Stay With Me (A BWWM Russian Billionaire Romance Novel) (Imani's Russian Billionaire Series Book 1)

by Imani King

  “You slept with him?” Daya practically screeched into her ear, and Thania heard Asha’s familiar sigh.

  “What, you thought she spent the night so they could play Jenga?” Asha said.

  “Yes, I did,” Thania said, feeling defensive. “And it was amazing,” she added, and even she could hear the wistful tone of her voice.

  “Was he uncircumcised?” Daya asked unceremoniously. “I’ve heard most Russian guys are uncut.”

  “Stop this line of questioning, right now, Daya,” Thania hissed into the phone.

  “Oh, shit,” Daya said, more somber now.

  “She’s in love with him,” Asha announced.

  “Yup,” Daya immediately concurred.

  “Wait a minute…” Thania tried to interject.

  “Well, I can’t really blame her,” Daya said, as if she were only speaking to Asha. “He’s handsome, rich, and he’s got that good guy shtick going on.”

  “It’s not a shtick,” Thania protested, and then it occurred to her that she should not care what her best friends said about Vlad. She didn’t need to defend him, or proclaim his virtues. They’d had one night together. One fabulously memorable, sexy as hell night, but that was all it would ever be. “Don’t worry,” she interrupted her two friends as they continued to discuss her and Vlad as if she weren’t on the phone. “I know the score,” she continued. “It was one night of fun, and it’s over. Now, I can concentrate on the fashion show.”

  “That’s right, honey,” Asha said, and the conversation moved on to her friends’ lives.

  Thania listened, and made all the appropriate comments at the appropriate times, but inside she was reliving last night with Vlad. She would not regret that she’d spent the night with him because it had been the most amazing night of her life. And she’d known before she had slept with him that he wasn’t looking for anything more than one night.

  So, even though she knew all of that, why was she still so sad?

  8

  Vlad

  Vlad played his night with Thania over in his mind as he listened to her voicemail tell him she was unavailable for the fifth time. It had been a week since their night together, and all he could do was think about her.

  He didn’t understand why she was avoiding him, because by now it was clear that she was doing just that. He had been so sure that she felt something for him, too. It was more than just sex, although frankly, for him, the sex had been life altering. Life altering, meaning, he couldn’t imagine touching another woman besides Thania ever again.

  Before the gala, he had been very interested in and intrigued with Thania. After the gala, and the night they had spent together, he was consumed with her. She was all he thought about, night and day. He was driving his friends crazy. He couldn’t concentrate on his work, and he was having trouble sleeping.

  He hesitated to think of the L word, even to himself, but that was because he had never told a woman, outside of his family, that he loved them. It was a huge deal to him to say the words, and he did not take it lightly.

  Even so, he was pretty sure that he was in love with Thania. A friend had once told him that you know that you are in love when you feel physically ill at the thought that the other person didn’t love you back. He said that’s why it’s called ‘falling in love’, because you feel unmoored and out of control, especially at the very beginning when you are unsure of the other person’s feelings.

  Well, he certainly felt unmoored and out of control, and he hated it. He was miserable.

  “Just call her, already,” Maks said from across the conference table, when it became apparent that Vlad was not paying attention once again.

  “I did. I have,” Vlad responded impatiently, not even trying to pretend that he didn’t know to whom Maks was referring.

  Vlad knew that his friends were sympathetic, but only up to a certain point. Neither of them had been in love, so they had no first-hand knowledge to share with him. In addition, they had never seen Vlad act like this before, and they had no idea what to say to him.

  “Well, it’s five o’clock in homeland,” Maks said, as he pushed his chair back and headed for the built in bar.

  “It’s five o’clock here,” Mick pointed out, and Maks laughed.

  “So it is. That must mean something.”

  “Yes, it means pour me a drink,” Vlad said darkly, and Maks soon complied. He placed a crystal glass in front of Vlad, and from Vlad’s estimation, it was a double.

  “Trying to tell me something?” he asked sardonically, after he had knocked back at least half of the drink.

  “Yes. You need to contact her,” Maks said again.

  “I have!” Vlad roared, and then he smacked one fist down upon the table, causing all of the glasses to jump dangerously.

  Neither of the other men had any outward reaction, but they did exchange glances with each other.

  “Take it easy on the two-hundred year old crystal,” Mick said mildly, and Vlad looked sheepish.

  “I apologize for my behavior,” he said, as he swirled the vodka around in his glass some more, before downing the rest of the contents.

  “It’s fine, Vlad,” Maks insisted. “We just don’t know what to say to help you. This is not exactly our area of expertise,” he continued with a laugh, managing to coax a smile out of Vlad.

  “Alright, let us look at this like we would a business situation,” Mick said, and Vlad raised an eyebrow at him but remained silent. If his friends were willing to help him, he would take whatever he could get.

  “If this was a business deal that you really wanted to land, what would you do?” Mick asked, already knowing the answer.

  Maks smiled and brought the vodka bottle over to the conference table, and filled everyone’s glasses again. This might be a long meeting.

