After I made love to her, we showered together and I washed her down like the goddess that she was, relishing the way she slid her soapy hands all over me. Without a plan for the rest of the night, I have no doubt we never would have made it out of there.
But I did have a plan, and in the closet I had a brand new dress waiting for Mia to slip on, right next to my crisply pressed suit.
White Rabbit was the best restaurant in Moscow, and it ranked within the top twenty of the world.
With my connections it didn't take much to secure the best table in the house. On any ordinary day, with Mia's performance schedule, eating at a normal time presented some difficulties but I had no problem with being a night owl, and paying extra for the privilege of extending the restaurant's hours so that I could share her company. Whatever the cost, it would have been worth it and I would have gladly paid.
Tonight though, things were different and I had secured the entire restaurant because I wanted the evening to stay in her memory for the rest of our lives.
Arkadi dropped us at the entrance to the Smolenskiy Passazh and I rounded the car to open Mia's door and escort her out of the car. Inside the shopping centre, I took us over to the elevators while Mia gave me a confused look.
"Why are we in a mall? Everything's closed."
"Wait and see."
On the fifth floor, we got out, and I took Mia's arm with a grin and led her over to the second elevator that would take us all the way to the sixteenth floor. White Rabbit occupied the glass barrel dome that ran the length of the building, but until you got up there, it was a secret waiting to be discovered.
The elevators opened onto a dimly lit corridor full of framed pictures of dodos and cats and other nods towards Alice in Wonderland.
Mia squinted at me, a smile tugging at her lips. "Curiouser and curiouser."
I laughed, recognizing the quote. "Very well observed, my darling."
And then we rounded the corner, and the view took Mia's breath away, just as I'd hoped it would.
The restaurant itself was mostly empty and the rich bright fabrics of the comfortable chairs around the immaculately set tables looked luxurious enough, but the low, flickering candle light made it seem magical. And if that wasn't enough, through the arched glass that stretched all the way to the floor, all you could see was the dark sky and the buildings of Moscow lit up all around us.
"This place is beautiful."
I smiled at her. "No more beautiful than you."
With a nod to the Maitre D' I led Mia over to the table that I had chosen, right at the end of the hall. As far as I was concerned, the round table right up against the flat side of the arch, looking over one of Stalin's cathedral-esque skyscrapers that now served as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the best.
Mia couldn't stop looking around and I loved the look of wonder and awe on her face. I never thought I'd meet anyone as truly innocent as her, and at every opportunity I wanted to open her eyes to what the world could offer. But at the same time, I was determined that I would never let that innocence be crushed.
"It's like being in an airship," she whispered as I pulled out her chair and slipped into the one next to her.
"I never thought of it that way, but I see what you mean. Where would you have us go?"
Mia laughed, shaking her head and blushing a little as the waiter appeared and took the napkin from her plate to set over her lap. I unfolded my own before he had the chance to.
"I don't know. Anywhere with you. Nowhere at all. This view is pretty perfect."
"I think so too."
A moment later, a tray of drinks arrived and Mia's eyes lit up as the waiter slid a cocktail glass in front of her. "A speciality of the house. Our signature cocktail. The White Rabbit."
She glanced at me with a smile and took a sip. "It's delicious. What do you have?" she asked, eyeing my stouter glass.
"A Negroni. It's very bitter. Someone as sweet as you should have something to match."
Mia blushed again. "You're not bitter, Valentin. I don't think so. I think you're very sweet."
I shrugged, letting my eyes rove over her for the hundredth time this evening, trying to drink in how amazing she looked. I wouldn't ever get my fill of seeing her in all her finery, with her hair down rather than scraped back into the bun she had to wear on stage, and her makeup subtle and suggestive. "It bodes well for me that you think that." I let out a soft laugh. All I wanted to do was kiss her and touch her and I'd never have enough of that, but here, now, I meant to romance her the way that she deserved with everything at my disposal. "I took the liberty of ordering ahead. The kitchen is usually closed by now, but they kindly made an exception."
Mia's eyes widened and she glanced back over her shoulder at the empty restaurant and the single member of waiting staff. "They stayed open for you?"
"They stayed open for you," I corrected. "You are the newest ballerina in our city, soon to be the most famous."
Mia flushed again. "Valentin… Stop."
"You are. You will be. Trust me. You should believe in yourself the way that I believe in you.
Mia
The restaurant was amazing and I couldn't stop looking at the view of the city lit up all around us. I could hardly believe a place like this existed, let alone that Valentin had basically secured it for us to enjoy alone. If these were the kind of perks that came with being with him, then I could get used to this. Maybe the Bratva lifestyle wasn't so bad after all.
I couldn't get over the way he wanted to spoil me, to show me every excess that he could, beyond anything I ever could have imagined I'd want. It was all amazing, but what I loved best was being there with him. None of it would have been half as fun if I'd been here with someone else.
