Chapter Seventy
Sephie
The first half of the evening turned out to be quite predictable. Several people would come talk to Adrik, thanking him for some various business deal or philanthropy, Adrik getting tired of talking to people and dragging me onto the dance floor, only to have everyone else stop and watch us. Lather, rinse, repeat.
After the first dance, he never let go of me, which meant I also had to talk to people that I didn’t know. I had to turn on all my charm and act the part, even though I think a little piece of me died each time I fake smiled at someone. I caught each of the guy’s line of sight at some point, doing something ri diculous without anyone else seeing us. They all laughed and shook their heads at my silliness. I would make a ri diculous face at one of them, then go back to straight face, completely engrossed in yet another boring life story. It wasn’t much, but it kept me entertained.
Eventually, I needed to visit the little girl’s room. Before someone else could walk up to us, I pulled Adrik as far away from people as I could. I told him what I needed and he was just about to walk with me, when someone caught his arm. He looked to Ivan, who was closest to us, nodding toward me. Ivan was quickly beside me, offering me his arm.
“Princess?” he asked.
I leaned close to him, so I wouldn’t be overheard, “I’ve gotta p iss like a fu cking racehorse and these people won’t give us two seconds alone.”
He laughed, walking me toward the restrooms. He stood outside the door, looking at his watch. “You have five minutes or I’m coming in after you.”
I rolled my eyes, but then said, “I can make it in three.”
I heard him laughing as I walked into the bathroom. There were two women already in there, talking to each other in the stalls. I tried not to listen, but they were somewhat tipsy and louder than they normally would’ve been. They were. talking about Adrik.
“I heard he was g ay because he hasn’t been seen in public with a woman in years,” the first one said.
“Well, either she’s a beard for him or he’s clearly not g ay. I never believed the g ay rumors anyway. One of my friends knows one of his former girlfriends. She said he was always an as shole to her. He would regularly call her the wrong name,” the second one said.
Yep, that’s my Adrik.
I heard them come out of their stalls, the water in the sinks running. The second one adding, “you know, he never even told her his real name. No one knows his real name. It’s like he’s doesn’t exist.”
The first one said, “mysterious. And sexy.” I heard her sigh. “I’d even settle for one of his bodyguards. Have you seen the men he has protecting him? I’d love a ride on one of them.”
I was on a tight time schedule here, so I couldn’t wait for them to leave before I came out. I walked to the sinks, looking at both of their shocked faces. As I quickly washed my hands, I looked at both of them. They both looked like the type of woman that Max would regularly go for. The kind that Adrik said he used to date when he was younger.
They probably spent hours putting on their makeup each day. I could almost guarantee that none of the guys would find them attractive enough for anything serious. They might sleep with them and then never speak to them again, but I was fairly certain it wouldn’t go beyond that.
As seriously as I could, I said, “I could introduce you, if you like, but I know for a fact they appreciate boldness, so you’ll get farther if you introduce yourself.” I turned and walked out. I opened the door wide enough to let them see Ivan waiting for me just outside, staring at his watch. He smiled at me as he said “Just under three minutes, princess. Impressive.” He offered his arm to me as I glanced back at the two women in the restroom, winking at them as I slid my arm into his, just before the door closed.
Of course, Ivan noticed. “What was that, princess?”
I giggled. “So those two were talking about you guys. One of them wants to ride one of you. I told them I could introduce them to you, but that you guys appreciated boldness so they should introduce themselves.”
He looked down at me, a devilish grin on his face. “You’re a little evil. You know we can’t talk to anybody while we’re working.”
“I may have known that. That may be why I told them to come talk to you.”
He squeezed my arm in his and patted my hand. “I’m glad you’re back, princess. Life is more fun with you around.”
I rested my head on his shoulder as we walked to find Adrik.
The second half of the evening was the fundraising dinner, so everyone shifted to the tables that had been set up below the stage. I was happy enough to be able to sit down for a bit. Adrik kept me much more active than I was expecting to be in heels. I hadn’t fallen yet, but I think it was more to do with his support on the dance floor than anything.
The guys were standing in the shadows, keeping a close eye on literally everything and everyone. There were several speakers and then Adrik was to get his award. He leaned over to whisper in my ear, “you’ll be alone at the table just for a few minutes. They’ve got eyes on you. If anything happens, they’ll be to you within seconds.” He looked at me, the intensity in his eyes like he was discussing business. “No matter what, you will be fine.” He leaned in to kiss me, surprising me with the passion of the kiss. It felt like he was trying to tell me something with the kiss.
They started to introduce him, so he stood to walk to the side of the stage. He kissed me once more quickly, before standing and disappearing from my sight behind the curtains. He had taken his jacket off and left it on his chair.
There were only a few other people at our table, as most who had been there earlier were now on the stage, or waiting to go on the stage. The other people were on the other side of the table, turned away from me to watch the speaker at the microphone. I glanced behind me, spotting Ivan step just far enough out of the shadows that I could see him.
Adrik’s introduction ended and everyone stood to applaud. He walked out to accept his award. He was supposed to say a few words after accepting his award, then he would be back. The applause grew louder. Everyone was on their feet. I glanced over the crowd, proud that all these people loved Adrik so much. Just as I glanced away, there was a commotion on stage. I looked back to the stage as I saw Adrik clutch his chest, falling forward. I glanced behind me, to see Ivan and Viktor rush to the stage. I froze for a second. Just as I was about to rush to the stage as well, I felt hands. grab me. One arm around my waist, another over my mo uth so I couldn’t scream.
I knew immediately this was not one of the guys. I had sparred with all of them. I’d escaped their grips. I knew what
their arms around me felt like. This was a stranger. I struggled against their hold on me, bringing my knees up as we approached the back door to the ballroom, hoping to grab the doorframe with my legs. I managed to just catch the doorframe, causing the person holding me to stumble to the side. I stomped on his foot and elbowed him as hard as I could. He bent over, loosening his grip. I was standing on my own, but his arms were still around me, albeit lo oser. I turned toward him, putting both hands together, I swung my arms toward his face, hitting him with both fists. He fell backward momentarily before shaking his head and grabbing me again. I went limp, causing his grip to loosen again and managed to get a few steps away from him when he grabbed me again. This time he threw me over his shoulder and ran from the ballroom. We ran through a kitchen. I tried to grab anything I could to hit him with, but nothing stopped him. I was pounding my fists into his back as hard as I could as he ran with me.
We made it outside and he was met by another man. The guy that had me said something to the second guy who ran to a waiting vehicle, grabbed a zip tie and came back to me. Within seconds, he had bound my hands together. They pushed me toward the vehicle and into the backseat. They both jumped in the front seats and the vehicle took off. We were still downtown. They were weaving through the side streets. I sat up, waiting for the next turn. As soon as he slowed to make the turn, I opened the door and jumped out. I rolled down the street, taking longer than I expected to stop. I heard the brakes screech and the vehicle reversed quickly. I got up as quickly as I could and started running. I wasn’t sure where I was. I just knew I needed to get away from them. The vehicle sped up even more, closing the distance to me. I ran as fast as I possibly could, but they eventually caught up to me. The second guy jumped out and grabbed me. He threw me back into the back seat and climbed in beside me. He kept a tight grip on my arms as the
vehicle sped off again.