“No. But you are my wife. And your duties aren’t limited. You will make us sandwiches, or I will find another way for you to earn your keep.”
Kira grit her teeth. The threat was too real. She knew he could take from her at any moment, and maybe he would in the future, but right now, she wanted to postpone the inevitable. Because she still had hope that one day, they’d be at least friends.
Satisfied that she was not talking back, Maxim stepped back. “My brother doesn’t like onions.”
Kira spun on her foot and darted out the door, but the moment she got into the hallway, the tears came hard.
Chapter six
Games
Maxim could feel his brother’s gaze on him, but he ducked into the engine of the car to avoid him.
“If my wife heard you speak to her like that, she’d clock you over the head.”
Maxim grit his teeth.
“Why does she upset you?”
“She is acting. Everything about her is fake.”
“It all looked real to me.”
The mumble made Maxim chuckle, and he backed out of the car to come to the workbench, searching for a tool, but he wasn’t quite sure which one. “How can I tell that she isn’t going to her father?”
“Give her nothing to tell. I would think being sweet on her would be better than cruelty.”
“I’m not being cruel.”
“The poor girl is probably crying.”
“Yes, she’s very good at tears. I wonder if that was a class at her fancy school.”
“You fear her intelligence?” Maxim glared at his brother, and Lazar laughed. “It was a joke!” Lazar snatched up a screwdriver and tossed it in his hand. “If you think she is using you, test it out. Bring her to a meeting and see what gets passed on.”
“She wouldn’t fall for something so simple. And you think I haven’t been watching her? Do you know she asked to have all the security cameras replaced? Why would she do that but to put her own devices, ones that probably would connect to Yakov? She asked Lydia questions about the house and the staff. I’m telling you, she wants to distract me in her slutty dresses if only to get me off guard.”
“No offense, but you sound paranoid.”
“I am! I’m living with the enemy.”
“Yakov Morozov is no longer our enemy. And she may have worked under him, but now she is working for you.” Lazar turned to him suddenly with the point of the screwdriver inches from his gut. “What if you seduce her? Make her fall in love with you? Then all of Yakov’s secrets would be ours!”
Maxim rolled his eyes. “She is a cog in the machine. I highly doubt he says much to her. But she shares everything with him. I’m surprised I haven’t gotten a phone call wondering why I haven’t bedded her yet.”
“You haven’t slept with her?”
“How am I supposed to when I’m waiting for a knife in the back?”
Lazar groaned. “Oh man, you are screwing this up.”
“I told you I didn’t want to marry, but I went through with it because Yakov threatened to pull everything out from under us. I played my part. I got the marriage. But I don’t have to treat her like she is anything else but a praying mantis.”
Lazar fell back against the workbench next to his brother. “A very pretty praying mantis.”
Maxim snorted. “Yes, she is attractive.” He clenched his teeth, seeing her standing in his bedroom in nothing but a bra and panties. The image remained even weeks later. It was a mix of regret and relief. He resisted temptation at the very peak of her skills. Now everything else was child’s play. “But not worth my life.”
“And you don’t think your trust issue has anything to do with the fact that you found our mother cheating on our father and your first girlfriend left you for your best friend?”