"I've never had someone order for me before," I told him, already impressed with his choice of cocktail. At home, back in the States, I was too young to drink and I was a little cautious when it came to alcohol, but Valentin seemed to know exactly what was good to try and I never felt like he was trying to get me drunk. It wasn't like he'd ever need to. He must have known by now that he could have me anytime he wanted me. Saying no to him wasn't something I could even comprehend wanting to do, but if I ever did, I felt secure that he would never force me. No matter what kind of games we got up to in the bedroom.
"It is the tasting menu, so really it is the chef who has ordered for both of us." Valentin smiled, leaning back in his seat and stretching his arm across the back of mine. There was plenty of room around the table, but I liked that we had been seated close together, both of us looking out at the flat glass wall of the arched vault.
He was close enough to stretch his arm around my shoulders and I leaned into him as he did so, relishing the warmth radiating off his chest.
The point of his nose trailed a path down my neck, behind my ear, making me shudder with sensation. I loved the rough sandpaper of his stubble against my skin, reminding me of the burn of silk at my wrists. "You're wearing the perfume I got you."
"Of course I am," I whispered back. "It makes me feel so sexy. Just like you do."
Valentin let out a possessive little growl. "Mm you shouldn't say things like that. I'm trying to take you out for the evening, like a gentleman, show you the best dining that Moscow has to offer, and now all I want to do is forget about dinner and drag you right back home."
I couldn't do a thing to hide my grin, but I did peel back from him and cleared my throat, hooding my eyes as I looked away and then right back at him. He was the only man in the world who made me feel like I could really flirt.
"Good things come to those who wait. I can't get over how beautiful the city is from up here. That building is like something out of Gotham City, it's crazy."
Valentin's eyes roamed over the impressive structure that seemed almost close enough to reach out and touch. "It's one of Stalin's Seven Sisters. Well, we just call them Vysotniye Zdaniye."
I smiled, always thrilled when Valentin spoke Russian to me inste
ad of switching back to English all the time. "What does that mean?"
"The tall buildings." Valentin shrugged. "After the War, he wanted to make Moscow an impressive place to come to. To show that Russia was better than America. So, he built these. This one is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is another ministry building as well, and the University, then there are two that are hotels, and two exclusive apartment blocks. All his conception, but the last one, they only finished maybe fifteen years ago. They are quite impressive."
It reminded me of some kind of gothic cathedral crossed with the Empire State Building. It was no single column, and the thin spire at the top made the broad, almost sprawling base seem all the more weighty. The whole thing seemed supersized and straight out of someone's fantasy. "That's pretty cool."
Valentin shrugged again. "Perhaps the money would have been better spent on housing, who knows. They are part of the city now. Part of the skyline. If nothing else, he was a man of vision."
"Have you ever been up?"
Valentin paused, leaning back as the waiter brought the first course and my eyes widened at the perfect, tiny plate. It looked like a miniature work of art, the sauce bright orange and zingy and full of a whole bunch of things that I couldn't identify by sight.
"Wow. What is it?"
"Sea urchin. I think sometimes it is even better than caviar. You will love it."
I flushed, remembering the way he'd introduced me to that, eating it straight from my skin and letting me do the same. I wasn't ever going to be able to eat the stuff again without automatically getting turned on. Maybe that had been his plan all along. I cleared my throat, picking up my silverware to try to figure out the best way to attack the dish.
"So, have you been up?"
Valentin shook his head. "Not that one. I have been to the hotels. One day I will take you."
I smiled. "Really? I'd like that. They're pretty awesome."
He nodded. "Perhaps one day I will get tired of living where I grew up, and I will want to move to one of the apartment blocks and rub shoulders with all the other rich men in Moscow."
I laughed. "Instead of a whole building full of ballerinas you mean? Hm, I don't know. I think you might get bored. Besides, you wouldn't have the studio to box in in the mornings."
"That is true. You make a very good point."
"I don't think I'd want to live in a place like that. Not all the time anyway. It looks like it should have King Kong climbing up the outside, you know?"
Valentin laughed. "I never thought that before, but now I think you are absolutely right."
I loved that with Valentin there was nothing stupid that I could say. He never made me feel foolish, or like he didn't want to hear what I had to say. In ballet, I'd been so used to being told that I didn't know enough yet, and being expected to defer to anyone with more experience, but Valentin just took me for who I was and didn't try to correct me, to make me do or be or say something better. I hadn't realized how much I'd been craving that until I figured out that that was what made him so easy to be around.
Almost as soon as I'd finished the last bite on my plate, our waiter was there to clear them away. I was fascinated watching him work so silently around us, bringing in the next course almost without me noticing until it was right there in front of me, because I'd been so absorbed in talking to Valentin.
The whole evening felt like a dream and the food was to die for. "This is probably the best meal I've ever eaten."
Valentin's smile warmed his face. "Good. The chef will be pleased. I think that is what he is aiming for. As well as elevating traditional Russian cuisine, of course."
"I love the crab. And the scallops. I think they were my favorite. Except, I bet the next thing that comes out will be even more perfect."
He tilted his head, looking at me with an incredible depth of warmth in his eyes. "What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. I'm very glad I brought you here, that is all. You appreciate it all. It is very nice to see when so many people come here just to spend their money and take pictures to prove that they have been here. I like this about you."
