Page 55 of Forced Mafia Bride
“Yeah.” He took a swift from his drink. “I’ll pass.”
I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but I couldn’t hold back the treacherous chuckles. Heck, he’d have made a good realtor.
“Even then, I still think I’d have ridden the competitors to the dust.”
“You sure would have.”
As the last rays of sunlight disappeared, the city’s evening magic took hold. Nikolai’s eyes locked onto mine, and I knew this moment, suspended in time, would forever be etched in my memory.
“What about you?”
The champagne in his glass swirled, and I looked at it before looking back at him. “What about me?”
An unfamiliar shadow grew his features, dark and hard, a brooding mask. “What if you didn’t have to marry me? What if you had all the privileges you needed, various options laid at your feet? What if you had a choice to go out there and explore this fucked up world the way you want?”
The question held me in a tight wrestle, keeping me locked in for the longest of seconds. I battled with a quick, sharp response because it finally dawned on me that, while I’d yearned for freedom, I wasn’t certain what I wanted it for.
I just knew I wanted to be away from Sean and Ronan. To be away from the guilt that I caused Father’s death. To be away from everything that drowned my life in wallows of sorrows.
And now that had been accomplished, I sat in front of this cold-blooded man, realizing the answer was birthed the minute our paths crossed.
No one else but him.
I’d tried to run away but couldn't. I tried to deny that senseless pull but failed.
There was nowhere else I wanted to be without him in the picture.
With a pounding heart and adrenaline running a marathon through my veins, still uncertain about whether or not to spill my guts, I opened my mouth to speak, but someone else beat me to it.
Someone in a black pair of Louboutin So Kate heels, a green shirt dress, and bob-styled dark hair.
“Nik!”
His head snapped in attention toward the voice, and to my utmost surprise, he blessed her with that charming smile, got up from the chair, and went over to her.
Judging by the way theysmiledso much with each other, a gut feeling told me she was one of his old lovers, and she must have been a very close one at that. Probably one of his many favorites, like Katherine.
I wanted so badly for my assumption to be wrong.
But when Niko hugged her with reckless abandon, as if both their lives depended on it, I heard my heart shatter into a million pieces.
Chapter 22 – Nikolai
I never thought I’d enjoy an evening dinner at a fancy restaurant so much thatIdidn’t want it to end. This moment with Rosa was beyond the physical attraction, that magnetic pull that just made me want to drag her back to the hotel room to fuck her as hard and as greedily as I wanted to.
Something else was there. Something tangible that sparked a deeper interest as she revealed more sides of herself. The simmer started from the moment I saw her walk down that aisle. And after last night, I deluded myself into thinking I’d gotten that insane drive out of my system. Then, during our flight, it hit again, more forceful than before.
Those darn leggings. The skin-tight fabric clung to her, every dip, curve, and soft angle pronounced. Watching her without being able to touch on that fucking jet was torture. So, I chose work over admiring.
And again, the more we talked, the more I realized that a pantyhose and smart mind combination made it even more difficult to keep my shit together.
So, I asked her, “What about you? What if you didn’t have to marry me? What if you had all the privileges you needed, various options laid at your feet? What if you had a choice to go out there and explore this fucked up world the way you want?”
Because God forbid that she would prefer to explore the world and live an untainted life rather than be stuck with me. The thought left a harsh sting, and I secretly dreaded hearing the words she was about to speak when she opened her mouth.
“Nik!”
I spun around, shocked at the cheery, familiar voice.