The Russian's Dangerous Game (2 page)

Brianna looked
into his dark eyes and cringed. He was already plastered from alcohol and probably something more potent, she suspected. “I’m looking for someone,” she told him with what she hoped was a polite smile, yelling over the music that went from one vibrating, irritating song to the next.

“You’ve found me!” he joked.

Brianna considered just smiling so she could get rid of him, but she was too irritated with him now. “I’ve really got to find my friend,” she told him and, with a firm hand, pushed his arm out of her way. When he grabbed her arm, she was already anticipating his move and her fingers twisted quickly. She might be naïve and scared about this new adventure, but she definitely wasn’t a wimp! Nor was she about to allow a stranger to take liberties with her!

The man’s hand, which had been about to grab her butt, was now twisted painfully in her hand and she looked down at him
with that same, polite smile. “I really don’t want to be touched right now. But if there’s ever a time when I want to be mauled by a chauvinistic pig who has nothing better to do with his time and money than to sniff it up his nose, I’ll give you a call, okay?”

The man nodded, his eyes
revealing the pain caused by her grip.

“Good,” she said sweetly and moved off into the crowd, forgetting about the irritating man completely as she searched out her prey.

Rocco watched from his vantage point as the man shook his fingers while the beautiful woman walked away. He chuckled at how easily she’d evaded what might have become a very awkward situation. He was also impressed that the stunning brunette hadn’t been even slightly impressed with the young man who was reputedly worth more than one hundred million dollars, although Rocco doubted there was that much left in the young man’s trust fund.

Most of the women here tonight were either celebrities
or trust fund recipients themselves, or lovely little mercenaries trying to get their moment of glory by selling their voluptuous bodies to someone from the first group. There wasn’t really anything different about this nightclub and many other social gathering spots, although the two groups of people here tonight might be more avaricious in their motives.

He’d spotted the brunette the moment she’d walked into the nightclub, his eyes
captured by a figure that was slender, yet round and lush in all the right places. She looked soft and full, while the other women around him and on the dance floor obviously starved themselves throughout the week so they could fit into their tiny outfits on the weekend. The other women in the club probably lived off of diet pills and coffee; this lush beauty was supple and curved, although definitely not fat. And as opposed to the other women in the room, she didn’t appear to have purchased her curves from a surgeon. In a word, she was naturally exquisite!

Just then,
an emaciated blond with enormous, barely covered breasts draped herself over his arm and ground her hip bone against him through the thin material of her dress. He pulled away, signaling to the waitress for another round but stepping away from the group. He wasn’t here for pleasure, but even if he was, the blond with the fake breasts and the anorexic figure wouldn’t have interested him.

His eyes went right back to the brunette, captured for a long moment, entranced by the way she carefully, almost delicately, walked around the nightclub. She looked like a fairy, he thought. She just needed a pair of wings and maybe some star dust and she would be perfect.

He shook his head and pulled his eyes away from his delicate, fairy-woman. He wasn’t here to find a woman. And she was unquestionably out of her league. The men in this nightclub might be attracted to her because of her beauty, but they would eat her up because of that almost glowing aura of innocence surrounding her.

Besides, he was here to get something done. He had to
find his friend and get the next piece of their plan in motion.

He scanned the club, keeping his eyes away from the beautiful brunette. She was lovely, but also a distraction. Perhaps if he could get his work done…

He left the idea mulling in his head as he caught sight of the person he needed to meet with. When their eyes caught, he nodded slightly, receiving the same indicator back. Shifting in the opposite direction, he moved over towards the bar, ordering a vodka straight up and leaning back against the rail while sipping his drink.

“Everything in place?” he asked when the other man approached.

There was a slight nod in the darkness. “All set on my end. Do you need any help with your part?”

Rocco rolled his eyes. “Be serious,” he laughed.

The other man chuckled. “Simply trying to help out an inferior partner,” he came right back.

