“Love?” I’m about to scoff and dismiss her comment, but suddenly, I’m not sure what to think. The tender way he treats me - for such an angry man - how he comes to my rescue, over and over. Do I love him?
Watching me, Mariya grins insolently when I stare back at her, wide-eyed. “Oh, shit I love him, don’t I?”
“Yes, my simple-minded friend, you do. And he loves you. It is painfully obvious. And nauseatingly adorable, if you want the truth.”
Lucca…
“The Ares Academy has to be the only fucking college on the planet that expects you to pack a tux,” Aleksandr says sourly, straightening his cuffs.
“Yeah, but you look hot as hell,” Konstantin leers, patting him on the shoulder, laughing when he irritably swats his hand off.
We agreed to meet the women at the main hall, where the cavernous granite and wood space has been transformed with multiple glittering Christmas trees. Fabric swags and lights are draped from the oak beams overhead and tables are covered in tartan red and green, with endless platters of food.
Say what you will about our power-saw-loving Dean, the woman knows how to throw a party.
“Here they come,” Aleks nudges me.
Fuck, she’s incredible.
Tatiana’s looking around, and I catch the moment she sees me and gives me that smile, the smile that tells me she’s so happy to see me. No pretense, no playing hard to get.
Since men at the Academy outnumber women by nearly two to one, just having a date for the party is a major coup. Having a woman as beautiful as Tatiana? I’m just spiteful enough to enjoy the longing stares the other guys are giving her as I walk up to meet her.
“Ty samoye prekrasnoye, chto ya kogda-libo videl,”I whisper, cupping her face to kiss her.
“I’m the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” Tatiana says, “And in Russian? You’re too good at this,Velikolepnyy.”
“I’m still gorgeous, eh?” I grin down at her, giving her another kiss.
“In this tux? Oh, yes,” she says with a misty look of appreciation.
I laughed. I seem to do that a lot around her.
Aleks is with Camilla tonight, and we’re both pulling our girls out onto the dance floor when I spot Mateo. “Thatpezzo di merda,that piece of shit is here?” I murmur, disgusted. “Who’s willing to date a rapist?”
He craned his neck, looking over the crowd. “It’s the girl from the Marchand syndicate in New Orleans.”
“Tansey Marchand,” I say with disgust. She’s preening in a very low-cut black dress and her left boob is already ready to pop out of the fabric.
“What are you two looking at?” Tatiana asks, standing on tiptoe.
“Nothing,” I said, pulling her closer. She laughs as I twirl her out in a spin and back again.
“Impressive,” she says, smoothing my lapel, “dance lessons as a kid?”
“All of us had to go through them,” I groaned, “my mother insisted. Dario was better about finding a way out of them because he’s such a sneaky bastard, but-”
She’s watching me closely, and I turn my head. “It’s okay to miss them,Velikolepnyy.Especially at Christmas.”
I give her a cold smile, spinning her out and back again, a little harder this time. “No. Because they are not missing me, I can promise you.”
It’s a hell of a party. The booze is flowing freely and even the professors look like they’re enjoying themselves. I keep an eye on Mateo, making sure he’s on the other side of the big hall from wherever we are.
Tatiana’s face is flushed and she’s giggling a little as I take her outside for some air. “Baby, you’re not drunk, are you?”
“No!” she promises, eyes wide.
“Good, because there’s so many things I want to do to you.” My hand slides down the soft skin of her back. “I’m really appreciating this dress, by the way. It looks like I just need to unzip it and it will…” I kiss the side of her neck and nip at her shoulder. “Just fall right off of you.”
