Pakhan's Rose (Pakhan #1)(19)

"Oh my," Lucretia muttered, clearly appreciating his handsomeness despite her being married for thirty years and having five grandkids to raise. "Rosa, your guest is here for you." She turned around, and left us standing there alone.

"You look gorgeous," he said, his voice gruff. He extended the flower to me. "A rose for a rose." Okay, not cringing at such a corny line was impossible, and he noticed it. "What's wrong?"

"It's kind of a lame pickup line."

Frowning, he rubbed his chin. "It is?"

Confused, I nodded. "Well, yeah." Or at least I thought so, based on all those books and magazines I'd read. Romance heroes usually had to be an exception to the rule, who knew all the perfect words.

"I wouldn't know. I've never been on a date before." His voice changed to pissed off, as though the idea of me being on one and knowing stuff irritated him. I opened my mouth to reassure him, when the information he supplied stopped me in my tracks.

Um, what? "You've never been on a date before?" He shook his head. "But I mean …  you aren't a virgin, right?" I almost groaned aloud at how stupid the conversation was turning out to be, and who the hell asked that kind of question on a first date, when the guy hadn't even had the chance to take you out?

Dominic's eyes darkened as he straightened. "No."

My stomach flipped, because my irrational mind didn't like the idea of him with other women. Just imagining him kissing and tasting them …  yeah, nope. Wouldn't go there.

He cleared his throat. "Sex …  was just sex. Nothing more." A thin line formed between his eyebrows. "That's not something a man should talk about with his woman."



       
         
       
        

I almost gave up on this whole dating thing, at which we both apparently sucked, when my dad spoke from the far end of the house, coming out of his office.

"Do you know how to woo a woman or what, Konstantinov?" he joked, his eyes lit with amusement as he smoked a cigar. When would he finally quit his bad habit? "As entertaining as it is listening to you two, I'd prefer for you to take this date somewhere else."

Dad caressed my cheek as I leaned on his open palm. "Whenever you want to end it, just let me know. Stay safe." He kissed me on the forehead as his smell washed over me, calming my nervousness. Then he addressed Dominic. "My people will follow yours." He raised his hand. "She is my daughter. I need to know she is safe. Curfew is one o'clock."

My jaw almost hit the floor. "Dad, I'm a bit old for that, in case you didn't get the memo."

"Not to me. Have fun." With that, he motioned for me to follow Dominic, and the door shut behind us. Only a bulb on the ceiling of the porch allowed us to study each other. Two black cars waited for us to walk down the few steps. The sounds of fountains and green grass lightly swaying from the wind greeted us.

"Let's start from the beginning," he said suddenly, lifting my chin with his index finger. "I brought you a red rose, because it reminded me of you. Not yet fully bloomed, but at the same time, already beautiful." He took it out of my hand and ran it over my collarbone, leaving goose bumps from the soft-as-silk petals. "It reminded me of your skin, and how I wish to cover your body with kisses." A beat, and then, "Is this explanation better?" I nodded eagerly, and he lifted his mouth in a half smile. "Good. Let's go." With that, he wrapped his hand around mine and led me to the vehicles waiting.

I was about to have my first date, and despite the awkward-as-hell conversation before, I couldn't freaking wait for it.



Dominic

Glasses clinking and jazz music coming from speakers could be heard as we entered the expensive seafood restaurant in the center of Manhattan. Heels clicking, cell phones ringing, and people chatting loudly created a little buzz as waitresses interrupted meaningful conversations.

A bright chandelier illuminated everyone. Round tables covered with pure-white linen held delicious-smelling food. The long line at the entrance was testament to the status of the place.

I wondered what kept my fork from bending in half with how tightly I was squeezing it, as all this activity made my skin crawl.

"Becoming a surgeon will be a dream come true," Rosa finished, although I only half listened to her words due to the control I was desperately trying to keep.

Backtracking to a few moments ago, I remembered we spoke about how much she enjoyed being back in school. "That's good," I answered curtly, sipping the wine I fucking hated. Ordering vodka in the restaurant didn't seem appropriate, and I didn't want to look like an uncivilized brute, even if I was one. 

