Page 98 of Chain Me
Sofia appears beside me, her dark hair swept into an elegant chignon. “Cold feet?”
“Hot feet. Burning feet.” I laugh shakily. “I've never been this nervous in my life. Not even when I pitched my first major client.”
“That's because you knew you'd built something worth selling.” Natasha smooths an invisible wrinkle from her emerald bridesmaid dress. “This is different. You're about to promise someone your entire future.”
The weight of her words settles in my chest. Six months ago, the idea of having girlfriends would have seemed foreign to me. I'd always been too focused, too driven, too wary of other women's motives. But circumstances have a way of forging unexpected bonds.
“Do you think I'm crazy?” I ask them both.
“Absolutely.” Sofia grins. “But the good kind of crazy. The kind that changes everything.”
Natasha moves to my other side, her reflection joining our small circle. “When I first met you at that charity gala, I thought you were ice cold. Untouchable princess in her ivory tower.”
“Thanks?”
“I'm not finished.” She meets my gaze. “But watching you with Erik? You melt. You become this fierce, passionate woman who fights for what she wants. That's not crazy—that's brave.”
Sofia nods. “Plus, the way he looks at you makes me think Nikolai might have competition for the most obsessed husband.”
Heat rises in my cheeks. “He doesn't look at me like that.”
“Oh, honey.” Natasha laughs, the sound rich with amusement. “He looks at you like you hung the moon and personally arranged every star in the sky. It's nauseating, really.”
“Beautifully nauseating,” Sofia corrects with a smile.
“Says the woman whose fiancé fell to his knees and begged to get her back,” I quip, raising an eyebrow at Sofia.
Natasha's cheeks flush pink, but she shrugs with characteristic confidence. “What can I say? I know what I've got.”
“And what you've got is a man who bought out an entire restaurant so you could have dinner without being disturbed by other patrons,” Sofia adds with a knowing smirk.
“He did not—” Natasha starts to protest, then stops. “Okay, fine. He did. But that was romantic!”
“It was possessive,” I counter, though my tone holds no judgment. “Beautifully, overwhelmingly possessive.”
Sofia laughs, adjusting her own dress. “It seems Ivanov men come with a very specific set of... characteristics.”
“You mean they're all completely unhinged when it comes to their women?” Natasha asks dryly.
“I was trying to be diplomatic.”
“Don't bother,” I say, taking another sip of champagne. “Erik started a war with my father because he couldn't stand the thought of me marrying someone else. Subtle isn't exactly in their vocabulary.”
“Nikolai stalked me for weeks,” Sofia admits. “I thought I was going crazy, feeling someone watching me constantly.”
Natasha nods knowingly. “Dmitri had my apartment building's security upgraded without telling me. Apparently, my locks weren't 'sufficient for his peace of mind.'“
“At least they care,” I murmur, though part of me wonders if 'care' is really the right word for what these men feel.
"Poor Alexi," Sofia says with a shake of her head. "He's the only one left, and he's so busy chasing that phantom hacker that he barely notices anything else exists."
"The one who breached the compound while I was captive?" I ask. "Using my own security protocols against me?"
Sofia nods. "He's completely obsessed with finding the culprit. Says this hacker is the first person who's ever managed to use your code without leaving a trace. The fact that they knew you were being held there..."
"Maybe that's for the best that he's distracted," Natasha suggests. "Can you imagine what would happen if Alexi actually found someone? The poor woman wouldn't know what hit her."
"She'd probably be locked in a digital fortress within twenty-four hours," I add with a laugh.
