The Platinum Collection: A Convenient Proposal. Maisey Yates

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СКАЧАТЬ looked across the ballroom and saw him standing next to a table with a tray of champagne positioned on it, looking out of place.

      There he was, the Dmitri she knew. He looked too large for the space, too wild. And that was precisely what drew her to him.

      She started to cross the room and he looked up, meeting her eyes. He schooled his expression into one of perfect civility and leaned back against the wall, waiting for her to come to him, his movements fluid like a panther. Or more terrifying, like a banker. When she made her way to where he was, he didn’t speak, instead taking her hand in his and lowering his head to kiss her knuckles.

      She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself from focusing too intently on the press of his lips against her skin. On what it had felt like to have his lips touch her other places. She cleared her throat. “Who are you? And what have you done with Dmitri?”

      He released her hand. “Are you not pleased?”

      “I’m pleased. You look every inch the suave sophisticate. How can I not be pleased?”

      “You do not seem pleased.”

      She lifted her shoulder. “I’m possibly a little bit confused. You seem different.”

      “Because I’m not shirtless and dripping with sweat?”

      She swallowed hard. “Perhaps. Perhaps it is that.” It was, partly. Because the wilder parts of him were so well concealed right now, and she rather admired those parts.

      Not because they matched her in any way, but because they so weren’t her. Because they were so far from her reality. They were like everything good and lush. Refreshing in a dry wasteland of parties, crystalline conversation and self-denial, of which she had grown exceedingly weary.

      Just then she felt very tired. Tired of being good. Tired of the long road to atonement. Tired of being afraid.

      Tired, quite frankly, of being a virgin.

      She would do anything right at this moment to go back to the moment on the balcony when his hand had skimmed over her curves and she had felt nothing but desire. When she had felt no guilt, no trepidation, nothing but need. When the voices in her head had been completely blocked out in favor of the heat that was coursing through her body.

      And her mind was back on the cuff that was in the cloakroom in her bag.

      No.

      “So—” she snagged a glass of champagne from the nearby tray “—how do you find the party so far?”

      “It is going well. I’m not particularly looking forward to giving my speech, but I feel prepared.”

      “You are prepared.” Much more prepared than she had imagined he could be for something like this.

      “And you look surprised.”

      “I am, perhaps, a little bit surprised.”

      “Don’t be—this was your idea.”

      She looked away from him. “I suppose my surprise comes from the fact that you listened to me.”

      “Well, I did enlist your services. And your hand.”

      She lifted her hand, causing the yellow diamond on her finger, which she was starting to like, to glisten in the light. “More like I enlisted yours,” she said.

      “But I agreed that you could be of use.”

      “Oh. That’s nice. I’m of use,” she said, lowering her hand.

      “Not exactly the use I’m hoping for yet.”

      “Stop,” she said, ignoring the flush of pleasure that went through her. She should be angry at him. She should not find him sexy.

      The music stopped playing, and the emcee running the event went to the front of the room and started doing an introduction for Dmitri.

      For some reason her stomach went tight. It wasn’t possible she was nervous for him, was it?

      No, not that. She was nervous because she needed it to go well. Because he needed to say the right thing, or else all of this would be pointless. She was here to help him, and she really did want this to succeed. She didn’t like failing, even when the cause wasn’t hers.

      Dmitri downed the rest of his champagne quickly, then set the glass down on the table next to them. Unthinkingly, she reached up and straightened his tie, her fingertips brushing his skin just above his shirt collar, sending lightning shooting through her. She cleared her throat. “You’ll do fine.”

      A smile curved his lips, and yet she could see that he was strained. “Of course I will. I win every fight I step into.”

      He walked away from her toward the front of the room, taking his position on the stage. And then he began to speak.

      “I would like to thank you all for coming here tonight. I would like to thank most especially my beautiful fiancée, Victoria Calder, for arranging such a civilized event. If left to my own devices you would all be eating cocktail weenies from a buffet.” That line elicited laughter from the audience. “I am not known for my sophistication and manners—that much is true. What I am best known for is my fighting. Times have changed for me—my life has changed. But what has not changed is the foundation I was built on. Things that I learned under the mentorship of Colvin Davis. A native of New Orleans, Colvin came to London to change his fortune, then he traveled to Russia looking for champion fighters and found...me. A disappointment, I would think. But he saw my potential. What happened after that changed life for both of us.” He shifted his position at the podium, and Victoria held her breath, willing him to keep talking. To keep going. To keep fighting. She could see his discomfort, but she imagined the audience didn’t. He had a good mask. But she knew him well enough to see beyond it. When had that happened? And why?

      He continued. “The values he instilled in me were the values that enabled me to become not only an award-winning fighter, but a successful businessman. He gave me control when I had none. He helped me manage my anger when anger was all I had. He gave me life when before all I had was survival. This is what I want to offer the children who come to the gyms I hope to establish with this charity. A place with mentors, a place for them to learn patience. To learn to protect themselves. And the values to know when to use it. An important part of martial arts is the control you learn along with it, and it is that control that changed my life. I hope you will allow me to pass this on to others. I hope you will allow me to change life for these children the way it was changed for me. I hope you will be moved to give generously.”

      It was completely silent in the room, not even the sound of clinking cutlery on plates breaking the reverie that had settled over them. “I know my reputation has not always been exemplary. I have enjoyed my fame, my money. Coming from poverty, having access to so many new things...it turned my head. But Colvin brought me from the darkness, and without him I would not be here standing before you. And without Victoria Calder I would not be here tonight.” He gestured toward her and all eyes were now on her. She smiled, easily, never finding it a challenge to play to a crowd. And yet, this felt different. This was affecting something in her chest, making her feel things. For him. And she would use it now. Use it to make this look real. He was lying now, giving her credit where none was due, and he was doing it to lend validity to a charity СКАЧАТЬ