He made a face at me. “So is yours.”
“Mine at least wait to cause scenes in private.”
He looked down at me, amused. “That lil bar scene said something different.”
I kissed my teeth. “Let it go.”
“Nah. You looked too good acting too bad,malyshka,” he said huskily.
That should’ve annoyed me. Instead, I had to bite back a smile. I reached up and straightened his bow tie, just because I wanted to touch him.
“Go talk to your dramatic relatives. Get your brother together before that lady kills him,” I told him.
His eyes searched my face for a second, like he was trying to figure out when this sweet version of me had come back. “You sure?”
“Yeah. I’m not going anywhere.”
That last line must have done something to him because his eyes darkened, and he bent to brush a kiss against my forehead before stepping away.
I watched him walk away, biting my lip. Damn, he was fine. I might have to let him?—
And that was when the blonde approached him.
She was beautiful, all polished and expensive looking. She had white-blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. She had the kind of face that made you think she had never paid for anything off the rack—if she'd ever paid for anything.
She grabbed my husband’s arm and smiled up at him before starting to talk to him. I was okay… until he smiled back. It was warm and patient, like he’d forgotten he was supposed to be going to check on his sociopath of a brother. A bright green rush of jealousy spread through me as my hand tightened around my glass. It didn’t help that Goldilocks pressed her long, slim body against his and he responded by hugging her tightly and kissing her temple.
Just like he did me sometimes.
He let her go and continued after Maxim. He was barely out of the room before the woman and her sidekick sidled up to me. Her friend was a brunette, pretty but in a more understated way. They both smiled as they neared me, all soft congratulations and fake warmth.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Sidorov,” the blonde purred.
I smiled back because my mama and grandmamas had raised me right. “Thank you.”
“I’m Ekaterina,” she said. “Ekaterina Volkov. And this is Zhenya.”
The brunette inclined her head.
“It’s lovely to finally meet you. We have heard so much, so quickly,” Ekaterina continued, the shade obvious.
Something in her tone made my spine stiffen. My head tilted to one side.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked.
“Yes.” She lifted her champagne glass. “Targen has always been… special to this family. Important. Beloved. Special to me, too. He and I planned—” She stopped, waved her hand dismissively. “But that is obviously bygone. Still, everyone expected he would marry beautifully, of course.”
That didn’t sound bad on the surface. It was the way she smiled when she said it that had my Spidey senses tingling.
I sipped my drink before speaking. “Well. Here I am. He's definitely beautifully married.”
The brunette choked on a laugh she tried to hide.Bitch. I wouldn't give them the pleasure, though. My smile never wavered.
Ekaterina’s smile widened, showing all her damn teeth. “Yes. It would seem so.”
I waited.
She leaned just a little closer, lowering her voice. “I only mean… there were assumptions, once. About where he might look for a wife. Many of us thought he would pick someone who understood his life. Someone from his world. But duty is such a powerful and…compellingthing in families like this, is it not?” Her eyes drifted over me, my dress, my brown skin, my face, her ugly implications unspoken.
