I would have said; My 20th birthday celebration is the most boring one I've ever had. I had no friends to celebrate with, just strangers that were mostly there for the food and drinks and to have a talk with my father.

But it wasn't so boring….I could stare at Dimitri under the pretense of watching him closely.

The man is gorgeous.

Sexy.

Hot.

Tall.

Muscular.

Deep voice.

Strange eyes.

Dangerous.

Brown ruffled hair that dropped to his eyes.

Exactly what girls love and I'm just a girl.

Once in a while, he'd look over at my direction and I had to pretend I wasn't just drooling over him a second ago.

If he's smart he's gotta know. It's soo obvious!

Get it together girl!

Enough of this, I have to go look for Uncle Viktor and father. They put together this awful celebration so they must bear the burden of boredom with me. And I knew exactly where to find them — father's lair.

Okay, it's just his private office but I called it a lair growing up and it just stuck. There were enough dangerous weapons hidden there to arm an army of dozens and I found the stash years ago, but father doesn't know so it's our little secret. I wasn't allowed in there, infact no one was, unless father invited you in himself. The room was always locked and father carried the key around with him. On that fateful day, I stole the key and made my huge discovery.

I realized that the door was closed halfway…they must have been in a hurry and forgot to shut it completely.

I peeped inside, father was pacing back and forth and uncle looked tense too.

They must be discussing something really important, I guessed. Best to leave them alone.

I turned to leave and that curious voice within me stopped me.

It won't hurt to eavesdrop for a bit right?

Right.

I leaned in, placing an ear towards the door, my hands on the wall for support.

“Just think about the offer,” uncle said in hushed tones.

“How can you say that Viktor? That is ridiculous!” Father's tone was sharp.

“You should have followed my advice years back. If you did, we wouldn't be in this situation now.”

Father was quiet for a while. “I didn't think it would come to this. I thought they'd be one of those small insignificant groups that springs up every now and then and wouldn't have any option later than to succumb to me.”

“That is where you made a mistake, they've become very powerful. You should have ended them when you had the chance.”

Father grunted. “They can't do anything.”

“But they can. They've expanded even beyond the country and other continents. I told you,” uncle took a sharp breath. “I told you to do so but you never listen!”

Uncle sounded very angry and it was unusual of him.

Father's voice was calm. “So you're telling me to succumb to their ridiculous proposal?”

“For now, make them feel at ease then you strike! Remember Roman, two kings cannot rule the same kingdom.”

I heard a loud bang on the table, then my father's voice was loud. “I am the king! This country belongs to me!”

“So, what are you going to do?”

I backed away from the door, this was clearly adults business and it's best that I don't know about it. The ways of the underworld would always be strange to me. If I could, I wouldn't want to get too involved.

I went back to the party. Time to make out the best of this stupid boring party.

I went to the bar and poured myself a shot of strong vodka. It burned my throat for a while but it felt great so I poured another one.

I was in my fourth glass when Dimitri approached me, his strange eyes scanned me through.

“I don't think it's wise to get drunk on a day like this.”

Who do you think you are? My father?

“I can handle my alcohol,” I never said what I was actually thinking.

“I bet you can,” he gave a half smile. “Still take it easy though.”

There's no way I'm listening to this guy, he's going to think he has some egotistical male control over me.

I gulped the fourth glass, poured myself another shot and gulped it down again. I was about to pour myself another shot but his cold hands stopped me.

“Irina—stop.”

“I like the way you say my name. Say it again.”

“Irina.”

Say it again, I wanted to tell him. Say nothing else but my name all night and make me a happy woman.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

I blinked. “Like what?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Let's go get you water to drink.”

Before I could protest, he dragged me out of the chair, led me through the crowd and into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and handed me a bottle of water. I didn't argue, I opened and gulped everything…he didn't say anything too, he just watched me as I drank. When I was done, he took my hands again and led me back to the party arena.

I enjoyed this so much, him taking care of me…heavenly feeling. I didn't say anything because I was scared that if I said one word, he'd let go of my hand and I didn't want that.

“Do you want to dance?” he asked.

My heart did a downward leap and I swallowed hard. Before I could scream yes, I heard noises and a group of men barged in through the door.

No, it didn't look like a group of men.

With the formation, it was obviously two men accompanied by bodyguards.

A young man and an older one.

The older one recognized me in the crowd and threw his hands in the air.

“Happy birthday, Miss Irina!”