Page 35 of Contract of a Billionaire
“Ohhh,” both Branka and I let out at the same time while the little green monster slithered through me.
Are those two sleeping together?I wondered. An irrational bite of jealousy slammed into me and tasted like acid, but I had to swallow it down. It wasn’t like Alessio and I dated before I threw myself at him.
“Daughter.” A cold voice I never cared to hear reached us, and I stiffened at the same time as Branka paled.
The two of us slowly turned in the direction of that voice and found Branka’s father and brother sitting at the table with two other men. I gulped as my eyes traveled over them, but they ended on Alessio.
My gaze always came back to him. He had a darkness that was impossible to resist.
“We should have gone somewhere else,” Branka muttered under her breath. I couldn’t agree more.
“They don’t need a table, Jasmine.” Branka’s father barked, drawing everyone’s attention to us. “They’ll sit with us.”
Refuse, my reason demanded. My parents would be furious to know I sat at the same table as Branka’s father. Never mind other mobsters.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered under her breath, desperation lacing her tone.
I let out a heavy sigh. If my parents didn’t know, it wouldn't hurt them. Besides, I didn’t want to cause a scene so I followed Branka with heavy steps.
My heart rate kicked up with each step I took towards the table. Unfortunately, it was caused by the man who made my body burn last night, not the clear danger lurking at that table. With his black suit and sharp features, Alessio belonged onGQ, not in a restaurant, next to his bastard father.
I let out a shuddering breath, attempting to calm down my racing heart. Alessio never indicated he wanted a relationship. Not that we did much talking last night.
Don’t think of that, my mind murmured.Don’t think about that.
Otherwise, I’d melt into a puddle. Instead, I met Alessio’s furrowed brows as he stood up, his eyes locked on me. Something in his gaze made my skin sizzle and my fingers tremble. You’d think after last night, the reaction would ease but it hadn’t. Instead, I reacted even more intensely.
He was so tall that I had to crane my neck the closer I got to him.
Forcing my gaze away from him, my eyes traveled slowly over the men and I swallowed a lump in my throat. They screamed of danger. So did Alessio but he didn’t stir fear within me. Only lust.
His father on the other hand made my skin crawl. And these other two men were scary. They had the most unusual blonde hair I had ever seen. Their attention was on Branka and me, but it was their size that was terrifying. Even sitting down, they seemed to somehow tower and swallow all the oxygen in the room. I raised my eyes to their faces and blinked. Then blinked again to ensure I was seeing their eye color right. They were the palest blue.
Wow. Just freaking, wow!
They both stood up and I almost wished they hadn’t, because they towered like dark, threatening clouds. Branka and I instantly took a small step back, our instincts kicking us into self-defense mode.
Branka’s eyes flicked my way as if she wondered if I knew them. As if! I gave her a barely noticeable shrug and both our eyes returned to the two men. Despite their huge size, I’d be totally blind not to notice they were both good looking. Extremely so.
“Ladies, meet Vasili and Sasha Nikolaev,” Alessio introduced us and my eyes immediately returned back to him. Like he was my magnet and just like that, my heart skipped a beat. Just one night of sex and I was a goner for this man. Ugh. “Gentlemen, my sister, Branka Russo and her best friend Autumn Corbin.”
There were only two available seats. One seated next to Sasha Nikolaev and the other next to Alessio. Was it bad that I wanted to leave the seat next to Sasha Nikolaev to Branka? She must have had the same idea because her eyes flickered to the chair next to her brother and both of us eyed it longingly.
It was self-preservation mode for both of us.
“Nice to meet you,” Sasha drawled, his pale blue eyes darting between Branka and me, then locking on Branka. Relief washed over me. A smart woman didn’t want that guy’s attention.
Alessio Russo is so much better, my brain mocked my heart.
“I didn’t realize the ladies would be joining us,” Sasha drawled.
“Is our discussion appropriate for the ladies?” Vasili asked, his brows furrowed. “I wouldn’t want my sister to be troubled with such topics.”
Well, that was a first.
“We can go.” Branka’s voice was barely audible, both of us stiff and shifting on our feet. We both wanted to bolt and never look back.
“You’ll both stay,” her father demanded.
