“Pleasure,” he crooned from behind her.
“Likewise,” I hissed.
“This—” Andi moved over to my side and grabbed my arm. “—is my fiancé, Sergio.”
“Cute name.” Nicolai chuckled.
Shit, he was just asking for me to shoot him. Did he have any idea what I did for a living? What I would do to him if he pushed me too far?
I gripped Andi harder then wrapped my arm around her. “I would say thank you, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t mean it as a compliment.”
“I didn’t.”
“If you don’t mind Nicolai…” I turned to Andi and kissed the top of her head. “…my future wife and I were in the middle of something.”
His eyes flashed. “Fine. Andi, I’ll see you downstairs. And Sergio?”
I tilted my head.
“You hurt her, I cut out your heart.”
I burst out laughing. “Oh, doc, I’d love to see you try.”
He bit out a curse before walking out of the room.
“Pissing match, party of two,” Andi said under her breath.
I hadn’t realized I was still holding onto her, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to let go.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze to mine. “So… you were saying I looked like a princess.”
“How do you know that’s what I was going to say?”
“You already said it. I was just waiting for you to confirm it.”
I sighed.
“Confirm it, and I’ll let you change out of your suit.”
“Really?” I blurted.
“Ha!” She poked me in the chest. “I knew you had a weakness for clothing and shoes… Imagine my disappointment when my future husband couldn’t even take the time to tell me if I looked nice. Your real suit is in the closet. This was left over from Halloween. Apparently, Trace made Nixon dress up last year after losing a bet.”
“Thank God.” I looked heavenward.
“Ahem.” She elbowed me. “The words. Please.”
I sighed then forced out the words. “You look pretty…”
She tilted her head.
“…like a princess,” I finished.
Andi’s megawatt smile nearly toppled me over. I didn’t have a chance to fight it off or to put up any walls so it wouldn’t spear me directly through the heart. Instead, I was defenseless as the smile wreaked havoc on my heart rate as well as the rest of my body — not having a physical reaction to the girl would mean I was basically dead. Then again, she’d said as much to me, so there was that.
Her smile was like seeing something beautiful for the first time, only to not believe it even existed for your pleasure of staring at it in the first place.
“Sergio…” Andi reached up for my face and brought it down to hers, then placed a soft kiss on my lips. “Thank you.”
I lingered. Unaware that I was lingering… until she jerked back, breaking the moment, then skipped out of the room.
I stared after her for a few minutes, unsure of how to proceed. I’d been in her presence less than twenty-four hours and already she was winning.
At everything.
Huh, and up until now I hadn’t even realized I was in a game.
Andi one, Sergio zero.
CHAPTER SIX
Andi
MY HANDS WERE STILL SHAKING AFTER my run-in with Sergio. I wasn’t sure if it was the cancer or the nerves at being so close to him.
Regardless of how horrible he’d been to me…
One thing was absolutely true about the man — he was absolutely stunning.
Like a mythical knight in a romance novel, his features were chiseled so perfectly that you almost wanted to get a closer look just so you could find a flaw. His strong jawline accentuated a near perfect mouth with full lips and straight white teeth that, when he wasn’t hissing at his prey, framed a breathtaking smile.
His hair had been recently cut, but it was starting to grow out past his ears, giving it a wavy luscious look that screamed rock star with bad boy habits and a similar sexual appetite. It had to drive women crazy. In fact, it was shocking that he was even single.
Then again, he did have a high body count attached to his name. Killing didn’t exactly scream commitment, and I already knew he kept his secrets close to him.
I wasn’t sure if he was just playing off the tortured and wronged hero, or if he really was in a dark place.
Either way.
He was stuck with me.
So he needed to man up and do something about it rather than pout and scream empty threats in my direction.
People like that pissed me off — ones who couldn’t see past their own misery to actually see that they were gifted with another day.
Luca had taught me that.
He’d taught me that each sunrise was a new promise, a new beginning, a new chance at extraordinary.
I gathered my thoughts and made my way downstairs. It was a flurry of excitement. The girls were yelling at the guys to hurry up with the food while the guys were sweating bullets, pun intended, while trying to tie their ties and move tables at the same time.
“Hurry!” Mo whistled then started clapping her hands in a cadence that reminded me of my old piano teacher.
Trace let out a laugh as Chase tripped over his feet then yelled at Tex to move the napkins. A lot of cursing was going down on my wedding day. That much was certain.
“You sure you want to marry into this?” Nicolai said from his spot in the corner.
Ah, of course he was in the corner. The man brooded well. He had it down to an art form. Arms crossed, shoulders straight back, amused smirk firmly in place while pieces of dark hair fell across his forehead. If Sergio was dark, Nicolai was darker, and that was saying a lot. I wouldn’t exactly trust him with my first born… or a goldfish for that matter.
“Two Russians in my home, God save us all.” Phoenix smirked as he made his way over to us from the other side of the room. He held out his hand. “Nicolai, always a pleasure.”
Nicolai shook his hand and nodded. “Business is good.”
