Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (55 page)

A glass of wine and a large
bowl of fettuccine alfredo later, and she was back in the limo and on
her way to the club. It was nearly two o'clock by the time she left
the hotel, and she had never been more grateful for a time
difference. It had allowed her a gloriously long shower, several
cups of coffee, a quick conversation with Angel, and wonderful lunch.
It had only taken fifteen minutes to get to the place, but the line
of cars waiting to get into the lot had added another twenty minutes
to the total time. Morgan had insisted that she could just walk to
the front doors, but the driver said that he was given specific
instructions to see her inside and he couldn't do that if he were
stuck in traffic. Reluctantly, she sat through the wait and was
finally escorted by the driver to the inside of Fire Tavern.

“Well, this is definitely
the place.” She had known before they even arrived by the
route that they took to get there. Everything looked familiar and
the large restaurant/club came into view as expected. She prayed for
a drama free night, but the memory of Alrik and Felix saying that it
was their favorite place kept pecking at her mind as she walked
through the crowd to meet Vlad.

Chapter Nine

“
Morgan, we're over here!”
Just as the girl was about to turn around and make another circle of
the building, she heard her client's voice ring out above the others
around her. He and his group were sitting in the corner, a
half-circle booth. The same booth that she, Felix and Alik had
shared.
Of all seats in the whole restaurant!
Morgan exchanged
a wide smile with the man and made her way over to them. Each of the
five men greeted her warmly, Ivan even stood to give her a big hug
that lifted her off of the ground.

“Fuckin' Eee Von!”
They all laughed at her horrible pronunciation of his name and the
continued joke of cursing and Morgan slid into the narrow spot beside
her client.

“This place is great,
yes?” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her
closer. She felt like a fire hydrant in a group of dogs and Vlad had
just marked his territory. It made her feel good that he didn't mind
showing his moves.

“Uh, yeah. This place is
really nice. I like the lights...”
The lights?
She
smiled nervously and tried to think of something better to say, but
he helped her.

“Yes, the lighting is
very nice,” he told her, then asked if she'd like anything to
drink. She shook her head, then reconsidered.

“Yes, I think I do. I'll
go up with you,” she answered, then scooted to the edge of the
booth and waited for him to stand. Vlad took her hand in his and the
two began pushing through the crowd toward the bar. She settled on a
beer since their wine selection wasn't that great and he got one too.
He also got one for each of the men at the table and Morgan helped
him carry them back. As they walked through the club, her eyes darted
to every corner of the place, just in case. If Felix or Alrik were to
be there, she at least wanted to see them first so she could...
what?
Hide?
....she sighed quietly, knowing there would be no way out of
it if if happened.

An hour passed and the men all
got up from the table, disappearing like they had in Moscow. At least
that time, she knew why they left and while they made their final
adjustments backstage, Morgan made her way to the front of the stage
so she could get the best view of her Russian spy.

When they finally came on
stage, twenty minutes later, the crowd exploded in cheers. He'd
obviously been there before as many people seemed to recognize the
band. There was also triple the amount of people in the restaurant
than there had been the last time she'd been there. Morgan jumped
right in and lifted her beer in the air, followed by a loud series of
whistles. Vlad's smiling face looked down at her and for a moment,
she felt like she was the only person in the whole building...and
that was before his next move.

As the other four men began
playing a tune, Vlad got his guitar in place, then produced a rose
from behind his back. His smile grew wide and he walked forward on
the stage, right to Morgan. The girl's heart raced and her own smile
brought a soreness to her cheeks. The Russian got down on one knee at
the front of the stage and held the long red rose out for the girl.

“Vlad...” she had
no idea what to say. Morgan reached up and took the rose, then
brought it to her nose in an attempt to hide her cheesy grin. When
the crowd erupted in applause and cheers again, Morgan held the rose
in the air and the people cheered even louder. Vlad kept the smile on
his face as he stepped backward on the stage, back to the microphone.
She turned back to face the stage, and just as the first song began,
a voice spoke to her from behind.

