Begin Again novel Chapter 184

Eden turned around to find Aleksei Ivanov nursing a glass of whiskey in his hand, an unlit Cuban cigar sticking out of his thin lips.

Wrapped in a dapper black three-piece suit, his silver cufflinks matching his glistening tie pin and the Rolex on his left wrist, he looked every bit the Russian mob.

Sexy yet deadly.

The perpetual smile he wore, though, was as cold as ever, and it terrified Eden.

But she refused to be intimidated by him.

The last time they met at Crush, her gut had yelled at her to play as far away from him as possible. Today too, her intuition screamed at her to scram. But if she did, Ivanov would think he's got some power over her, and she refused to give in to her fear.

"Mr Ivanov," she said coolly as she shoved a morsel of caviar in her mouth.

"You look ravishing tonight." Aleksei tipped his glass at her, his eyes lingering a little too long on her chest even though there was no cleavage in sight before resting on her toned leg peeking through her dress slit.

She ignored him and grabbed a champagne glass from a harried-looking waiter passing by.

"Do you see anything you like?" Ivanov trailed at her side as she drifted through the room.

"I'm working tonight, Mr Ivanov; I don't have time to see anything I like," she murmured and drank more of the bubbly. "And If you're done undressing me with your eyes, I suggest you state your business or leave me alone. I don't have time for small talk."

"I'm sorry," he held up his hands apologetically, but his blindingly white smile screamed he's far from sorry. "I saw something I liked, and I wanted to take a moment to appreciate it."

Eden shrugged nonchalantly at his comment and moved along, struggling to keep her irritation in check the longer Aleksei hovered beside her.

He cleared his throat, demanding her attention once again. "I'm glad you brought up work. I have a business proposal for you."

"No thanks," Eden snapped, convinced the man is fucking with her. But even if he was not, there was no way she would jump into bed with him. Not when she knew he was in the business of selling drugs to underage children and pimping out women.

"I haven't even told you what it is." He laughed. The hearty sound booming from his throat was so normal, so ordinary she almost forgot he's a sociopath.

"I'm not interested!" Eden said as she scanned the crowded room, hoping to see flame-coloured hair towering over the sea of heads ebbing and flowing in front of her eyes.

But Liam was nowhere to be found.

Matthew, too, had mysteriously vanished.

She paused in front of a marble bust of Brutus, sculpted by Michelangelo himself, and brought the champagne flute to her lips, relishing the bubbles popping in her mouth.

She doubted the bust is the real deal. But it was still a convincing replica, and it deserved to be appreciated.

“The Lusso deal,” Aleksei forged on.

For some reason, the man didn't seem to understand no, or it just didn't exist in his world.

"I'm not discussing that with you," Eden said and finished up her champagne before dumping the empty glass on a nearby table.

"Fine, you just have to listen to me." He smiled and twirled the cigar in his fingers before popping it back in his mouth. "This is a proposal of a lifetime. You'd be a fool not to accept."

"I would have sent it via courier, but seeing that you're here, it saves me the trouble. Give it to Anderson," Aleksei instructed her. "He'll know what it means."

Aleksei didn't give her a chance to refuse; he bowed at her, kissed her hand and vanished in the throng of people dressed in outrageously expensive clothes they were all likely never to wear again.

And for a little while, Eden remained frozen in place and stared at the space the devil incarnate had occupied until someone jolted her out of her daze when they bumped into her, restarting her heart and throwing her mind into overdrive.

Panic and bile rose at the pit of her stomach the moment her sense of self-preservation kicked in. Her feet moved on their own accord as her legs propelled her forward, and she clawed her way through the crowd, looking for Liam.

They had to get the hell out here. Grab Aiden and run. She didn't care where they went, just as long as it was far from Rock Castle, away from the crazy Russian mob.

She retched and gagged as she waded through the masses, praying she doesn't throw up all over her fancy dress in front of all these people.

She was almost out of The Ball Room when she stumbled straight into Liam's ex, and a few of her colleagues huddled near the buffet table.

"I see you have some semblance of class, Eden McBride," Laura, looking striking in a red A-line floor-length gown, murmured. Her light makeup brought out the green in her eyes, but the perpetual frown she wore eclipsed her beauty.

"Laura," Eden nodded curtly at her and moved along. She didn't have time for the other woman's antics. She had far bigger issues on her hands—issues she didn't have before her chat with Aleksei Ivanov.

But first, she had to find a restroom.

Her churning stomach couldn't hold her terror in any longer.

Miraculously, she managed to keep it together long enough to stumble inside an employees-only bathroom and kick the door to one of the cubicles open. Her knees buckled, and she sprawled over the bowl, vaguely aware that Laura had followed her and was now privy to one of her most private of moments.