“It is truly a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Marciano,” he said with a nod before another swig of beer.
The posh British accent removed all thoughts that he might have been a thug. My grappa-slowed mind started making James Bond comparisons before it caught up to the more important nugget he’d let slip: my name.
“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Mr.” I let my words hang.
“Yes, I do,” he replied. His eyes finally left mine as he chuckled.
The smile that had charmed me a moment ago now begged to be slapped. Handsome, fit and rich didn’t overcome being an asshole. The sooner I got rid of him, the better.
“I’m drinking with someone else.” Using the man I’d planned to ditch as an excuse to get rid of the new man tasted bitter, but I hid it. “I don’t know what’s keeping him.”
“He drank something that didn’t agree with him,” the still nameless man said. He chuckled again, laughing at his own joke.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I frowned at the door.
“No, you’re not.”
My head whipped around to face my aggravating new acquaintance. Who the hell did he think he was?
“You presume a lot,” I hissed, “and you haven’t even offered me your name.”
“Alexei,” he replied with a single nod.
That didn’t sound like a British name.
“I never said I was British, did I?” he replied to my apparently not-so-silent question.
My lips pressed together to keep myself from mumbling any more thoughts. Damn Katie for goading me into that second drink. Alexei’s smile grew and he leaned further in the chair, carefree and in control.
“It’s always a risk to make assumptions, Ms. Marciano.” His eyes widened. “Or would you prefer Gianna?”
“I’d prefer,” I began, my finger a dagger directed at his heart.
No, anger rarely helped. Probably what he wanted in the first place. Everything he’d done so far had been designed to keep me off balance, at a disadvantage. But why?
“I’d prefer if you tell me what you want,” I continued in a measured tone after taking a deep breath. “Are you ever planning to share that?”
“Eventually.” He tilted his head to the side.
“Eventually?” I repeated, jaw remaining slack until it came to me. I snapped my fingers and pointed again. “Did Katie send you out here to screw with me?”
“No, she took one look at me and said I was too much man for you.” His eyes narrowed and he frowned. “Her exact quote was that I ‘wasn’t a starter model?’ I didn’t exactly understand what she meant by that.”
Heat took my cheeks. Katie had all but told this dangerous stranger that I was a virgin. The bar door burst open, saving me from fixating on that.
Marco stumbled through. His well-styled hair had been mussed and water matted his beard. He jumped back against the closing door when he spotted Alexei. Following my gaze, the bigger man swiveled his neck. The smile flattened when his eyes found Marco but his expression remained unmoved.
My last wannabe lothario shuffled to the side, away from us. His path pressed his back against the seat of another patron, an older man wearing a Cleveland Browns shirt with a fanny pack hanging around his waist.
The tourist barely got out an irritated “excuse me, young man,” before Marco bolted from the outdoor seating area. Instead of the exit, which would’ve brought him closer to us, he hurdled the low wooden fence and didn’t stop running until he’d disappeared down a side street. Alexei took another gulp from his beer, finishing it and setting it on the table.
“What did you do to him?” I asked, staring at the point Marco had disappeared. “What did you say before? He drank something that didn’t agree with him?”
“I might have made him drink it,” Alexei admitted with a shrug. “Better him than you.”
“That son of a…” I let my anger take control. A deep breath with a slow exhale helped me quell it. “If you wanted to play the white knight, you’d have told me that right away like a good little boy scout. What’s your game, Mr… Alexei?”
Not knowing his last name yet left a stutter in my words, but I’d made the demand clear, for all the good it did me. He lounged in his chair, faking relaxation. Too much tension remained in his neck.
