give me a souped up golf, but I still wanted the Reno.” She laughs.

“Grigor helped me spray the entire thing pink and put under glow on it.”

“It sounds like something I would have enjoyed seeing. But I probably would have died with stress watching you race.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. Not after you saw how good I was at it.” She rolls towards me and props herself up on her elbow.

“What crazy things have you done?” she asks, probing into my past.

“Mm. My brother and I once stole a helicopter.” I chuckle.

“No way—“ she says, her eyes wide and her mouth open in shock. “How? Where?”

And all night we talk.

We share stories and laugh and learn about each other.

The intimacy between us grows deeper as the dark hours of night roll forward and eventually, after it feels like she knows everything about my entire life and I know all about hers, she falls asleep in my arms and I lie there, stroking her soft, dark hair, and realizing that I am falling madly in love with her.

In fact, I already have.

I’ve fallen.

I love her.