Rapture & Ruin by Julia Sykes
Chapter 12
Allie
“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay for a little while longer?” Charlie asked, her cornflower blue eyes soft with concern.
My friends waited beside their limo, hesitating to get in and abandon me.
“I’ll be okay,” I promised. “Daddy said he’s making his final goodbyes. Most of the guests have left already, anyway. I promised I’d catch a ride home with him.”
“But why aren’t you riding with us?” Davis asked with an exaggerated pout. “We all came here together. We deserve a little more limo time.”
I laughed and waved them into the waiting car. “You guys enjoy as much limo time as you want. I think my dad wants to check in with me. I was seriously awkward around the Ivanovs. He’s probably worried that I’m upset. You know how protective he is.”
Isabel offered me an understanding smile and opened the door, ushering the other two inside. “I know it’s probably taken all of his restraint to stop himself from constantly checking in on you this summer. We totally get it. If he needs to talk to you tonight so that you can keep living your fabulous, independent life with us, then that’s okay. We need you to be able to come out with us whenever you want.”
She pulled me into a tight hug, and I returned it with a fierce squeeze. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” she promised. “We’ve got your back.” She disengaged and joined the others in the limo. After the door closed, they rolled down the window so they could wave at me as they pulled away. I heard the distinctive pop of a champagne cork, and Davis let out a whoop of excitement.
My heart tugged toward them, but my smile stayed in place as I waved after them. Isabel understood. I needed to talk to my dad if I wanted to maintain my freedom.
Even if that freedom did come along with a dark stalker.
The phantom feel of Max’s strong arms closing around me as he pulled me out of the way of the oncoming car drew a shiver to the surface of my skin.
He’s not stalking me anymore, I reminded myself. I hadn’t seen so much as a glimpse of him since he’d walked away from me three days ago, returning to his sister for verbal torment.
My chest squeezed. No matter how unstable he was, Max didn’t deserve her cruelty. Those caustic remarks about his accident probably were a contributing factor to his madness. I still couldn’t understand why he would risk kidnapping me for her sake. He must be very close with his father.
His father, the infamous mobster who’d been sent to prison by my dad.
Sometimes love is hard, but blood is everything. The memory of his tragic declaration made my heart twist. Love shouldn’t be hard.
“Are you cold?” I jolted at the close proximity of the deep, masculine voice. A large, warm hand touched my shoulder, steadying me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
I realized I’d hugged my arms close to my aching chest while I’d been thinking about Max and his awful family. And I recognized the heat of that casual touch.
Nikolai Ivanov stood just at the edge of my personal space: a respectful but intimate distance. I had to crane my neck back to meet his eyes. His sheer size and that striking blue gaze stunned me all over again.
“Here,” he offered, unbuttoning his jacket. “If you’re waiting for you dad, there’s no need for you to stand here shivering.” He draped the garment over my shoulders before I could formulate a coherent sentence. It was warm from his body heat, and it smelled like his intoxicating cologne.
“You don’t have to do that, Nikolai,” I protested, even though he was already withdrawing those big, masculine hands, leaving me huddled in his huge jacket.
The midnight breeze was barely chilly on this summer night, and I really hadn’t been cold.
His sensual lips twisted in a cocky smile. “It’s Niko. And I know I didn’t have to. But it gives me an excuse to talk to you. Now, you can’t try to run away again.” He fingered the lapel, just over my collarbone. “Not unless you want to steal my jacket, which would be a shame.”
I gaped at him, my brain scrambled by that smile.
Was this flirting? I didn’t know how to do it. Maybe he was just being nice.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask you out before your friend came and stole you away,” he remarked, trailing long fingers down my arm as he pulled away. The silky glide of his jacket beneath his fingertips teased my skin, and my senses jumped to attention. Something quivered in my belly, and I barely resisted the urge to squirm beneath his intense stare. His pale eyes glittered, and that tilted smile was sharp enough to cut through all my rational thoughts.
Before I could formulate a response, something massive and dark burst from the shadows and collided with Niko.
“Get away from her.” My stomach dropped at the familiar, rough growl.
Max. Oh my god, Max was here. And he’d shoved Niko away from me.
He stood between us, his massive shoulders rippling beneath his tight black shirt. I couldn’t see his face, but the memory of his fearsome, twisted snarl as he’d interrogated me flashed across my mind.
