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  Setting the floor plan down, she gave Zoey this look.

  “What?”

  “You got this, Zoey. Yvgeny wouldn’t have you here, and wouldn’t be helping you the way he is, if he didn’t think you were worth it.”

  “Maybe he’s doing it because he’s got a thing for you and wants in your good graces.” Zoey was teasing, to a point. She knew a man like Yvgeny wouldn’t do anything he didn’t want to, and he certainly wouldn’t help anyone just to get into someone’s pants. Zoey may not know him that well, but she knew him well enough to understand that with certainty.

  “You know better than that,” Alexa said.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  Marius, one of the waiters on the weekend shift, came up and spoke with Alexa for a few moments. Zoey stared at the floor plan, feeling nervous. She’d never worked VIP before, and although this was just a club, and she was just waitressing, it was a lot of responsibility, especially for someone like her who had only been here for three months.

  “I get off at midnight, and I know you’ll be here until closing. Call me when you get home, no matter the time, okay?”

  Zoey nodded. Even if she and Alexa weren’t working the same shift, or one got off before the other, they still spoke daily. Zoey knew it also had to do with her sister being worried over the whole Rick situation. But Zoey couldn’t blame her sister for being concerned. Zoey was, as well, and if it were the other way around she’d be just as worried for her sister’s safety.

  Both of their lives had changed so much over this whole ordeal, and Zoey hoped one day it could be back to the way it once was.

  Chapter Three

  The good thing about working at a nightclub was it kept Zoey busy. When she was alone, her mind wandered, her thoughts going down dark, destructive paths. She hated the fact one man could control her so much. Yet he wasn’t even here, hadn’t been in her life for months.

  Focusing on working the tables, she carried a tray full of rinks to the first VIP table. It was a bachelorette party, and the women wore headbands with smiling penises dangling off of them, had pink feather boas wrapped around their necks, and had enough dick themed accessories that the table was all but covered with it.

  Zoey set the girly drinks on the table, asked if there was anything else, and turned to head to the next table. Once at the bar she waited for her next order to be filled, her focus on the ticket in her hand. A large, warm hand landed on her bare shoulder, and she turned around to see Yvgeny standing there.

  “You’re doing okay?” he asked in a deeply Russian accented voice.

  She nodded. Yvgeny was a big man, with a lot of muscles, and a lot of power and danger emanating from him. She didn’t know exactly what he did on the side, but she could do the typical stereotyping of him being Russian and being part of the mob. Of course it might have been a ludicrous on any other occasion, and with any other man, but the truth was she suspected that was exactly what Yvgeny was into.

  “You’re sure?”

  Maybe he saw how tense she was? And she was, but only because she didn’t want to screw tonight up. “I’m good.” She smiled.

  He didn’t look like he really believed her, but he also didn’t press her about it. Giving a sharp nod, he gestured over to section D. It was the largest table in the VIP section.

  “I will have a business meeting with some associates.”

  She nodded again. “Alexa filled me in.”

  And I hope I don’t screw this up.

  “All we need is the drinks coming, the Dom on tap, and some of the dancers to entertain the men.”

  Zoey nodded again. “I’ll make sure it all happens.”

  Yvgeny didn’t move for long seconds, but finally nodded.

  She watched as he headed out the private entrance door, and only five minutes later it was opening again and a large group of huge men, all dressed in expensive looking suits, came in. They filled section D, and the low hum of them speaking Russian to each other filed the VIP section.

  “Order’s up,” Bran, the bartender on VIP duty tonight, said from behind the bar.

  She turned and filled the tray with two bottles of Dom, and enough champagne glasses for all the men. She’d start them off with the good stuff, and bring the hard liquor after that.

  Stopping at the table, she smiled and started placing flutes in front of the ten men that were sitting around the table. No one stopped speaking as she busied herself with getting their drinks set up. The feeling of being watched had Zoey looking up and to her left.

