“Should I be offended that whoever hired them didn’t want to spend more?”
“I’m a little offended that they thought they could get by our Hazar with only ten men.”
Anna was staring at both of them. “I cannot believe you two. If you won’t call Oleg, I will.”
“Mama—”
“You think I don’t have his phone number? That man was in my kitchen two nights ago, eating cake before he had to run off to see about that priest, and if you think I won’t?—”
“What priest?” Tatyana sat up in her chair. She was feeling fully revived, and her lung was inflated again.
“I don’t know. I think he was heading back to his castle because a priest had died.”
“Died?” Sándor asked. “Or was killed?”
Anna shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Which castle?” Tatyana asked, but she already knew.
“I don’t know.” Anna looked annoyed. “I’m your mother, not his.”
Oleg had told her he was at the citadel.
And he’d told her that everything was normal.
“Damn it.”
Chapter 23
Oleg
Oleg met his wife in the massive entryway of the palace in Saint Petersburg, both of them dressed for a play hosted by Kezia featuring Poshani players in a production of a famous comedy by the Russian playwright Fonvizin.
It was intended to a be a lighthearted evening to celebrate the wedding coming in just two weeks, but the mood was the opposite of light as Tatyana and Oleg descended the curved staircases on opposite sides of the grand foyer.
“Lord Oleg.” She was dressed in a stunning, ice-blue strapless evening gown set with pearls and long opera-length gloves that reached past her elbows.
“Lady Tatyana.” Oleg was dressed in a royal-blue kaftan trimmed in dark sable. “Your coat?”
“Diana is fetching it.”
They stood in silence as Oleg’s mood swung between fury and gnawing need.
He’d had to acquire another phone after he melted the last one. It was the first in over a year—progress, considering he used to destroy them every three months or so when he and his wife were first married.
He slid black leather gloves onto his hands. “You arrived from Warsaw last night, I believe.”
“I did.” She nodded. “Just before dawn.”
And she immediately retreated to her day chamber, giving Oleg no opportunity to speak to her privately. And tonight they were surrounded by staff.
“I assume that whatever problem you were having with your phone,” he murmured, “has been corrected.”
Her eyebrows went up ever so slightly. “Was there a problem?”
She was clearly keeping him at a distance even though her blood and amnis was surging as hot as Oleg’s was.
His wife turned when she heard the quick steps of the human approaching from the hallway. “There she is. I apologize for the delay.”