“I told you he was
entertaining!”

“Julianne! Oh my God!
Wh...why are you? OH!” Morgan looked around quickly for any
sign of the other two men, at least one of them had to be around. She
also giggled at her boss, who'd obviously traveled back to Sweden
with Felix. “I take it you didn't need the adjoining room,
then?”

“Morgan!
That
is
not your business,” a drunk Julianne said as she pointed her
wine glass at Morgan, spilling half of it on the floor.

“Mhmm...” Morgan
crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

“But I'll have you
know...” Julianne leaned in closer and in what she thought was
a whisper, she continued, “no, we didn't use the adjoining
room.” Morgan laughed again at her behavior. She was in love.
Purely, blissfully, in love. Julianne took the rose from Morgan's
hand and pushed through a couple in the front row so she could stand
next to her girl. “He's a barrel of sexy, isn't he?”

Morgan didn't know if she was
talking about Vlad or Felix, but to appease her boss, Morgan nodded
and smiled. Julianne was swaying slightly and it wasn't because she
was dancing to the music. Morgan figured she'd better find her table
before she passed out.

“Where's your table?”

Julianne snapped around on her
heels, then laughed and did it again. “I don't knoooow.
Somewhere over.......there.” When she pointed to
there,
it
covered the whole length of the restaurant. Morgan shook her head
again, looked at Vlad and flashed a quick smile, then grabbed
Julianne's hand.

“Is Felix here?”

“Uhmmmmm.....yes!”

“Julianne, where is he?”
Morgan turned around in time to see Julianne try to grab a shot from
a tray a server was walking around with. “You don't need that,”
she took the brown liquor from her hand and set it back. “Where's
Felix?”

Julianne looked around the room
and squinted her eyes, then pointed to the corner of the club. It was
the diagonal corner from where Morgan had been sitting earlier and
she kicked herself for not thinking about the corners earlier. Of
course, if his corner was taken, he would have picked another one.
The young woman kept dragging Julianne through until she finally came
to a clearing, and there he was.

“Felix!” Morgan
yelled. She walked Julianne over to the booth and helped her sit,
then met the older man a few feet away from the table. They exchanged
a quick hug, then in a low voice, Morgan asked, “how could you
let her get so drunk?” Her voice was light-hearted, and she
smiled at the handsome man.

The answer was more than clear,
Felix just giggled and pulled Julianne close to him, all the way
across the booth. They both laughed as the woman slid nearly three
feet on her ass across the seat. Morgan folded her arms over her
chest and huffed at the crazy couple. “You're both hammered.”
She had to laugh at the hopeless couple as their celebration of a
love reunited had taken its toll on the pair. “Felix, did
someone drive you two here?” She hoped he had a driver
outside, or at least one that would pick them up later. He shook his
head slowly and smiled.

“No, I brought my lady
here and I'll take her home.” His proud announcement left
Morgan weak in the knees.

She nodded as she looked
between the two, knowing that something had to be done.
Not a
chance in hell I'm letting you drive buddy.
She thought of the
options of how she would get them home safely, and suggested a few to
Felix. “I'll call you a cab when you're ready to go.”
He shot that one down because he wouldn't leave his car in the lot
overnight. “Alright, I'll see if my date can drop you off. He
has friends here so one of them can drive your car.” Once
again, he said no. He didn't want a stranger to drive his car.
Right then, Morgan realized that reasoning with a drunk person wasn't
going to work, no matter what she suggested.
Shit! I can't do
this alone. I need...someone that he trusts..I need..shit! I can't
call him, I can't have him here. Shit! Shit!

Alrik was her only hope in
getting Felix and Julianne back safely, but her fears over the last
few days were getting the best of her.
Damnit! Alright,
Morgan..grow up! Just do it!
“I'll be right back.”
She forced a smile at the couple who were cuddling in the corner,
and walked to the front doors, then outside. “You were right,
Fin. Maturity sucks sometimes.”

