Page 83 of Baby Surprise for my Brother's Best Friend

He's damn good-looking, in a deadly, Eastern-European-mafia kind of way. More Halie's type for sure.

Halie, of course, lights up like a Christmas tree.

“Well, hello,” she purrs, clearly undeterred by the chill rolling off him.

“Nikolai,” he says smoothly, extending a hand toward her.

She takes it, her grin widening. “Halie. Full-time menace, part-time goddess.”

He lifts an amused brow. “Impressive resume.”

I clear my throat. “Nikolai, this is Halie. Halie, Nikolai.”

He turns his gaze on me, sharp and assessing.

“You’ve done a good job with him.” He nods toward the bar where Alessio is juggling cocktail shakers like some damned sex god.

I follow his line of sight, my stomach flipping.

“He’s… different,” Nikolai adds.

“Different’s good, right?”

Nikolai tilts his head. “Only if it lasts.”

Something cold settles in my chest.

Halie, ever the mischief-maker, leans into Nikolai. “So, are all Russian mobsters this pretty, or did we just get lucky tonight?”

His lips twitch in a restrained smile. “We do have standards.”

Halie bats her lashes. “Good. So do I.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes as the two of them spark off each other like live wires.

But when Nikolai turns back to me, his tone shifts.

“He’s lucky,” he says simply, gaze flicking to Alessio behind the bar.

“Don’t let him forget it.”

And something about the way he says it makes me wonder if that’s advice… or a threat.

The music throbs louder, and I use Halie’s flirt-fest with Nikolai as an excuse to escape.

I need air. Space. Sanity.

The dance floor is a pulsing blur of lights and bodies, and I lose myself in the movement, just enough to quiet the storm in my head.

The bass pounds through my veins.

I sway, let my eyes flutter shut, pretend I’m just a woman dancing, not one unraveling.

A hand brushes my waist.

I snap my eyes open to find a man, tall, sharp jaw, confident smile, smirking down at me.

He leans “You here alone, sweetheart?”

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