“Are you Ida Barlow?” a woman asked from behind me.
I turned to find a woman with a pixie cut dyed blue towering over me. She rested her hands on her baby bump, which she wore proudly under a slinky silver dress. A riot of tattoos spilled down her arms and large chandelier earrings brushed her shoulders.
A sinking sensation hit my stomach. I knew this woman. She was the one I’d seen with Dillon at the hockey game. Stella.
“My name is Ida Jane Dolov,” I said.
“I don’t really care what you call yourself. Just tell your hockey bully to stay away from Dillon.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What?”
She smirked, triumph lighting up her face—as if she knew something I didn’t. “Ah, I see. He’s kept you in the dark.” She leaned in closer. “Makes you wonder about whatelsehe’s hiding.” She shoved an envelope into my belly hard enough that I grasped it. She immediately let go but so did I. The envelope fell to the floor. “Might want to ask him about those. And tell him I play hardball, and Iwillwin. This is just a little preview.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
She tossed her head. “You’ll see, and I guarantee you won’t like it.”
“Watch your mouth,” Naomi said in a dangerous, low tone.
“Or what? You’ll assault a pregnant lady?” The woman laughed. “That would begreat. I’d get to sue your husband’s ass for all his money.”
“You need to leave,” Nicole said, stepping in front of me. She was our elder by a decade and she seemed to know how to handle all these situations. She raised her hand and motioned to someone. “I’m going to have security remove you.”
“You’re allstupid. I paid for a ticket—same as you. Enjoy your dinner…and the last few minutes of calm before the storm.” Stella glanced around Nicole at me, her gaze critical.
“No wonder Dillon cheated. You’re not pretty and you’re clearly not smart. Clearly, Maxim’s using you for your American citizenship.”
Before I could muster a comment, she spun on her heels and strode across the room, away from the hockey players descending on us.
“Oh.”
At Keelie’s gasp, I followed her gaze to find pictures spilled from the envelope Stella had shoved at me. They were of Maxim. He was shirtless, no,nude…and he wasn’t alone.
I bent down and snatched the photos from the floor, stuffing them back into the envelope, my heart pounding and ears ringing. Maxim stepped into my line of vision, and I could hear Naomi’s animated voice as she recounted the interaction to the guys.
I tipped my head back and stared up at the man I’d come to love so fiercely. My gaze traced the lines of his face, resting on his frowning lips. They’d kissed me earlier with such tenderness.
Did I really know him? Apparently not. There was no way he’d want to stay married to me. I’d been stupid, just like Stella said. Swept up in the fantasy.
I swallowed as the truth slammed into me, causing the buzzing in my ears to grow louder.
“Fists?”
He hadn’t called me that in months. Typically, I was krasivaya now. Nausea assailed me for the second time.
“How could you?” I whispered. My composure was slipping, fast. I knew that was what Stella wanted and yet…I held the proof. I swallowed, clutching the envelope of photos. “Y-you lied to me.”
But my whispered words never reached Maxim because Coach Whittaker stepped up to the podium. “All right, time to take your seats.”
* * *
Maxim
Something was wrong. Not a little worrisome butdeeplyamiss with Ida Jane. Keelie kept shooting me angry looks that seared my skin, but it was Ida Jane’s stricken, hurt expression that I couldn’t get over. She sat in her chair next to me, but she wasn’treallythere. She didn’t eat, didn’t drink, didn’t speak.
“Are you sick?” I asked.
She didn’t move, didn’t seem to hear me.
