Page 4 of Bedazzled
"Okay," she wiped her eyes before the mascara smeared because we did not want to know what the wedding planner would do to her if her makeup turned out all smudged.
All in all, the wedding wasn’t too bad. No one got shot, Ella seemed to chill out as she and Maksim left and the ballroom was emptying when I stomped over to that tall, cool drink of Russian vodka standing by the bar.
“Hey, you’re Yuri, Maksim’s brother, right?”
“I am.” He was looking down at me from his towering height and I was sorry I didn’t wear my six-inch heels. He had to be, what - 6”6? He was kind of the light to his brother’s dark, with his blonde hair and his blue eyes that were vivid, not like his brother’s creepy pale ones. This gorgeous bastard was going to bemine.
As soon as we cleared a few things up.
“Ella tells me you’re the diplomatic one in the family, so I figured you would be the one to handle this.” I leaned in and pointed a finger into his amused face. “Ella got held at gunpoint this morning-”
His genial expression was gone. “Where?” Yuri asked sharply.
“Outside that hellspa! It was Maksim’s ex. Lurch was supposed to be guarding her andthat punch-drunk fuckboy left my girl in the SUV with this psycho bitch and her gun issues! This is extremely indifferent security, Yuri!”
Oh, now he was paying attention, his gorgeous face was cold and he grabbed my arm. “Who,” he enunciated, “is Lurch?”
Craning my neck, I found the giant asshole standing sullenly by the door to the kitchen.Probably hoping he can finish up with that banquet server,I thought angrily. “That douche over there who looks like an ex-boxer.”
“He’ll be disciplined severely for allowing Ella to be in danger, but why do you think he was acting on behalf of the Sokolov woman?”
“Because Lurch has the IQ of a Fig Newton and when Ella asked how he didn’t see the woman holding her at gunpoint, he actually said, ‘I did not see Miss Sokolov,’ I mean, are you kidding me?”
Yuri rubbed his forehead. “I have no answer for this level of stupidity. I will take care of it,” he took one step away and halted. “You will stay here? I have so many questions to ask you.” He looked me up and down like he was a starving tourist and I was the prime rib buffet at Jersey Steve’s down by the shore.
“You fix Lurch,” I smiled alluringly, it might have been more of a smirk but whatever. “I’m planning on getting drunk tonight because this booze is some top-shelf shit. And you, my friend, are the hottest man in this ballroom. It’s time to find out if you Russians can really hold your liquor.”
His pretty blue eyes were taking a slow circuit up and down my body and I was completely comfortable being objectified. With a slight sigh, he straightened his tuxedo jacket and took off.
Getting comfortable on a barstool, I swiped a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
Oh, hell yes this was going to be the best night of that man’s life.
Yuri…
“Take Lurch - I meant - Oleg out quietly. Send him to the warehouse and alert Bogdan that we will have need of his services in the morning.” I was giving orders to Patrick, but I could not take my eyes off that luscious little Tania, who had convinced the bartender to line up a tidy row of shots.
Patrick was all business. “Oleg? How serious is this?”
“He left the new Mrs. Morozov in an SUV with Katya Sokolov today,” I snarled.
“That thick-headed gobshite,” he said, “I’m on it. Do you need anything else tonight?”
“Not from you,”I assured him.
He shook his head sadly, “And yet another perfectly nice lass will be ruined for all other men,” Patrick sighed before he headed toward a group of guards.
“I certainly hope so,” I murmured, straightening my tie.
Later at the Four Seasons...
“Okay, so you have to agree this is the worst ‘meet-cute’ in history, Maksim chases my poor girl through the woods?” Tania’s hands were waving, champagne slopping over the side of her glass. “That’s some primal shit right there you have to admit it.”
I was fascinated by her. Women in our circles were careful, well-behaved, or at least terrified of the Morozov Bratva and anyone in it. It could not be more clear that Tania did not care. At all. None of this impressed her, aside from the drinks.
“Wait, what is a meet-cute?”
She tapped another shot glass against mine. “One, two- oh, my god that one’s harsh!” Tania wheezed, laughing a little.
