by L. Nicole
Waiting for your call—
Victor.
The note stops there except for one small thing. It has Victor Serepova’s phone number underneath his name. His face and smile appear in my memory and I feel giddy at the thought of him, smiling at his ridiculous behavior over dinner. I was offended that the man thought he could buy me like property, but the flowers are a sincere gesture.
I don’t know what to make of it. It’s very sweet and it would be crazy to say that he didn’t intrigue me. He’s good looking, and I think he might be funny when he’s not over-the-top stalking. He obviously finds me attractive and what girl doesn’t find it flattering when a good-looking man thinks she is pretty?
Still, I don’t have time for the complications that Victor Serepova would undoubtedly bring to my life. I’m also not the type of girl to keep a man’s attention, especially a man like Victor. If I’m honest, I don’t even know how I caught his attention to begin with. Now that I have this other offer, I don’t have to entertain the thought of his outlandish proposal and yet I keep thinking about him.
No, Victor is not for me. I have to concentrate on surviving and on protecting my father’s employees. That’s all I have time for. Fretting over this man would be silly. Something a girl would do, not a woman.
I’m convinced of that, but that doesn’t stop me from putting the card back in the envelope it came in and sliding it into the pocket of my jeans to keep.
8
Victor
“She hasn’t responded?” Nikolai asks and I find myself shaking my head no, before I even answer.
“Not once, Nikolai. I know Charlie said I needed to go slow, but how can I go slow if she won’t even give me a chance?”
I know he can hear the frustration in my voice. I’ve been sending Grace flowers and notes every day for the past three weeks. She hasn’t responded once. At this point, I’d feel better if she’d call just to tell me to fuck off. It would be better than this agonizing silent treatment. I’ve been trying to do this Charlie’s way. Give her space. Let her come to me on her own, but perhaps I jumped the gun and should have forced her hand. Only I don’t want to be that man. Not with her.
“Are you sure she’s the one, brother? Perhaps you need to find someone else who—”
“I don’t want anyone else. I knew from the very first moment I saw her that she was it.”
“Why?”
“Why? I can’t believe you of all people can ask me that,” I mutter, tired of being put on the spot.
“I’m serious. With my Gabby, I knew I wanted her, but there were reasons. She was beautiful—”
“Grace is beautiful,” I growl.
“Beauty must go beneath the skin to be truly so, my brother.”
“She’s killing herself to make sure her father’s employees aren’t left without a job. She sold her home to pay off the mortgage, but to have that money to float the company while she looked for a way out.”
“Victor—”
“And,” I continue, not letting him interrupt me. “She took the time, even while grieving, to hand place all of her father’s house staff, making sure they had good jobs and income. Does that sound like someone who is just pretty in the mirror, Nikolai?” I ask, my tone accusatory. Grace is a damn good woman. My woman…well, she will be.
He’s pissed me off thinking that I could only be blindsided by Grace’s looks. I can admit that I was drawn to her immediately by what I saw, but it was more than that. There was a gentleness in her voice, in the way she moved. The sadness in her eyes spoke to me and even more than that, the kindness she showed the people around her, despite being completely lost without her father and losing her home, shown trough that night. I may have wanted her at first based on the way she looked, but everything I learned after that and everything I’m still learning only makes me want her more.
“Point made, Victor.”
“She’s the one, I know it instinctively. Just like you knew with your Gabby,” I tell him.
“Then, there’s only one thing you can do,” Nikolai responds.
“What’s that?”
“Don’t give her a choice.”
“I… what?”
“If I have one regret with Gabby it is that I didn’t move sooner. Yes, she was young, but I wasted too much time, time that I could have been spending with her and erasing her worries. If this Grace is the one—”
“She’s definitely the one.” My brother has me second guessing myself and I hate it. My pride is stinging.
“Then, stop sitting back waiting for her permission to let you in. Take control, brother. We’re not made to let the women in our lives have control. Stop holding back.”
“The last time that I didn’t hold back, she thought I was insane, Nikolai.”
“Then prove you are crazy—over her.”
“But…”
“Just make her like it.”
“You make it sound so simple,” I mumble into the phone.
“Where a woman is concerned, Victor, it is never simple. But, with the right one, it can definitely be worth it,” Nikolai responds.
“What if Charlie’s right, and I push her further away?”
“What if he’s wrong, and you don’t?” he counters.
“There’s a charity event tonight. Charlie told me he’s escorting Grace to it…” I mumble, still fucking pissed he’s going to go somewhere with my woman—even if they are simply friends.
“Another man, taking your woman to an event?” I can hear the implication in his voice. Charlie isn’t into Grace like that. He better not be. Jealousy roars it’s ugly head, but I shut it down. Charlie wouldn’t do that.
“They’re just—”
“Stop that shit, Victor. Who in the hell are you? Are you even my brother?”
“Nikolai—”
“The man I grew up with would not let anyone take his girl out, but him. He sure as hell wouldn’t be sitting on his hands while his woman was out there for any man to notice and claim.”
