Konstantin asked, his question as pointed as a rifle, “You thought getting marriedin a churchdidn’tcount?”
I sighed, hard. “Itdidn’tcount because we didn’t sign and notarize the license. I’mright,legally. I just didn’t understand the importancetohimof the ceremony being Russian Orthodox.”
Konstantin gripped the arms of the chair, and I wondered if his fingernails were actually digging into what looked like beautiful leather, leaving half-moon cuts. He demanded of Nico, “Did Volkov put something in the vodka last night? Were you roofied?”
Nicolai shrugged. “You were drinking from the samebottle, and so was Volkov.”
“I held my liquor. At least, I didn’t end up married to some?—”
Beside me, the bed released as Nicolai stood.
“—actress,”Konstantin finished.
Nicolai tugged his trousers on his thighs and sat beside me again. “Part of the problem was that I had started drinking earlier in the day. I’d had a few cocktails and then a bottle of wine with John over supper, and then more whiskey at the bar, so I was already a bit wobbly when Michel dragged us over to meet with Volkov.”
Konstantin ducked his head and mumbled, “I knew I should’ve punched you in the jaw and knocked you out last night.Jesus.”
Nicolai chuffed a dry laugh. “You would’vetried.I’m far too willing to brawl when I’m knackered.”
Kostya growled from behind gritted teeth. “Have you called a divorce attorney yet?”
Nicolai’s burst of a glance at me, again checking in, felt more like we were mired in a conspiracy rather than him picking me out of a line-up. “When we woke up married this morning, I realized that my already being married to someone else threw a spanner in Volkov’s plan to marry me to his daughter. Thus, Lexi and I are going to stay married for a bit.”
“You are fucking insane,” Konstantin announced.
Nicolai’s self-satisfied smirk was so cute that my heart dipped. “Not the first time someone’s accused me of that.”
Konstantin pointed at me like he was trying to fling his finger across the room. “What ifshe’scrazy? What ifsheturns out to be some nutcase who embarrasses you in public at every turn?”
Sadly, that was more likely than not. I had no idea how to behave around Nicolai’s brother, let alone his friends, let alonein public.Cinderella had probably embarrassed the HandsomePrince all the time, curtsying to the wrong people and laughing too loudly.
Konstantin lowered his voice. “What if sheusesyou and your position?She’s a street performer.Is she just one of those notorious fame-chasing influencers who will do anything outrageous for the clicks?”
That was . . . not a bad idea, actually.
Influencer was one of the few job titles I might be qualified for, now that I’d somehow been swept up into a rich and infamous lifestyle of the sorta-royalty and definitely wealthy, since I was going to have trouble finding a job without a reference from my ex’s parents’ construction company. They would definitely be petty if someone called them for a reference for me.
Kostya kept interrogating Nico. “Didshelivestream the wedding on herliving-statuesocial media channel for the notoriety?”
“No,” I told him. “I don’t even have social media accounts for my act. The church I used to belong to thought social media was sinful. And I hadn’t had time to think through the whole busking thing. I probablyshouldhave social media accounts for publicity for my living statue routine. I just don’t.”
Nicolai didn’t actually roll his eyes, but his side-eye was in the same ballpark. “She’s not crazy, Kostya, and we’re not ones to talk about mental illness. Mad King George of England is literally one of our several-greats grandfather, and I could go on.”
“What?”I couldn’t help myself. “I thought you said you were supposed to be the ruler of Russia, not the king of England.”
Nicolai lifted one hand and shrugged, a gesture of abject helplessness. “Royal families are all related to each other and horribly inbred. Anyone who is in line for one throne isprobably in the lines of succession for four more, if you go far enough down the list.”
Konstantin was shaking his head, but he sank into the chair. “This is crazy. This isimpossible.Why did you have achurchwedding? That’s the horrifying part. Were there no Elvises available?”
“I shouldneverhave let you do it,” I said to Nico. “I should’ve torn up the license before the priest signed it or absolutely refused to sign it this morning, no matter how persuasive you were.”
Or how much I needed the money he’d promised me.
Yeah,nowI figured out how to derail it.
Last night had been too hectic, and I’d literally been trying to keep Nicolai from tumbling into traffic. That one time he’d stepped off the curb to hail a cab and nearly been mowed down by a lifted black pickup with a blazing rack of deer-hunting lights still haunted me. He would’ve been splattered right at my feet.
Nicolai sighed. “It really is for the best, Kostya. It’ll get me out of that horror show Michel was trying to set up.”
