Page 86 of The Vipers' Vow

Saint sees them and walks over with a wide, but fake as fuck smile on his face. “Gentlemen, welcome. I understand your lady friend is with our lady friend? And will be accompanying her here,non?”

“Mack is with Ivani, yes,” Dom says. “Tino will walk them over and make sure they’re safe.”

Kirill walks in, pushing past Saint, and plucks an olive from a bowl, popping it in his mouth. “Nice,” he drawls. He looks around. “I like what you’ve done with the place, very … cozy.”

Saint’s jaw tenses, and I grab his arm, signing to leave it. The last thing we need is to start the evening off with a fight with the Devils. This is for Vani, and we need to remember that.

Saint sighs as I stare at him, and then he nods. He understands what I’m trying to get across.

People drift in and out, and I glance at my watch. She’s officially late now. I’m getting so fucking nervous.

Soon, the party is in full swing. Music is playing, and people are drinking, though most are standing around chatting, as no one is remotely drunk yet. Kirill isn’t, though. He’s in the middle of the room, dancing, by himself. At six-four, he’s as tall as Zane, but not quite as broad. He’s from some scary Russian family, but everyone knows he had some seriously fucked up Daddy issues. Not that anyone would dare mention it, at least not to his face. The guy’s a crazy fucker, but he is a good dancer.

“If you ever need to earn some extra money, you’d make a great male stripper,” Saint calls.

Kirill just winks at him and grinds his hips. Saint growls under his breath but says nothing else because I squeeze his arm. Not tonight. Tomorrow night he can go hunt down Kirill and fight him if he really wants to. Tonight, we’ll be perfect gents, for Vani. If she arrives to blood flying, she’ll be so fucking disappointed in us.

The track changes again, and Kirill finally stops his one man show and goes to get a cup of beer. There’s a murmur, and eyes turn to the door. My neck prickles with awareness, and I turn around.

My breath catches in my throat.

“Sacre enfer,” Lex whispers.

Holy hell, indeed. Standing in the doorway is Mackenzie, and next to her, looking like a fucking goddess, is Vani.

She’s wearing an emerald dress, and it hugs her curves in the best way. Her heels are high, and when she steps forward, the dress splits to reveal a criminal amount of leg.

My mouth runs dry, and I realize I’m fucking hard. Just from watching her walk into the room. Her hips sway with each step, and her cleavage bounces just a little in the dress.

She’s regal, but also insanely sexy. Like a real-life Jessica Rabbit. The necklace around her throat shines in the light, the end of the pendant dipping into the valley between her magnificent breasts.

My heart stutters as I watch her walk through the crowd. It parts for her as if she’s a fucking queen, and right now, in this moment, she is.

“So beautiful,” Dom says from beside me.

My hands bunch into fists, but when I look at him, all my vows to be good floating away, I see he’s staring at Mackenzie.

She’s wearing a long, dark red dress, and she does look beautiful, I suppose, but she can’t hold a candle to Vani. Not so far as I’m concerned.

I realize Vani has something over her wrist and frown to myself. Has she hurt herself?

She walks right up to us and turns to Saint, her soft smile heartbreakingly pretty. “I bet you’re the one who made this place look so magical.”

He grins and dips his head. Is he … blushing? I’ve never seen Saint like this. What the fuck kind of magic did she weave around him when they made up?

“It’s so pretty. Like a magical castle for a fairytale princess.” Her face is alive with happiness, and I love to see it.

“We all did it,” Saint says. “Lex and Zane, too, and they got the food.” He sweeps his arm out to indicate the table.

She turns to me and then Lex. “You’re all amazing. This is so cool. I haven’t been to many parties.”

“Then we’ll have one for you every month,” Lex says seriously.

She giggles. “Maybe once a quarter? I think I’d get partied out if we were doing it monthly.”

I’m itching to touch her, so I slide my hand around her waist and pull her in to kiss her cheek.

A murmur runs through the room, and I know there will be people assuming now that we’re an item. They wouldn’t be wrong, but we’re not the only part of the puzzle.

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