Niko’s handsome face was blank for a moment, his cocky smile knocked away by shock. Then, his brows drew low over those stunning eyes, and his white teeth flashed in a snarl of his own. “Back off if you know what’s good for you.” He took a threatening step toward us, and Max’s body swelled with barely leashed violence.
“Stop!” I gasped, the plea popping out before my mind could fully process what was happening. Instinctively, I knew that two predators were about to rip into each other, and I couldn’t allow that to happen. “Max, stop!”
He stiffened, his entire body seizing up as thought I’d hit him with a bolt of electricity. He didn’t turn to face me, but he didn’t advance on Niko, either.
“Get out of here, Bambi,” he ordered, his voice deep and fierce.
Acting on pure instinct, I reached out and grasped his shoulder, as though I could physically restrain him. His muscles flexed beneath my fingers, all that power coiled tight and ready to explode. I knew it wouldn’t be directed at me if he did unleash his worst urges.
I was so close to Max now that I couldn’t see Niko past the bulk of his body. His chest expanded on deep, rapid breaths, as though he’d just run a mile. Had he exerted himself racing to get to Niko? Or was the enormous effort to hold himself back causing him physical strain?
He’d snapped at Niko to get away from me. He’d shoved us apart and put himself between us.
Whatever insanity was going on in his mind, I sensed that he thought he was protecting me again.
It was dangerous for Max to be here. For his sake, no one should know that we were remotely connected. And he shouldn’t be anywhere near my father.
Oh, god. Was that why he was here? Was he surveilling my dad as part of his crazy vendetta?
“You need to leave, Max.” My voice came out firm and even, the need to protect my father—and to save Max from himself—overriding my confusion at the sudden, shocking turn of events.
“I’m not leaving you alone with him.” The refusal was gravelly with a harsh threat, and he didn’t take his eyes off Niko.
“Seriously, you need to go,” I said with more urgency. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a bouncer leaving his post at the door and coming to check on the altercation. I squeezed his shoulder as hard as I could, commanding his attention. It probably felt like a light massage to him, judging by the mass of muscle in my grip. He practically vibrated beneath my touch, as though straining to resist an anchor’s weight.
The bouncer would get to us within seconds.
I stepped around Max, blocking his path to Niko. A tremor raced through me when I looked into his fearsome expression. His full lips were peeled back from his teeth as he glowered at Niko, and he’d pushed his hair back from his brow. The full extent of the damage to his face was on menacing display.
But it wasn’t his scar, the mark of his pain, that made my knees weak. It was the white-hot flames that flickered over his black eyes. Hatred burned in their inky depths, the full force of his terrible rage directed at Niko.
He thinks he’s defending me, I reminded myself. It didn’t make any sense, but he’d put himself between Niko and me as though the handsome, flirtatious man was some sort of threat.
But Niko wasn’t an oncoming car, and I didn’t need rescuing. His father was one of my father’s most generous donors, and there would be hell to pay if Max punched Mikhail Ivanov’s son. Max would be arrested for assault at the very least. And that was if his misguided vendetta against my dad didn’t come to light. If anyone found out that he’d been stalking Ron Fitzgerald at his big fundraising event, Max would definitely serve jail time.
But I knew that Max didn’t need to be punished; he needed help.
And he’d saved my life. I owed him for that, no matter what else he’d done to me.
“Max,” I said his name more gently.
Those black eyes snapped to mine, singeing me with the heat of his hatred. A shudder ran down my spine, and he blinked. The terrifying flames in his dark gaze extinguished, and his snarl eased slightly. His sharp features remained tight with strain, but I recognized the ferocious disapproval in the tension around his jaw. He’d looked at me like this after he’d pulled me out of the path of that car: pissed at me for risking my life, but not enraged.
“You need to leave.” I kept my tone gentle, coaxing him to listen. “We can talk later, okay?” I meant it. We needed to have another conversation about his insane, vengeful mission against my dad. I’d thought that I could leave him to it, that he’d eventually come to a dead end and drop this madness.
But it seemed he was just as unstable as ever, and he’d get himself caught if he didn’t see reason. He’d clearly suffered enough, and continuing his vendetta would only cause him more pain in the end. I had to convince him to let go of this rage, or it would eat away at what was left of his sanity.
