The penthouse had everything. The fridge was stocked, and the kitchen was fully equipped. It meant the shopping was about Madam Regina, and whatever version of me was required for that dinner.
“Okay, I won’t lie, this is getting awkward,” Caitlin broke the silence. “Music?”
“Yes, please,” I said, and she tapped the screen while still moving through traffic, but I reached it faster. “I’ll do it.”
“Thanks.” She concentrated on driving.
I scrolled through her playlist and selected a song. Tapping it, the car filled with sound loud enough to rattle the windows. I turned the volume down before it could do any real damage.
Caitlin burst out laughing. “Sorry. I like it loud.”
“I can tell.” I turned the screen off entirely. “Let’s just talk.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
“So, you’re Caitlin.” It wasn’t a question, but a starter.
She grinned. “You can call me Cate. That’s what friends call me.”
We had known each other for eleven minutes.
“Okay, Cate. What are we actually shopping for?”
She slowed at a red light and drummed her fingers on the wheel. “Clothes mostly. I have good taste, I promise. Did you like the dress from the auction?”
I turned to look at her. “You picked that?”
“Yes,” she looked pleased with herself. “I heard it fit well.”
“It was perfect.” It made me feel like I belonged in that room, at least from the outside, which was the closest I came to fitting in since everything started.
“I’m glad. Relax around me, I mean it. I like making friends.”
“You must have plenty.”
She started driving again as the light changed. “Not really. When you’re married, it gets complicated. My husband isn’t comfortable with me being close to most women.” She paused. “But he’s fine with you.”
Oh.“You’re married?” She extended her left hand briefly from the wheel and showed me the ring. From her looks, I had thought it was for beauty. “Oh,” I said. “I see.”
“At least our husbands are close, so let’s be close too,” she added
“Wait.” I turned to look at her again. “The Suit guy is your husband?”
Caitlin glanced at me, brows pulling together. “You mean the one I came with?”
“Yes. I mean, he is close to Dmitri.”
She laughed. “That’s Akim. He is probably the closest person to your husband. Akim and my husband both work for him.”
Calling Dmitri my husband still felt like wearing someone else’s coat, too big in all the wrong places. But I let it sit.
“So you work for Dmitri too?”
“My husband does, so by extension, yes.” She shrugged easily. “It works out.”
“I thought you were his relative.”
She laughed again, ending it with a hiss. “No. God, no. We barely cross paths. I don’t think he even knows it’s me taking you shopping today. He tells Akim, Akim handles everything, and here we are.”
