While Christian usually regarded me with indifference or even distaste in public since the moment I’d met him, tonight, his stare couldn’t feel further from either.

Our gazes had caught more than once from across the club, but his remained even after I looked away. The heat of it burned through my skin like fire. His girlfriend stood by his side for goodness’ sake, yet every time he looked at me, he might as well have announced to the room we’d had unprotected, adulterous sex.

I’d been so sure that was something he wouldn’t tell a single soul, considering he’d always looked down on me like I was beneath him while parading one of his perfect blondes around. Regardless, I couldn’t afford to let anyone know we’d been together—Dick knowing was bad enough—because it would take little to deduce it had happened when I was married. And, dammit, that sin should stay between me and the Lord.

He was playing a game.

And I didn’t want to play.

So, I did what anyone would do: I refused to engage him and, instead, feigned complete enrapturement in my date. But it was all a facade. The minute Christian stepped in the room, I couldn’t focus on anything besides where he stood. The fact he had a hand on Aleksandra’s waist. The way it made my blood heat with something itchy and frustrating.

Valentina was hogging his date’s attention, fawning over her in a way that made me slightly nauseous. Had he slept with her? Did he kiss her? I looked into my drink with a frown, wondering what cocktail Val had brought me. Someone had been too heavy-handed with the bitters.

I was feeling a little salty when Val dragged me over to meet Aleksandra, so, naturally, in the act of balancing my attitude, my voice ended up an octave too sweet when I told the model she and Christian made a lovely couple.

I saw his gaze narrow out of the corner of my eye.

“Well, thank you,” she purred in a feminine Russian accent. “I must confess, you have the loveliest dress in the room.”

“I’m flattered you think so, though I’m sure some people would say otherwise.” I had the urge to flutter my eyelashes at Christian, but instead, chose to pretend he didn’t exist.

I didn’t even have to look at him to know he didn’t like it. He was twisting his watch on his wrist, once, twice, three times.

“Some people don’t know what they’re talking about. Your necklace—” She stepped closer to lift it to the light. “Isn’t it just . . . picturesque, Christian?”

“Indeed,” he said dryly.

“Where did you get it?” She blinked at me in a curious way, but there was something sharp like claws behind her eyes.

I tugged it from her grasp with a sugary smile. “Oh, just a little vintage shop in Rome. My first husband bought it for me.” I drew my finger down the charm like it was something special to me. In reality, I’d almost put it in my Salvation Army donation last month.

“How sweet,” she cooed. “First husbands are always so sentimental.”

“Oh? Have you had one?” I tilted my head.

Valentina watched the scene with fascination.

“Oh, no. I can just imagine—first lovers, first husbands. It’s the same thing, no?”

“I wouldn’t know. Unfortunately, mine were both the same.”

“Shame.” She pouted. “I guess I shall have to let you know.” I watched her fingers wrap around Christian’s arm.

“That would be incredibly enlightening.” I tossed back my drink and crunched an ice cube with more gusto than necessary.

“Okay,” Val drawled. “Gianna, why don’t we freshen up our drinks?”

We said our sickly-sweet goodbyes, and I managed to avoid Christian’s gaze, even though I could feel it on me like a rash.

“That was . . . wow,” Valentina said as we reached the bar.

“She’s nice.”

Val laughed. “You’re so out of touch with reality.”

“I need a drink. And this time, hold the bitters,” I told her.

“Honey, that’s a Moscow Mule. There isn’t any bitters.”

“Well, something’s bitter.”

“Yes, something is.” She eyed me meaningfully and then tossed back a shot that was placed in front of her. I followed suit and enjoyed the burn in my throat. I hadn’t planned to drink tonight, but I also hadn’t expected to feel inadequate in Aleksandra’s leggy, six-foot-tall shadow.

“Let’s dance,” I announced.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the dance floor. We found a spot in the crowd and moved with the bodies, pressing our backs together and rolling our hips. Maybe it was due to my lack of modesty, or maybe it was for pure attention, but I loved to dance with an audience. And right now, there were a lot of male eyes pointed in our direction. Each one lit a spark inside me, slowing, sensualizing, each roll of my hips, the glide of my hands in my hair.

The fact I wouldn’t let myself look at Christian made the touch of his gaze more intense. Each one sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. Set a fire in my blood as a drop of sweat dripped down my back.

Out of breath, we reached the men at our table and fell into our seats.

Van moved in to whisper in my ear, his voice deep and raw, “Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?”

I leaned away shyly, a stupid blush rising to my cheeks. “Yes.”

He laughed at my bold response.

My gaze flicked up and caught on Christian. He leaned against the bar, with Aleksandra and Elena in conversation beside him. He wasn’t looking at me. His gaze was directed at Van, and it was dark enough I could feel the coldness on my skin. He took a sip from his glass, his expression filling with something volatile and conflicted before he looked away.

Uncertainty ran through me.

If he ruined another relationship for me, I’d scream.

We talked for an hour until I felt Mother Nature’s call. I weaved through the crowd and walked upstairs, past the bouncer Ronny who nodded at me, toward the bathrooms on the VIP floor. They were always less busy than the ones downstairs.

I pushed the door open and almost turned straight back around to brave the bathroom line downstairs, because Aleksandra stood at the sink washing her hands. Her cat-eyed gaze flicked to me, and I couldn’t back out now. I used the restroom, and when I exited the stall, she was still at the mirror, applying lipstick.

We stood side-by-side at the sink.

She brushed some powder on her cheeks. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in that dress.”

The truth always comes out in the bathroom, doesn’t it?

I reached into my bra for my lip gloss. “Confidence comes with time. I’m sure you’ll get there someday.”

She was unfazed. “You vant him.”

I sighed. We were actually going there.

“I had him. I don’t care for a repeat.”

“You lie.”

I applied a liberal coat of lip gloss. “You have nothing to worry about. Christian and I will never be a thing.”

“Now, that I believe. You are not what he needs.”

I felt an odd pang in my chest.

I raised a brow. “You know him so well?”

“He is not so complicated. He likes his privacy and his things the way he likes them. I won’t demand more from him, and neither will he from me.”