  “I would keep at it, going around whatever obstacle was in my path, until I had what I wanted,” Vlad answered without looking up from his glass.

  “Exactly!” exclaimed Maks, and Vlad looked over at him, not quite understanding the point yet.

  “You need to track her down, remove all of the obstacles, and not stop until you get what you want,” Maks explained.

  “Thania’s not a business deal, Maks,” Vlad replied with a sigh.

  “Of course, she isn’t. But the same principles apply,” Mick said. “You can’t be the only one that felt something when you two were together—my guess is that she felt the same things. You said it yourself, you have amazing chemistry…”

  “Be careful,” Vlad warned, his voice curt.

  He had made the ‘chemistry’ comment earlier in the week, and his friends had been trying to get him to explain exactly what he meant ever since. But he would never speak about Thania that way, and it pissed him off that they thought he would. As the week wore on though, and his friends could see that he wasn’t changing his mind about Thania, they had started to take the whole situation a lot more seriously.

  “I’m not asking you for details, don’t worry,” Mick said. “I got the message when you practically punched me earlier in the week when I told you I liked the dress she wore to the gala,” he continued, with a pointed look at Vlad.

  “I’m sorry,” Vlad replied, flushing under Mick’s gaze.

  “It’s alright, my friend. I just don’t know what it is like to want to protect a woman so much. But to get to the point—if this were a business deal that you absolutely wanted to close, you would let nothing stand in your way to get it.”

  “I can’t exactly kidnap her and force her to spend time with me,” Vlad responded, taking another sip of his vodka.

  “No, but you can stop calling her phone, only to get her voicemail twenty damn times a day,” Maks interjected.

  “It’s not twenty times a day…” Vlad protested weakly.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Mick interrupted them both. “You need time with her, and what you’re doing right now is not working. Right?” At Vlad’s curt nod, Mick continued, “She has a new fas
hion show in a few days, right? She must be incredibly busy with that. I suggest that you get a ticket to the show and surprise her there. The hard work will be over by then, and she might be more receptive to you.” Mick finished and pushed back from the table to stand up.

  Vlad knew from experience when Mick was done discussing a subject, and that time had just come and gone.

  “I think that sounds like a good plan. A good first start, if you will,” Maks said, taking over where Mick had left off.

  “Maybe. I don’t want to bother her at her business, though.”

  “Do you even hear yourself?” Maks asked. “These are not the words that my friend Vladislav Sakharov would normally say. You need to get into business mode. Then go out and get what you want.”

  “Okay. I’ll try it,” Vlad said. He had nothing to lose by attempting to see her.

  Except your pride.

  He was past the point of caring about his pride, however. That was something else he’d learned about love this week.

  Two days later, Vlad was feeling more in control. He had managed to get a ticket to Thania’s fashion show the next day, and he had taken some other steps in the hopes of showing her that she was extremely important to him.

  His assistant, Karen, buzzed him on the intercom.

  “Yes, Karen?”

  “The event organizer you wanted to speak to is on Line One. Also, I’ve arranged for the flowers you requested to be delivered this afternoon. The shop would like to know what you want the card to say.”

  Vlad dictated a quick message out to Karen. His plans were coming along nicely. He picked up Line One.

  “Elsa, it’s Vladislav here. How are the plans we have discussed coming along?”

  9

  Thania

  It was the day of Thania’s second fashion show, and in many ways she felt as if this one was more important than the first. Critics would be looking for any flaw so that they could point out that she was a one hit wonder, and no one should believe the hype.

  If that happened, all of her progress would halt, and most likely, her business would go under. That was why she had spent almost every minute of the last week in the studio where the fashion show would take place. She needed to supervise and oversee every single detail, so she would know that everything was at its absolute best.

  She had hand picked every model, and every outfit. She had altered the designs herself, by hand, because she didn’t trust anyone else to make sure the model’s clothes fit perfectly. The designs had to look like they were made for each individual model’s body, and she had worked to the point of exhaustion to make sure that happened.

  Unfortunately, Vlad had been in her thoughts as well that week. That morning, she had stepped out of the shower, having thought about her night with Vlad while she scrubbed away her exhaustion. She had only had about three hours of sleep, and was even a bit hung over, since she had become sentimental last night and bought a bottle of the wine that she and Vlad had enjoyed together.

  But of more concern to her than being hung over, today of all days, was that thoughts of Vlad were prominent in her mind. As she straightened her hair with a flat-iron, she closed her eyes and felt his hands on her breasts, heard him whisper her name, saw his face above her in the dark as he came. Damn it, she thought, as she turned off her Chi hair straightener, and walked into her bedroom to get dressed for the day. Okay, the sex had been amazing, but it was time to move on. Actually, it had been time to move on a week ago. But her body and her mind did not want to cooperate.

  And Vlad wasn’t helping either. He had called her a few times earlier in the week, but when she didn’t answer, he had stopped. She had been relieved and incredibly sad at the same time. She missed him, however hard that was for her to believe, since they had only spent one night together.