She pulled her phone from the
back pocket of her denim skirt, and looked through her contacts.
Alrik was near the top, and she quickly pressed the button before she
lost her nerve. The man answered it on the second ring. “Hello,
Morgan! How are ya?” His gentle voice soothed her nerves
quite a bit, but she knew it would only be temporary.

“Alrik, hi. Uh..I have a
little problem that I hope you can help with. I'm at the Fire Tavern
and Felix is here with Julianne...uh..Rose. Anyway, they're drunk as
hell and he won't let me call a cab or give him a ride. Can you
help?” Alrik's rich laughter came across loudly and she held
the phone away until he was finished.

“I'll be there shortly.
Thanks for looking out for him, Morgan. See you soon.” He hung
up before she could thank him, but she felt much better knowing that
Julianne and Felix would be alright.

“I hope the rest of the
night is that easy.” She tucked the phone back into her
pocket, and made her way through the crowd and stood back in front of
the stage. Vlad looked right at her, and smiled once again at his
beautiful date. For the next twenty minutes, Morgan kept an eye
behind her to make sure that the drunk couple were still planted in
their seats, and the rest of the time she enjoyed the band. She
especially loved the fact that most of the songs were in English. He
was amazingly talented, and she planned to tell him as much as soon
as he took a break.

Their first set was over and
the band left the stage. Vlad took Morgan's arm and started to lead
her to the table, all the while she smiled and praised him for a
great show. “Seriously, I can't believe how easily you go from
one language to the next, you're amazing! I think that..”

“Morgan?” She
stopped talking, stopped walking, and stopped breathing. Morgan
turned around to see the man that she had hoped would just find Felix
and Julianne, and see them home.

“Uh, Alrik. Hi.”
Her eyes moved quickly between Alrik and Vlad, both of them smiling
at her and obviously waiting for an introduction. “Vlad, this
is Alrik, Alrik, Vlad.” The men shook hands and casually spoke
for a few moments.

“It seems my uncle and
his date are enjoying their drink tonight, Morgan was kind enough to
ring me so I could help them.” Vlad nodded and looked to
Morgan. He appreciated how kind hearted the girl was, and squeezed
her hand slightly. “It's a good thing that we met.”
Morgan's heart almost jumped from her chest, here it comes...Alrik
was about to make Vlad uncomfortable by announcing that she was his..
“My uncle is dating her boss, and we met months ago. Morgan,
thanks again for letting me know, I'll see them home safely. It was
nice meeting you, Vlad.” The men shook hands again and Morgan
was almost speechless. She did manage another 'thank you' to the
man, and gave him a quick kiss to the cheek before he walked away.

He didn't tell him. Wow.
He's a... gentleman. A real gentleman.
She was happy, ecstatic
even, and she let go of Vlad's hand and wrapped her arm around his
waist as they walked to their table.

Morgan and the band enjoyed
another beer as they relaxed between sets, and she also enjoyed the
feel of Vlad's hard leg beside hers. He too enjoyed the feeling, as
was slightly evident when she looked down. He caught her sneaking a
peek, and just smiled at her forward behavior. “A few more
hours, and we'll be alone.” Those were the words that he
whispered in her ear before going back to the stage.

As she listened to the band and
scanned the crowd, Morgan's mind drifted to the last uncomfortable
situation she had with clients. That, was on her birthday. Kole
couldn't take the discomfort, and he lashed out at her while the
other men acted reasonably. Without warning, she was finally angry
at the Hawaiian for how he acted, and what he said about her.
Screw
you, Kole. You owe me an apology and I'll be damned if I talk to you
until I get one.
She had finally taken one more step that night
on her continuous road in adulthood, she needed to stop accepting
blame for what other people do, and Kole would be first in line in
that discovery. She didn't hate the man, and she didn't want to lose
his friendship, but it felt good to finally see a clear line of what
is and what is not acceptable, and what he did certainly crossed that
line.