“Good to know.” I forced another bite, even though the yogurt might as well have been ash.
She turned back to her phone, scrolling again, pretending to read something, probably pretending she wasn’t still thinking about him. I could see the tension in her shoulders, the faint pink around her ears. She wasn’t untouched by it all—not by him, not by me—but she was pretending we werefine.
“I didn’t plan for it to happen like that,” she said quietly. “The kiss. It just… did.”
“Right.” I kept my tone neutral, though I could feel the vein in my jaw pulsing. “Just a headline, right? Something harmless for the press?”
She frowned. “Why do you sound angry?”
I shook my head. I was angry because I wanted it to be me, and I could never tell her that now. But I was trying to come up with a plan to have her fall in love withme,and I was failing miserably. I didn’t know the first thing about love. I didn’t know how to orchestrate it.
“I’m not,” I sighed.
“I think you’ve been angry for days now, Ivan. You can talk to me.”
My gaze cut to her, she flinched before she walked out of the room, and I was left with my loud, buzzing thoughts again. I didn’t want to do it, but I knew it was time I called in help.
Don had no problems tailing Poppy, so I could have a break for the day. Jane was settling in nicely at her school this semester, despite everything that had happened. He didn’t feel like she actually needed him there twenty-four-seven, but he knew she enjoyed having him as a shadow, and I knew that was why he stayed, which was strange… I thought he was busier with my brother, Dimitri.
Scarlett, Audrey, and a very heavily pregnant Carina all stared at me from across the coffee table. They looked entirely too happy I’d calledthem in.
Well… I’d called Audrey, and then she did the rest. Apparently, I needed a lot of help.
Scarlett leaned forward first, her bright red hair swishing forward with each movement. “This is an interesting turn of events.”
“Are all of you best friends now?” I couldn’t keep the disdain from my voice even if I wanted to. It made no sense. Scarlett came from a completely different background than the other two. How did they fit so easily?
Envy clawed at my throat as I imagined Poppy sitting with them, laughing, holding a new baby, and becoming a part of the family.
I closed my eyes for a beat to try to get rid of the imagery, but it only made it worse.
Carina rubbed her rounded belly and smiled. “Are you going to tell us why we are meeting like this, or are you going to explain it to our overly broody and jealous men later?”
I rolled my eyes. “They may be broody, but they aren’t worried about me. I took Audrey to a five-star dinner the other night, and she drove me home; that would be cause for alarm if I were such a threat.”
Carina giggled and nodded. She knew everything Audrey did, and I was sure as the sky was blue that Scarlett had been filled in, too.
Audrey leaned back on the couch, studying me like I was one of her manuscripts. “He’s in love.”
Carina snorted. “You don’t say.”
I groaned and rubbed my temples. “I called for advice, not—whatever this is.”
“You called for help,” Audrey corrected, and her tone softened in that way that always made me regret confiding in her. Made me regret bringing them all in. “And you got it. So. The woman you’re protecting is dating another man, the tabloids love them, and you’re spiraling because you can’t hit him or kiss her. That about right?”
This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. I sat there and stared at all three of them. I would have done better to have the grannies come to give me advice.
Scarlett leaned back and giggled. “Ah, finally a brother with a moral code.”
My frown deepened, though I wasn’t sure how at this point.
“I don’t have a moral code,” I muttered.
Carina arched an eyebrow. “Then why aren’t you doing something about it?”
“Because I killed her father,” I snapped before I could stop myself. The words dropped like a stone in the room, cutting through the banter.
“I knew it,” Scarlett whispered. Of course, she did; she was engaged to Dimitri, who knew everything happening in this city.