I knew that question. It was a typical mafia question. “Business is good” was always said as a statement, never a question, because if it wasn’t, it typically meant you were the reason it wasn’t going good. This was usually followed by a gunshot or getting messed up.
Phoenix’s face didn’t give way to any emotion. He simply shrugged and said, “As always.”
“Can we trust him?”
Nicolai asked the question I hadn’t wanted to even acknowledge needed answering. I wanted to inch closer but knew it would give me away. Instead, I perked my ears and pretended to be interested in the commotion around me.
Phoenix glanced at me out of the corner of his eye before answering. “Yes. And if something goes wrong. I’ll simply pull the trigger, so you won’t have to get on a plane.”
“Generous of you.” Nicolai laughed and patted Phoenix on the shoulder. “I’ll be leaving soon after this, but I was wondering about that favor?”
Both men shared a look with one another before turning to me. That was my cue.
“Loud and clear boys.” I pointed behind me. “I’ll just go make myself scarce.”
I walked away from them but not before I heard the word sister. Yeah, they were talking about my family. I only hoped that meant that Phoenix was going to work hard to keep me safe from them.
The last thing I needed was to be captured and used as collateral against the Abandonatos. Then again, Sergio hated me so much I highly doubted he would actually go to war just to bring me back. He’d probably be relieved he didn’t have to kill me himself.
Or watch me die.
Death.
Death.
Death.
Wow, I needed to stop thinking so much about it at my wedding. I was supposed to be happy. I deserved happy. I’d never been one of those people who sat around depressed, wondering why the world wasn’t doing me any favors. We had free will; therefore, I imagined I had the
power to change anything about my circumstances. All it took was a step, one choice, and the universe shifted. It was a simple equation of cause and effect. Nothing changed in your world if you didn’t will it to happen.
I wanted happy.
And I was going to get happy.
Even if it meant my ending was going to be a bit more tragic and dramatic than most. Then again, I’d come from a crime family, so who was to say I wasn’t going to die young anyway? Odds weren’t exactly in the favor of a Petrov living to fifty, just saying.
The sound of a dish crashing onto the floor had me nearly colliding with the wall. A hand gripped my shoulder and steadied me on my feet.
“You drunk already?” Sergio teased, or at least I thought he was teasing me; his mouth wasn’t exactly forming a scowl, and I could see a bit of light in his eyes. Then again, I could be hallucinating the whole thing, considering the man had no soul and ate small children for breakfast.
“No.” I jerked away. “Sorry, just… woolgathering.”
“Wool what?” His blue eyes narrowed. “Is that English.”
“It sure as hell isn’t Russian,” I said in a sweet voice.
“I may regret this later…” He crossed his arms. “…but I’ll bite. What’s woolgathering?”
“Reading, Italy. You should try it.” I tapped my head with my finger and winked.
“I read.”
“Romance.” I said it slowly. Heck, I would have spelled it too, but by the look on his face, I imagined it wouldn’t earn me any points toward wife of the year.
“Ha!” This time he did crack a smile. “Ridiculous fiction at its finest. Romance, the kind I’m sure you’re reading, doesn’t exist in the real world. They even have to make up words.”
“Real word, dude.” Chase came up behind him. “Mil read it in some Dukes of Horny London story a few weeks back.”
“Now that’s a fake title,” I pointed out. “Though I can see why it would sell really well.”
“Woolgathering.” Chase cleared his throat. “To be lost in one’s thoughts.”
“Don’t say one’s.” Sergio shook his head. “Ever.”
“Nice British accent.” I held up my hand for a high five.
Chase winked and slapped it. “I have my uses.”
Sergio smirked. “Yeah, you can cook better than your wife, read historical romance, and, oh wait, I’m sorry. Do you even remember where you left your balls? Or did you even have them in the first place.”
“He’s just nervous about the wedding night,” Chase said to me, ignoring Sergio completely. He leaned in and whispered, “Virgins always are.”
“I’m not a virgin!” Sergio shouted, his face red with what I hoped was rage rather than embarrassment at Chase telling the truth. Then again, Sergio hadn’t really answered when I’d teased him about it the night before.
All activity in the kitchen stopped.
And silence.
Chase bit down on his lip, smiling so hard I was afraid he was going to crack his face or something.
“Uh, Sergio…” Tex scratched the back of his head. “…something you need to tell us, man?”
“No judgment.” Chase held up his hands in mock innocence. “I mean, you gotta get on that horse sometime.”
I raised my hand. “Can I not be the horse?”
“Damn, I think you just lost your chance.” Tex burst into laughter.
Sergio bit back a curse. “Could you just stop? For once?”
“What?” I laughed. “Stop what?”
“This!” He sneered. “The happy act. Grow up!” We were chest-to-chest; his breathing was ragged. “Newsflash, Andi. You’re dying! What the hell do you have to be so happy about?”
I kept my smile in place, though I felt the edges of it trembling. “Life, Sergio. I can smile about life.”
