He wished he could talk to Dylan about this – the two had always been able to confide in each other. But he and Tariq had agreed not to tell anyone about the project, at least not until the patent was finalised and everything was in place. Ivan and Tariq knew that involving their family could endanger their loved ones – and now the threat seemed even more real than ever. His mind drifted to Samira again. If anyone dared to hurt her – or even look at her in a way that upset her – Ivan would kill them. He absent-mindedly snapped a toothpick clean in two – which he hadn’t even realised he’d been fiddling with.
“You okay, Ivan?” Dylan asked. “You were miles away.”
“Yeah, no problem. Just… Tariq and I had a falling out this morning. But we’ll be okay.”
Adam’s green eyes sparkled. “What happened? Lovers’ tiff?”
Ivan threw him a deadpan look. “Ha ha. No, it’s nothing. We’re just under a lot of strain at the moment with this project.”
“So when are you gonna tell us about this project, then?” Adam asked.
“When it’s all finished. I promise, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Well, if there’s anything we can do to help, just holler,” Adam said.
Ivan opened his mouth to thank him, but an attractive blonde strode past the table, wearing a pencil skirt and heels. Adam turned his head to watch her, with his eyes glued to her as**s like a tractor beam.
Ivan smirked. “As long as there aren’t any hot blondes around, huh?”
Adam chuckled suggestively, then he stood up and caught up with the woman. They started chatting and flirting – obviously they were both hoping to get lucky tonight.
Ivan shook his head. “He can’t resist a blonde, can he?”
Dylan shrugged. “You know Adam – every girl’s dream.”
Ivan laughed playfully. “Yeah, his reputation precedes him, so they say.”
Dylan snorted. “Adam’s goals in life are pretty simple – he wants to make multi-million-dollar contracts and make love to beautiful women.”
“And he’s pretty successful at both, huh?”
“He sure is.” Dylan smirked. “I think it’s that Armani suit, you know? People find it irresistible.”
Ivan chuckled. Adam did look great tonight in his designer suit. But so did Dylan. And Ivan hoped he did, too. He sipped his beer. “Dylan, do you think there’s someone for everyone?”
Dylan froze. “What the f**k are you talking about, Ivan? You’ve been acting weird all evening. Is it really because you and Tariq fell out? Did he try something on with you?”
“Of course not. It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
Dylan opened his mouth to interrogate him further, but Adam reappeared at the table and sat down, looking smug. “What did I miss?”
“Did she blow you out?” Dylan asked.
“No way,” Adam said. “Got her number. I’ll catch her later – we can get to know each other better, you know?”
Dylan glanced up at the massive stage at the front of the room, where the ceremony was almost ready to start. “We’ve gotta get through this first. Then we can have some fun.”
“So you guys feeling okay?” Ivan asked.
Adam shrugged. “Piece of cake. We’ll win this for sure.”
“Nothing like blind optimism to cool those nerves, kiddo.”
Adam smirked and opened his mouth to retort, but then his jaw dropped in shock at something over Ivan’s shoulder.
Worry pricked across Ivan’s skin like a sandstorm. It was going to be those guys again, wasn’t it? Coming back to finish what they’d started. He braced himself for a fight, then swivelled around and… his brain cells relaxed like a warm bath. No wonder Adam had been side-tracked – the most beautiful woman on the planet was standing right there, looking self-assured and proud.
“Hi…?” Ivan spluttered.
“Hello,” Samira said.
She was wearing a short red satin gown, which looked gorgeous against her brown skin, and she’d twisted her long blonde hair up behind her head, to emphasise those carved cheek bones and huge brown eyes. She shone out from the bustling crowd like a jewel. All the other people around their table had noticed her, too, and they’d fallen out of reality to stare. Ivan’s heart pounded with lust and joy.
Dylan leaned forward – his brown eyes lighting up. “Hi, Miss. If you’re looking for table forty-three, you found it. Care to join us, huh?”
Ivan’s jealousy surged straight to his fists. Obviously Dylan didn’t know that Samira was off-limits, but his possessiveness wasn’t open to rational discussion. It was years since he’d had a rough-and-tumble with either of his brothers, and they’d never fallen out over a woman, but right now Ivan was fighting hard to restrain himself from punching Dylan’s lights out.
? Also By Julie Farrell
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