“And here I am. Letting you deal with them.”
Inessa points the mother-of-pearl spoon at her. “Hey, we’re not dog shit to clean up, you know?”
“Oh! That reminds me. Where’s Salome?!”
“Charlie is in the kitchen.”
Inessa frowns. “Who’s Charlie?”
“The dog. It’s a boy. I refuse to call a boy dog Salome. Get a girl dog and I’ll gladly call her that.”
“I thought it was quite fitting considering your first gift to me.” I bark out a laugh at her taunt. “I can’t believe you picked Charlie, Maxim. I mean, you could at least have gone for John!”
“That just cuts too close to the bone, and we’re peers at the Russian Orthodox church, Victoria. I refuse to explain to the bishop why we have two blasphemous names for dogs.”
“I agree,” Camille inserts. “As much as I loathe to. You can’t call your dogs John and Salome, Victoria.”
“Like people know who they are. I could be talking about any John in the world.”
“Perhaps, but not with Salome. That’s not exactly a common name.” Camille pinches the bridge of her nose. “Why do you do this? I’m mad at you and have no desire to talk about your dog’s damn name!”
“Well, it’s not my fault that you barged in the morning after my wedding night! I was very comfy and about to have breakfast in bed before you spoiled things.”
“You got married,” Inessa howls. “Without us!”
“Because I knew you’d overreact and I’m sick of being questioned about this. Even Shay asked if I was doing the right thing! This has been in the cards for years. Why is everyone so surprised that I want him?” She grits her teeth. “Why is it such a shock that I’d want a man who will go to the extents Maxim has to protect me?”
“Because you’re young!”
“I’m older than you when you were married, Inessa,” she snipes.
“And I didn’t choose Eoghan. He was chosen for me as I was for him. We’re lucky that it worked out and we love each other, but we were strangers. Just like you and Maxim!”
“We’re not strangers. I know him well.”
“Well,” Camille scoffs.
“I do! Maybe it’s not what he likes to do on Sunday afternoons or how he takes his eggs, but I know him. I know his heart and I know his soul.”
“You sound like a child.”
“I don’t wish to discuss this. Where’s Roman?” Her tone’s forcibly pleasant.
“No! You will not change the subject when?—”
“Why are you giving me such a hard time, Camille?!”
“Because you’re the only daughter who had a say in who she’d marry and you still chose a career criminal! For God’s sake, I was hoping you’d attend Oakwood and find someone decent, someone who didn’t carry a hacksaw around as a backup plan. Some?—”
“Someone boring. Someone who has no power. Someone who rides a desk. Someone who sits on a board of directors. Someone bland. Someone who pretends to be ‘good’ on the face of it but who has a furry kink he only explores with a hooker the second Friday of every month.” Her hands float upward. “Maxim makes me feel safe. He makes me feel wanted. He makes me feel seen. Nobody else sees me like he does. Nobody else accepts me like he does.
“You think I’m a child who just runs headfirst into situations, and maybe, sometimes, I do. I know I’m spoiled—yeah, I heard you earlier. But you’re the ones who made that happen. You’re the ones who tried to make up for having a cunt of a father by always letting me get away with murder.
“Guess what, sisters, I married up. I married a man who’ll kill for me! Just like you did. You taught me what to expect and to take nothing less, so basically, this is all your fault and you’re the ones reaping what you sowed while I get the only man I’ve ever wanted.”
The “so there” is silent.
By the end of her tirade, her tone turns smug.
