Page 73 of Diamond Don

“Oh, come on, that’s too obvious. That’s the first place anyone would look if they learned it was missing before I got away.”

“Where, then?”

I tear my eyes from the TV and find him staring at me. With a smile, I share, “Hidden pocket in my dress. Right here.” I tap the spot between my breasts.

“Clever,” he says, an amused smile curving his beautiful lips. He’s always so breathtaking when he smiles.

“When your attentions started to focus there, I almost panicked, thinking you’d spot it and I’d be caught red-handed. That was when I decided to strip for you so you wouldn’t get too close and so I could carefully put my dress away.”

Nik laughs loudly. “Impressive improvisation skills.” He smirks. I shrug in response, grinning back at him.

We gaze at the screen, but I’m relieved to detect the faint ghost of a smile on his face. A moment later, we watch Dmitri go through the metal detectors without any of our shenanigans. He places his wallet, phone, pack of gum, and car keys in the little plastic tray. After it’s scanned, he retrieves his items before leaving the area.

We also spot Vladmir. He empties his pockets into the tray. Once again, nothing in them is interesting at all. I grow bored watching him pick up his cell phone, lanyard with keys, and a money clip.

I’m disappointed that my peace offering to Nik is so dull when we see McGuire on the screen. Nik immediately straightens up next to me on the couch. We observe with interest as the man empties his pockets. The Irish mobster throws his phone, leather wallet, pack of cigarettes, lighter and fountain pen in the plastic tray. Shortly after him, we see the guy who Nik indicated as McGuire’s right-hand man go through the same process. His pockets’ contents aren’t much more interesting—nothing but a phone, wallet, plastic lighter and wired headphones.

With a sigh, I say, “I’m sorry. This is disappointing. I didn’t watch the whole thing before bringing it to you. I honestly thought it was going to be more helpful than this.”

Nik shakes his head. “No, this is great. It’s another piece of the puzzle.”

“You don’t have to be nice. It’s useless. It didn’t tell us anything new.”

“I’m not trying to be nice. And it gave us brand-new information. We now know what McGuire and Connor had with them the night Maxim was killed.”

“So what? It’s not like they were carrying anything unusual.”

“True, but we could have something on the murder weapon. Connor might’ve used his headphones wires to strangle Maxim.”

“Or he might’ve been killed with a weapon of opportunity,” I point out, shrugging. “We haven’t learned anything conclusive.”

Nik shakes his head again. “No, I know McGuire well. There’s just no way he’d leave it to chance. He wouldn’t come to the party intending to kill Maxim without the means to carry out the act at hand. He wouldn’t count on just finding something lying around.”

“You might be right,” I concede.

After thinking for a moment, I want to add that maybe we need to approach this whole mystery in a better way. I’m not so sure we should be solely focusing on McGuire. Perhaps it’d be wise to consider other options. But after last night, I can’t bring myself to say it now that Nik’s mood has improved. He’s much more excited than I thought this video would make him. I don’t want to make this feeling disappear just yet, not when I angered him last night after he showed me kindness the day before.

Instead, I hesitantly place my hand over his as it lies stretched out over the couch’s leather. “Nik, I’m so sorry about last night. I wish I could go back and do it differently. I don’t know how much this means to you, but please know that I deeply regret it.”

I half expect Nik to ask if my apology means I’ll be giving up on my plan to try to wrestle control from him through sex. I dread the prospect since I am unprepared to answer that question. To my relief, he doesn’t ask it. He just looks at me, his eyes carefully studying my face.

Nik remains quiet for so long that I start to worry he won’t even acknowledge my apology. Eventually, though, he nods. Surprising me, he asks, “Do you want to get out of here? There’s something I’d like to show you.”

27

KAT

Shocked, I glare at Nik for a long, silent moment.

He must take my confusion as uncertainty because he says, “It has nothing to do with Maxim or McGuire, I promise. Just something fun. Something I used to do a lot.”

After this intriguing and mysterious statement, I tell him yes, of course I’d like to “get out of here” with him. What else could I say? I need to find out more about whatever it is that Nikolai Stefanovich does for fun.

Nik excuses himself, ordering me to meet him at the door in five minutes. I almost pace back and forth in front of the door as I wait for him, dying of curiosity.

“Ready?” he asks, giving me a smile that warms his eyes even more. He’s wearing a black leather jacket, zipped all the way up. I study him as he drops his phone and keys in his jeans pockets. He looks so good I could eat him with a spoon—the whole container in one sitting.

“You have no idea,” I say. His only response is a soft laugh.

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