The Arrangement (26 page)

Deciding to change directions, he asked, “Were you going to visit Daniil tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course,” Ivan said, looking confused. “Why?”

“I was going to first thing in the morning, but I got a call about an issue with the restaurant over on the east side. I need to handle that immediately. I’m supposed to be at the bakers at noon with her, and I won’t miss it if I go early. I think I’ll sit her down and tell her after that, but maybe she could go with you to the hospital if you have time to stop by.”

“You’re going to tell her tomorrow?”

Anton shrugged indifferently again, but even the action felt as heavy as his heart. “Yeah. Not tonight. I can’t do it tonight.”

“Not tonight,” his friend echoed softly.

“No. She gave me a beautiful day, Ivan. One amazing day with just me and her. I’ll give her this tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

• • •

Viviana squealed as arms caught her around the waist, pulling her body into his. Lips pressed to the back of her neck with loud chuckles. Instantly she melted into Anton’s hand, sighing a quiet breath of air when his nose skimmed behind her ear.

“Sore?” Anton whispered.

Viviana shook her head, feeling heat crawl over her cheeks. “Not really. Starting to get tired.”

“Good to know. I need to get you home, in a hot bath, and in bed so I can crawl between those fucking legs again and get you making all those pretty sounds of yours.”

“Holy hell,” she breathed. “Haven’t you had enough yet?”

“Nope. You have no idea what you do to me, Viviana.”

Going back to the safe house didn’t seem like such a bad idea. “How much longer?”

Anton shrugged. “We were late, so maybe we leave at ten-thirty just to make sure our faces have been seen enough. We’re just about to open for regular business, so a lot of people are going to clear out anyway. Everyone being good?”

“Yeah, great.”

“Okay.” He hummed a dark sound, letting her hips sway with the heavy bass in the music. “Love you.”

Viviana reached up and patted his cheek. “I know.
Ty nuzhen mnye
. Always, Anton.”

He froze behind her, his arms tightening their strong grip. His fingers dug deliciously into her side, drawing her backside harder into his groin as the bass picked up a little more. Lights flickered around them and people kept talking, but Viviana knew they were being watched. The choked noise he made told her she got the pronunciation perfect.

I need you
.

And she did, in more ways than he knew.

“Oh, baby. Who taught you that?” he asked.

Another quiet laugh fell into the air. It was funny that he asked, considering all the conversations she’d had in the last little while. It could have been just about anyone, but Viviana only trusted very few to actually give her the right translation to use.

“Why, you going to go all boss on them for it?”

“No. Thank them, maybe. That was just …
fuck
.”

“Rory. I couldn’t find Ivan.”

“His wife arrived a little bit ago. She wasn’t supposed to come because she was at her mother’s and she’s quite pregnant. Ivan was just getting her to go back home … Rory as in your bull
Rory
, really?”

“Yep. Blushed like a schoolboy when I asked. He was hitting on Jen again. Girl should give him a shot. She could totally pull off the cougar thing.”

“She could, but I have a rule about employees dating my guys.”

“You should bend it.”

“I’ll think about it.”

She tried to ignore the dozen curious gazes that watched their near silent interaction. They couldn’t hear his low, sexy words in her ear, but they could clearly see his lips skimming her neck as he spoke, the way his body pressed into her back to fit them tight together, and the way her breath had picked up just by his close contact. It seemed anytime she moved during the evening, someone was always watching.

She’d already had a dozen and one conversations with people she didn’t know from Eve. Sweet drinks were constantly being brought over from one of the three girls working the floor with a wink stating this was from another so and so. Viviana was overwhelmed. It wasn’t that they weren’t nice because everyone was very respectful, but it was a lot to take in all at once.

“Where’d you disappear off to, anyway?” Anton asked with a smooth, black molasses tone. Those lips of his ghosted behind the shell of her ear, teeth nipping at a sensitive spot. “One second you were at my side, and the next, gone.”

“Someone wanted to dance.”

Ouch
.

His fingers squeezed tighter. Viviana’s breath caught as a dark sound rumbled in her ear.

“Who?”

“Anton.” Turning in his grasp, she met his cocked brow. “Stop it.”

