Page 103 of Dance of Ruin

“Was he an asshole?”

I shake my head.

“And you had a good time?”

I bite down hard on my lip as I start to smile.

“Any regrets?”

I quickly and subtly shake my head side to side again.

Vaughn hugs me a little tighter. “Well then, a cheers is in order! You got laid, it was good, you don’t regret it.” He taps his beer to my champagne flute. “That’s what we call a fuckingwin, baby girl. And all’s well in the universe.”

We’re a few more rounds in and officially tipsy when Evelina’s face suddenly falls.

“Oh,great,” she mutters, ducking her head and trying to look invisible.

“What?” I ask, leaning in.

“My brother just got here.”

I follow her gaze to where Roman Nikitin is cutting through the crowd. He’s dressed in a black button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up halfway, black slacks, and his dark hair is slightly messed up in an “I have money” style.

There’s an energy in the way he moves through the club, his eyes sweeping the place, like he’s a storm that's already made peace with the idea that it’s about to destroy something.

“What’s so bad about your brother?” Miguel asks, frowning as he leans in.

“He just likes to ruin my night,” Evelina grumbles, crossing her arms. “He probably heard I was out and decided I need a babysitter.”

“Youdoneed a babysitter,” Brooklyn says with a smirk as I bite back a laugh.

Roman makes his way toward the velvet-roped VIP area we’re sitting in, flanked by several men. One of them, all lean muscle and sharp cheekbones, lifts a hand in greeting to one of the bouncers standing by the entrance. I don’tknow-know the guy, but I recognize him as Bane Antonov, whose father Nikolai runs the Antonov Bratva, which sits at the Iron Table with Evie and Roman’s father, Pavel.

Beside him, arms covered in Bratva ink and an unlit cigarette in hiswaytoo perfect lips, is Laz Kislev, whose father runs the Kislev Bratva, which answers to Bane’s father. Also with them is Mikhail Javanovic, blue eyes glinting even in the low light of the club, his dark hair messed up in this devilishly perfect way that almost makes it look like he’s got horns like a bull curling out of his tangles.

Wow, I reallyhavebeen friends with Evelina and Milena for a while if I can place all the guys who enter with Roman.

There’stwomajor power blocs in the Bratva world: the Iron Table, which includes Evelina and Roman’s dad as well as Bane’s father, and the Bratva High Council, which Milena’s father Marko sits on with Anastasia Javanovic. From what I hear, she’s one of the very few female Bratva heads out there. She’s also Mikhail’s aunt.

I’ve never actually figured out if the two Bratva power blocs get along or not. But their kids seem to get along just fine, at least in social situations.

I also spot Korol Duvnitsky, second-in-command in the Reznikov-Tsarenko Bratva, which also sits at the Bratva High Council.

I’d mention that Korol has hit on merelentlesslyon the one or maybe two times we’ve crossed paths, but I’m also pretty sure Korol hits on anything that moves.

But it’s the last guy that steps past the velvet ropes into the VIP area, a glass of whiskey in his tattooed hand, that makes me tense up: Nero De Luca, relatively new head of the De Luca Italian mafia family.

We’vealsocrossed paths briefly before, and he’s always got this feral, volatile sort of dark energy to him, like he does right now. Constantly pacing and moving, or cracking his tattooed knuckles, or absently tapping and tracing a finger down one of the scars on his tattooed, muscled arms.

Honestly, the man seems to breathe violence and malice. But that’s not what has me stiffening when he walks toward us.

…It’s the fact that Iknowhe’s friends with the Barone brothers.

My stomach twists.

And ifhe’shere…

My eyes sweep the floor, the booths, the shadows, bracing myself to spot Nico lurking there, glaring at me for having dared defy him.

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