Page 107 of Forged By Sacrifice

Not that Malik looked like he was hurting for money. The watch he wore on his wrist was worth more than my sailboat, and I was sure his shoes cost more than any of my suits, even when my suits had not come cheaply.

His hair was as dark as Georgie’s, and his eyes were as brown as his sister’s. He was almost as tall as me but lean, graceful in his movements that spoke of a dance career even though Georgie hadn’t mentioned one. I was sure he had no issue attracting the women, or men, or whomever he was interested in.

Georgie was in a black slip dress that accentuated her curves and made it impossible for me to stop touching her. She wore her contacts that were so deep a blue that it was like looking into the abyss in the depths of the ocean.

Raisa was in a red dress, standing out in a way that teenage girls often wanted to stand out.

When you looked at them together, they were, all three, gorgeous with those high cheekbones and slender noses that marked their heritage. With a sudden stop and start of my heart, I realized it was quite possible the siblings had a CIA tail. Or NSA or FBI. You pick an agency. They all had to have had an interest in the siblings if Petya was anywhere near being the “businessman” Georgie made him out to be.

Suddenly, the drug use became a much higher problem.

Malik was smooth and gracious in his talk. Loving to his sisters. There was nothing on the surface that was to dislike. But I was on high alert for no reason other than his sniffing and fidgeting.

When we got to the club, dance music burst from the speakers like a rattle of gunfire, making me wish I had my earplugs. Not that I wasn’t used to bars. Dance clubs full of people much younger than me just weren’t my norm these days. I was too used to places like Ava and Eli’s bar. A different clientele and a different pace. But I liked to dance. Maybe it was years of being pulled onto the dance floor by my sisters. Or years at college where I went from the bar, to the dance floor, to a dorm room with a woman tangled up against my body. All I knew was it didn’t bother me to dance like it did for many of the men in my life.

Malik seemed to know the management, because we were ushered in and seated at a semi-private booth with red velvet seats and drinks already on the table. I ordered a beer, not liking the idea of drinking out of any open containers in a place like this.

As soon as we were situated, I pulled Georgie in the direction of the dance floor. She smiled and yelled, “I have to bring Raisa.”

I just nodded as she grabbed her sister’s wrist, and we all joined the mass of people wiggling their bodies around, the flickering lights and music making it feel oddly dreamlike, and I wondered if Georgie was thinking the same thing and chalking it up to Descartes and doubting the reality of it. What I knew to be true was that, as much as I liked Raisa and disliked Malik, I couldn’t wait to get Georgie to myself when the night was done.

Georgie

LOVE ME ANYWAY

“Even if you see my scars,

Even if I break your heart,

If we're a million miles apart,

Do you think you'd walk away?”

Performed by P!nk with Chris Stapleton

Written by Shamblin II / Douglas / Moore

Mac surprised me, yet again, by being a dancer. I didn’t see him—the tough, military man—as being a dancer, but he was. We’d twirled around the dance floor at the Chinese Embassy reception, but that hadn’t been nightclub dancing. Here, he moved around with my sister and me like he was completely comfortable doing so. No awkwardness. No hesitation like many men I knew. Even the models in Jared’s circle weren’t all comfortable on a dance floor. Mac seemed to own it like he owned everything else he did. Strong. Full on. No doubts.

We were hot and sweaty by the time a slow song hit. Raisa quickly abandoned us for drinks and the bathroom, but I knew it was just to give us a chance to dance by ourselves.

Mac didn’t waste time. He pulled me close. “Alone at last,” he murmured.

“We’re hardly alone,” I said, referring to the bodies pushing against us.

“Alone enough for me to do this.” He kissed me and ran a finger down along my collarbone, making me shiver even though the heat poured from me and around me with the crush of bodies surrounding us.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, surprising us both enough that we chuckled. He ignored it, but then it vibrated again and again. He sighed, resting his forehead on mine. “I think I better figure out who this is and why they keep texting.”

I nodded. “I’m going to the restroom. I’ll be right back,” I hollered at him.

He reluctantly let me go.

When I came back to the table, he looked tense, upset.

“What is it?” I asked, trying to be heard but also not wanting to shout out his business to the world. He came close and talked into my ear.

“It’s Dani. She’s upset. I can barely understand her with all the noise, but she asked me to come get her.”

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