I give him a mock salute. “You got it, boss.”
I’m being insolent to my don, and I know it. But as I breeze out of his office, I couldn’t care less. I’ve got one week to figure out how the fuck to get out of marrying Ekaterina Sidorova without causing a war between us and the Bratva.
Chapter 8
KATYA
“What about this one?”
I stare at the wedding dress Svetlana holds up for my inspection. It’s a strapless mermaid style with a slit in the skirt. She took the train into the city and met me here, insisting on joining me after I broke the news to her over the phone. Svetlana was shocked to hear I was getting married so suddenly, and to a man she’d never met. I can still hear her voice, uncharacteristically rattled and worried.
“But,lisichka, you didn’t even tell me you were dating someone.”
She’s trying to be cheerful about this insta-wedding for my sake, so I know I have to hold it together and do the same for her. She can never discover the reason I gave in to Misha and agreed to marry a man I barely know.
She would sacrifice herself for me.
She already has, raising me as her daughter.
So now it’s my turn to repay the favor.
“It’s pretty,” I tell her, forcing a bright note into my tone that sounds forced, even to my ears.
“Do you want to try it on?” she asks, frowning at me.
“Not really.”
The thought of trying on any of the gowns in the showroom makes me feel vaguely ill. But maybe that’s because I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch and it’s now three in the afternoon. Now that I think about it, I’m a little light-headed.
Svetlana abandons the gown and comes to me, a look of concern on her face. “Are you sure about this,lisichka?”
A determined saleswoman is lingering not far. And even if she weren’t within eavesdropping distance, this isn’t a conversation I want to have with the woman I owe everything. So I pretend I don’t understand what she’s actually asking me.
“There are so many dresses to choose from, it’s a little overwhelming.”
She shakes her head at me and tsks in the way she would when I was a girl and did something naughty like secretly cutting the hair on my favorite doll. “Not the dresses, the wedding. You never mentioned this fiancé of yours, and now suddenly you are marrying.” She snaps her fingers for emphasis. Her long nails are painted blood-red. She’s always had a flair for anything bold and colorful.
“I know it’s sudden, but yes,” I lie. “It’s been a whirlwind, but when you know, you know.”
“Are you pregnant?” she whispers.
It’s not the first time she’s asked me that.
“Mama, it’s not the 1800s,” I tell her. “A woman doesn’t have to get married just because she’s having a baby. But also, no. I’m not.”
Scorpion didn’t even kiss me, let alone touch me with any kind of sexual interest. I tamp down the surge of disappointment at the reminder, because it’s not just illogical, it’s downright crazy.
Svetlana shakes her head. “I don’t like this,lisichka.You don’t seem happy like a bride should be. There’s sadness in your eyes.”
I knew that the hardest part of pulling this off would be convincing the woman who knows me better than anyone else that I’ve suddenly decided to marry a man I’ve never mentioned to her and she’s never met.
My face feels like it might crack under the force of my smile. “It’s just stress. Planning a wedding on such short notice is a lot.”
She searches my face for something—maybe a flashing neonI’m a liar sign.
But then she nods. “I’m so glad the company gave you the time off.”
Her voice has a note of doubt. She doesn’t believe me that the company would give me a leave of absence to plan a wedding this close to our summer season beginning. And she’s not wrong about that. They wouldn’t. I wouldn’t dream of asking for it either. I don’t know how I’m going to break it to her that I’ve been forced to quit. It will shatter her heart as much as it fractured mine.
