Page 39 of The Dancer and the Grumpy Billionaire

She reaches out and palms me through my jeans. I groan in response.

“You’re cock definitely says otherwise.”

“It does.”

“Marry me,” she says.

“Marrying you won’t be enough, Gigi, and you know it.”

“Then what? We say goodbye again? That is not what either of us want.”

“No, it’s not,” I agree. I chew on my lip, considering. “I think we should leave. Let’s just go get on a flight. We will fly far away to a remote beach. We can make a life of our own together.”

Her face brightens with hope. “Do you mean it this time?”

I kiss her, long and thoroughly. “Yes. I mean it. No more overthinking it. I want to be with you. So let’s go. I have money, plenty of it. We’ll go straight to the airport and worry about the rest later.”

She smiles so beautifully, so fully, that it takes my breath away, and breaks my heart, and makes me fall almost all the way in love with her, all at once.

This time it is me who grabs her hand. Me who pulls us through the crowd. We go straight through to the front door. We step outside. I look over my shoulder to see if anyone pursues us, but no one does. I lead her toward where I am parked, but as we get closer, men emerge from the shadowy spaces. Big men, at least four of them.

“Do you know these guys?” I ask quietly, trying not to look as panicked as I feel.

“No,” she answers, gripping my hand tightly. Too tightly.

The men circle around us, creating what feels like an impenetrable wall. Even as I scan the area, hoping to see someone who can help or some way out of this, I am mentally preparing for a fight. I did not fight back before; I will this time.

I move Gigi behind me as one of the guys says, “Eto ne imeyet k tebe nikakogo otnosheniya. Ukhodi.”

“This has nothing to do with you. Walk away.”

“Fuck off,” I growl. “We’rebothwalking away. Right now.”

The guy just laughs, clearly not intimidated. He steps forward and before I can even form my next thought, his fist is in my face. The impact is hard enough to split my lip. My ears ring and my eyes water, but I stay on my feet. Gigi’s hands are on my back, and then they aren’t. Her screams fill the air and then they don’t.

Spinning, I reach out, and our fingertips touch as a huge man with a thick beard pulls her away. She fights and kicks, a gag now in her mouth, but she is no match for him. Her eyes are wide with fear, and I run toward her, but suddenly I cannot move, my arms caught in a vice. I slam my boot down on the man’s shiny dress shoes and he lets go long enough for me to surge forward again. Another man comes at me and I land a good punch to his gut. Then there are three and I am all flailing limbs, hitting flesh, all as they wrestle me to the ground, kicking me hard in the ribs.

“Gigi!” I yell, but it is a lost sound. Gigi is in the back of a dark-colored van. The men recede, leaving me lying on the pavement.

Forcing myself up, unsteady on my feet, I run as the van pulls away, the doors shutting with a metallic thud. I pull out my phone and quickly try to take a photo as the van disappears from the parking lot.

With everything I have, I move my feet back toward the club, where I force my way past the bouncer, telling him I am looking for Alexei. I search the still-crowded club, but he is nowhere. I cannot find him.

My next idea is to drive to Gigi’s apartment, to find her nanny or Roman, the nicer of the two bodyguards. I shove my battered body into my car and take off. Every minute that passes fuels a fresh wave of panic. Oh my god, who were those men? Where are they taking her? What will they do with her?

The thought of those men taking liberties with her…

I pull into the closest space I can find as I near my building. I sprint through the lobby, up the stairs, down the hall. Pounding on the door, it takes too long for someone to answer. Vera comes eventually, obviously roused from sleep. Her blonde hair is a mess, and she fiddles with the tie of her bathrobe.

“I thought we got rid of you,” she says, her accent prominent.

“Gigi has been abducted,” I say quickly, out of breath. “They got her outside the club.”

Her eyes go wide and she’s suddenly totally awake. “Alexei?”

I shake my head. “He was inside, drunk and flirting with someone. I ran back in after to find him, and he was gone.”

She spits a swear word in Russian. “Come in.”

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