Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Our dance teacher and Albert were already there and caught up in a conversation. Leo sank down on the bench in the hallway, right in front of the door to the studio as he’d done the last few times. By now, everyone had grown used to him being there, and I didn’t feel like an alien among them anymore.
Albert smiled when he spotted me and waved me over to him and Natalya. “Natalya and I think we should try a lifting figure today. You are a natural, and it would be amazing.”
My eyes grew wide with surprise. In the past, lifts had always been my favorite, giving me a sense of freedom.
“What do you think?” Natalya asked, pushing one hand into her waist, her fingers tapping against her belly.
Usually, I would have said no. A lift always meant more closeness than other dance figures, and I had a feeling Samuel wouldn’t like that, considering his jealous reactions before. For a Made Man, jealousy was a matter of outward appearances and showing their dominance, not love. But Albert was so obviously not interested in me and women in general that I doubted even the most possessive man would find fault in a lifting figure. “Uhhh. We could try.”
“Wonderful!” Albert touched my shoulder, looking giddy like a child. I stifled a smile at his excitement. It was obvious that ballet was his absolute passion. The other dancers filed in, greeting me with honest smiles. I was so glad that I had found a place among them despite my notorious background.
Natalya clapped her hands. “Time to begin. Today, we’re working on a few new moves.”
After a warm-up, Natalya explained to everyone what she expected of them. I was nervous about our lift as it required me to push halfway out of my wheelchair in a fluid motion so Albert could pick me up, then raise me and twirl me around.
The first take went completely wrong. I pushed up too quickly, and Albert couldn’t grab my waist properly, so I plopped back into the wheelchair with enough force to make it shake violently.
Leo rose from the bench, but I quickly shook my head. Even if I fell, that was part of the process. I didn’t want him to intervene and remind my fellow dancers of my otherness.
“I’m sorry,” Albert spluttered, his face turning red under my bodyguard’s foreboding scrutiny. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
In the mafia world, I was different because of my wheelchair. Here, among fellow dancers with disabilities, I was different because of my background. I simply wanted to belong. Danilo had made me feel that way in the past, and on occasion, when I managed to break through Samuel’s cold shield, especially when we were intimate, he made me feel that way too. But now that he was building another barrier between us because he wanted to hide his alcohol consumption from me, I feared growing closer emotionally was a fight against windmills.
“Ready to try again?” Natalya asked.
I nodded. The timing was better this time, and Albert lifted me out of my wheelchair. I raised my arms over my head and tried to tense my legs as much as I could so my feet were pointy. Most lifting figures required tension in your legs and feet, so we had to modify them to work with my body’s abilities. Albert, too, couldn’t keep me up as long because of his stiff leg.
I grinned when Albert put me down in my wheelchair again. We tried the figure a few more times before we were confident enough to add it to our dance routine.
After our first completed routine, I couldn’t stop smiling, even as I felt out of breath. My body had to grow used to this level of exertion again, but I could already tell it was improving my overall posture.
“Oh,” Albert gasped at the same time as a hush fell over my fellow dancers. I followed their gazes toward the door, and my eyes grew wide in surprise. Samuel stood in the doorway.
“Dammit. I’ve never been into bad boys, but your husband could change my mind,” Albert whispered under his breath.
I couldn’t stop the laugh from bursting out of me.
Samuel’s intent, cool gaze slid from Albert to me. Albert sobered and quickly excused himself, putting some distance between us.
Natalya touched my shoulder. “I suppose you have to leave now.”
I nodded. I hadn’t known that Samuel would pick me up, but I could tell he wanted me to come with him.
“I hope to one day find someone who looks at me the way he looked at you while you danced,” Natalya said. “That kind of adoration is rare.”
I frowned. I wasn’t sure what she saw, but knowing Samuel, I simply couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to feel that kind of emotion in public.
I moved over to him. “I didn’t know you were coming,” I said with a small smile.