Maxim: That’s me. Pure sugar.
Maxim: Though, I’m not sure what I did to deserve the monstrosities you sent me?
Victoria:
Victoria: You didn’t put them on!!! If you had, you’d understand
Maxim: I’m not wearing SpongeBob slippers
Victoria: My presents come specially wrapped. Are you at home?
Maxim: Ah
Maxim: They’re very nice, pchelka. Spasibo
Victoria: You took them out?
Maxim: I did. Where did you get them between last night and now lol?
Victoria: May have had them sitting in my closet, waiting to give them to you. I did the embroidery myself.
Maxim: You did?
Victoria: (Yes. Been a long time since Mama taught me and I might have bled.)
Maxim: That’s why the thread’s red?
Victoria: Da. Thank God your name’s short!
Maxim: I cherish each drop spilled
Victoria: As you should.
FOUR
I WILL SLAY YOU
“You looklike the fem slayer fromRed Mistif she were heading out on a business lunch instead of sleeping in a bunker at the guild’s HQ.”
Shay and that goddamn game.
“Yay! I was aiming for ‘deadly with a gun when pushed.’”
He smirks. “You’re a better shot than I am.”
I stick out my index finger, lift my thumb, then pew-pew it at him. “They don’t know that. Yet.”
When he clutches at his chest, I stare at my reflection.
I’m wearing Bianchi high-waisted pants in onyx, sleek enough to look smart, but with a stretch that’ll give me freedom of movement; the slimline Nehru-collared blouse does too. All while hugging my curves.
My eyeliner’s sharper than the average kitchen knife, my makeup pristine, and the black steel-toed shitkickers—as Aunt Star likes to call them—are perfect because they hide beneath the wide-flared bottom of my pants.
I wasn’t aiming for BAMF alert, more “I have as much money as you and I’m not afraid of whatever you’ll throw at me, so fuck off.”
I’ll take it.
“You don’t have to do this, you know?”
