Misha walked closer. He had a curious look on his face. “I know you’re going to wear your contacts that night, but make your eyes turn blue right now. I want to see something,” he said quietly.
I thought about how much I loved Adrik and saw Misha’s grin. He turned to Ivan and Andrei and motioned them over. “It’s virtually the same color,” he said, pointing to my eyes and the dress. Andrei and Ivan walked over to see for themselves, both agreeing with Misha.
“Sold!” I said, knowing that Adrik would love it just for that reason alone. “Also, it doesn’t hurt that this one fits me perfectly already and needs no alterations. This was meant to be. Wrap it up. Let’s get the hell out of here,” I said, walking back to the changing room. I could hear them all laughing at me as I changed back into my clothes.
A quick trip to get shoes, which was admittedly less painful, and we were on our way back to the penthouse. On the elevator up, they were giving me a hard time about hating shopping. I knew they just enjoyed teasing me about it. I knew they loved the fact that I hated shopping because it meant they didn’t have to go with me. “Guys have it much easier, especially when it comes to formal events. Your biggest dilemma is whether to wear a vest or a cu*merbund, tie or bow tie. You saw what women put themselves through. For no apparent reason other than they hate being comfortable,” I said.
I/2″Don’t be grumpy, gazelle,” Misha’said, trying not to laugh. “We secretly love your hatred for shopping”
As the elevator doors dinged to announce our arrival, Ivan quickly asked, “are we sworn to secrecy again this time about your dress?”
“Nope. You can even show him what it looks like. Pretty much everything that happened last time should not happen this time. Just to be safe,” I said.
Ivan smiled at me, but I could feel them all flinch as they thought about the last time I had to wear a formal dress. “Don’t worry, princess. It will be much different this time. I doubt Boss will let go of you the entire night. If he has to, then one of us will be there with you the whole time. He didn’t say anything else when I looked at him skeptically. He just held his pinky up in front of him. I grinned at him as I grabbed his pinky with mine. Andres and Misha waited in the elevator with us, each of them making a promise, solidified by their own pinky swear, that they wouldn’t leave me alone the entire night.
“I love you guys,” I said, completing the pinky swears with all of them. Andrei stepped in front of me and Misha was there to pick me up so I could wrap my arms and legs around Andrei. He happily carried me to Adrik’s office so I could ignore everyone looking at me.
“You do know that everyone will be looking at you at that fundraiser, right?” Andrei asked quietly as we walked from the elevator to the office.
“Don’t remind me. I haven’t figured out how I’m going to handle that yet,” I said.
“We’ll protect you,” Andrei said, squeezing my legs as we walked into Adrik’s office.
He looked up as we walked in, his handsome smile stretching across his face as he saw Andrei carrying me. Andrei stopped and set me down so I could go to Adrik, who stood up to come to me. “You’re not cursing, so I take that as a good sign that you found something quickly,” he said, his lips finding mine.
“I did find something and it was relatively painless, so no cursing. Yet,” I said, grinning at him.
“Am I to be kept in the dark this time as well?” he asked. He was clearly curious as to what I found.
“Nope. Ivan can show you, even. They all saw it. I’m actually kind of nervous that you’ll be mad so maybe you should see it because I might have to get a different one if you veto this one,” I said.
He looked at Ivan, raising his eyebrow. I could tell those two were having a silent conversation, as I could feel Adrik bristle at the thought of being mad over the dress I chose. Adrik looked at what Ivan showed him, turning back to me. I could feel his desire for me come on very strongly. He did laugh softly at me. “I do love that you’re worried about my opinion, but you’re so incredibly tasteful and classy that I don’t think it’s possible for you! to make me angry with your wardrobe choices. It’s perfect, solnishko.”
“Don’t say that. I’m going to take it as a challenge and try to prove you wrong.” I said, grinning at him. He pressed his lips to mine.
“Somehow, I think I will win that bet,” he said, smiling against my lips.
King of the Underworld
Sephie
The fundraiser was at Battista’s hotel. He was once again back in the city, so he was also going to be in attendance. Vitaliy had somehow managed to allow himself to be talked into coming as well. It made me feel slightly more comfortable knowing his guys would be there as well. I was trying to stay calm, but it was proving difficult.
I once again enlisted the help of Ms. Jackson for my hair and makeup. She enjoyed it so much that she asked me to please go to more formal functions so she could do it more often.
“I didn’t realize how much I missed this part of being a spy, child,” she said as she was working on my hair.
“You enjoy all this work?” I asked.
“It’s not work if you enjoy it, now is it?” she said, smiling at me. “Part of being a spy is pretending you’re someone else. Looking the part is most of that. It became a bit of a game, I guess. A dangerous game, but a game nonetheless.”
She told more stories about her time as a spy as she put the finishing touches on me. Just as she had helped me get into the dress and put my shoes on, there was a knock on her door. “That’ll be the guys. Probably all of them again because they couldn’t decide who should come get me,” I said to her. I knew it was all of them, but I needed it to sound like I guessed.
“Oh my. It’s been too long since I’ve laid my eyes on this many handsome men in tuxedos,” she said as she opened her door.
I laughed. “This is really why you want me to go to more formal functions. So you can see them all dressed up.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.