“I’m like his big sister. I’ll find out what’s wrong, and I won’t implicate you.”
Kira smiled. “Thank you.”
“Might I add, this dress is amazing on you.”
Her cheeks warmed at the compliment. Something Maxim had failed to give. “Maxim bought it.”
“Well, he must think something of you to dress you in such attire. Maxim is very-” She paused to giggle. “Cheap, for lack of a better word. He hates spending any more than he has to, but for you, he went all out, didn’t he?”
Kira touched the fabric of her dress. She liked that thought and allowed it to warm her. But not for long before the negative thoughts rolled in. He dressed her this way to show her off, like a prize on his arm. It wasn’t for her benefit, but for his. She was just a name to him, and though he tried to come off as if he despised it, he was only jealous of Morozov’s power.
When Trina saw a friend, Kira opted to go outside. The grounds were lit with lanterns, and couples walked through the mazes like they used to back in the eighteen hundreds. She admired such a time, but she was happy to be in this period with air conditioning. Thankfully, it was a slightly cold night, and she rubbed her arms, shivering.
Only seconds later, a coat dropped on her shoulders, and she found Lazar behind her, smirking as he rubbed her arms. “Better?”
The smell of his cologne was sweet and different from Maxim’s. There was a hint of nicotine. She felt his hand on her hip, and she was stiff under the touch. “You smoke?” Lazar asked as he slipped his hand into the pocket, pressing more against her than he needed to, and pulled out his cigar and lighter.
“No, never.” When Lazar stepped beside her, she shifted a little to the right so their shoulders weren’t touching. She kept a soft smile on as anxiety built in her chest. Maxim’s words shouted at her, telling her she was misreading Lazar’s manner. ‘Happily married,’ Maxim called him. Lazar wouldn’t cheat on his wife, especially one who looked like Trina. Kira was nothing next to the woman.
“My philosophy is you should try everything once, because how do you know you won’t like it?”
“But then you might end up liking something bad for you,” Kira hit back, staring straight, trying to ignore the way he was looking at her.
“And what’s wrong with that?”
She pulled the jacket off her shoulders and held it out to him. “I heard a sermon once. And he said, ‘Sin is very freeing until you try to leave it.’ I wouldn’t like being a prisoner and handcuffed to my own bad habits.”
He took the jacket slowly as his smile stretched. “I find that hard to believe.”
“What?”
“That you wouldn’t like being handcuffed.”
Kira flushed, the heat pouring through her cheeks and down into her chest. He saw it, watched it bloom across her breasts, and only smirked.
Kira twisted on her foot and hurried away. The illicit fantasies that she only allowed herself to think of in the middle of the night when no one was around sprang up, and she pressed a hand against her belly as it twisted. Lazar shouldn’t be the one making her feel any arousal, but the attention he was giving her was more than that of her own husband. She hated him for it. Why wasn’t Maxim interested in her like the way Lazar was?
She turned the corner and stalled, pushing her back against the wall. Maxim was in Trina’s face, and whatever he was whispering had Trina blurry-eyed. She reached for his arm, and Maxim slapped her hand away before he left her standing there, with her head in her hands.
Chapter thirteen
Nightmare
It was Kira’s worst nightmare, something she knew could be possible but never allowed to come into existence, because she believed in the power of manifesting, which could be either negative or positive. And manifesting her husband in love with someone else was something she refused to do, but that was it, wasn’t it? It was what she was missing this whole time.
His anger. His attitude. His refusal to touch her. His distance.
He was in love with his brother’s wife.
The rabbit hole was deep, and Kira’s thoughts kept sinking.
Was Maxim sleeping with Trina even after they took marriage vows? It wasn’t unheard of. Luerna’s husband was blatantly obvious when he slept with other women. It was a lifestyle Kira never wanted for herself. She had dodged one bullet years agowhen she was engaged with a man who was in love with Luerna. How could two men in her life pass her over for someone else?
I would pass me over, too.
Nausea rotated in her stomach. Kira journeyed to the buffet to grab a small slice of bread that she took into pieces, one small bite at a time. When a servant walked over with a tray full of wine, she snatched it. She was insanely parched now. The sip was heavy, and she could already feel the numbness in her toes. Kira never drank. It was empty calories she didn’t want to give her body, and she put the glass down lest she get tipsy.
But why not get tipsy? Her whole world was crumbling, and nothing was going in the right direction.