“I told you. Jealous motherfucker …” he warned, pointing at his chest with one finger, “who is no way afraid to cut a fool for putting hands on what’s mine.”

With two fingers, she reached up and tapped his lips gently to shut them up. The last thing they needed was him going all possessive right there because it served to do nothing for her self-control, of which she had little to none as it was when it came to him.

“All the guys have been super respectful, or they’re just really terrified you’d bite their heads off if they even suggested I dance with them. So, while you were talking with Ivan …”

Anton cringed. “Sorry, it was kind of important.”

“Erik’s wife asked me to dance.”

“Oh, well …”

“Not so bad if it’s a woman, then, huh?” she asked, jokingly.

As she looked up, she caught the fleeting sadness in his eyes that usually looked so happy whenever he was holding on to her. That was the very last thing she expected to see. Especially after the day they had, and considering how well his party was going, Anton should have been radiating his usual calm, pleased attitude.

“What’s wrong?”

When his blue eyes glanced down again, the brief emotion she witnessed was all but gone. “Nothing, baby.”

“Anton, did something happen?”

A tick in his jaw caught her notice before he shook his head. “Nope. Nothing.”

“So everything is good, then?”

“Yeah, of course. Why?”

He was deflecting. Now, Viviana was positive there was something wrong.

“I just thought—”

“Boss!”

“Where’s the prince of the hour?”

Anton’s head turned at the voices calling from behind them, but she didn’t miss the frown that pulled at his mouth. With a nod over his shoulder, his gaze was back on her with a soft smile. His thumbs stroked the apples of her cheeks as he held her face up to meet his eyes. Viviana found herself forgetting what she was worried about all of the sudden.

“I’ll be right back, okay? Don’t go too far. Maybe we’ll sneak out of here sooner if that’s who I think it is.”

Just the fact that he didn’t want her to join him in greeting whoever was demanding his presence told Viviana it was likely a conversation he didn’t want her to be a part of. Or one she probably wouldn’t want to hear. Either way, it didn’t offend her. She hadn’t been given much of a chance to sit down and relax since they’d arrived at the club and her feet were already sore.

“Sure. I’m in need of a refill, so go say hello … or
yeah
.”

“No business,” Anton said, turning quieter. “I made it clear I wasn’t talking business tonight with anybody.”

Viviana shrugged, leaning up to kiss his jaw. “Whatever,
Boss
. Go.”

With another squeeze of his hands and a warning under his breath that had her body spiking up to a fever again, Anton was gone. At the bar, Jen was waiting for Viviana with a glass of ice water and a smirk. Viviana perched herself up on a stool, crossed her legs, and searched across the darkened room through the mass of people to see if she could find her lover.

When she couldn’t right away, she turned back to Jen.

“I was told to cut you off.”

“Wow, thanks. Wasn’t like it was me who was buying those drinks.”

“You don’t sign my pay check,” Jen joked.

“Ah, true that. He’s probably just worried.”

The older woman wiped the bar down as she asked, “Why?”

Viviana shrugged. “I drank a lot while I was in Canada. It was becoming more of a habit than a social thing. This is the first time I’ve really partied, or had the chance to, since being back.”

“It’s good he watches out, though, right?”

“Yeah, it is.”

And it was. Viviana didn’t mind a bit. After all, it had been her that morning who’d questioned his behavior with alcohol. It wasn’t all too surprising that he’d be keeping an eye out on her drinking, too, considering the fiasco her life had turned into back in Toronto. Sure it’d seemed great at the time, but now she could tell she’d been spiralling out of control, partying more than she studied. Like Anton had said, he’d been watching … somehow.

“Hey, I’ll be right back,” Jen muttered, her eyes narrowing on someone reaching over the bar at the other end. “Ugh, fucking guys thinking they own the place sometimes because Anton owns it.”

“Sure thing.”

Jen wasn’t gone but two seconds before a body dropped into the stool beside Viviana’s with an almost feline sort of grace. The shine of a red heel caught the glint of a light. It drew her gaze to the slender calve it rested on.

Pale, smooth legs were crossed as a clutch was tossed onto the bar top. A feminine sigh echoed. Viviana turned to stare into ice-blue eyes that all but glared back. Full, painted red lips tugged into a sneer. The woman was beautiful, no doubt about it. Plenty of curves from her hips to her waist, and a bust that filled out her short, red dress. With pixie-like features and blonde hair that fell halfway down her back in perfect waves, she oozed self-confidence and sexuality.

