Grace Perne is a hard-working young woman with a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. Brought up by her father, a doctor, after the tragic death of her mother, she is determined to do good in the world.
Alexei Ivanov is determined to escape the...
"SHIT!" I CURSED IMMEDIATELY as I took a startled step back. The man I'd collided with was dressed in a pristine suit. He wore a red tie, like the other waiters, but his suit jacket and expensively gelled haircut suggested his position was somewhat higher. "I'm so sorry," I blurted quickly, taking in his expression of mild surprise. "I'm so clumsy."
He studied me for a moment longer and then his eyes seemed to widen as if he suddenly understood something. "It was my fault," he assured me. His accent was heavy yet smooth—so refined sounding that there was almost something uneasy about it. He took my hand in his, "and you are?"
"Um, Grace."
He quickly kissed my hand and then released it. "Grace," he repeated, nodding slightly. "Surely you are not so clumsy with a name like that."
At this point my discomfort was growing by the second. I glanced over to my dad who was still nursing his glass of wine happily. I wanted to get out of here. "You'd be surprised," I muttered. "I'm a klutz."
A smirk curled the man's lip. "Irrespective, this was my fault. Consider your bill taken care of."
"You don't have to do that," I said.
"I know. But I'm going to."
"That's very kind." Now desperate to escape, I attempted to walk around the man but his hand shot out to grab my forearm. His touch didn't hurt but it wasn't as light as I expected making me glance down uneasily. His skin was rich and tanned compared to my own ivory tone.
His dark eyes stared back into mine as he said, "my name is Luca. Do come back again, Grace." Luca's hand fell from my arm at last. "I'll look forward to seeing you."
I rushed back over to my dad feeling my face burning red. But it wasn't just embarrassment that spurred me on; a cold sense of dread had knotted in my heart the moment I set eyes on Luca. There was something about him I didn't like—a strange feeling I couldn't shake that almost seemed like the blood in my veins had turned to ice.
I wheeled dad out of the restaurant and didn't even hear his complaints.
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Alexei | Grace
"Boss."
I glanced up from the paperwork at my desk and found Sergei standing in the doorway. "Is it important?"
Sergei let out a short breath that made his shoulders fall a fraction. I knew him well enough to know that meant yes. "It's Grace."
"What about her?" I kept the tension out of my voice despite the fact that it clenched inside me the second I heard her name.