Nikolai’s words hit home. I was so blown away by Grace, that I’ve made mistake after mistake. I need to stop that. Grace is mine, and I’ll make her see that, even if I have to fight her to do it.
“I got to go,” I bark into the phone.
“Victor—”
“I need to go claim my woman, Nikolai before she goes out with another man. We’ll talk later.”
I hang up the phone with the sound of Nikolai’s laughter in the background.
9
Grace
I look at myself in the mirror one last time. The pale pink ballgown that I’m wearing looks good, but I feel so out of place. I miss my dad. The thought of him brings that familiar sting of tears to my eyes, but I don’t allow them to fall. It still doesn’t seem real. Sometimes I catch myself picking up the phone to call him, seeking his advice.
I miss his voice. I miss him.
I haven’t truly had time to grieve for him yet. There just hasn’t been a chance, and here I am going to a stupid charity ball. At least, Charles is taking me, so I know I won’t have to face the crowd alone. I want to skip it altogether, but this charity event is for the local orphanage in town and that’s a cause near and dear to my heart. My mother started this charity, and no matter what, I don’t want to give it up. I want to keep her giving nature and spirit alive.
The doorbell rings and with one last look in the mirror, I walk towards the door. I take a deep breath and open it. I gasp in surprise, as I see who is standing on the other side.
“Grace, you look beautiful tonight.”
Victor.
Victor Serepova is standing at the threshold of my apartment, looking at me. He’s dressed in a tux and as much as I don’t want to admit it, he looks really good. His dark hair seems to glisten, his eyes are just as dark but so intense that they take my breath. His wide muscular shoulders pull the jacket tight and he seems to tower over me, making me feel feminine and small, maybe even delicate.
He hasn�
�t stopped sending flowers. Every day, I get a new large bouquet. I really don’t know what to do with them, they just keep coming. They didn’t even stop when I moved out and into my new apartment. I’ve been here for three days and each and every day the flowers still arrive. I have to admit, I’ve begun looking forward to them, especially now that I’ve moved. I even look forward to his explicit notes, that speak of things he wants to do to me. They are things so intimate, I dare not say them aloud or repeat them. I push those thoughts away.
I miss the house, but I couldn’t stay there. I accepted the offer and even though we’re still in closing, it’s not mine anymore. I couldn’t stand to be there knowing that my father wouldn’t be in his office when I walked through the door, or the employees, who were my family, all gone. Being alone in that big empty house…it was lonely.
“Uhh..., Victor, what are you doing here?” Not that part of me isn’t thrilled to see him. I must be crazy, because through his notes I feel like I know him in some small way.
“I’m here to take you to the charity event,” he announces with a dashing smile.
“You’re what?” I ask, disbelief so thick in my voice that it comes out squeaky.
“I’ve come to escort you to the charity event,” he repeats. “Are you ready?” He seems calm and he acts like there’s nothing strange at all about his declaration.
My brows draw inward. “Charles is taking me to the event.”
“You think a man like me sits back and allows another man to entertain his woman and take her out? That’s not me. You need a date to an event you call on me. That’s my place, not Charlie’s or anyone else. Though I do promise, I’ll be on my best behavior. I won’t do anything you don’t want. But, have no doubt, before the night is over, you’ll want my touch.”
The way he speaks with such confidence is attractive. He’s sure of himself, but he doesn’t seem so overly cocky that I am put off. I stare at him, shock moving through me, and I really don’t know what to say. He’s smoldering down at me. If my life wasn’t chaos, and if I wasn’t more than a little afraid of how I react to him, I realize that I would like Victor.
I’d like him a lot. Maybe too much.
I can’t allow myself to go there. There’s too much going on, too much that I’m responsible for, and I’m not Victor’s type anyway. I honestly don’t know why he’s trying so hard. It’s flattering, anyone would have to admit that. Still, I’m just me, plain Grace Clarington. There’s nothing remotely outstanding about me, nothing that would attract a man like Victor. I’m a wallflower. So, I’m stuck wondering just what is going on. Half the time, especially when I get the flowers, I look around for a camera, certain some kind of joke is being played on me.
When I was away at school, I was the shy girl who never got asked to dance. I definitely was never on the receiving end of attention the likes Victor has been showering on me.
“I can’t go to the party with you, Victor,” I respond, my voice little more than a whisper.
“Why not?” he says, and I can hear a growl in his voice. That shouldn’t turn me on, but it kind of does. I like the sound a lot more than I want to admit.
“I… I need to call Charles,” I mutter, not bothering to answer him, because I’m not sure I can.
His hand reaches out and holds onto my side, keeping me from moving away from him. I start to remind him he said he wouldn’t touch me unless I wanted to him, but I find that I do want his touch. I crave it. Even through the silk material of my dress, his touch feels like it is burning my skin, branding it and shivers of awareness vibrate through me. I’ve never felt possessed before and I have always hated men treating women as if they own them, but the action just now coming from him…it’s sexy. He confuses me. Makes me want things that I shouldn’t. A war is waging between my head and my heart right now.