Still, the last thing Viviana felt in her presence was insecure. She didn’t know the girl from a hole in the ground. However, what she did feel was the burning resentment behind the stare. The woman’s first words sure didn’t help, either.

“Well, if it isn’t the Russian whore.”

The light Russian accent to the woman’s voice didn’t escape Viviana’s notice. The woman reached out with her hand, brushing over the engagement ring on Viviana’s finger.

Instantly, Viviana jerked her hand away as if she’d been burned. Many people had looked at the ring, their gazes appreciative when they asked how exactly Anton proposed, but not one had openly touched it like this woman just had.

“Pretty. But I bet I could have gotten a much nicer one out of that man. Is that all it took for you to roll over in his sheets and moan his name, girl? Just a pretty ring, a fast car, and a big house?”

Viviana felt air lodge in her throat, but the woman didn’t give her a chance to reply before she continued. “I mean, they all know you’re practically bought and paid for as it is,” she said with an indifferent wave to the crowd behind them. “But I want to know what it took for you to put on a show like you just did out there on the dance floor. He was holding you tight, making it look awfully sweet … like he actually fucking cared. And he’s so good at pretending, you know? Men like that, they can’t be caught. They don’t love.”

“That wasn’t a show.” Viviana’s voice had finally came back, but it sounded a lot quieter than she wanted it to. “Far from it.”

“
Sure
,” the other woman drawled with sarcasm dripping thickly over every word. “I’m Tatiana, by the way.”

Viviana scoffed. “And I don’t care.”

Placing her glass back on the bar before she left the woman’s space, she heard Tatiana’s soft, vague reply. “Oh, you will.”

“Listen,
girl
,” Viviana muttered, forcing herself to breathe and be calm. The very last thing she or Anton needed was some kind of drama going down on his birthday with so many Bratva around. “I don’t know who the hell you are, or what exactly this stunt is meant to prove, but you don’t bother me. Not a single bit. Sure, you’re pretty, and I bet you spread your legs like a pro. Have you screwed around with him, is that it?”

Tatiana raised a brow. “I have. Many times.”

Viviana nodded; she’d assumed correctly, then. “Honestly, I don’t much care to sit here and have a chitchat with some used up, back alley former
fuck
of my fiancé’s. Because
I’d
be the one to bet that’s just about all you’re good for, and that’s why he hasn’t come calling back. Don’t take offense, he’s just got someone much more worthy warming up his bed. But, oh, wait … Anton didn’t actually share his bed before me, yeah?”

The anger that blazed in steel-blue eyes had Viviana smirking. “Right … that’s it, isn’t it? Couldn’t resist checking out who got what you didn’t?”

“Wrong. One: my daddy is just as good as yours, girl, making me just as worthy. And two: you’re pretty, but you’re sure not me.”

Viviana’s fingers curled into fists at her sides as she stood gracefully from the stool. There wasn’t any way on earth she was about to let some flighty twit from Anton’s past ruin her night. For a brief moment, she searched the crowd of people for him again, but like he had warned, the club’s doors were now opened to the public and in just a matter of minutes, it seemed like the floors were packed full.

“He’s busy,” Tatiana said, drawing Viviana’s attention again. Those red lips curved with a nasty smile. “Having a moment with my father, I believe. Friendly Pakhans are rare, but our families have good history. Their territories are very close and business tends to intermingle.”

Shit
. That didn’t help Viviana at all. Dread climbed up her spine with punishing steps.

“Mmhmm, been
friendly
for years,” Tatiana continued, turning on her stool to face the crowd in one fluid movement. “I nearly had him, too … nearly. We were quite young then, though.”

“Shut up,” Viviana spat through clenched teeth.

The woman laughed sharply. “I suppose you could say we grew up together. When that grandfather of his was having troubles with whatever nonsense, Anton was spending time at my family’s estate. Damn, didn’t he grow up good, huh?” The taste of bile saturated Viviana’s mouth. She refused to even look at the woman. “He didn’t want you then, Viviana. In fact, he didn’t want you at all.”