His brow furrows slightly and he glances over at Marla, giving her a short nod of his head. “Hey.”
“Hi,” she says politely. Then, to me, she says, “I should probably get going. Call me later?”
“Sure thing.”
She pays the bill and gets up. “Nice seeing you, Viktor.”
He smiles as she turns and leaves. I watch her go. It’s probably for the best, anyway.
“Hope I’m not intruding,” he says. “Looked like you two were having a pretty deep conversation.”
“She’s got to get back to work,” I tell him. “You weren’t intruding.”
He nods in acceptance. “And what are you doing here? Word on the street is that your father has you under house arrest.”
I sigh. “You’re not going to rat me out, are you?”
“Sorry,Tanechka.”
It crosses my mind to try and flirt with him. Try and get him to let me off easy. As he looks at me with those hard, dark eyes, I know it’s going to take more than sweet talk to get him to do anything for me, and blowing him in the middle of this diner is a little much for even me.
“How did you get out here, anyway?” he asks. “It’s too far to walk. Don’t tell me you stole one of your father’s cars.”
“My ride just left.” I cross my arms sorely. “Come on, Viktor. This whole setup is barbaric, keeping me locked up like a prisoner. It’s bullshit and we both know it.”
“Maybe,” he says. “But if it’s Nikolai’s will to keep you locked down, I have to bring you back when you break out.”
“This is so fucked up.”
One side of his mouth turns up and his eyes darken the way they did last night. “Don’t pout,” he says. “It ruins that pretty face of yours. Let’s go.”
I look up at him and for just a moment, I think about telling him to fuck off.
I don’t, though. Instead, I reluctantly get up and follow him out of the restaurant.
On the way home, I start thinking about some of the things Marla said. The mention of Viktor and Nicki being drunk bothers me. Maybe it’s because I know how close they were, and I also know how protective Viktor was over Nicki…
But if Nicki wasn’t drunk, then was Viktor? Was Nicki a designated driver and that’s why he was driving instead of Viktor? Maybe if the reverse were true, then he’d still be alive.
I glance over at Viktor in the driver’s seat. He’s a paragon of control. Well… he was before we fucked last night, anyway.
Maybe that last night that they were together was another lapse in his judgment. If it was… shit. If it was, then that would make Viktor at least somewhat responsible… right?