“You need to stop running from me, Grace. I’m not going away.”
“I’m not running from you, Mr. Serepova,” I deny, but inside there’s a little voice that calls me a liar.
In answer, he looks behind me and smiles.
“You kept my flowers.”
“They’re pretty, it didn’t seem right to throw them away,” I mutter.
“Tell me, Moya Krastoa, have you thought of me?” he asks, and I avoid his eyes, because I have… too much. Warmth pools in my lower abdomen and I feel as if there are butterflies in my stomach.
“It’s hard not to think about someone who keeps sending you flowers and wasting money.”
“It’s mine to waste. It gives me pleasure buying you flowers,” he says, smoothly, surprising me by moving his hand to cup the side of my neck. My breath stalls in my chest, because I had no idea he was so close—I was too busy trying to avoid looking into his eyes. I meet his gaze. Those dark eyes captivate me.
That was a mistake.
“You keep buying flowers like that, you’ll go broke,” I sass, embarrassed and completely unsure of myself. I don’t know how to deal with men. Victor is the first man to actually notice me and I don’t know how to handle the attention he lavishes me with.
“I can assure you, I have enough money to buy you flowers everyday of our lives together and not go broke, Moya Krasota.”
“Why must you do that?”
“Do what?” he asks, his voice dropping down into this graveled timbre that makes me shiver with need that I’ve never felt before.
“Talk as if we’re some great love story.”
“But we are,” he declares.
“We barely know each other, hardly spoken to one another,” I argue.
“Every love story has a beginning, Grace. This is ours.”
“You’re very confusing. Why do you suppose I want to run from you, Mr. Serepova?”
“Call me, Victor, and I’ll show you why running from me is the last thing you want to do, sweet Grace.”
“I’ll find out your game eventually, you know,” I warn him. There has to be a reason behind his pursual. No man chases me—especially a man like Victor.
“My game?”
“The reason you are chasing me. If it’s in hopes of getting the money from the sale of the house, I can assure you that it won’t work. It’s already gone.”
I thought that would get a reaction out of him, but I didn’t expect him to throw his head back in laughter. I stand there watching him stunned.
“You are funny, Grace.”
“I wasn’t trying to be,” I drone, blushing for some reason.
The laughter slowly bleeds from him as he stares at me. I get the feeling he’s searching for something. His thumb brushes back and forth against the pulse point of my neck and it feels good. So good that my knees feel slightly weak.
“You’re serious,” he murmurs, and my gaze is frozen on his lips and the slight way they move as he speaks. They look soft and yet harsh at the same time. I bite my bottom lip to keep from asking him if he’d kiss me so I could find out. I want to smack myself. He’s affecting me in ways no man ever has. No one has ever come close enough and yet here he is and I’m intrigued.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
“I’m always serious,” I respond, because I am.
“I can see that,” he says thoughtfully. Then, I can only watch his face, fascinated, as his hand comes up and his thumb brushes against my lip.
“Victor…” I don’t know what I’m about to say, I have no idea what I’m even doing. His name slips out and before I can say anything else, Victor groans.
“There it is,” he says. “There it fucking is.” His voice is hoarse, a growl that I can feel right between my legs and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
Then, he kisses me, and the world stands still….
10
Victor
Jesus.
She’s sweet, like honey sliding down my throat. Slick, wet, hot honey. Her lips are soft and pliant, following where I lead them. They’re also completely and utterly mine. It’s a kiss like nothing I’ve e
ver experienced before. A kiss that marks me. I know it even as I dive in for more. This first taste of her is branding me in a way that I’ll never get free. I’m completely okay with that, because she’s mine. I can feel it in her kiss. Not that I doubted the way I feel, but she must feel this connection too. Some would call it lust, but it goes so much deeper than physical desire.
I don’t know what kind of life that Grace led before me. It was obviously one where she wasn’t shown how beautiful she is, how special she is. That’s something that I need to rectify, and I’ll be happy doing it for the rest of my life. I don’t care if this sounds crazy, it’s exactly like Nikolai said. When you find the one, you just know. I’ve known from our first meeting and I’m only more positive after sharing our first kiss.
Eventually, I’m forced to let her go, if only to drag air into my lungs. Her breathing is just as ragged as mine and the sound fills the room. Her eyes are soft, round, dilated and filled with hunger. It’s a hunger that I’m not sure she’s felt before, because I can tell my Grace is innocent. I’m completely sure of that.
She’s a virgin.
I want to roar like a lion, because he’s finally found his mate. No one will ever touch her—only me. I’ll be the first and last man to touch, taste, and please her.
“Why are you smiling?”
I smile at her innocent question. How can she not know?
“Because of you,” I answer her.
“You’re very confusing Mr. Ser—”
I put my finger on her lips to stop her from saying anything else.
“Now, Grace. You just called me Victor, and then gave me your mouth in the sweetest kiss I’ve ever had in my life. This is it, let’s move forward, not backward. Repeat after me, Victor.”
