He turned back to me. “I’m a busy man.”
“Well, clear your schedule if you want the Kings to leave us alone. Margo Winthrop already vouches for this alliance, so that’s a plus on our side. We just have to show Anya’s Davenport relatives and the Kings that you’re serious about marriage to me and not panting after Anya.”
“Did you see me panting around her at any point?” Kirill’s voice rose in an offended tone.
“Jeez, calm down,” I said. “Try your best to avoid her, have no contact with her, until this all blows over.”
He exhaled a deep, fractured breath.
I peered into his face. “Can you do that?”
“She might need reassurances now and then. The reason she’s going along with this is because she knows I’ll never abandon her. Total silence will backfire.”
I huffed. “Then check up on her, but we’ll have to be convincing enough in public.”
“Do you want to have dinner later?”
“No. I promised Mamma and Dad I’m having dinner with them. Besides, I need to plan our outings.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking me into.” He shook out his cuffs and avoided my eyes. “But, as I’ve said, I’m a busy man.”
“Just show up for the cake tasting tomorrow.”
His jaw clenched. “My sister and mother are already going in my place.”
I was surprised he knew it was tomorrow. “Well, make the time, Kirill, then after we can head out on our own, just the two of us, and paint the town red.”
He glared at me. “I can’t rearrange my schedule just like that.”
“Where do you have to go tomorrow? It’s a Sunday. Can’t you delegate it to one of your men?”
“No.”
Suspicious, I asked, “Are you meeting Anya?”
“It’s the reading of Davenport’s will. I won’t be there physically, but I have a lawyer who might need my input.”
For some reason, my blood boiled. Without a doubt, I was merely a stand-in for Anya, but until I was sure I was clear of any blowback from shooting Viktor, I had a stake in Kirill’s behavior too.
“So you’re just going to hang around your house like a lovesick fool and wait for the lawyer to call?”
“Careful,” he warned, his voice terse. “You’re starting to sound like a jealous wife.”
I obviously hit a nerve. Well, I was at the end of mine, too. “Fuck you. I’m done.” I crossed my arms. “You can tell Sato to take me home.”
“I can talk about this now.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t.” Because now more than ever I wanted my dad. The only man who would drop everything whenI needed him. One vivid memory came to mind. I was in school and suddenly developed a high fever and started vomiting. Mamma was in Italy at that time. Dad could have sent the nanny to pick me up because he was in the middle of an important real estate deal. He rescheduled a meeting so he could pick me up personally and take me to the doctor. I was worth more than any multimillion-dollar deal that could have gone pear-shaped because he left negotiations so abruptly. Family came first with the De Luccis.
I had to remind myself what it meant to be loved and cherished and to be put first, because I wasn’t going to experience it in my marriage. “And we’re still not moving the wedding forward. We’re sticking to the original date.”
It wasn’t a long drive. Maybe five minutes. But it was five excruciating minutes of absolute torture. Clearly, Anya meant a lot to Kirill. I had no plans of competing with that. My pride wouldn’t allow it. If this marriage was going to be in name only, then so be it. If there was any possibility of them picking up where they left off, then I’d rather not start a physical relationship. They’d have to be discreet about it though.
When the SUV finally rolled to a stop in front of my parents’ house, I couldn’t wait to hop out.
Brutal fingers clamped around my wrist, stopping my exit.
“You can email me a list of your planned outings,” Kirill sighed as if he was doing me a huge freaking favor. “I’ll try to be at the cake tasting tomorrow.”
