“It’s not unfair,” I say.
She glances at me.
I keep my eyes on the notes in front of me. “It’s exactly what they’re doing.”
Nadine is quiet for a second. “You really don’t like them.”
I let out a breath through my nose. “That obvious?”
“Yes.” She studies me, then leans back a little in her chair. “I’ve worked for enough families to know when something is off. This one is off.”
I almost smile at that. “Understatement.”
She gives a tired huff of laughter. “I’m trying to be diplomatic.” She shakes her head once. “I don’t understand people like that.”
I do, unfortunately.
Or at least I understand enough now to know that this family lives by rules other people don’t. That’s why Viktor can never know that I’m pregnant with his kid.
Nadine straightens and gathers the papers into one stack. “Well,” she says, sounding exhausted now, “whether they deserve a wedding tomorrow or not, it looks like they’re having one.”
“Yes.”
She rubs at one eye, then yawns and doesn’t bother hiding it. “I think we’re done for tonight.”
I glance at the clock and realize how late it’s gotten.
“We have to be up early,” she adds.
“Very early.”
She gives me a tired look. “Try to sleep.”
I almost laugh. Instead I say, “You too.”
She stands, takes the top clipboard, and leaves the other for me. At the door, she pauses. “For what it’s worth,” she says, “you handled yourself well today.”
I look at her. After everything, the words land harder than they should.
“Thanks.”
She nods once and heads out into the hallway.
I step into the hallway with the clipboard tucked against my side and stop short.
Ethan is there.
Of course he is.
He’s leaning against the wall outside the sitting room like he’s been waiting for me, jacket off, tie gone, shirt sleeves rolled up. He looks tired in the expensive, polished way he does everything else. Not wrecked. Just inconvenienced.
I keep walking.
“Sienna.”
I don’t stop.
Then he moves in front of me, not touching me this time, but close enough that I have to pull up short or walk straight into him.
