Dressed and waiting for Blondie, I relaxed against the wall at the entrance of Alessio’s compound. Ilya and Vito came into view first, and I had no warning. Ilya just grabbed me and gave me a tight, quick hug.

“I almost thought Creed was lying when he said you were taking his spot tonight,” he said.

“I needed to get my ass in gear. If I don’t now, I won’t ever.” I said, rubbing my ribs when he let me go.

Blondie finally came down to the entrance. I thought about it every time I saw him, but he was fucking handsome. Blonde hair, blue eyes, deep voice, body built for both strength and stamina. He was terribly gorgeous, and he knew it. He would flash his perfect white teeth when he smiled, and it exposed his dimples. His skin was cloaked with tattoos everywhere you could see.

Dressed in a leather jacket, navy blue t-shirt and dark jeans, I couldn’t help but want to drink him in deep.

“Hey, sorry. Fox needed my hand with moving some shit around.” He said and smiled at Vito and Ilya. His eyes scanned over me after them, and he flashed me one of those smiles, too. “Hey, nice to see you up and around, Nikki.”

Smiling back at him softly, I replied, “I’m starting to feel better now. Well, aside from the ribs.”

Ilya and Vito went to his car and left us to stand there talking. Blondie set his hand on left shoulder, before sliding it down my back a bit.

“My trucks this way.” He said and pushed me along with him. His truck was definitely large, and I snickered, wondering if the stereotypes about big trucks were true.

He unlocked the matte grey truck, and opened my door for me, waiting to see if I was going to need a hand getting in. Getting into the seat wasn’t comfortable, but I made it work. Without even asking, he leaned into my personal space and buckled me in.

He climbed in on his own side after closing my door and walking around. He started his truck, and glanced over at me quickly, before he tossed his arm over the back of my seat and backed out.  

“If you get anxious about being in the car so soon after your accident, just tell me and I’ll work with what you need to stay calm.” Blondie said, as he pulled down the gravel road.

“Thank you.” I said and glanced out the window. All the snow that littered the ground was gone. Melted away again, and the grass, dirt, and gravel remained. I don’t know why, but it left me with a feeling of emptiness, like there was no proof other than broken bones and Nonna’s death. And then, there was the car, the lump of metal and plastic that had protected me, just.

“So, I got to meet your daughter early yesterday. She was with Alexi and Creed. She’s cute.” Blondie said, and I smiled, thinking about my little chick.

“Her name is Meadow. She is cute. I’m sure she tried to talk your ear off.” I laughed softly.  

“She did. But I didn’t mind.” He said and turned onto the highway. “Are you alright still?”

“Yes, I’m ok. I’m not nervous, but I think that might be because there’s no snow now. But I think driving in the snow is going to make me tense for a bit. Once I get another vehicle and I’m sure I won’t be nervous behind the wheel.” I said and relaxed back into the leather seat.

“In the meantime, if you need anything, just let me know. Things have been wildly calm, so I have free time after team training, and helping with training the enforcers.” He hummed, and his words slightly annoyed me. But not because I didn’t want him to help, rather it was the enforcer part of his statement. For name’s sake, I was an enforcer under Creed and Alexi, but I didn’t actually do much of anything outside of helping Alexi with paperwork. And picking up borrowers that haven’t met the terms of loans. Alexi was still making me train with him, in hand-to-hand combat, gun and knife skills, among many other things.

I knew he made a promise with our mother not to let me get too deep in this lifestyle, more so because of Meadow, but it made me feel inferior. I knew he had promised not to let me take a life, and he was going to uphold that with importance. I guess that’s why even now, I couldn’t be honest with him about shooting someone on a team mission with Creed and him. Creed covered my ass, and we went on like nothing happened. We would both hold on to that for as long as we could, for Alexi’s sake, but also for my mother.

Letting out a sigh, blondie hummed, and I turned to look at him. His face was set in a soft frown, and I asked, “What’s with the frown, Blondie?”

“I am concerned that you are going to get hurt tonight with your ribs in that condition.” He said and turned off the highway onto an off ramp leading to another highway. “Also, Nikki, you can call me by my name. It’s Kylian.”

