“I sat for ten hours, Kirill.”
“Ten hours for a three-hundred-grand bracelet. That’s called winning.” He sighed as if I were the unreasonable one.
Wait, it did sound like I was the unreasonable one.
“A simple thanks would be appreciated.”
I clamped my mouth shut. There was no straightforward answer. Saying thank you would be capitulation to his methods of toying with me. His track record had shown me he always hadan agenda. Upping the stakes by throwing money at this wasn’t going to work. Fucking Kirill and his mind games. I reminded myself of the cataclysmic shattering I would have experienced if I hadn’t discovered his subterfuge during the cake tasting. I would have eaten up his attention and taken it to heart.
What would I have done instead when I found him with Anya the night of our wedding? I wouldn’t have been able to fake my smiles during the cake cutting. I wouldn’t have been able to prepare. I might have even gone home with my family and put their plan to whisk me away to work.
Kirill studied me intently before he picked out a curl that was trapped behind my ear and let it hang loose. “Irina asked me when are we going to have kids.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. “She asked me again this morning.”
“She informed me I wasn’t going to get you pregnant if we don’t sleep in the same room.”
“I’m not even surprised she knows, but did you tell her?—”
“That I didn’t want to disturb your sleep because I work into the early morning.”
“Well, yeah, that’s reasonable,” I croaked.
“For three months?” He arched a brow. “Some might think there’s a problem with my equipment.”
“I’m sure someone else can vouch that it’s working.” I couldn’t help the derision that crept into my voice.
“But not my wife?”
“Your wife took a vow of abstinence.”
Kirill chuckled briefly. “You’re really going to hang fast to that, aren’t you?”
“You’re the one who told me I have no say in who you fuck.”
His eyes gleamed. “I was pissed that night. We both were.”
“Because I caught you in your lie.” I glanced longingly at the door.
“Oh no, no.” His fingers gently but firmly guided my face back to him. “We’re not avoiding this conversation.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. The second you fucked another woman after we said our vows, I was done. I don’t forgive cheaters.”
His jaw worked convulsively. “But that’s the thing. I never cheated. I haven’t slept with Anya in ten years, since she married Davenport. I take wedding vows seriously, even if others don’t.”
“Then why did you imply you were going to cheat?”
Kirill stood abruptly and scowled at me. “Because…like you said…I lie.” He slid his hand to the small of my back. “Come on, before Irina sends out a search party.”
Ugh, Kirill and his mindfuckery. So if he admitted he had lied, how would I know he was telling the truth now? That was the problem. Trust. I could never trust him. Still, in the corner of my heart, a simmering resentment eased a little. My gut instinct was telling me he was truthful about not cheating. The abruptness with which he changed the subject told me he was still conflicted about retracting his statement about fucking other people. He didn’t want to explain himself, which meant that what he admitted made him feel vulnerable. And to a stoic man like Kirill, he didn’t do vulnerable.
After he’d ignored me in the beginning of our marriage, he’d been slowly sticking to my side for extended periods under the pretense that I was his lady luck.
I could tell Kirill was enjoying my misery.
Asshole.
And now, we were heading into the dining room like a couple. He transferred his hand from the small of my back to clasp my fingers. His grip tightened warningly when I tried to pry my hand free, and I only gave in because Ivan was watching us thoughtfully while Irina was beaming. Urgh…