“What’s going on here?” The bouncer had arrived. “Are you okay, Mr. Ivanov?”
Max’s eyes snapped back to Niko, glowering at him over my shoulder. I placed my hand flat against his chest, as though that would be enough to restrain him if he went for Niko again.
“You have to go now, Max.” Every time I said his name, he seemed more inclined to listen. On the night he’d kidnapped me, I’d used it in order to connect us on a more human level. The imprint of that harrowing experience seemed to have stuck, because he didn’t lunge for Niko. His heart hammered beneath my palm, and sweat beaded on his ruined brow.
His dark gaze found mine again, and the hateful flames guttered and died. “We’ll discuss this later.” It was a dark promise.
A shiver danced over my skin, but I didn’t shrink away. “Okay.” I dropped my voice lower. “Meet me at my place. Outside,” I added firmly. No matter how much I wanted to help him, I didn’t think I could bear it if I stepped into my sanctuary and found my kidnapper waiting in the shadows.
His jaw ticked, but he offered me a tight nod and stepped back sharply, severing the connection between us. He shot one last warning glower at Niko before turning on his heel and stalking away.
I spun to face the bouncer. “Everything’s fine,” I told him, my tone a little too high-pitched. I searched for Niko’s blue gaze, unsure how I would explain this away. “Sorry about that.”
Niko’s brows were still drawn low over his eyes, but he wasn’t snarling anymore. “You know him?” he demanded.
I flinched, but I forced myself to hold my ground. “Yeah. We, um, know each other from school,” I lied frantically. “I guess he was passing by and misinterpreted the situation.”
It was a completely ridiculous explanation, but it was all I could think of on the spot. Niko’s taut expression didn’t ease.
Crap. I was a terrible liar.
“Sorry,” I said again, at a loss.
He shook his head slightly, and the harshest edges of his handsome face softened. “It’s not your fault,” he assured me. His expression softened further, the sensual curve returning to his lips. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Damn it, my voice shook. I swallowed and tried again. “Yeah, that was just kind of intense.”
“Are you sure you’re all right, Miss Fitzgerald?” The bouncer looked at me skeptically, as though he could tell I was lying, too.
“Yes!” I had to get out of here before someone told my dad about this. He’d forcibly drag me back home if he had to. I couldn’t live like that anymore, no matter how much I loved him.
I shrugged out of Niko’s jacket and handed it back to him. “I have to go. Please don’t tell my dad about this? He’ll worry, and there’s nothing to worry about.”
The bouncer nodded, agreeable to do as I asked. “Of course, Miss Fitzgerald. Should I get you a cab?”
“Yes, please.” I practically sagged with relief, but I forced my spine to remain straight.
“That man is dangerous,” Niko warned. His eyes glinted, and his jaw firmed.
The white knight clearly wasn’t ready to let this go. He was impossibly gorgeous and protective. I should be swooning all over him, but I was anxious to get home and talk to Max.
“I know he looks scary, but he’s not a threat to me,” I said honestly. “I really think he believed he was defending me. It was totally uncalled for, and I’m sorry he shoved you like that.”
A shadow ticked along his jaw, but his eyes remained soft on my face. “You should stay away from him.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, making no promises. Anyone with half a brain could see that I should stay away from Max. That didn’t mean I was going to. There was too much a stake now for me to ignore him entirely.
My taxi pulled up, and the bouncer opened the door for me.
“Thanks.” I made sure to direct my gratitude at Niko as well. He only had the best intentions, and I truly did appreciate that he cared about my safety. “I’m fine,” I promised. “Goodnight.”
I didn’t wait to see what else Niko might say before I closed the door and gave the driver my address. I couldn’t give him the opportunity to continue questioning me about how I knew Max, and I didn’t want to bump into my father as he exited the building. My emotions were a frazzled mess, and my dad would definitely pick up on my distress if he got one look at my face.
I pulled out my phone and texted him my excuses, saying that I was tired and had gotten a cab. Max and my father didn’t belong anywhere near each other, and the sooner I could convince Max of that fact, the better.
I took a deep breath and flexed my shaking fingers in an attempt to siphon off some of my jittery energy. In a few minutes, I would have to face Max again. Arguing with him was like shouting at an enraged bull. It would take all my resolve and wits to convince him to abandon his vendetta.