“Ms. Lebedev?” The host appeared at the doorway. “Your husband has arrived.”
Arko walked in right past the host, and my pulse jumped in my throat when I saw how pleased he looked to see me. I rose, begging my hands not to tremble as I plastered on a smile and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
“Whoa,” he declared, waiting for me to sit before taking a look around the table and the spread. “You’ve gone all out tonight. Should I be worried?”
It was only a matter of time, I feared, before he noticed the other chairs.
“Uh-huh,” I grinned, serving myself to the first thing in reach. “I was starving.”
Arko’s eyes softened. “Eat up then, Bea. We can be here all night, if you’d like.”
That’s when the guilt rammed into me. Maybe I made an impulsive decision. I wondered if it would be better to just tell Arko the truth. He seemed happy, and I thought that might also make him more receptive to what I wanted.
I leaned over and poured him two fingers of whiskey, hoping it might take the edge off what was coming. Arko took a sip, then clinked his glass against mine. “You look beautiful tonight,” he murmured.
My cheeks flushed hot. “Thank you.”
I should just tell him, I decided. But before I could muster up the courage to do just that, the doors flung open again, and I froze when I saw the look of shock on Arko’s and my brothers’ faces.
“What the hell is going on here?” Arko threw back his chair and rose to his feet. “Have you been spying on us?”
Oh, no. This really wasn’t how I wanted the evening to start.
“Arko, I—” I tried to speak, but Caspian was the first to interrupt.
“She invited us, Pavlov. Said she’d be alone, but you’re way too insecure to let your prisoner out of sight, aren’t you?”
“I…what? She told me it’s just dinner with us two!” Arko roared, and suddenly, everyone in the room was staring at me like I was the criminal.
“I lied to you all, okay? Please.” I motioned desperately to the chairs around. “Let’s just sit down together and talk.”
“No way,” Giovanni said, shaking his head. “I’m not sitting down with this bastard.”
“This was your plan?” Arko’s voice was quiet but sharp as a blade.
I faced him squarely. “Yes. We need to talk because this feud is tearing me apart.”
“This isn’t a feud, Beatrice!” Giovanni yelled at me, and I felt Arko tense beside me. “This is war. Have you forgotten that the man kidnapped you?”
“I know he kidnapped me. I don’t have amnesia,” I snapped. “But if you could just sit and hear me out, you’d understand why it’s important for our families not to be at war!”
“Your brothers don’t know the meaning of peace.” Arko glared at Caspian the whole time.
I looked with desperation between Arko and my family. “Look,” I said, trying to calm things down. “There’s some really good food going to waste here. Aren’t you guys hungry?”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, Bea,” Achille said, stepping forward. “But there’s nothing to gain from it. Just come home with us, and then we can talk.”
I didn’t move. “I’m not going home with you. I’ve been with Arko for almost four months now, and I need you all to know he’s a good human being. I’m so sick and tired of how you all judge him, when he’s one of the greatest men I know.”
A silence fell around the room at the bite in my voice, the absolute conviction I threw behind each word.
When I looked over at Arko, his face was impassive, like he hadn’t heard a word I’d said in his defense. Maybe he was processing it, the unexpectedness of it all.
Fair enough.
“Please,” I said, looking from my brothers to Arko and back again. “Let’s just talk to each other like human beings for tonight. Whatever differences there are, we can sort them out.”
“Then come home with us,” Caspian said softly. “And you can tell us what you think when he’s not around.”