  Their eyes locked, and for just a second her heart felt like it stopped before starting up hard and fast. She didn’t mean to stare for as long as she was, but it was hard not to. His hair, the color of onyx, appeared slightly disheveled around his head. He was in a dark three-piece suit, the material not hiding that the man was built like a tank. He had his jacket off, and the sleeves of his white button down rolled up his thick forearms. The vest he wore had a small golden chain hanging from one of the buttonholes and connecting with another.

  And his eyes … lord, his eyes were this light blue shade, almost unnatural, and holding her gaze as if he could read every secret she held deep down inside.

  Despite the rush of conversation coming from the table, all of which she couldn’t understand anyway, it was like it was just the two of them in this moment. She’d never felt this way, never had this reaction to someone by just looking at them. Even though he was sitting down she could see how big he was, easily nearing six and a half feet.

  Drawing her thoughts back to the present, she focused on the fact she was at work.

  “Zoey,” Yvgeny said, and she turned her head to look at him.

  “This is Sergei, one of my business associates just flown in from Moscow.”

  She felt her cheeks heat, although she didn’t know why she had this intense reaction.

  “The pleasure is all mine,” Sergei said and grabbed hold of her hand before she could even react. She stared at him, watching as he brought her hand to his mouth. He kissed the back of her hand, but Zoey didn’t miss the way he rubbed the inside of her wrist with his thumb. He added a little pressure right on her pulse point, and she knew he could feel it jump.

  He let go of her wrist, and she curled her hand into a fist at her side. Swallowing past this bizarre emotion moving through her, Zoey looked around the table again. “Is there anything else I can get you right now?” The men stopped talking and glanced at her. “I can put an order into the kitchen?”

  “Just keep the liquor flowing,” Sergei said, and she glanced at him again. He had the corner of his mouth lifted up, and there was something darkly sexy about the act.

  After all the shit with Rick, she hadn’t thought she could feel something like this, an intense arousal for a man she just met. But it was clear she wasn’t as bent as maybe she thought?

  She smiled one last time and walked away, thanking whoever had been watching over that encounter that she hadn’t made a total ass out of herself.

  ****

  “I want to know more about her.” Sergei said. He wasn’t the type of man to sit on something that he wanted.

  And he wanted her.

  He went after what he desired, conquering it, claiming it as his. There was something vulnerable and innocent about Zoey, and it called out to the bastard in him.

  “I don’t think she’s what you’d be interested in,” Yvgeny replied, and brought the flute of Dom to his mouth.

  Sergei lifted an eyebrow. “And you know what I’d be interested in?”

  Yvgeny put the glass down and stared Sergei in the eyes. They’d grown up in Moscow together, been in the Bratva, and as the years went on their rank grew. Yvgeny worked out of America, and Sergei had decided to stay in Moscow to oversee things. They were at the top of the food chain, as were the men at this table, and because Sergei was used to certain luxuries in life, he was never denied.

  They weren’t good men, and never claimed to be. But it didn’t matter, bec
ause they’d chosen to be like this, to live their life by a certain code. They were a brotherhood, the Bratva, and it would always be that way.

  “She’s scarred,” Yvgeny said, and leaned back in the booth. “And I’ve taken her under my wing. She’s off limits.”

  That piqued Sergei’s interest in her even more. “Off limits?” he asked and smirked. “When have you ever known me to not go after what I want?”

  “Never,” Yvgeny said without emotion. “But she’s been abused, and is hiding from the motherfucker.”

  The table had gotten quiet.

  Their organization might do things not classified as legal, were pretty hardcore and secretive, but they didn’t partake in abuse toward women. In fact, they enjoyed going after those that did.

  Sergei looked over at Zoey again, realizing her vulnerability and innocence might very well have to do with the hand she was dealt.

  “And you’re dealing with the issue?” Sergei asked without looking at Yvgeny.

  “Of course, but the fucker’s gone into hiding for the time being.”

