“Like a fat Russian with no teeth?” I chuckled, and her mouth twitched. “Katya, you’re his daughter. His pride and fucking joy. There’s no way he’d do that. If not for you, then for him. How embarrassing would it be for the Bratva King’s daughter to be married to a nobody?”
I stopped chewing my cheek and nodded. Nik was right. Of course he was, but an uneasy feeling still gurgled away in my stomach.
“Katya, fuck him. Fuck the lot of them. Thinking they can control us. Thinking they can decide who we marry. Who they can sell us off to for the better deal. Fuck them and their stupid rules. They all need to get with the new century. Things aren’t like they used to be, yet they still run their kingdoms like nothing’s changed. Let’s get out of here for the day and be damned the consequences.” He smiled, looking like he felt better as he said the words aloud. Like they’d been stewing inside of him all week and getting them out into the world made him feel invincible. His eyes sparked. “Fuck them all, Katya. They don’t know what’s best for us, we do. Let’s go and have some fun.”
I stared at him for a long moment, his excitement and courage seeping into my veins. I reached out and took his hand. “Okay,” I agreed softly, a smile rising to my cheeks, “fuck them then.”
Nik pulled me up against him. His breath caught in his throat as I slammed against his chest and his arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly to him, and it seemed like it took everything in him not to lean down and kiss me again like earlier.
The moment was lost with the repeated banging of Viktor at the door again, heavier this time. “Open the Goddamn door, Katya. You will not leave me standing out here looking like a fool.”
Nik grinned down at me and winked, “like hell we won’t.”
He took my hand and we ran across the suite to the main balcony. The door to it was already slid open and the gauzy curtain blew in the slight sea salt breeze. The barrier was only waist high and I could have easily climbed over it by myself, but Nik put his hands around my waist and lifted me over it, placing my feet gently on the ground before climbing over it himself. The banging on the door was even louder this time and we both laughed as he took my hand in his and we set off running.
Our feet hit the sand moments later and he looked back at me, trailing a little behind him, his strong hand wrapped protectively around mine. God, he was so handsome. A smile on his stupid gorgeous face that was so beautiful even a blind woman could see how happy he was right now. And then there was me, every step away from Viktor had me breathing easier. Every step towards Nik made me feel lighter. Made me feel wanted.
The woman from last night was a distant memory.
Our teasing, taunting past together was a fog that didn’t matter anymore.
Had we been cruel to one another because, always, from the beginning, the truth had boiled just beneath the surface? That we meant something to each other?
He gripped my hand tighter and pulled me faster, desperate to get us away from here. Desperate to be alone withme. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of time alone with Nik. Just me and him and no one else to interfere for a change. The pretenses we normally held had somewhere along the line been dropped and for the first time in eighteen years we were both being true to ourselves and true to one another. The changes in our relationship swirled between us, the lines blurred, and I knew that we were on the verge of something that we couldn’t take back.Not ever.I wasn’t even sure what it was or if I even wanted it, all I knew was that I felt truly alive when I was with Nikolai. I felt accepted in a way that I never had with anyone else before. And the sexual tension that had been blossoming between us for so many years was at bursting point.
“Where are we even going?” I said breathlessly.
We pulled up to theOcean Darlingseconds later and Nik turned to look at me, one hand gesturing towards the boat and the other still clutching my hand. “We’re taking the boat for the day.” Nik winked and I laughed, surprising us both.
“Nik, my dad will kill us for this.”
“And what do we say to that?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and a sexy smirk.
“Fuck them,” I laughed. “Fuck them all.”
My dad was really going to be pissed with me this time. But I didn’t care. Not right now anyway. All I wanted was to be away from Viktor, away from my responsibilities and alone with Nikolai. Everything just seemed so much easier when I was with him. I felt reckless and wild and unbound from my duties.
We climbed on board theOcean Darlingand he untied the thick rope that kept the boat safely tethered to the dock, before heading to the wheel. Of course the keys were in it, though normal guests were meant to call hospitality and request usage. There was protocol to be followed even as a Vasiliev, and I doubted anyone had ever just up and taken one of the boats without resort go-ahead. Well, maybe Nik had… in fact, I was sure he had. When he’d spirited away to the mainland the other night and to that bar, filled with loud music and burning liquor where he’d danced behind me, so hot and so close, he surely hadn’t asked permission. He hadn’t had time.
And we weren’t asking for permission now.
Not from anyone. Not the resort. Not my father. Not my mother.
I’d never think of taking a boat without permission. I was rebellious, but not in that way.
Only Nik,I grinned.
Fucking Nik, my grin grew wider.
The engine came to life, a soft purr turning into a roar as he gunned the engine and we began to pull away from the dock.
“Nik,” I gasped, my gaze on the shoreline.
He glanced over, seeing Viktor storming down the beach towards us. He looked furious. Suit jacket open and flapping on either side of him as he glared at us driving away on the boat. The look he gave Nik told me everything he thought of him stealing me away. Hate and fury broiled inside of him as a black look washed over his features. He would want Nik dead to make up for the insult, that was for sure. Nik had to know this, and yet he didn’t seem to care about anything right now other than getting as far away from here as possible. Nik waved at Viktor and laughed as he turned the boat and we picked up speed, cutting through the waves with ease.
“Stop it, Nik. He’s already mad,” I snapped, my stomach doing flips. “You know who Viktor is. You know who he has on his payroll. If he wanted us dead before sundown we would be,” I said with a shake of my head. “Why would you do that?”
“Because fuck him, that’s why,” he snapped angrily. “Fuck him thinking that he owns you and that he gets to order you about and tell you what you can or can’t eat. Fuck him and fuck anyone else who wants to control you. No man owns you, Katya. You’re a princess, soon to be a goddamn queen and they need to learn their place beneath your heel.”
