Dimitri turns to me then, his brow furrowed. “What kind of change.”
I stop, drawing in a deep breath through my nose, creating the pause that says I’ve thought this through. “It’s a bit delicate.”
“All right.” I can tell by his tone that he’s already impatient. Which I can appreciate. Men like Dimitri, my brothers, myself…we don’t do bullshit.
“While Katarina is lovely…”
Dimitri draws himself up taller. “She is that.”
“I find that I have…feelings…” I hate that word. I’ve never told a woman in my entire life that I have feelings for her.Emotions are things you bury deep. You never share them. “For Sasha.”
Dimitri’s eyes widen, his lips parting in surprise. “Seriously?”
What the hell is that supposed to mean? “Seriously.”
“For Sasha? My sister?” He shakes his head like I’ve lost my mind.
My brow furrows, irritation snapping my back straighter. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Dimitri shrugs. “I don’t know. Katarina is worldly while Sasha…” His shoulders lift as his hands come out, palms up. “I’m not sure she’ll ever marry. She’s not—” he looks up at the ceiling like he’ll find the words up there. “Try to understand that Katarina is much more suited for a marriage of convenience. She’ll do her part, even stand tall, but Sasha…”
That’s exactly why I don’t want Katarina. Sasha, among other things, will be so much easier to bend to my will. “You’re sure you’re not underestimating Sasha?”
“That will be my problem. It’s too late to change anything now.”
The hell it is. I’m not marrying Katarina because a piece of expensive vellum was sent in the mail.
“I’m fairly certain that Sasha feels the same about me that I do about her.”
Dimitri’s chin whips back. “How can you be certain? You’ve not even spoken, have you?”
I place a thumb over my finger, cracking the joint before I move to the next. “We’ve talked, and I see the interest in her eyes, feel the attraction. We’re much better suited.”
This is a new low even for me, but I plan to make this worth Sasha’s while, especially now that I know what she wants.
Dimitri shakes his head, turning back toward the windows. “I’ll have to think on it.”
I nod, cracking another knuckle. “Of course.”
“Sasha, she’s always struggled with this life more than the rest of us. It’s not…” He stops, seeming to search for the words again.
“I know what shadows my family operates within, but I am just a businessman, brother to a duke. My professional life is in the light.”
Dimitri looks back at me then. “And your personal life?”
He’s got me there. “I don’t have one.”
“Amen to that,” he looks back out the window. “I’ll consider what you’ve said and get back to you, tomorrow.”
While part of me wants to push, I refrain. If it’s a maybe, it’s a no. It’s an unwritten rule in negotiation that I learned a long time ago.
That means, I already have my answer.
But another rule I live by is not to take no for an answer. If the front door doesn’t work, it’s time to find the back entrance.
With a nod, I turn back to the elevator, but I don’t head down to the parking garage. Instead, I push the up arrow.
My brother Killian has also moved into the building as an added security measure for Dimitri and his family’s protection. None of us had any idea if and when their father might attack again, which is why, when Sasha and I marry—and we will marry—we’ll live in this building as well.