“Oh. I think I’ll be alright; I’ll just avoid anything too strenuous. And, alright. I’ll use your name. I never even thought to ask you. I just called you what everyone else does.” I said and looked out the window, watching the last of the sun setting.

“It’s a nickname, and regardless of how many people I tell my real name, I still am called blondie.” He chuckled.

“You could be called worse.” I hummed.

“You’re right. I could.”

At the next red light, he stopped and took a drink of his water, and I watched a drop run down his chin. If this was another time, and another place, I might have followed that water droplet down his chin. Catching me looking at him, he offered me a drink, and I flushed.

“No, thank you.” I blurted, and he smiled again.

“When we get there, if you would like a drink or two, just let me know. I don’t mind grabbing you something, but you should just hang out upstairs in the lounge.” He spoke.

The problem with me drinking here was after a drink or two, to relax. I liked to look for a quickie; the condoms stashed in my wallet were proof of that alone. The gender didn’t matter to me; I enjoyed men and woman, sometimes both together.

“Drinking probably won’t be a good idea. Not with my ribs.” I said and couldn’t meet his eyes. I didn’t want to have to explain to him I liked sex and alcohol, made that need just a little greater. Though I had learned to be smart. One child was enough to learn that lesson.  

Kylian parked his truck and turned and flashed me another award-winning smile as he unclipped my seat belt.

“Ready to head inside?”

“Definitely. This feels like the only normal thing happening to me.” I laughed, trying not to make this a sombre bit.

Going through the normal process, I presented my I.D. Blondie, or Kylian didn’t have to show his I.D. I mean no one would actually ask him for it. You could tell he was old enough. He carried a mature presence about him, among the battle hardened features he had under the surface.

You could see Ilya from the door when you walked in. He was sitting up on the balcony railing, his leg dangling over and Vito no doubt clenching the back of his pants or shirt. Possibly his arm might have been around his waist.

“Head upstairs and get us a table. I’m going to grab us each a pop or something.”

“Alright. Could you get me a water, with ice chips? Thank you.” I said and weaved through the crowd to the v.i.p section. Digging out my v.i.p pass for posterity, I showed it to the person at the stairs. He let me through, after glancing at my card for a mere second. This guy knew me. He only worked one spot in the entire club, and it was right here.

Ilya turned around and got down. Vito released his grip on Ilya, and he came over, dropping into a seat right before me. He patted the seat beside him, and I could see he wanted to talk to me, just the two of us.

“Sit. Let Vito and Blondie look after the club for a bit. I want to check on you.” Ilya said, his voice low and careful.

Sitting down, I stretched out and looked at him. There was concern on his face, and I kept my mouth shut but set my hand on top of the one he had on the tabletop. I didn’t miss the bitter side glance from Vito, but at this point, I was pretty used to it.

“Ilya, I appreciate that you’re worried about me, but I’m ok. Going forward is going to be rough, but I’ll get through it, and the sooner I get my hands on that guy who caused all this, the better.” I confessed, and Ilya looked sombre for a moment, but I knew he understood the feeling of wanting revenge.

Blondie suddenly set my glass with water and ice chips on the table, and I knew he heard what I said, but he didn’t address it. “Sorry, it took them an extra moment to refill the ice machine for your water.”

“That’s fine, thank you.” I said,

Ilya stood up. “I’m going to keep Vito company.”

“Alright.” I said, and Ilya looked at me again, but not before he looked at Kylian and they exchanged words in Russian. I was used to being talked around like this, too. Alexi and Creed did it to me all the time, before they taught me Italian. Now they just talk about me where I can hear it.

Kylian sat down and relaxed back in the booth, crossing his arms. “Does you brother or perhaps your uncle know you intend to get revenge on the driver responsible for the accident?”

“No, and I won’t let them find out either.” I hissed my words, sounding like a threat, and Kylian clearly took it that way too. He didn’t hide the smirk on his face that edged me further into danger.

“Your cute. You threaten me, but you’ve killed like what, one or two people? You’re like a kitten, Nikki.” He said and gave me that damn smile again.

“Careful Kylian. Nikki has quite the reputation.” Vito muttered in Italian as he set his jacket down over the side of the booth, before walking away.

Kylian responded just by lifting his glass of pop and tilting it before taking a drink, and setting it back on the table, his eyes like liquid sapphires searching deeply in me for something.