His gaze snapped to Edwina.“What?”
“Are they a couple?”
“No!”Mikhail blurted.“What made you think that?”
“They’re always together.”
“I spend time with them, but you didn’t assume that about me.”
“No, you’re my husband, and your working parts don’t seem to have a problem with mine,” Edwina said sweetly.
Mikhail spluttered, and she broke out in a chortle.Ah!She’d been teasing him.“Our fathers were friends, so we spent time together as kids.Our friendship started then.Have a croissant.”
“I’ve already had one,” Edwina said.“I’m not exercising much and need to watch what I eat.”
“You can use the gym in the basement.Ivan, Gregory, and I use it when we have time and can’t go for a run in our feline forms.”
“Are you certain your enemies don’t know you’re feline shifters?”
Mikhail frowned.His grandfather didn’t since Mikhail’s father hadn’t trusted him with the sensitive information about his wife.Smirnoff would’ve used her and Mikhail to his advantage if he’d learned the truth.No, this was one secret best kept close.“I don’t think so.”
“An added weapon in this battle,” Edwina said.
The door opened, and Ivan and Gregory strode inside.The housekeeper bustled in with platters of bacon and eggs, and the two men took seats and started eating.
“It’s like watching feeding time at the zoo,” Edwina said, wide-eyed.
Mikhail spluttered, and his men froze.They stared at Mikhail before shifting their attention to her.
“What?”she asked.
“He’s laughing,” Gregory said, his face still slack with puzzlement.
Mikhail blinked, his cute version of a wink.“Wait until I tell them the plan we’ve devised.”
“We?”Ivan asked, his brow furrowed.
As one, the two men stared holes in her.
“At the risk of sounding like an echo—what?Why are you staring at me?”
Mikhail chuckled and stabbed his fork into a bacon rasher.
The men’s eyes goggled even more.
Edwina snorted and picked up a slice of toast.“Men are a mystery to me.The more I learn, the less I understand.”
“I’m an open book,” Mikhail said.
Ivan’s and Gregory’s gazes pinged back and forth like they were watching a tennis match.
Mikhail’s blue eyes gleamed, and Edwina hid satisfaction.He wasn’t the same severe and determined feline she’d met in Scotland mere days ago.He’d relaxed and appeared happy.
Edwina tested her emotions and discovered her anger had dispersed.Oh, she’d still rip into her grandmother when she saw her because she was not a chess piece for the matriarch to shift around her personal game board.Her grandmother was not the boss of her, even though she might’ve fluked into finding a shifter male who fitted Edwina perfectly.
Edwina popped bacon into her mouth and enjoyed the salt and crispy meat hit.Nothing better than perfectly cooked bacon.Mikhail had an excellent housekeeper, and Edwina appreciated her expertise.
Mikhail placed his knife and fork on his plate.“This is the plan Edwina and I discussed,” he said, filling in Ivan and Gregory.