Rocco, laughed softly, not taking offense. In his mind, it was the same friendly banter he and this man had shared since their college days.
They carefully went over the issues they didn’t want to be written down or seen by others on their staffs, setting in motion a plan that could be dangerous if everything didn’t run smoothly. When they were finished, Rocco was convinced the plan would work, but it would be risky. “Just don’t forget the time table,” Rocco replied, knowing this was the last time he would see his friend until it was all over. “The pieces of the plan only work out if the sequence and timing are perfect.”

With a nod, the man agreed. “Everything will be fine.
Talk to Phillip Jordan. He’ll get the rest done.”

Rocco tried to keep his eyes on the dance floor
, but they kept straying to his fairy-woman. She had stepped up to the end of the bar. “You trust him?” Rocco asked, his eyes darting around the room to ensure that no one was catching this conversation. The entire plan would fall apart if word got out that the two of them were together tonight.

There was a flash of white teeth, noticeable only because of the neon flash at that particular moment.
“Not at all. But he knows what to do. And I have backups in place in case Jordan backstabs us.”

Rocco looked at the man’s black eyes, working through the whole process in his mind.
“Fair enough. I’ll be on standby.” He took the paper that was handed to him and slipped it inconspicuously into his jacket pocket.

With that, the two men separated. To a casual observer, the two were merely greeting each other as strangers. But Brianna snapped picture after picture of the two men, even
digitally catching the paper as it was exchanged. She had no idea what was on that paper, but the way it had been surreptitiously transferred between the two men told her that it was very important.

She had to get a glimpse of that paper, she told herself with determination. Her heart was racing so hard she had trouble breathing
, but she couldn’t let her nervousness stop her. Brianna suddenly knew that this was the story of a lifetime.

She moved over to the bar, trying to figure out how to get close enough to hear what the two men were saying and was instantly handed a drink by the bar tender. “What’s this?” she shouted to the man above the painfully loud music.

“From the man,” the handsome bar tender shouted right back.

Brianna’s eyes lifte
d, moving towards where the bartender was pointing and her heart leapt into her throat. It was the man! It was Rocco Antoniv!

When his eyes captured hers, she thought she might actually have stopped breathing. He was only a few people away from her now. Seeing him from a distance
earlier this afternoon, she’d thought he was an extremely handsome man but with him this close, she just about passed out.

Oh, no, that’s from lack of oxygen, she told herself and took a deep, gasping breath.

She wasn’t a big drinker, but in this case, she needed both the prop to help her look the part she was trying to play tonight as well as the liquid courage from the alcohol.

And then he started moving towards her. The breath she’d taken a moment ago was lodged in her throat and she felt her knees
begin to tremble. Hopefully this sophisticated, gorgeous and very…oh my! As he came closer, she tilted her head backwards, trying to keep eye contact, but the man was just too tall!

Um…and terrifying.

Brianna suddenly realized where her mind was going and she put the brakes on those thoughts.
No! She wasn’t intimidated by this man! She was a tough, hard hitting reporter. She’d been comfortable in her role for so long, she’d forgotten what a real challenge was like! She had to do this.

With that in mind, she lifted her head back and stared right into his eyes, daring him as she’d seen other women do.

“I’m Rocco.” He took her hand in his, felt the trembling and was shocked. Rocco watched her carefully, realizing that this woman was not a member of the idly rich scene that normally would hang out in a nightclub like this. Of course, nor was he. Idle, that is. Rocco didn’t have time for night clubs and the irritating laziness that seemed to be part and parcel of the crowd which frequented this scene. But he read people easily and he knew that this woman, this lovely, nervous and gentle woman was not used to being in an environment like this.

If the lushness of her figure had not clued him in, the trembling in her hand certainly would have. He might intimidate other women, but they were experienced enough to dull their nerves with alcohol. This tiny woman delicately took a sip
of the drink he’d bought her instead of gulping it down. He almost chuckled when she tried to smother her cringe at the taste. He suspected there was a great deal of alcohol in the drink. The bartenders at this establishment knew that patrons who were more inebriated were less tight with the cash as the evening progressed.

