*Adrik*
Trino and his men enjoyed partying just as much as they enjoyed business. Every time I met him on the island, he would go to a popular nightclub until the early morning hours. He usually had friends flown in to party with him, along with plenty of girls for his friends and his men. Before Sephie, I would go to the club with him. It was never a bad time. It also gave the guys a chance to relax slightly. Now that Sephie was with us, I wasn’t sure she would want to go. Giana was very excited about going. I found it amusing that Giana was a few years older than Sephie, but acted like she was the younger of the two.
“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” I told her, as we were changing clothes.
She stopped and looked at me, half-serious, half-joking. “You know as well as I do that Trino will take it personally if we don’t go with him. At least for a little while. It’ll be fine. It’s not something I regularly look forward to, but I can manage for a bit. Hopefully.” She paused, then added, “I don’t know if I’m more curious about how much a drunk Giana is going to talk or if I’m dreading it.”
I cursed under my breath. “I didn’t think about that. At least the music will be loud,” I said, smirking at her. I walked behind her, sliding my hands around her hips. “At least it gave you a reason to wear a dress. I’m not complaining about that.” I slid my hands down her legs to the hem, pushing it up higher on her thighs as my hands roamed over her legs. The dress was short, but not so short that she needed to worry about bending over. It had long sleeves and a high neckline, covering all her scars. It fit her like a glove, though, which is what made it incredibly sexy. She leaned back against me, catching my hands and wrapping them around her waist.
“You’re going to distract me,” she said, smiling up at me, while she pulled the skirt of the dress back down on her legs. “Giana offered to help me tame my unruly hair and I’m trying to be nicer, so she feels more comfortable around so much testosterone. She’s supposed to be here in a minute.”
“But I love your unruly hair. It’s one of my favorite things,” I said as I turned her to face me so I could push her rebellious curls from her face. It had become a game for me to see if I could get her curls to do what I wanted. I lost every single time, but I still loved the game.
We heard a soft knock on the door. Sephie reached up and kissed me quickly. “I just love you,” she said as she went to open the door for Giana.
Giana came with equipment. I wasn’t sure Sephie’s hair was going to win this round. Clearly, Giana was some kind of professional hair tamer. “I’ll leave you two to it,” I said, kissing Sephie on the cheek.
“Hopefully this won’t take long, but don’t hold your breath,” she said.
I heard Giana tell her, “Don’t worry, Sephie, I know what to do. My sister has curly hair. I’ve been doing her hair since we were kids,” as I left the bedroom. Definitely some kind of professional.
It didn’t take very long and both Sephie and Giana came out to find us. Giana had straightened Sephie’s hair and put it in a high ponytail. She almost looked like a different person without her loose curls around her face. My breath still caught when I saw her. She was gorgeous no matter what she did or wore. But straight hair made her look different.
She caught me staring as she walked to me, a small smirk on her face. “It’s weird, right?” she asked. She was smiling but I think she really was uncertain about my opinion.
I clicked my tongue. “You’re beautiful no matter what, solnishko.” I ran my hand through her ponytail. It felt completely different than her normal hair. I couldn’t help but laugh, somewhat astonished at the difference. “It’s so different.” I looked down at her, grinning. “I don’t know how I feel about this. I feel like I’m cheating on you. With you.”
She laughed, planting a kiss on my lips. I reached up and ran my hand through her ponytail once more, then grabbed the whole ponytail and pulled gently. I leaned down, brushing her neck with my facial hair. “I could get used to this once in a while, though.” Her breath hitched, ever so slightly and her cheeks were definitely flushed when she turned to look at me, a knowing look in her eye.
She wrapped her arms around my waist, looking me in the eye for a few moments. I saw a flash of uncertainty in her eyes. She didn’t hide it like she normally did. Instead, she just asked, “you’re not going to leave me at any point tonight, are you?”
I felt a pain in my chest, knowing she was still struggling to process everything that had happened since the ball. I put both hands on either side of her face, pressing my lips to hers. “I pinky swear I will not leave you the entire time we’re there.”
The club was packed, as it was every time we had been here before. Before we left Trino’s villa, a few of the girls tried to get the attention of Misha and Andrei, but neither seemed very interested. I think the girls were scared of Viktor and Ivan. Stephen was making himself scarce, as usual. He was not one for socializing. Even with us, he would disappear on his own regularly.
I wasn’t normally one to dance, but I found myself eagerly following Sephie to the dance floor. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. It didn’t seem to matter what she did with her hair or what she wore, she was the sexiest woman in the room to me. Now, with the difference in her straight hair, plus the new clothes, plus her willingness to get outside her comfort zone and even come to the club, it was like I was seeing a completely different side to her that I hadn’t seen yet. I was intrigued.
The music was so loud, you could feel the bass vibrating your body. There were people everywhere. Sephie was following Giana, who had Armando in tow. Giana managed to find a spot in the sea of people. Sephie pulled my arms around her, still facing away from me, as she started to move to the music. She was slightly tense and I could tell she was watching the people around us carefully. I turned her to face me, pulling her tight against me. “Just focus on me, solnishko,” I said to her, my mouth close to her ear. She leaned her head against mine and nodded slightly.
She eventually relaxed a little, as long as I kept my arms around her. She eventually pulled me off the dance floor, indicating she needed a drink. With so many people, so close together, it was warm in the club. I glanced toward Armando and Giana, but they were completely wrapped up in each other and didn’t notice us leave.
I got water for Sephie. She drank half, then handed it to me to finish. She was still watching everyone around us carefully. I pulled her closer to me, tracing my finger down her face. “You’re not worried, are you?” She looked at me, puzzled. “You’re watching everyone around us like you’re expecting someone to do something.”
Her beautiful smile stretched across her face, making my heart jump in my chest. “No, it’s not out of worry now. It was when we first got here, but now I’m used to it. I’ve never been a fan of big crowds, but less so now,” she said, looking down. I felt that pull in my chest as I knew she had been fighting to remain calm. She looked back up, a mischievous grin on her face. “It’s out of curiosity now. I don’t go to clubs very often, but when I do, I always try to pick out the couples that are still going to be together by the end of the night and the ones that will get together by the end of the night. It’s like my own game that I play.”
I caught sight of one of Trino’s men, talking to a girl at the bar. I nodded my head toward the couple. “What about those two?” I asked.
She watched them for a few minutes, then shook her no. “Not gonna happen. He’s way too intense for her. He hasn’t stopped talking about whatever it is he’s talking about since you pointed them out and she’s quickly losing interest. Ten bucks says she ditches him in the next 15 minutes.”
“You’re on. I say it’ll be at least 25.” I said, motioning for the bartender to refill our water. Ivan and Viktor walked up to the bar.
“You two look like you’re stirring up trouble,” Viktor said.