“He’s upset about the shots I did for Blake’s cologne. He’s only seen the ones fromRogue. What he’ll do when the commercials come out, I don’t know.”
“That’s expected. What’s upsetting him? Blake or your creative expression?”
I chuckle. “The creative expression. The almost nude one.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m surprised Blake isn’t bothering him.”
“Well, he did meet Blake at the gym.”
“And pounded him, of course. I’m sorry I missed that,” she says. Bile rises in my throat. The sight of Mikhail’s bloody and swollen face makes me nervous, and my belly rises when I get nervous. Ivana continues, “You’re gonna have to give up the almost nudes then.”
“But why should I?”
“Because he’s not gonna fold and you like him and you want this to work, and if you go back, your brother will take every penny you make, and I will have to return to work because Mikhail’s finances are gonna get fucked with no deal.”
“My inner feminist is upset.”
“Your inner feminist isn’t gonna take care of you and fuck you every night, is she?”
I laugh because Ivana gives me perspective. “How is my brother?”
“He poisoned me.”
“Oh my God. Are you okay?”
“I’m alive, so it’s fine.”
“You sound sick.”
“I am sick but that’s fine.”
“Oh, Ivana, why didn’t you call me earlier?”
“There’s nothing you can do. I’m riding it out. Listen, don’t tell anyone and do not tell Mikhail anything about anything.”
But I want to. “Got it.”
“No, you need to understand that if you tell him you’re broke ’cause your brother has been taking from you, he’ll come after your brother, which means all our assets are gonna be exposed, and I don’t mean just bank accounts and companies and stocks and that bunch of shit I gotta work on today and can’t, but also the people we have in South Africa and people your brother has in the US. Don’t set Mikhail off. Please.”
Damn. I’ve been a part of this kind of life since birth, but nobody ever included me in any of it. I’d never heard anything like this before. Assets? Jesus, who talks like this? We do. We, my husband and I and the people with us. “I won’t compromise thewe,” I tell her, even though she doesn’t know what I’m saying.
“How do you like the house?” she asks, groaning.
“It’s gorgeous. Is there something I can get for you?”
“And the sex?” she asks, avoiding talking about herself.
Mikhail is a rough lover. Seductive, dominant, and giving, while taking control of me at the same time. I expected rough from him. I didn’t expect I’d enjoy it as much as I did or that I’d crave the kind of confidence he projects in the bedroom. “Yeah,” I say. “Oh yeah, it’s good.”
Ivana chuckles. “Has he proposed?”
Ouch. “No.”
“Do not sign until you have him on his knees. Gotta go be sick again. Bye.”