She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, shifting uncomfortably, but continued, "So …  do you enjoy being the pakhan of the Bratva?" She quickly shoveled steaming risotto in her mouth as though shutting herself up.

"Not much enjoyment in that."

She nodded, gulping water, and sending sideways glances at nearby people who seemed too interested in our conversation. Or maybe those fuckers just liked ogling my woman. She was fucking gorgeous, after all. All night, I restrained myself from whisking her away from here, locking us in my headquarters, and having my way with her beautiful body. Those legs, ass, and tits. My imagination took me to all kinds of dirty thoughts, and I wanted to beat the crap out of any other man who imagined my woman like that.

So yeah, needless to say, this evening was going to shit. Those voices in my head kept screaming at me to leave, because any place with lots of people unnerved me.

She opened her mouth to say something. She had a habit, I noticed, that when she was nervous, she tended to ramble aimlessly using a lot of unnecessary words. However, at that moment, we were interrupted by loud screaming from the other end of the room.

"You cheated on me!" As if on command, both of our heads turned in the same direction, and Rosa's eyes widened as a woman wearing jeans and a shirt pointed a gun at the middle-aged, bulky man who sat with a young, blonde woman. Several women in the restaurant gasped in shock as everyone stilled, unable to take their eyes off the scene. "You fucking piece of shit! You promised you wouldn't do it to me again! And you did." She frantically waved the gun at the mistress, I assumed, as tears slid down her cheeks. "And you took her here, where you proposed to me!" She started to sob, and he rose from his seat, wanting to get to her, but she stopped him quickly by targeting the gun right at his forehead. "Don't even think about it, Robert."

"Liz-" he started, but she shook her head, her eyes wide. Her hysterical laughter echoed in the room.

"No!" she shouted.

No, hell was worse than a woman scorned, apparently. She was under the influence of her emotions, brave enough to do stupid shit, and would only understand the consequences later when it would be too late to fix them.

And for what? A man who couldn't keep it in his pants? Turning my head toward Rosa to make sure she was all right before I acted on impulse to save the woman, I growled when she stood up and darted to the lunatic.

What the hell did she think she was doing? The woman spun around to her, the gun pointed at my Rosa.

Fuck! "Leave, lady. This doesn't concern you. Walk away," she advised calmly, and I fucking hated I couldn't do anything to help, because me standing up in front of Rosa at this point would only agitate this crazy chick more, and she could fire the bullet, hurting my krasavica in the process.

Rosa shrugged nonchalantly. "Why do you want to do it?"

Liz blinked at her, confused. "To punish him."

Rosa raised her brow. "By killing this girl?" She pointed her index finger at the blonde, whose face had turned green as if she were about to puke her guts out.

"Yes, he has been cheating on me for four months with her!" she snarled.

"Okay, but he did cheat before, right?" Rosa asked, and when Liz nodded, she continued. "So if you kill her, you go to jail-for life, may I add-and he stays out of prison with all his assets and all his women." She folded her arms, and asked, "What's the point, then?"



       
         
       
        

Liz blinked a few times, opened her mouth, and then closed it, as her attention focused on her husband once again as if seeing him in a new light.

"Is he rich?" Rosa probed.

"Yeah, we have a business together," Liz said, the gun slowly lowering.

"So divorce his ass and live your life." Liz cast her eyes down, and in a swift move, I ended up close to my woman, wrapping my hand around her waist, while Vitya, who lurked in the shadows, came behind Liz and disarmed her, gently taking the weapon away.

People stood up, screaming and calling the police, as the manager ran to us. "Thank you so much. We've already called the authorities. They should be here any minute now."

Rosa squeezed my hand tight, as she whispered, "Dominic."

Exhaling a loud breath, I kissed the back of her head as she shivered. Then in few short steps, I reached the table with the cheater and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Listen to me, asshole." He gulped, his eyes full of fear. "You won't press charges against her, and you'll pay any fine. Is that clear?"