Bad news. Dangerous. Must avoid. Do not speak to him. He will get the message.
“How have you been?”
Damn it.
“Good. I’ve been good. And you?” My smile must’ve been weird, because Dimitri frowned at me, shaking his head.
“I’m great. You know, just wrapping up last-minute details for the engagement party next weekend. Daphne said you hadn’tRSVPedyet.”
Damn it.
“Oh, yeah. Um, I have another thing that night. Sorry.”
Shaking his head, Dimitri grabbed his two drinks from the bar. “You don’t have to lie to me,Sasha. Have the guts to tell me you don’t want to come.”
His anger took me by surprise, but when I tried to apologize, he cut me off. “It’s pretty shitty that one of my oldest friends isn’t coming to my engagement party. Are you jealous or something? I mean, you picked Luca over me, remember?”
Gobsmacked. Completely and utterlygobsmacked. In all the years of us fucking around, I never got the impression that he wanted anything more. I’m not sure if it was the liquor or my confusion, but I blurted out, “No! It’s because of your family!”
The color drained from his face,and his eyes darted around us. “Moretti told you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re back with him?”
The ache in my chest intensified. “No.”
His frown relaxed as he took a deep breath. “Then there’s no problem. It’s not like you’d be rolling up with Moretti. You’ll be just like all the other guests.”
“I don’t know Dimitri. Kind of goes against me trying to stay away from the criminal element.” I tried to soften my words with a smile and shoulder bump, but Dimitri frowned, looking a little offended, which was fucking ridiculous. Dude was a part of a crime family.
“Look, I need to get these drinks to Daphne. If you get a minute, stop by our boothso we can talk about this. It would mean a lot to both of us if you came.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and walked away.
I stayed at the bar, nursing my gin and tonic. Friend guilt ate away at me. Dimitri had done nothing terribly wrong, Luca and Malcolm had confirmed that much, but his family was bad news bears.
Before I could dwell too much on the bullshit that kept getting thrown at me, Scott appeared at my side, hair mussed, lips swollen, eyes glassy. “Red. Have I told you how fucking hot you are? Like top ten hottest woman I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting.”
I laughed and patted his arm. “Thanks,Scott.”
Shaking his head, he pulled me closer to him. “No, Red, you don’t get it.” He gestured to the writhing dance floor. “We are all but mere mortals next to a goddess like you.”
“Okay, someone’s met their limit tonight.”
A dopey smile spread across his face. “Maybe, but I just wanted you to know I admire you.”
I patted his cheek. “I admire you too. Now let’s get you some water.”
The bartender delivered a round of waters as the rest of our group assembled.
“Sasha! Look, it’s our friends!” Scott was officially tripping.
“Scott, are you on something?”
Giggling, the blond bean pole nodded. “I’m having fun with my friend Molly tonight.”
“Scott!” Ashley grabbed his shoulders.
Scott grabbed her right back. “Ashley! Do you know how magnificent you are?” He looked over her shoulder at Malcolm. “It’s easy to see why you love her, man. She’s everything.”