Page 35 of The Den of Sin

“Please don’t and let’s not ruin our night talking about all of that.”

She eyed me thoughtfully, and there was no mistaking that she knew how much her oldest brother impacted me.

“I propose another toast.” She raised a glass, and I rolled my eyes.

“Okay.”

“To men,” she clinked my glass. “Let’s bring them to their knees.”

I laughed. I didn’t know Adrian very well but Vasili Nikolaev would never be brought to his knees.

“Sure, why not.” We clinked our glasses again. “Bottoms up.”

We giggled, the clock turned back to our college years when life seemed simpler. We downed our drink in one gulp.

“Let’s dance,” Tatiana announced. The cocktails relaxed us, but we weren’t drunk. Yet! It was just enough to ignore the judging eyes and have fun. Okay, maybe we were slightly buzzed. Light tempo jazz sounds played and we swayed to the music, with cocktails in our hands, laughing and reminiscing about our college years when two men approached us with big smiles.

“Hello ladies.”

I eyed both of them. They were slightly older than us but as Vasili so kindly pointed out with Ryan, a baby face. A hiccup escaped me, and I giggled.

“Hello.”

“I’m Regi,” the guy with light brown hair introduced himself.

“Dino,” the other chimed curt, eyeing both Tatiana and me. Dino had dark hair and olive skin with dark eyes. He was handsome although he had nothing on Vasili.

Tatiana and I shared a look, then smiled. We never gave names out when we went out.

“Nice to meet you.”

“What are your names?”

I ignored the question and just smiled. “You two visiting?” I asked instead.

“Yes, we are here for the Halloween parties,” Regi announced. “Heard they are awesome here. Have you been?”

I shook my head. “Nope. My first time in the city.”

“Where are you from?” Dino asked, his eyes glancing between Tatiana and me. I had a feeling he was looking for a weak link.

“Here and there,” Tatiana smiled at him, but I caught her eyes darting Adrian’s way. I followed her gaze and saw him frowning. He didn’t look pleased. Poor guy, I didn’t blame him.

“Do you ladies want to go check out a new club?” Regi offered. He sure moved fast. “It’s called The Den of Sin. We wanted to check it out, apparently it is very exclusive.”

Tatiana and I shared a look and smiled. “Curious name,” I muttered.

Heading for the bar area, to order a glass of water, I nodded at Adrian as I turned my eyes back to Regi and his friend.

“So how do you think you’ll get into it?” I questioned him. “If it’s so exclusive.”

“We have our ways,” Dino chimed in, his eyes roaming my body unashamedly. Something about the way he watched me made my stomach churn. Yes, there was appreciation in his eyes but also cruelty. Like the slaughterer measures their stock to make sure they are the fattest so they could profit most from their animals.

He could have at least been somewhat discreet. I swallowed hard, grateful Adrian was with us.

“We would make it worth your time,” Regi promised. “Barista, ladies will have another round.”

I shook my head. “I’m done for the night.”