Page 10 of The Red Room
Nik smirks and more heat floods my cheeks.Fuck, I hate what that smirk does to me.“It also tastes like shit. I’m not sure why we keep it in stock.”
“Because Father would go apeshit if we didn’t,” Viktor interrupts and throws back his shot. He, just as Courtney and Nik, also shoot the alcohol with ease. Apparently, my tolerance is the weakest of the bunch.
I right myself and stare up at him. “Why would your dad care what you serve at your club?”
Nik reaches for the bottle standing alone among the empty shot glasses and spins it around until the label faces us. Small swirls decorate each side, surrounding letters I can only imagine are Russian. The brand name, however, is distinct and familiar. Vostik.
“It’s been in our family for a long time. How we were able to afford—” He pauses and waves his hands around the club. “This.”
There’s something else on the bottle that catches my attention. Just below Vostik is a symbol I’ve seen before. On the bouncer out front, the bartender I only know as Alek, and on Nikolai’s wrist and Viktor’s head. The moon. “And that?”
Nik grins once more. “Also in the family a long time.” He leaves it at that.
Viktor leans over the bar, his impressive stature blinding the bottles and lights behind it. “She’s a curious one, brother,” he says, pouring himself another shot and slamming it.
Nik continues to stare at me despite the irritation in Viktor’s voice. “I know. I like that.”
Blood heats my face and erratic heartbeats slam in my chest. He leans in closer, close enough that the warmth of his body seemingly wraps around mine.
“Tell me, Natalia,” he says, the gravel in his voice as rough as sandpaper. “What else do you want to know?”
Everything.No, Natalie, play it cool.Nothing. You couldn’t care less how he became who he is. His life before he owned this club. Nothing. There is nothing you are interested in knowing.Nothing, I scream at myself.
“Nat,” Courtney says from behind us, her voice wavering. “I—I don’t feel so—”
I turn to see her bright green eyes close as her body flops forward, like all of her bones have magically been sucked out of her body. Everything from Courtney’s neck to her arms go limp, the way a dead fish will still sway in the current of a river. Viktor takes a tentative step backward, while Nik, only mere inches from me, lunges forward and catches her head on a collision course for the floor. He scoops her up and stands, her arms and legs dangling lifelessly.
“Courtney!” I shout above the gasps from those around the bar.
Nik brings his ear to her mouth. “She’s still breathing. Maybe a few too many,” he says and chuckles. For the smallest of moments between frightened glances at my friend and Nik, I swear at one point he snarls in his brother’s direction. Not just with his eyes or mouth. But … the sound is coming from his chest.
“I think you’ve both had enough excitement for one night, yes?” Another laugh, this time missing the sound of a car’s engine growling beneath his partially buttoned shirt.
“I’ll get us an Uber,” I say and start for the front doors.
“Nyet,” Nik says and moves behind me, carrying Courtney with ease. “No. My driver will take you home.”
Bouncers open the doors for us and clear a path of those outside waiting their turn to get in. The line still seems to go as far back as I can see, and while some are on their phones or too busy talking to each other, most watch me lead Nik to the sidewalk carrying Courtney’s limp body.
“Dimitri,” he says to the biggest bouncer out front. “Get me a car.”
The bald man nods and says something while cupping his earpiece. When I pass the bouncer there’s an odd expression on his face. Not annoyance like Viktor was proud to show me.Beneath his stern almost angry features, there was something different. It kind of looks like … relief.
Tires screech a few blocks over. Under the flickering streetlights, a black sedan comes into view, racing toward the entrance of Völk. Smoke billows behind it when it stops along the curb, swirling gray clouds into the crisp winter air. A small man with urgency in his eyes steps out from the driver’s side and runs to open the backseat for Nik. Next he opens the passenger door. If I had to guess, he has a tattoo somewhere on his body as well, but right now, I’m more concerned with getting Courtney back to my apartment. She can sleep off the Vostik in my bed, and me, well, I’ll just spend the rest of the night swimming in it from my couch. At least, swimming in the thought of him. Wondering how the rest of our interrupted conversation would’ve gone.I blew it.My one shot with the man lowering my friend to the backseat of his Mercedes, is over.
Nik closes the rear door, careful not to clip Courtney’s foot. “Yuri. Get these girls home safe, yeah?”
The driver nods and takes his spot behind the wheel. When he does, Nik finally turns toward me. I stand there in the cold, trying to look anywhere but him. Embarrassment creeps up my thighs and forearms, leaving gooseflesh on the parts my dress doesn’t cover.
Fuck.
This was supposed to be my night. My one chance for things to, I don’t know, go right in my life for once. And now, here I am, on the verge of tears, too ashamed to even look in his direction.
“Yuri will take you wherever you need to go,” Nik says and stands in front of me, his shadow large enough to block out the city lights.
I shake my head and force back the tears biting at my eyes. “I’m sorry, Nik.”
Lifting his hand to my chin, he tilts my head upward until our eyes meet. Even at war with the glow of skyscrapers shining down from the heavens to the LA streets, his eyes are still brighter. Beautiful even.