Page 45 of King’s Promise

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He turns to me. “How is the wedding planning going?”

“Katerynia says we’re ready. Do you want a particular song from the DJ for the first dance?”

“It might be nice, what do you think?”

“Might as well put on the show.” I shrug and breathe him in. Fire stirs between my thighs. I’m drawn to him, his sultry dark eyes take me in.

“You look beautiful,” he murmurs, as I melt like a chocolate bar under a tropical sun. “Hazel tells me you like history and art.”

“Yes, I do. The British Museum is amazing. Everyone should know history.”

“Ever been out of the country other than Russia?”

“No, I wish.” My reply is demur. Did he give me a compliment?

“You’re in for a treat.” He smiles as our eyes meet. The moment we connect, the car stops at a runway.

What the hell?

Pavel parks and opens my door. Nikolay puts his arm around me, and we walk onto a jet.

“Make yourself comfortable,” he extends his arm to the cabin of the aircraft, and I’m stunned at the leather recliner seats and what appears to be a room at the back. Holy fuck.

Pavel sits with the pilot and Nikolay joins me on the couch as we take off.

“Are you hungry?”

“A little,” I admit.

He walks to the small compartment and pulls out caviar and champagne. He pops the top and pours two flutes.

He serves me. “To my future wife, may we have many adventures.”

I tap his glass with mine. What adventures?

“How is school?” he asks politely as he sits beside me and loads caviar on a fancy cracker.

“Thank you.” I take it from him and nibble, careful to not spill, I put a cocktail napkin under it. I chase it with champagne, it’s a perfect combination.

Does he care about school or is this small talk?

“You are on break for two weeks?”

“For the summer, really.”

“Great, I have plans for a honeymoon getaway,” he replies as he throws back a spoon of caviar and downs half his flute.

I sip the bubbly and remember one can get hit by the alcohol quicker at high altitude.

“How are you doing in London? Any new leads?”

“None, Darci will never be found, and if she is, she’ll likely be dead. Someone wanted you, probably to get to me, but we’ve got more men watching us. I’m sure in time we’ll figure out who the traitor is, it has to be someone close to the family.”

“Good luck there, I’ve never questioned anyone close to us. Papa was adamant we had the best men on our security team.”

Nikolay reaches for the bottle and refills our flutes.

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