“Have fun tonight.” I touch the tip of her nose. “But not too much fun, yes?”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t you have a meeting or something?”
My mood sours. Having Leonov meeting with head of the gaming board after he just met with us looks bad. He’ll get a chance to explain, but I have very little doubts about what he’s going to say. And how many lies he’s going to tell.
“I do.” I kiss her once more, just to keep the feel of her on me for a few more moments.
I stop at the car across the street from the building to let my men know the plans for the evening. As I walk down to where I parked last night, I get a call from Alexander.
“I just talked to Lev. I’m on my way.”
“I’m not calling about that. It’s Vee. I found out a few things you need to know.”
I freeze, turn to look up at her window. She’s watching me, gives a little wave then lets the curtain fall in front of herself.
“You at home or Obsidian?”
“Home.”
“I’m on my way.”
“I’m going to have such a headache tomorrow.” I press two fingers to my temple.
Max levels me with a stare. “You’ve hadonedrink.”
“True.” I glance at the almost empty wine glass. “But this music is like being hit over the head with a hammer.”
“The DJ changes soon.” Nicolette assures me. “I know this hard rock is a bit much, it gets more techno once this guy is done.”
Flashing multi-colored lights dance over the crowd that moves with the beat of the harsh music. It’s like a swarm of bees, the way they sway together. The DJ works the crowd from a raised platform.
“You come here every weekend?” I lean into Nicolette to ask.
“Well, not every weekend, but a lot. My ex-boyfriend owns the place.” She wraps her thickly lip-sticked lips around the straw of her margarita and takes a long sip.
“Your ex-boyfriend?”
“Yeah. It’s fine. It was a mutual break-up. We weren’t into the same things at all,” she says.
“What do you mean the same things, like hobbies?”
Caroline laughs and pushes my drink toward me. “You need more of this.”
“What’s so funny? If they didn’t have much in common, then it makes sense to break up.”
“I didn’t mean things like hobbies. I meant sexually.” Nicolette places her hands over mine and gives me a kind smile. “He was just too vanilla.”
“Oh.” I shoot Caroline a look. “Don’t make me regret asking you to come out with us tonight.” She responds by lifting her middle finger at me while sipping her margarita.
“Don’t get me wrong; he was amazing, but I need someone who’s a little more take charge. Someone I can’t walk over.” Nicolette goes on.
Someone like Ivan. I don’t think a bulldozer could get over him. As she goes on explaining her current male obsession—a man she met at a club her brother doesn’t know about—I can’t help but think about how easily Ivan takes charge.
In some ways he’s a bull in a China shop, but most of the time he’s just casually dominant. The way his eyebrows flicker when he’s annoyed with me, or how one small squeeze of his hand can relay what he’s thinking.
“Which is all very weird because I absolutely hate being told what to do.” Nicolette laughs, bumping into me.
The music switches over, and Nicolette jumps up and down. “Yes! Let’s dance!”
