She was beautiful, in an exotic kind of way. Her deep chestnut hair shone with auburn highlights under the lights. Her petite frame, at five foot three, was even shorter than mine. Her mother was Portuguese and her father was French. She picked up the best of both worlds. She was blessed with beautiful ivory skin with light freckles across her nose and a slim body with curves in all the right places. But in my opinion, her best attribute was her smile. It blinded everyone around her.
Unfortunately, she didn’t smile often.
“What happened with that ummm…” I tried to recall the guy's name and failed. “That guy with benefits.”
Sailor ripped off a piece of her bread and popped it in her mouth. “The fuck buddy,” she added helpfully. Or not.
Just as Willow opened her mouth to answer, an unfamiliar deep voice interrupted. “Oh, I’m all for fuck buddies.”
The three of our heads turned in unison to find a tall, broad figure in a dark Brioni suit. I blinked, unsure if I was seeing him right.
“Holy. Hotness.”
I wasn’t certain who muttered the words, Sailor or Willow, but I had to agree. My eyes traveled over a six foot four, or so, frame with solid, sculpted muscles packed onto every single hot inch of the powerful frame. His blond hair was shaved short on the sides, faded with an expert hand, showing off tattoos. Jesus fucking Christ. He was hot! I was fairly sure my mouth gaped, staring at the gorgeous man with pale blue eyes.
Wait a minute.Those pale eyes!
“Is this guy for real?” Willow whispered, though there was no chance the guy didn’t hear it.
He grinned and somehow his whole face became even more gorgeous. Fucking scary if you asked me. Nobody should be that gorgeous.
“Yes, I’m for real,” he proclaimed, displaying his brilliant white smile. His eyes traveled over Sailor, lingering on Willow for a moment and then ending on me. And they stayed on me. I kept waiting for him to say something, and when he didn’t, I shifted in my seat uncomfortably.
“Can I help you?” I asked, my voice slightly agitated. Why in the fuck was the man just standing here? There was no mistaking who he was. He had to be Sasha Nikolaev. That kind of resemblance was not coincidental. God wouldn’t create that many good looking men and not make them related to each other.
After all, after looking up the Nikolaev men, I knew there were two brothers, one sister, and a half-brother, Alexei Nikolaev.
If only that damn Milo hadn’t wiped their record as I was doing my research, I would have learned a lot more than I know.
I cleared my throat. “Hello? I said. “Can I help you with something?” I snapped.
“As a matter of fact, you can help me.” He leaned forward, and instinctively, I leaned further back. His wide smile didn’t fool me. He was a shark and just like that predator, he’d show you his teeth before he chomped you into tiny little pieces. “I’m Sasha Nikolaev, at your service.”
I half expected him to bow and do one of those fancy hand gestures. I lifted my glass, brought it to my lips and took a sip to ensure I didn’t say something stupid.Like if you don’t get out of my personal space, I’m going to kill you.
Yeah, saying something like that to a man who held connections with the mafia would not be wise.
“Oh, yes. Please service me,” Willow muttered. “In the bedroom, in the kitchen, outside. Any fucking where,” she added and I just about choked on my cocktail.
He ignored her comment, though the gleam in his eyes didn’t escape me. But to his credit, he kept his gaze on me, those pale blue glaciers, matching his brothers, drilling into me.
“My brother over there,” he tilted his head to the furthest balcony seat, his eyes never leaving me. “He’s been devouring you. Well, at least his eyes have,” he smirked.
Hesitantly, I followed his gaze, and so did Willow and Sailor. Alexei and Vasili Nikolaev sat there, their big frames seemingly taking up a quarter of the balcony space. Both men wore black. Vasili wore an Armani suit. Yes, I could tell the quality of suits; I grew up with brothers with extremely expensive tastes. Alexei, on the other hand, wore a plain black t-shirt and black cargo pants again, which probably cost more than my monthly salary. I had a feeling the man always wore black, which made his eyes uncharacteristically light.
Alexei’s stoic expression met mine and I immediately wanted to fidget.
Those freakish, pale blue glaciers were too invasive. His gaze burned and cooled at the same time. It was like an icy shower on a hot day. I couldn’t quite decide whether it made me feel good or not. Maybe both.
The three brothers shared the same eye color and same dangerous aura. Sasha Nikolaev might have smiled, but somehow I knew, he was just as psychotic as his brother Alexei. Or even Vasili for that matter. Except the eldest brother hid it the best.
Then why the other two brothers’ impact on me was completely different from Alexei’s, I had no idea.
“Jesus Christ, there are three of them?” Sailor whispered in an appalled voice, pulling me off the ledge. Alexei’s stoic expression was a force to be reckoned with. I understood why she gaped at the men. I did the same. Two Nikolaev men were bad enough but three. I hope there wasn’t another one lurking somewhere. Four would just be cruel to the women of Earth.
“He can’t stop staring at you, and we’d like for you to join us,” the guy announced, loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear him. “Your friends too.”
My eyes flicked to the table again and my frown deepened. Which one was he talking about? It had to be Alexei, because the man’s impassive mask still hadn’t turned away from me.