Page 3 of Scarred (Russian Sinners 2)

Scarlett just couldn’t wait for her mysterious man to show up. I wondered what made her fall head over heels for a stranger. It was uncharacteristic for her. Although I could understand her hope. God, if I ran into a man that could save me, I’d jump on him and hold on for a ride. I would never let go.

Her arranged marriage scared her to death, just as mine scared me. Although for different reasons. I couldn’t imagine any man that her family arranged her to marry would not fall for Scarlett. She was beautiful, inside and out, with her long, dark brown hair. When Anastasia and I met her in the first year of high school, we sucked her right into our friendship.

She was kind and gentle, but a firecracker when need be. She said her fighting was a result of her gangster family. Neither Anastasia nor I wanted to find out what that meant so we kept away in those very rare occasions they showed up at school. And Scarlett kept them away from us too, so it kind of worked out.

I glanced at Anastasia and noted her dance with Brian came to an end. She nudged him my way and inwardly, I groaned. I told her a few weeks ago I thought he was cute, and ever since she has been trying to shove him my way. I liked Brian but it would take ten Brians or possibly even more to save me from my fiancé. Only powerful and strong went against Malcome, and while Brian was strong, he wasn’t powerful.

Rolling my eyes at my best friend, her mischievous smile was the only reply I got. We have been best friends forever, just like our mothers. Sometimes I knew her better than she knew herself and vice versa. The best part of Anastasia was her heart, although she was beautiful with her lush, dark mahogany hair and mesmerizing green eyes. She was fiercely protective and fair, uncaring of her money, power, and status. Her family had it all but she preferred a simple life and a career.

We always teased Anastasia that she had bedroom fuck me eyes. I saw men take one look at her and get a hard on. It was quite disturbing. She was the smartest of the three of us and the bravest. At only twenty-five, she had already finished her medical degree and received an offer to be a junior surgeon at Johns Hopkins.

Our eyes met and she smiled again, as Brian strode my way.

“Hi there,” Brian’s smiled at me. “Want to dance?”

“Sure.” I liked Brian, he was kind, nice, and protective. I needed one of those although he wasn’t the one for me. He’d never survive Malcome, that man was vicious and destructive. So it would seem there would be nobody else for me.

I glanced behind him and saw Scarlett pass the car keys to Anastasia. I knew she was getting tired. She got up early today and went for her jog. She loved her morning runs and even got me into it. She told me running helped her think and relax. For me, it helped me forget but it wasn’t quite a therapy I needed. It wasn’t a cure for me as it was for her.

“Olivia?” Brian’s voice got my attention back to him. He watched me like he expected an answer.What did I miss?

“Sorry, Brian. Can you repeat the question?” I focused on him now. Anastasia and Scarlett had their plan.

“Are you looking forward to going back home?”

I kept my expression neutral. How could you possibly tell someone you are scared to death of going back home because your life would be tied to a psychopath?

“I guess so,” I muttered. “I like it better in Europe.”

At least it was the truth. Brian was an excellent dancer. He moved effortlessly on the dance floor. It made me wonder how do you learn to dance and shoot guns at the same time.

“So where did you learn to dance so good?” I asked him to keep the conversation going and keep him distracted.

“You mean besides following you ladies all summer from dance club to dance club?” he asked teasingly and I had to laugh. We dragged him to some pretty cool dance parties. My favorite one was on the island Hvar in Croatia. That was some wild party for sure.

“Yes, besides your dance practice with us.”

“My mother was a dance teacher,” he replied simply. “She insisted on teaching me how to dance properly.”

The only thing my mother taught me was that marriage was hell and never let a man treat you the way my father treated my mother. And it wasn’t even her lesson. It was learned by watching them and growing up around his abuse.

“She did a good job,” I told him.

“Thank you,” he retorted with a smile. “She would be happy to hear that. She was an amazing woman. Both my parents were. My dad was a city cop.”

Such simple words, but you could tell so much from the way he said them. The only good and sane part of my whole family was my twin brother. He hated my father and was upset with my mother for being weak. He couldn’t possibly understand why she deteriorated mentally with each day that went by. I was starting to. My father was cruel, although not as cruel as Malcome.

I couldn’t blame my brother for getting away, he wanted to join the military since we were teenagers. He joined special forces right after getting his bachelor's degree. He couldn’t wait to get away. I think the only reason I went on to get my master's was to keep away from my father. I wasn’t a great student although my drawings were pretty good and tended to get noticed.

Scarlett was back right on time as the song finished and another one started. So those two went on to dance while the guitarist of the band asked me to dance with him again. We kept Brian busy for a whole hour before he noticed Anastasia was gone and he was furious.

“What is it with the three of you constantly thinking you are invincible?” he gritted through his teeth. He was wrong there; we didn’t think we were invincible. It was more that we wished for some normalcy but I didn’t bother correcting him.

“Can’t we stay a bit longer?” Scarlett begged. She really wanted to see her guy. It was the only reason we were here in the first place, although if he hasn’t showed up by now, he probably wouldn’t. “Anastasia is already at the hotel. She took the car.”

“No,” Brian bit out. “Let’s go now or I’ll put you both over my shoulder and carry you like two sacks of potatoes.”

He looked serious too so Scarlett and I hurriedly followed along.

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