“No, it bled, but it’s fine now,” Mikhail said.“You avoid me unless your father is present.Why are you here?To stick a knife into my ribs?”
“We should talk.”
“About whether I complained to your father?”
She winced.“I could be an asset to you.I’m well-versed in the workings of a business.”
Mikhail folded his arms and leaned one hip against the wall.“How?Konstantine claims women can’t handle finances and staff.He says they’re more enamored with fashion and nail polish colors.How have you learned to run a business?In fact, how do I know you’re not talking bullshit?”
“You don’t, but those shopping trips I take aren’t for gown procurement.I run a boutique and have done so since I was eighteen and bored with the social round.”
“How do your father and the rest of your family not know this?Why are you trusting me with your secret?”
She bit her lip before releasing it and lifting her chin.“I’m hoping you’ll help me.”
“How?”And more to the point, why should he?
“I get the impression you don’t want to be here.”
“You’re my wife.Where else would I be?”Perhaps if he played dumb, she’d drop information.So far, everyone had acted cautiously when speaking around him.They treated him as if he had an infectious disease.
“We could work together.I want to learn the ins and outs of Papa’s business.Despite what he says, I can handle the job.I might not have the right equipment between my legs, but my brain is excellent.”Her hands fisted in her lap.“I can do this.”
Mikhail stared at her impassioned expression and believed her.Most men would envy him.He had a beautiful wife and the ear of a man spoken of in fear and awe.This man was handing him the keys to his power and great wealth.While the business strategies fascinated him, Mikhail despised Konstantine’s treatment of his employees, and the illegal sectors filled him with disgust.He’d witnessed the damage drugs inflicted on people and their families, society.
“You’ve told me you can do the job, but you haven’t given me a reason to help you.At the risk of repeating myself, you and your brother sneaked into my bedroom and tried to kill me.Both of you.My question—why the hell should I trust you?”
“You’re married to me,” she said, slightly defensive.
“Ah, but you don’t want me, and you’d be happy if I told Konstantine I wanted a divorce.Not that it would make a difference.He wants our marriage.”
“What about you?What do you want?”
The woman with green eyes stalked through his mind, and his heart squeezed tight.He reacted more to his mystery woman than his wife.“When did we wed?”
Her expression turned inscrutable, and his bullshit antenna pinged an alert.
“What would your father do if I told him I didn’t want you?”
She cocked an eyebrow.“Ah, but I’m the perk you receive for agreeing to run his business after he dies.I’m part of the package.”
“Do you love your father?”
“He’s my father.”
“That’s not an answer.I know you don’t respect him.”
“Why should I?Respect needs to be earned.”
He’d irked her, yet he felt no guilt.He didn’t like her.Didn’t trust her.“I’ll think about it,” he said.
She froze.“You will?”
“Yes, on the condition you don’t try to kill me again.”
She bounded to her feet, her pretty face ablaze with excitement.She headed toward him, intending to hug him.He sidestepped to avoid her embrace, every part of him seizing at the idea of physical contact with her.
She pulled up short, her brows rising.“Do I disgust you?”
