Page 31 of No Longer Safe

When I finally located my phone and managed to click it to silent, I blinked down at Brian’s name. He hadn’t called me since I got here. I’d sent him selfies and pictures in front of major monuments and statues. His replies were generally short and when I asked him about it he said he was busy working and the time difference was throwing him off.

“Hello?” My voice came out in a very ugly croak and I inwardly groaned. I didn’t need him to know I was hungover. I would tell him if it came up, but I didn’t want to fight, especially with this pounding headache.

“Busy night?” He didn’t sound happy.

“Just a bit,” I said around a yawn and grabbed the bottle of water off of the nightstand.

“I didn’t think the nightlife was as wild as I read on the internet until I saw the video of you dancing and crawling across the bar.”

The water I was sipping on immediately went down the wrong pipe and I spewed it across the bed. “What?” I wasn’t quite sure the word even escaped my lips.

“Imagine my surprise when my mother calls me to tell me you’ve been up to some wild antics.”

“Your mother?”

Of course thebook clubhad gotten ahold of this before I could.

“Who are you, Audrey? I swear I didn’t even recognize you crawling across the bar. I especially didn’t recognize your bright red panties.”

“As far as the panties go, you told me you didn’t like lingerie, that it was slutty,” I retorted.

“Then who are you wearing it for?” His voice was an angry whisper. It was bad. This was very bad, though I didn’t feel any kind of remorse besides the pounding headache I currently had.

“Myself,” I said as confidently as I could muster given the circumstances.

“It’s not for that Alexis, guy?”

“His name is Alexei, and no. I can wear what I want for myself. I wanted to feel good and look good.”

“Why would your underwear need to look good if you aren’t showing it off?”

My headache was reaching new heights. I couldn’t believe the insinuation. “Do you think I’m cheating on you?”

“No,” His voice fell flat.

“Then what the hell is wrong with you?”

“You aren’t being safe. It’s dangerous out there. You could get hurt and I’m on the other side of the world. I’ve never seen this side of you and it scares me. Are you sure you’re ready to settle down and have kids?”

His words would echo in my mind for weeks to come. I ran my fingers through my damp hair from the late-night shower Ihad when we got back. I’d been covered in sweat, alcohol, and at one point I remembered spraying myself and the crowd with soda water before Alexei yanked me off of the bar and carried me over his shoulder to the SUV. I would take the feelings it enticed within me to my grave. Carina was no help as she’d giggled all the way out in Ace’s arms. The rest of the Cristof brothers found company elsewhere for the night.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” He let out a breath that blasted through the speaker.

“What?”

Was he going to call off the engagement? Over the phone?

“You shouldn’t be seeing the world without me. I should be there doing these things with you. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid.”

I held the phone away from my face to check the name. Yep, surprisingly, I was still speaking to Brian. He continued through my silence.

“I want to go with you to New York next time.”

We all slept late,much to Emeline’s displeasure. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to care about us but was instead focused on her missing boys. It was lunchtime and we all wore sunglasses around the table to eat brunch while the housekeeper and Emeline went insane over seating charts and making sure everything was perfect.

I still couldn’t believe the conversation I had with Brian. It managed to sober me up quickly but it didn’t take away the aching behind my eyes.

Emeline took Carina’s sunglasses off of her face and let out a gasp. “Thank goodness the professional is here to work magic!”

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