“Yeah, well.” He bared his teeth. “I guess that’s what happens when you only have a little bit of it left, huh? Take what you can get? Use who you can use? Me included? My whole damn family is getting put on the line for your protection. Hell…” He rubbed his face with his hands. “…your life isn’t even worth anything. Why would I risk mine? To save it? You’re already dead.”
My smile was officially gone, replaced by what felt like a face that was going to crumple into a sob in an instant. He wasn’t just soulless. He sucked the life out of everything — even me — and I had to admit that was a hard thing to do. I was optimistic by nature. I couldn’t help it.
His darkness was choking.
I had to get away.
Without thinking, I pushed at his chest, giving me enough space to walk away.
“Andi!” Chase called after me. Right, Chase, not my soon-to-be husband.
“May as well shoot him now,” Nicolai said in a gruff voice. “Put the bastard out of his misery.”
The voices stopped.
Because I was suddenly outside… running, running as fast as my legs could take me. Running through a giant muddy field with my wedding dress on.
Pieces of grass stuck to my legs.
The wind was chilly.
Freezing actually.
I wrapped my arms around my chest and let out a little sob — not because of what Sergio had said, but because of what he represented — because of who he was.
I pitied him.
And maybe a small part of me pitied myself a bit too. I allowed myself a few selfish seconds where I felt sorry for my short life.
I closed my eyes and imagined walking down the aisle of a large church. I’d have a huge bouquet of white roses — they’d always been my favorite. My veil would trail a few feet behind me Sound-of-Music-style, and the groom would be the love of my life. His smile would be so full of life that the effects of it would heal me from the inside out.
No more cancer.
Only his smile.
And it would be enough to fix everything.
He’d open his arms to me, I’d walk into them, and he’d tell me I was the most beautiful girl in the world.
I’d vow to stay with him forever.
And he’d promise to love me for longer.
I giggled at the thought and did a little twirl in the field. Then, just because Sergio had said I could only do one twirl in a two-twirl dress, I did another turn and another.
“Thought I said only one twirl.” The voice was harsh and totally ruined my special field moment.
“You weren’t here…” I didn’t open my eyes. “…so I decided to live on the wild side.”
“Hmm.”
I could feel him behind me. Slowly, I opened one eye, then the other. Sergio was standing next to me, hands shoved in the pockets of his black trousers. He opened his mouth.
I held up my hand. “Don’t apologize.”
“Wasn’t going to.”
“Oh, this is new.” I nodded. “So you chased after the bride to what? Yell some more? See if you can make me any less enthusiastic about my only wedding day?”
The wind picked up, causing Sergio’s hair to blow across his forehead. Damn, even his forehead was nice. I briefly contemplated giving him a black eye just so I could stare at least one flaw on his perfectly shaped face.
Maybe I’d just bite him when they said “kiss the bride…” At least then, by drawing blood, I’d feel like we were on even ground. He hadn’t beaten me, at least not physically, but emotionally? Well I felt pretty bruised.
“Can we not do this?” He looked at me, his blue eyes flashing. “I can’t be what you need me to be. I won’t be. It’s not in my makeup. I’ll do my duty, which is marrying you. There will be no kissing. No sex. No date nights. Nothing. I’ll protect you with my life, but don’t expect anything more.”
“How about human decency? Can I expect that?”
Sergio hung his head, lifting his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You deserve that… but I can’t promise I won’t fly off the handle. I’m not perfect.”
“Gee, could have fooled me, and here I was just getting re
ady to build an I–heart-Sergio altar in my closet and light some incense. Damn, thanks for killing that dream.”
“I take you more for a voodoo-doll type of girl.”
“And the dream’s reborn!” I smiled. “Look at that. You are good for something.”
“I’m not,” he whispered. “Not really good for anything anymore.”
Cue awkward silence.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“I’ll talk about it the day I grow tits.”
I frowned. “To be fair, you already have tits.”
Sergio sighed.
“All animals do.”
“Heart-to-heart time is done now.” Sergio shoved his hands back into his pockets.
“Oh wow, that was a heart-to-heart? You didn’t even cry!”
“I’ve cried twice in my life. Believe me, I won’t cry over you. Ever.”
That I could work with. In fact, he had no way of knowing — but that was a promise I needed him to keep. I didn’t want to be the cause of more pain in his life, regardless of how he treated me. I wasn’t sure I could live with it.
“Promise.” The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
“What?” His perfect eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Promise you what?”
I licked my suddenly dry lips. “Promise me you won’t cry over me.”
“That’s a really strange request.”
“Think of it as my wedding gift.”
He exhaled. “Fine. I promise I won’t cry over you.”
It felt like a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from my chest. “Awesome.” I held out my hand. “Now let’s go get hitched.”
“That’s it?”
“Huh?” I chewed my lower lip, pondering how I was going to get some of the dirt out of my perfect dress.
Sergio, to his credit, gripped my arm and helped me walk across the field. “You just forgive me like that?”
I shrugged. “Forgiveness is never given in order to make peace with the offender. It’s given to make peace with yourself. Besides, I can’t hate you for being honest.”
“Yes, actually you can.”
“But I don’t.” I stepped over a large rock and leaned heavier on him. “But I am curious…”