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“Would you like to have Madison and Viktor over?” Max asked as she curled into his side while they watched his favorite crime drama one evening after Maddie’s return to town.
They shared similar taste in music and most television shows. Their workout regimens were complementary and they had the same favorite area restaurants.
But she wasn’t a huge fan of the crime drama they were watching, so she’d been texting with Maddie while it played.
“Huh? What?”
He turned down the television, a one-hundred-and-twenty-eight-inch screen that dropped down from the ceiling. “I said, you should invite Viktor and Madison over for dinner.”
No, he’d asked if she wanted to. Apparently, to Max it was the same thing. “Uh…”
“We’ll have it catered if you like.”
Romi actually liked Max’s housekeeper’s cooking. She was no Mrs. K, but the woman was really talented at dinners that did well straight from the fridge or with an easy reheat. “That’s not…I mean…Maddie doesn’t know about us.”
Max gave her ring a disbelieving look. “How can she not?”
“I…uh…I didn’t tell her?”
“Are you asking me, or telling me?”
“Telling you.”
“How did she miss the ring?” he asked, his tone carefully neutral.
“Um…I took it off.”
Max picked up the remote and pressed a button. The television turned off and the screen lifted slowly toward the ceiling with a soft whir.
“Was your program over?” Romi asked, pretty sure it hadn’t been, but she hadn’t been paying attention.
“No.”
“Oh, um…”
“That’s a lot of ums for a woman who rarely feels the need for the word.”
She didn’t have an answer for that. He was right, she wasn’t used to stumbling over her words.
He turned so their gazes caught. “Why haven’t you told your sister-by-choice that you are engaged to be married and living with your fiancé?” Max’s lips thinned and he did not sound happy.
“I…”
“You are not thinking about backing out.”
“No.”
“You said you wanted this.”
“I do.” Couldn’t he tell how much she enjoyed being with him?
Dark gray eyes narrowed. “Then why?”
“They just got back from their honeymoon.” It sounded lame, even to her own ears.
He wasn’t impressed, either. “Nearly two weeks ago.”
Romi had been hiding her ring and new living situation for weeks? It hadn’t seemed that long. “Maddie is still settling into being married, though.”
“And you sharing your own plans would somehow impede that?” Disbelief laced his tone.
“No. I don’t know.” Romi didn’t really know why she didn’t want to tell Maddie about Max.
“Viktor knows.”
“What?” Romi demanded, sitting up in agitation. “How?”
“I told him.”
“Why would you?”
“We are friends. More to the point why wouldn’t you?”
“I…” Romi’s gaze skittered around the room, seeking inspiration.
She’d discovered her whole avoidance thing didn’t work with Max. Not only was he like a pit bull with a meaty bone when it came to discussing stuff he thought was important, but she also found herself wanting, even needing to deal with the real stuff when that real stuff included him.
Only not when it came to telling her SBC apparently.
“She’s going to have to know or how will you ask her to be your matron of honor?” Max asked reasonably.
“For a courthouse wedding?” That was one thing Romi hadn’t been worried about. “That’s a little over-the-top.”
He frowned. “Who said we were getting married in a courthouse?”
“Where else would we get married?”
“Holy Virgin Cathedral.” His tone said he didn’t understand why that hadn’t been obvious to her.
“What? I thought…it’s a business thing for you.”
“It’s a marriage and we’re having a traditional Russian wedding. Mama is coming over tomorrow evening to discuss plans.”
“Tomorrow?” Had he lost his mind? “No. That’s impossible.”
“Are you backing out?” he asked again.
“No!” Where did he get his ideas? “I told you I wasn’t having second thoughts. It’s just, I barely know your mother.”
“All the more reason to have her for dinner. You can invite Madison and Viktor to join us.”
“Get off the invite-them-to-dinner kick. When were you going to tell me your mother was coming?”
“I just did.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
He made a visible grab for patience. “Romi, my mother wishes to get to know you.”
“She’s already met me.”
“And yet you barely know her,” he said, throwing her words back at her.
“Fine. So, she’s coming for dinner. I’m not inviting Maddie.”
“Why not?”
Romi thought about it, even as the sheer panic going through her did not abate, and realized she could think of no better buffer for this dinner with her future mother-in-law than her SBC.
Darn it. “She’s going to be mad I didn’t tell her.” Really mad.
And Romi wouldn’t blame her SBC, not even a little. She should have said something. Romi didn’t understand why it was so hard for her, but she wasn’t backing out and that meant telling Maddie about her upcoming marriage.
“She’ll forgive you.”
“I’m not ready to tell her.”
He didn’t ask why, just waited for her to say something.
“I always said I’d only marry a man who loved me as much as my dad loved my mom.”
“I know,” Max replied warily, like love was this really scary topic that could get up and bite him.
“She’s going to think you love me.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“It’s a lie.” And Romi didn’t want to lie to Maddie, but she wasn’t willing to tell her SBC the truth, either.
That Romi was marrying a man she loved with every fiber of her being but who didn’t believe in the emotion.
“What are you planning to do then? Wait to tell her when our first child is on the way?” Max asked with no small amount of exasperation. “I’m pretty sure Viktor will spill the beans before that.”
“We aren’t planning to get pregnant right away. We agreed.”
“I was being facetious.”
“Well, don’t.” Humor wasn’t registering right now.
Max sighed and scooted closer, pulling Romi into his arms. “Madison married Viktor for reasons unrelated to love. She is not going to judge you.”
“I know, but she won’t understand, either. I’m not being coerced.” Even if Max had done his best to put the blackmail bid on the table.
He was silent for a few seconds and then he asked, “Does she know Harry is undergoing treatment for his alcoholism?”
“No.”
“Don’t you think she deserves to?”
“Yes, of course she does.”
“So, tell her.”
“It’s not so easy.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m waiting for you to change your mind,” she burst out and then covered her mouth with her hand, shocked by her own words.
“About what?” he asked. “The merger with Grayson Enterprises is a done deal. Your dad isn’t leaving the treatment facility.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“What then
?”
“What if you decide you don’t want to marry me?” she asked, stunned as the words revealed the worries she hadn’t realized were plaguing her.
Max didn’t look shocked. He looked patient. Aargh.
“Romi, dorogaya, I am the one who blackmailed you. Remember?” He tugged until she was straddling his lap.
She pressed close. “I like it when you call me that, not just in the bedroom.”
“I will remember as you should how you came to be wearing my ring and it was not some great feminine plot that I’m going to wiggle out of soon.”
“Right.” Because they’d already signed the prenup and applied for the license.
Only she was getting almost everything she’d ever dreamed of. She was marrying the man of her dreams. They were planning a family together. Her dad was on his way to healthy. It was all so good, she was terrified everything was going to fall apart.
“You are mine, dorogaya. I am not letting you go.”
She wanted to believe that. So much. “I thought we were just waiting to get married until my dad was out of treatment.” At the courthouse. No fanfare.
Fanfare. A church wedding. That all just made it real. And real things could be destroyed or lost.
“We are.”
