novelxo Chapter 253
Chapter 253
“No,” Ivan responds, turning to look down at me and shifting his weight to knock his shoulder against mine. “Fifty bucks to the band leader to start playing the tango, which I know she can’t resist. Playing on a lonely girl’s teenage crush on the guy that her dad wants her to marry?” Ivan’s eyes crinkle with humor as he looks down at me. “That was free.”
“Cruel,” I accuse, shaking my head at him a little but impressed despite myself. Ivan is, if anything, quite good at reading weaknesses before using them to move people around like pawns on his chess board.
“Worth it,” he says, slipping a hand out of his pocket and, unseen, dragging his fingers down the length of my spine until his hand comes to rest at the small of my back. “I’d have paid much more, after all, for the chance to chat with my best girl when she won’t return my calls.”
“Oh, you called?” I reply, coy. “I’m sorry, I must have missed it.”
“Lies,” he whispers to me, but then he laughs a little. “I missed you, Fay.”
And, damn it, but that old butterfly fleeing rises in my stomach.
And I have to admit to myself – I missed him too.
Chapter 253
“Come on,” Ivan says, shifting that hand on my back to my elbow and tugging me with him as he heads behind the little rose arbor next to us.
“Ivan,” I gasp, glancing around anxiously as he pulls me with him out of sight. “Stop! We can’t go back here!”
“Sure we can,” he replics, grinning back at me, a little danger dancing in his eyes. “No one saw – I made sure of it.”
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“Ivan,” I growl, digging in my feet and trying to pull out of his grasp. “You’re going to get me – and everyone in big trouble!”
Ivan stops and turns to me, still smiling but shaking his head. “Would you just trust me for a second, Fay?” he asks, a little exasperated. “I organized all of this – I’m the one who got your dad to come here tonight, and the Russians. Do you seriously think I don’t know how fucked we’d be if Lippert, or Alden, or anyone finds us sneaking away?”
His face drops now, becoming more serious – like it was that morning when we woke up, and he told me to run from the Lippert house. “I’m doing this for a reason, Fay!” Ivan insists, “I have to talk to you.”
I hesitate, but then I nod, trusting him. As much as Ivan is a player in this game, I do – for some reason – trust that he has my best interests at heart. And maybe I’m a fool for believing him – maybe he’s tricked me too – but I step forward, ready to follow. A genuine smile breaks out onto Ivan’s face and I can’t help the