  She was stunned yesterday when he had sent another beautiful vase of flowers to her apartment. They were waiting on the mat outside of her apartment when she got home, and she stopped dead when she spotted them.

  I can’t do this.

  It hurt so much to pretend to the world that she cared nothing for Vlad. But her pride would not allow her to do otherwise. So when she saw the flowers, any forward movement she had made to get over him was blown out of the water.

  Who are you kidding? You still feel the exact same way about him.

  Warily, she picked up the enormous vase and opened up her apartment. She set the flowers on the same table as last time, and stared at it like it was a Venus flytrap. They were orchids this time, the same type he had given her the night of the gala, and there was another note sticking out of the middle, in the same stationery that Vlad had used before. She circled the table for a few minutes before she finally snatched the note and tore it open:

  Dearest Thania,

  * * *

  I wish you the best of luck tomorrow with your fashion show. You have worked so hard and you deserve every success.

  * * *

  I know we are both extremely busy, but I see no reason why we cannot remain in contact, and check in with each other periodically. Our night together was special to me, and I hope it was to you as well.

  * * *

  Here is my personal cell phone number. Feel free to call me at anytime.

  * * *

  Warmest Regards,

  ~Vlad~

  She didn’t know what to make of his note, and she still didn’t a day later. But today, the fashion show had to come first over everyone and everything else, so she would tuck Vlad away into a corner of her mind, to explore when she was able.

  She arrived at the studio where the fashion show was being held, later than she planned. She had originally thought she would arrive just four hours before the show began, since she would have been there almost the entire previous night. But with her small hangover, and her constant thoughts about Vlad, she had gotten to the studio just three hours before the start of the show.

  The models, makeup artists, and hair stylists were all due to arrive four hours before the start, so she had her first sense of foreboding when she pulled into the parking lot and the only other cars she saw belonged to Asha and Daya. She rushed into the studio, only to be greeted by absolute silence in the cavernous space, and the nervous faces of her two best friends.

  “What’s going on? Where is everyone?” Her heart was racing, and not in an excited, oh wow the roller coaster has a ninety foot drop, kind of way. More like in the not so fun, I am going to throw up on the teacups ride, kind of way.

  “We don’t know, Thania,” Daya said with both of her hands up in front of her like she was surrendering to the police.

  Thania would have laughed if she didn’t want to cry.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, refusing at the moment, to let her panic consume her. She needed facts. “This place should be teeming with thirty models, ten makeup artists, ten hair stylists. Never mind my wardrobe people—where are they?”

  “Oh, we saw them!” Asha exclaimed, seemingly happy to be able to provide some positive news. “The wardrobe people went on a coffee run, and they’ll be right back,” she finished.

  Despite the slightly scary thought of coffee near any of her new designs, Thania felt slightly better.

  “Well, Daya,” she said, “think you can wear all thirty designs?” Thania was only half kidding, the panic she had held at bay earlier slamming into her now with the force of a tsunami.

  Her hands tingled, her feet were numb, and the center of her chest hurt so much that she could not take a deep breath. Luckily, Asha and Daya recognized the signs because Thania could no longer speak.

  “Okay, honey,” Asha said, as she and Daya physically guided Thania outside for some fresh air.

  Once outdoors, it took a few minutes for Thania to be able to take deep enough breaths that the feeling came back in her extremities.

  This is going just like I was afraid it would. ‘Former Top Designer Uses One Model in her Fashion Show: Is She Cheap or just Stupid?’r />
  She laughed, because otherwise she would have cried, as Asha and Daya got on their phones, each calling the models after Thania had pulled the list out of her bag. Up to that point, not a single one of them had answered.

  “I’m sorry, love,” Daya said, as she shook her head to the question of whether she had been able to reach anyone.

  Her eyes looked so sad that Thania felt tears begin to well up in her own, but she didn’t have time for that luxury, so she quickly wiped under her eyes and moved on.

  “What else can we do? Who else can we call?” Asha asked fifteen minutes later, after they had called all of the phone numbers they knew.

  For some reason that she couldn’t explain, Vlad and his note from the day before, popped into Thania’s mind.

  “I have Vlad’s phone number. I could call him,” Thania said to the group at large, which now consisted of her two best friends, her two wardrobe people, and surprisingly, the makeup artist she had met at the photo shoot, Len.

  “You have sugar’s phone number?” Len asked, referring of course, to the fact that Vlad’s last name translated to ‘sugar’ in Russian.

  Every eye was on Thania.

  “Yes,” she said firmly, as she forced back any romantic thoughts of Vlad. There was absolutely no time for that now. There was an expectant silence after her one word answer.

  “Well?” Len demanded, his irritation with her plain on his face. “What are you waiting for? The show to actually start with only one model?” he finished, as she happened to notice that his eggplant colored shirt matched very nicely with the lavender stripe he had put in his hair since the last time she had seen him.

  “Yeah, Thania! Call Vlad, already!” Daya said emphatically, a look of panic in her own eyes by that time.