Page 63 of Dark Promise

She regards my look of repulsion with amusement.

“It’s sparkling grape juice,” she tells me.

“I figured that out already.”

“Due to my conditon,” she adds, and I hear a definite edge of sarcasm there.

“Yeah. Anyway…” I clear my throat.

She raises a brow. “How’s Nikolai doing?”

“I didn’t know he was on the guest list,” I say.

“He was. He is. And he made a very large contribution to the charity.”

“How large?”

“Huge,” she says, her eyes sparkling as much as her stupid grape juice.

“Are we still talking about his contribution,” I say.

“You tell me.”

Oh, she’s in a mood tonight. Sassy repartee and Nicole Milano don’t usually go together.

“Just curious…” she says. “Did you just have hot sex at a black-tie charity gala two hours away from midnight?”

My brows shoot up and my mouth drops open. “You…you…”

Nicole holds her hands up. “Not judging. He’s gorgeous. And you’re gorgeous and…well, you’re going to make beautiful babies together.”

I think she wants me to laugh, but the attempt fails spectacularly. My eyes well with tears. A look of horror comes over her face.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything…”

“It’s okay. It’s just…let’s just say that it’s complicated.”

“I don’t know anything, I was just guessing. Leo hasn’t said—”

“Leo doesn’t know…” My voice trails away as I think of Leo telling me that Nikolai asked for my hand in marriage. He hadn’t seemed to think it was such a terrible idea. I’d thought he was just teasing me… But then Leo and Nikolai worked together to keep me from being kidnapped. And then the look he and Nikolai exchanged just now. None of that means anything. Does it?

“Oh.” She bites her bottom lip, her dark brows drawing together. “It’s none of my business. Truly. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

I let out a long, shaky breath. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Love someone like…like my brother.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…he’s not just a…a Russo, but he’s the head of the family now. He’s in the same position Papa was before he…”

I can’t finish the sentence, it’s still too painful.

“I know,” Nicole says, her voice now gentle. “It’s not easy, I’ll admit it. It would have been harder for me if I was an outsider. I don’t know how Alina has adjusted so well considering that she didn’t grow up in our world.”

“I asked her, actually,” I say. “Same thing I asked you. She said that she’s accepted that life isn’t guaranteed. That protecting yourself, no matter what you do for a living, is a lost cause, so you need to live for today, love who you’re going to love, and not worry about tomorrow.”

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