I bit my lip. "Are you saying it's obvious I don't eat out like this all the time?"
His shoulder rose again, in another shrug. "I am saying it is refreshing to see someone who isn't bored and jaded and to spend time with someone who enjoys the finer things, the sensual things, the way that I do."
I'd never seen food presented so perfectly, except on TV. Every single piece on my plate looked like it had been put there on purpose, right down to the individual salad leaves. It shouldn't have made any of it taste any better, but somehow I think it did. I felt like I could feel the care that the chef had taken with each plate, each perfectly shaped vegetable, and every bite I took was magical.
The whole evening was like something out of someone else's life. But it wasn't someone else's life, it was mine and I could hardly believe it. I'd never set out wanting this kind of luxury or this kind of lifestyle, and I knew that it wasn't how Valentin spent his everyday, but suddenly, with him, this kind of place was in my reach. All these experiences I never thought I'd ever have were opening up in front of me.
Valentin practically had the key to the city and he could get us in whatever he wanted to go. Wherever I wanted to go. And that was just a little dizzying. If I'd stayed in the States, my world would have been so much smaller for never having met him. The thought of that made my heart clench painfully.
Valentin frowned, as though he sensed my distress. "What is the matter? Is something wrong? I will fix it."
"No. No everything's wonderful." As ridiculous as it was, I could feel myself getting teary and I let out a laugh as I dabbed my eyes, to show him that it was all okay, but his eyebrows were still furrowed together in a serious line that made him look like he was figuring out who he had to pulverize. "Really, I promise. I was just thinking that if I never came here, I never would have met you."
Valentin's face cleared and he reached across the table to take my hand, covering it with his large fist. "That is not something worth contemplating."
I smiled. "I know. I don't ever want to think about you not being in my life."
"Then don't, my darling. I plan to always be in yours from now on."
I nodded furiously. "Me too. Always. I can't imagine every being apart from you again."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Valentin
Before we left, I texted Arkadi to bring the car around to meet us downstairs. Everything was perfect as we left the restaurant, and Mia curled happily against me, sliding her hands inside my jacket, along the front of my shirt, as we went down in the elevator.
"Be careful. I won't be able to control myself if you keep doing that," I warned her, letting my teeth drag along her neck as I kissed her, making her giggle and squirm.
"Do you promise?"
I growled at her tease, pressing myself in hard against her before I could stop myself. "Mia, you have no idea."
I really don't think that she did. When she touched me like that - innocent and coy like all she wanted was to feel my body - I didn't have a chance. And I could picture her doing this every day of our lives. It was something I would look forward to.
Being with her would never get old, and I took just as much pleasure it having her against me. Even the brush of her knuckles against mine, or just as much as holding her hand, was enough to summon some serious electric charge. She turned me on more than I'd known anybody could, and I predicted I was going to spend at least half my life aroused, because I was never going to get used to her wanting me the way she did.
I hated to have to pull away, but there was the second elevator to get to, and then the cold of the night air went some way towards stalling my libido and calming me down, but all the same, I had to make an awkward adjustment with a hand shoved into my pocket to realign my raging hard on. I'd have walked through the whole of Moscow with my cock proudly hard and on display for Mia, so that everybody knew th
at she was mine, but I didn't think she'd appreciate the primitive, possessive gesture.
When it came to Mia, she brought out the beast in me, and sometimes I think she really liked that.
But beast or not, I wasn't about to give Arkadi a show. Mia was mine to look at alone, and no matter how much I wanted her, I wasn't going to do anything while he had sight line of us in the mirror.
I yanked the car door open, and gave her a mock bow as I held it open for her, making her grin.
"Your carriage awaits, madame."
"Mademoiselle, thank you very much."
"My mistake. Although, I have a feeling that you will not be mademoiselle for long."
"No?" She batted her eyes at me from the passenger seat and I leaned my arm against the roof of the car, content to stay right where I was and carry on this silly flirting.
"No, I think that very soon you will be married."
"Is that so?"
"I hope so."
The first shot rang out with an unmistakable crack that had me dropping to my knees. Mia screamed as I shoved her backwards, pulling her off the back seat of the car and onto the car floor.
Every atom in me was hell bent on protecting her, and I covered her body with my own as shots ripped through the chassis of the car.
"Drive!" I yelled, as I risked reaching out to slam the passenger door closed behind us, but Arkadi made no response.
Once the first shower of bullets had died down, I peered around the seats to see the windshield shattered, and my loyal driver staring blankly, his chest riddled with bullets and his forehead a bloody mess.
"What's going on? Oh my God."
"Mia, look at me. Everything will be fine." I cupped her chin in my hands, my face in close to hers so that I filled up her entire focus. Her eyes were already welling with tears, and I didn't want her to see Arkadi. She didn't need to see that kind of ugliness. This was not a side of my world that I was proud of dragging her into, but it was done now. And the night that was supposed to be perfect was turning into a nightmare.
"Listen to me. You keep your head down. You stay right here, behind the seat."
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