Page 110 of Contract of a Billionaire
“Hi again, Autumn,” Luciano added. “Hopefully, you’re happier to see us this time. At least us, Cassio can still be on your shit list,” he elaborated, referring to the exhibition we met at.
“Luciano, Grace.” Alessio greeted them. He stood taller than Luciano but something about the latter’s tattoos made him look outright scary. Not that I thought Alessio was any less ruthless. He hid it under his polished gentleman’s exterior. “How is little Matteo?”
“He’s doing great,” Grace beamed. “We’ll have to bring him up next time.”
“Agreed. Matteo and Kol are close in age, they’d play well together. Of course, Kol speaks more French and Matteo Italian but they’ll figure it out.”
A round of chuckles followed.
Another couple approached, and it took all I had not to shrink back. Arctic cold blue eyes. Emotionless face. And next to him a woman with dark hair smiling like the whole world was just right.
“Hi there,” she greeted me, extending her hand. “You must be Autumn.” I nodded, my eyes darting back to her date. I didn’t trust him not to kill me before I blinked. “This is my husband, Alexei. I’m Aurora, his wife.”
I swallowed, flicking a gaze to Alessio. He didn’t seem worried.
Okay, then. Neither was I. Maybe?
The last name registered. Nikolaev!
“Are you related to Sasha Nikolaev?” I blurted out.
Alessio’s eyebrow shot up in surprise.
“Brother,” Alessio answered. Raspy voice. Cold voice. Jesus, he was fucking scary.
“Oh, look at that. You remember me.” A tall, stalky three-piece-suit strode over to us. A shark-like grin on his face and a slightly unhinged look in his eyes that darted behind me. Like he was expecting someone. “I must have left a lasting impression.”
And the memory slammed into me. I remembered him. Four years ago, we sat in the restaurant with him and his brother.
Sasha Nikolaev. This was the guy who broke Branka’s heart?
Holy fucking shit! Branka needed her eyes checked. Did she not see he was a scary motherfucker?
She’d need help carving his heart out. Or killing him. I’d help her. I was a peace loving, kind-hearted girl but this guy… Yeah, I’d make an exception because I wanted my best friend to live. My son needed an aunt.
I shot him a glare. It had to catch him by surprise because his eyebrows shot up.
“Not that lasting,” I mumbled. “Not unless you count people you never wanted to see again as a lasting impression.”
His inked fingers slipped into his pockets and he took another step towards me. “Where is your sister, Russo?” Sasha asked Alessio, but his eyes remained on me.
“Running late, as usual,” Alessio retorted dryly. “She’d never miss hanging out with Autumn. Those two are inseparable.”
“That’s so sweet,” a soft voice exclaimed. Another Nikolaev. It was fucking hard to miss them with those tall frames and freaky pale blue eyes. A towering man came up with a petite woman in his arms. I had met him before too. They were like night and day. Scary face and smiling face. Storm and sunshine. “Hello, I’m Isabella. Vasili’s wife.”
“Hmmm.” The age disparity between the two seemed even bigger than Alessio’s and mine. In fact, all of them seemed to have much younger wives. I guess when I married Alessio, I wouldn’t be the younger one.When, I thought dreamily. I’d have to talk to him about setting a date. “Nice to meet you. I met your husband briefly a few years back,” I responded. You could see it all over Isabella, she was a sweetheart.
“How is Tatiana?” Alessio asked, leaving me to wonder who Tatiana was.
“She needs time to heal,” Isabella answered. “She’s upset.”
“Tatiana needs to kick some ass,” Sasha grumbled. “And she’ll get over it all.”
“Tatiana and you need to be separated,” Vasili snapped. “The two of you together will start a goddamn war.”
Isabella patted her husband’s giant hand in an attempt to calm him down.
“Autumn, meet Nico and his wife Bianca,” Alessio continued the introductions, while Sasha and Vasili started bickering in Russian. “And you remember Byron.”
