Page 43 of Devotion

With full access to the VIP, I can have anything I want. Reminds me of New York. The underground scene. So many summers where I partied nonstop for weeks on end, barely sleeping.

Taking a much-needed break, I settle back into a plush lounge chair, almost perfectly in sync with Matvey flopping down next to me.

“Damn. That girl was nuts! Wanted to peg me in the bathroom,” Mat laughs, offering me a drink.

“Do they have anything other than vodka here?” I tease, taking the glass.

“Why would they have anything else?”

Sitting in the haze of disconnection, I let my eyes drift across the seething mass of bodies below us, the lights playing off of glow-painted skin. I’ve already been approached by gals and guys alike, propositioned for drugs, sex. Maybe I should, but something holds me back.

And I realize what it is when I catch sight of the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen dancing across from us on the opposite balcony. Purple, skintight dress. Jet black hair. Ice blue eyes. She locks stares with me, freezing me in my seat.

Those curves, muscular thighs flexing with every move, exposed to the base of that short-cut dress, tits pressed together and accented in neon. A faint smile tilts her lips, and I sit up suddenly, recognizing who I am looking at.

Vanya.

And now she’s grinning like a fox, watching me watch her from under hooded lids.

Of course she’d be here. She’s all I’ve thought about for weeks. And she’s made it damn clear that she’s happy to keep fucking with me, toying with me. I would let her use me. But I want more.

“Earth to Ciro…” Mat thwacks my arm, slurring. He’s hammered. “Hey, come on, these two girls want to dance with us, they’re smoking hot!”

“Go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“No. Fuck no,” he groans, following my gaze across the club. Immediately his expression changes. “You’ve got to me kidding me.”

“What’s wrong with her being here?”

“I leave town for three months and she takes over my spot? It’s fucking weird with my sister here, man.”

“Let it be, Mat.”

“Yeah, maybe. She’s waving for you.”

“Really?”

“You are such a freaking sucker.”

“Go talk to those girls, I’ll tell Vanya we don’t want to hang out.”

“Bullshit. You’re going to go dance with her!”

“Says who?”

“She says. I know the minute you go over there, she’s gonna make you start dancing, just to piss me off. And then I’m here riding stag like a loser with thumb in my ass.”

“Hey, you don’thaveto put it there. Pegging girl is still giving you the eye from the bar…”

“Eat shit.”

“Just go grab those two ladies and bring them with us as a buffer. I want to at least say hi to Van.”

“You kidding? Vanya and her friends would murder those poor women. Never mind, anyway. They already found some other pricks to bounce on.”

We circle the upper level, weaving through the crowd and all I can think about, all I can see, is Vanya. She’s dancing like a beacon leading me toward her. Matvey’s right. I’m a sucker.

“What’s up, cock block?” Mat shouts over the beat, making a face. Vanya turns at the voice, her eyes narrowing.

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