  Sergei watched Zoey. She was small, maybe a foot smaller than his six-foot-five frame. Her long dark hair curled at the ends, and the curves on her spoke of a womanly body. She was gorgeous, that wasn’t anything he could deny, and he would be lying if he didn’t admit his attraction to her had been instant. Hell, his dick was hard just thinking about her and all he could do to her in the bedroom. But now that he knew she’d been hurt, that the man that had done that to her was still out there, well, that just made Sergei want blood on his hands.

  He may be a hardcore killer when the time came, but when it came to protecting a woman that was hurt … there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to make sure the ones responsible were brought to their knees.

  “There’re plenty of other women you can have, Sergei,” Yvgeny said in Russian, and glanced over at Zoey.

  She came back with two bottles of their oldest, finest scotch. Sergei noticed her hands shook when she set one of the bottles close to him, and he reached out and held it. He looked at the delicate length of her fingers, the tiny bones that were raised at her wrists.

  “Sergei,” Yvgeny said in a hard voice, and he glanced at the other man. “I’m sure Zoey has a lot to do.”

  So, it seemed Yvgeny was overly protective of the girl? He might have said as much without actually admitting it, but Sergei saw the look in Yvgeny’s eyes. Sergei let go of Zoey’s hand, the scent of lemon coming from her and having his cock jerk. He heard her exhale, but he had his focus on Yvgeny. Once they were alone again Sergei spoke.

  “You think I mean to harm her?” Sergei might like it rough in bed, but he’d never hurt a woman … not unless they wanted it in the bedroom, that was.

  “I think she’s fragile, and I know your appetites,” Yvgeny responded. “You don’t stick around after you’ve had them, Sergei. Leave the girl alone.”

  He could have gotten angry over what Yvgeny said, but he didn’t, because it was true. He didn’t stick around after he fucked them.

  “There’s something different about her,” he said low, his focus on Zoey again. Yvgeny knew him well, so he had to know now that Sergei had her on his mind, he wouldn’t stop until she was his.

  Chapter Four

  “You’re up for a break.”

  Zoey looked at Aunna, one of the girls that worked the VIP section, too.

  “I’m good,” Zoey replied.

  Aunna shook her head.

  “Yvgeny’s orders are that we all take a break every few hours.”

  Zoey looked at the man that was her employer, and had helped her when she was at his lowest. He was a good man, even if everything that surrounded him didn’t really seem all that good. And then she looked at Sergei, a man she didn’t know, but one she knew was very dangerous. He wore that danger like a second skin, in the way he held himself, spoke, and although that should have fear claiming her, she just felt this warmth. It was bizarre, insane, even, but it was reality, and one she couldn’t ignore.

  There was also the fact she felt his stare on her, knew he watched her, and couldn’t shake the feeling like she was his prey and he was about to pounce.

  But there was no fear, no worry over his actions. There was no mistrust like how she felt with Rick. It was strange, and maybe unexplainable, but she knew she couldn’t worry about any of that right now. Zoey had to get her life back in order before she thought of anyone but herself. She needed to have a clear head, and make sure Rick was really out of her life before she even thought about being with another man.

  “Go on, honey, take a break in the back, or get some fresh air. It’s crazy in here,” Aunna said as she grabbed drinks off the bar and put them on her tray.

  “I’ll be back in fifteen.” Zoey undid her apron and put it behind the bar before leaving the VIP section. But right before she exited out the backdoor this tingling in the back of her neck took root. Looking over her shoulder she saw Sergei watching her, his light blue stare trained right on her.

  Fresh air sounded nice, but she didn’t want to risk some drunk out in the back alley. Instead she made her way toward the back offices where the two-way mirror was. The room was large, and for employees only. The mirror was floor to ceiling, and made up one wall. She walked up to the glass and looked out at the club.

