“Sure, but…” I lower my voice even though the butler has left the room, “this morning before he left, Mateo gave mea gun!”
“Did he show you how to use it?” she asks, reaching for a bowl on the trolley and scooping a spoon of butternut into her mouth.
Butternut and Turkish Delight. Ugh.
I opt for a blini with caviar and crème fraiche instead.
“I’ve taken lessons before. Spent some time on the range. He seemed happy enough with that.”
“Pity,” Nikki smiles coyly. “I’m pretty sure the twins were conceived after a shooting lesson with Dario.” She strokes her belly.
I raise an eyebrow. “No offence, but I’ll leave the baby-making to you, if you don’t mind.” She wrinkles her nose at me, and then grows serious again.
“Don’t take this thing lightly, okay, Andz? That guy is bad news.”
“Pfft…” I wave a hand dismissively. “He’s a dick, that’s for sure. But he’ll give up eventually.”
“I wouldn’t count on it, hon. Did Mateo tell you about the flowers?”
“Flowers?” There hasn’t been much talk at all, if I’m honest. We’ve spent all our time having sex. “What flowers?” I set my half-empty glass down. As if by magic, Craig appears, tops it up and vanishes again. Nikki pinches her lips together.
“The flowers that arrived in our room…after the fight at the party.”
I shake my head, my frown deepening. “He never said anything about any flowers.”
“These men!” Nikki huffs. “They’re so insane when it comes to taking care of their women.”
“I’m not his woman,” I grumble, picking up my glass again.
Nikki scoffs. “Sure you’re not. Anyway, when we got back to the suite the other day, there was a bunch of dead flowers in the bedroom. Addressed to you. Apparently, the water in the vase was filled with arsenic.”
I feel my heart stutter.
“Dario had a complete shitfit,” Nikki goes on. “I thought he was going to load us all on the plane and fly us out immediately. The only reason he’s letting me be here is because I let him ramp up the security detail.”
“You’re kidding me!”
Dead flowers? How did Mark even get them in here? The place is like Fort Knox.
“Nope. And you’ve had the same level of security.” Nikki sits back against her seat again.
“Well, sure…I told Mateo I’d compromise on the bodyguard thing when—” My words come to a halt at the sound of Nikki’s dry laughter.
“Andy, what compromise? Those guys have been on every floor of your apartment block for a week.”
“What? No. I only agreed to it yesterday.”
Nikki’s still laughing. Shaking her head. “You have no idea what these boys of ours are like, do you, Andz? There’s no way he’d have let you set foot out of that apartment without protection.”
I feel my blood begin to simmer. “That damn man! When I see him…!”
“What? You’ll tell him you’d rather be out on your own with some murderous lunatic on your tail? Get real, Andy. He’s just looking out for you. You’re not safe until after the wedding. Which, is why you came round today, remember?”
I flop back in my own chair, still clutching my glass. I’m in a gilded cage. But at least the champagne’s good.
“Yeah. The wedding. So, what’s on the agenda, Maid of Honor?”
“I want you to meet your wedding planner,” she says.