“What’s your name?” he prompted when she simply stared at him.

Brianna continued to stare up at the shockingly handsome man, trying to get her brain to start working. Unfortunately, she was stumped by his question. This was an easy one most of the time. She looked at him, looked down at her drink and shook her head slightly. When it finally came to her, she brightened. “Bri!” she gasped.

When the man chuckled, Brianna felt her face flame up and was eternally grateful for the dim lights of the club. “So you’re named after cheese,” he said softly
, moving slightly closer as her inability to hide her feelings piqued his interest. “Interesting.”

She shook her head, trying to figure out why she felt like she’d just said something funny.
“Brianna,” she stammered, feeling like a ridiculous school girl on a first date. She could do this, she told herself firmly. She had to! The man she’d been hunting tonight had walked right up to her so there was no excuse, no room for failure. She had to get this story!

With that in mind, she looked back up at him, her mind shifting from nervousness because she was inappropriately attracted to the man and moving into
a “professional journalist” mindset. Or trying to. He was a bit too close and he smelled…delicious. Shaking her head, she focused on his eyes instead of how wonderful and spicy he smelled.

“So Rocco,” she said, trying to think of all the movies she’d seen where women picked up men in bars. “What are you doing here tonight?”

Rocco saw the transformation, realized what she was doing and could almost read her mind. She might be shockingly beautiful on the outside, but inside, she was adorable. There was no subterfuge with this woman. She might be here looking like every man’s dream woman, but she was ready to bolt out of here at the earliest opportunity. Rocco loved beautiful women and he was fascinated by mysteries. This lovely brunette stimulated both his body and his curiosity. A powerful combination to a jaded womanizer, he thought as his eyes sharpened on her pretty, green eyes.

“Besides talking with a beautiful woman?” he replied, amused by her
obvious line. She was even more stunning closer up and he was intrigued by the transformation that had just happened. “Would you like to dance?” he asked.

Brianna was stumped. First of all, she didn’t know how to dance and secondly, the idea of those strong, large hands touching her was actually frightening. “You just bought me this drink,” she replied, swallowing as she tried to come up with another reason why they couldn’t go out onto the dance floor.

He almost laughed at her obvious attempt to avoid dancing. “I’ll buy you another later,” he said and started to take her hand.

She panicked and came up with the first thing she could think of. “I don’t really like this
song,” she said, almost yanking her free hand back and hiding it behind her back. She smiled tremulously, but she could see the amusement in his eyes.

He leaned forward slightly. “We’ll wait then. How about if you come up to my table?” he suggested. “The music is a bit less overwhelming there.”

Brianna thought that was a perfect idea. “Lead the way,” she replied, smiling brightly.

Rocco put a hand around her waist, his fingers touching her lightly but Brianna’s nervousness still increased. Even in these ridiculous four inch heels, sh
e didn’t come up to his chin. She didn’t like feeling small! She liked being tall and strong but somehow, this man made her feel silly and all girly. She wasn’t a girl! She was a journalist! She was tough and strong and completely non-girly!

They approached the stairs and he swept his hand, indicating she should precede him.
Brianna gripped her drink in one hand while taking the bannister of the spiral staircase with the other. With each step, she was painfully conscious that his eyes were just about level with her butt which, in her mind, was not adequately covered. She tried to race up the staircase, but the steps were too precarious and she had to move slowly so that she didn’t trip on her own feet and fall on her face. That would really be embarrassing! And how easy would it be to get the story if she was too humiliated to even talk? So she walked up carefully, trying to pretend that she didn’t mind him looking at her butt and reminding herself that many of the women in here purposefully wore dresses that would allow intimate peeks while walking up the stairs.