  No one on the other side of the glass had their troubles hanging on their shirtsleeve tonight. No one cared about what was happening outside of those four walls. They were enjoying themselves, just wanted to let loose, and nothing else mattered.

  “They hide their troubles well.”

  She turned, her heart in her throat as she looked up at Sergei. And yes, she had to look up at him because the man was impossibly huge. He had his hands in his front pants pockets, his forearms big, muscular. The veins under his golden flesh were pronounced, and she found herself getting a little warmer.

  “Their troubles?” she managed to ask.

  He tipped his chin toward the glass. “For this one night they don’t worry about anything but the sexual tension and flowing alcohol.” He took a step toward her, and she found herself moving one back, not because she was afraid, but more so on instinct. This man held a lot of power, and it came from him like a blanket wrapping around her and threatening suffocation.

  They didn’t say anything else for long seconds, but then he tipped his chin toward the dance floor again. She turned and saw a couple gyrating to the music. The man had his hands on the woman’s waist, holding her close to him. She broke away to start rolling her hips, her arms in the air, her hands in her hair. She looked sultry, sexy.

  “For this one night they can pretend,” Sergei said right beside her ear, and his warm alcohol laced breath moved strands of her hair along her neck. She shivered, her nipples hardening, and she tried to keep her composure.

  “Maybe they are naturally happy and have nothing to hide,” she said on a breath, her focus on the couple, but her entire body alive because of the close proximity of Sergei.

  “No, Myshka, everyone has something to hide.” He turned her around, and she pressed her back to the glass. He looked down at her, his big body making her feel small, but also so very feminine. “Do you have something to hide?”

  The way he asked her wasn’t offensive, but gentle, caring even. It was weird seeing as he didn’t even know her, but she felt at ease around him, and that should have made her very wary.

  “I have nothing to hide,” she lied effortlessly. This wasn’t about her safety, but also her sister’s. Alexa was the only family she had anymore, and although she didn’t think of the past, and the fact they’d lost their mother at a young age, it was hard not to focus on it just being the two of them anymore, especially during a time like this.

  “Little mouse, everyone has something to hide,” he said in that deeply accented voice that seemed to play along her entire body. She actually felt like his words were his fingers, moving along her flesh, just barely touching her.

&nb
sp; “Then what are you hiding?” she whispered, and immediately regretted it.

  Why did I just ask that? This man is clearly dangerous. It pours from him, and he could think I’m challenging him.

  But he smirked after she spoke and took a step back. She inhaled deeply, not realizing she’d been holding her breath for those few seconds.

  “I have plenty to hide, Myshka.”

  She had no doubt about that.

  Chapter Five

  Her innocence was like a breath of fresh air, like the light to his darkness. Sergei was drawn to her inexplicably. Never had he wanted a woman the way he wanted Zoey. It went against everything he knew about himself, everything he’d ever thought he wanted.

  He watched her look at the ground and saw the way she fidgeted. She was nervous, but he was used to people being that way around him. The ones that knew him, knew he was part of the Russian mafia, stayed far away from him and the organization. They knew better than to question him, to challenge him. But this tiny female pushed back.

  Sergei liked that.

  “I should get back to work.” Zoey lifted her head and looked at him, and he realized he could drown in the amber depths of her eyes and be happy with the outcome. She licked her lips, and he watched the act, feeling his cock harden. She was innocent, very vulnerable. He kept telling himself that. It was very clear she wasn’t like any of the other women he’d been with. He watched her walk away from him, and he took in the scent of her. She smelled fresh, like lemons and soap. It was refreshing given the stench of sweat and arousal that filled the club.

  Turning and staring out the glass once Zoey was gone, he watched the bodies crammed together. They were like cattle, oblivious to what was really out there, the monsters that walked beside them, fucked them … could kill them before they even knew they were about to die.

  He stepped away from the glass and went back into the VIP section. Once in the room, Sergei sat back down at the booth and focused on Zoey again.

  “How about we get back to business?” Nikolas said in Russian.