There is no other word for it. She spent that whole lunch watching me, watching Roman, fitting together whatever little story she prefers, and now she’s carrying it around like a prize.
I hate her a little more than usual for that.
The front door opens before I reach it. The nanny comes hurrying down the hall the moment she sees the children.
“Thank God,” I say, passing Sofia into her arms first. “Straight upstairs, both of them. Baths if they wake, but I’m hoping for unconsciousness.”
The nanny smiles and takes Sofia carefully. Nikolai comes to me on his own, blinking hard.
“Mama, can I skip changing?”
“Yes.”
“Can I sleep in my sweater?”
“Yes.”
That gets the tiniest smile out of him. He lets the nanny take his hand and lead him toward the stairs. Sofia lifts one arm dramatically from sleep and says, “Tell the birds I won.”
Then they’re gone.
For one blessed second, the hall is quiet.
Then Vika laughs. Softly, like she’s enjoying herself too much to hide it.
I take off my gloves one finger at a time and do not look at her.
“Well,” she says. “That was educational.”
I keep walking toward the morning room because if I answer her in the hall, I’ll end up saying something that forces servants to remember it forever.
She follows, obviously.
The moment we’re inside, she closes the door behind us and leans against it, still smiling.
“You should have seen your face,” she says.
I turn then. “I was there.”
“Yes, and it was wonderful.”
I stare at her.
She has changed out of nothing. Still coatless, still polished, still wearing that look of malicious satisfaction. She thinks she knows what happened at lunch. She thinks he was there at lunch because she invited him. She has no idea of the dangerous game she’s playing, or the fact that Roman is Lev’s half-brother.
Nobody here knows, I think dimly. Nobody but me.
“Stay away from him.”
Vika blinks. Then she smiles wider. “There it is.”
“I mean it.”
“Oh, I know you do.” She pushes off the door and comes farther into the room. “That’s what makes this so funny.”
I almost laugh. “If you think this is about jealousy, you’re stupider than I gave you credit for.”
She lifts a brow. “So itisjealousy.”
