Maksim leans in with a whisper. “You know, he calls out your name in his sleep.”
I nearly choke. “Oh, does he now?”
“It’s sweet,” Maksim adds, perfectly serious. “Almost…romantic.”
“Kinda pathetic too,” Dimitri says with a shrug. “But hey, who am I to judge? I have never been in love.”
“Believe me, that man does not love me.”
“In my family, this is exactly how we show love.”
Emilia’s cackling beside me, barely holding in her water.
“Oh really?” I tilt my head, needing this topic to end ASAP. “Good to know. Now tell me, do you guys take turns tucking him in at night too?”
“We have a schedule,” Maksim says.
“I’m sure he appreciates it.” I laugh despite myself.
Dimitri grins. “You never know. We might end up family.”
I still, smile tightening.
“Yeah,” I mutter, shaking my head. “That’s never gonna happen.”
“If you say so.” Dimitri flips a hand.
The two of them saunter off to a table in the corner, still chuckling like devils, while Emilia’s grin lingers across the table.
The second they’re out of earshot, she leans in. “Don’t listen to them. I’m sure he’s not calling out your name. He’s most likely using your face for target practice.”
“Ha. Ha.” I shoot her a playful look while she giggles into her ice water.
I try to hold on to the laugh, but it slips, tension settling over me when I think about the letter, Aleksei, my parents’ vineyard, everything…
It’s too much, pressing in on all sides.
Emilia’s expression shifts. “Hey, is everything okay?”
I try to deflect, fingers twisting the edge of my napkin, but the pressure’s been building too long. She’s my best friend. She’d never tell Konstantin anything, not unless I asked her to.
“Remember that investor I was supposed to meet yesterday?”
“Yeah. Wesley, right?”
I grimace. “That’s the one. We met. He…took me somewhere.”
Emilia’s brows draw. “Where?”
I wince. “Rzvrt. Some club the Marinovs apparently own. Do you know it?”
Her jaw drops. “Shit. Yeah, I do.”
“I couldn’t believe it. The sleazeball took me there without telling me what kind of place it was. And when I tried to leave…he grabbed me.”
Her whole body stiffens. “I’m gonna kill him.”
“Pretty sure Aleksei already did. Or came close.”
