Page 34 of The Arrangement

Of course, there was still Ivan, too.

“Ivan,” Anton barked. “Doesn’t your wife feed you?”

“Sure, but you know she’s at her mother’s estate for the next few weeks. I can’t cook. Your pretty little thing there can, and I’m trying to find out what she made for me today.”

Viviana snickered. “Nothing, Ivan. Clarissa felt like I was doing her job and told me to back off.”

“She did not,” Anton argued.

“All right, so she said it in a politer way, but the sentiment was still the same. What’s the in bag?” Viviana asked as her gaze caught the toppled over gift bag again. “Did you buy me something else?”

“Patience is a virtue.”

“I’m not a very virtuous woman.”

“You can pretend to be,” he replied, winking.

She scowled at him playfully. Anton had grabbed the magazine from her hands. Pages were skimmed under his scrutinizing gaze as Ivan finally came to join them at the table. “By the way, I meant to thank you, baby.”

Viviana glanced up, surprised. “For what?”

“That shipment arrived without a lick of trouble.”

“Oh, well, you’re welcome.”

“That is horrid,” the lawyer said with a nod at a particularly poufy dress with way too much crinoline.

“Agreed.” Another page was turned, and then another. Anton’s finger tapped down to a mermaid styled, ivory colored dress all done up in lace from top to bottom with intricate pearl work along the bodice. While the capped sleeves and modest cut of the front was sweet, the deep plunge in the back showcased a great deal of skin. There was no denying it was a beautiful wedding dress. “Now, that is something I might enjoy taking off of you.”

Viviana cleared her throat at his suggestive tone while Ivan chuckled and gave a short wave before he left their space. “At least you didn’t pick something white. Still, it’s a little too daring, isn’t it?”

“For what?”

“A Catholic service, Anton. What in the hell else?”

“Oh God, no. I am not marrying into that mess. A Justice of the Peace will be just fine.”

Viviana felt stunned. Traditionally, men married in the church of the woman if their religions weren’t shared. Anton, however, was Jewish and he very well might want her to convert. “You’re not Catholic. I’d forgotten.”

The low hum that came from somewhere in the back of his throat felt almost dismissive. “So what? I’m Jewish. You’re Catholic. I don’t go to the temple, and given the reports I’ve had on you these last three years, you haven’t been going to church either.”

“Dad wasn’t around to make me go.”

“And we never quite followed the rules,” Anton added gently. “Sex before marriage. Catholics don’t believe in contraceptive methods. Living together and sharing a bed. My profession. I already told you I wasn’t buying my way into heaven and I don’t much care to pretend like I would. Wear ivory if it makes you feel better. Have some Christian readings in the service if it suits your needs. I don’t want to be married in a church, or a temple, Vine. Does it really matter?”

• • •

Anton waited for Viviana’s response with silent worry. Looking down at her distant gaze, he wondered if his refusal of her religion was going to be a hard limit for them. Over the last three weeks since her arrival, he hadn’t found many things between them that could cause either one of them to kick up a fuss. Almost seamlessly, their lives seemed to intertwine, as if they were always meant to.

He would swear they were extensions of one another. Viviana was his perfect half, and sometimes it scared the living shit out of him. Break someone’s jaw, no problem. Step in between drawn guns, not an issue. Sadden a woman who could bring him to his knees and suddenly Anton was a worried, anxious mess.

And damn, Viviana had done so well with everything he threw at her. The interviews with the police and fire marshal went just fine. There wasn’t a flicker of hesitation or fear in her voice as she perched up on his lap and spoke to those men over the phone. The bulls who accompanied her on the walks with Rocco didn’t have a bad thing to say, and if anything, they were worried her niceness to them would concern Anton. More often than not, she spent her days in the upstairs apartment with his parents until he was due home. Especially after that scene with her aunt and cousin a couple of days ago.

It was obvious a touch of cabin fever was beginning to settle in, though. Viviana had been going to school, she had friends and a life just starting to build in Toronto, and now he had her locked up tight with only the daily walk to the dog park and back with their pup. He sincerely hoped his gift in the black gift bag would help her with that issue.

“Viviana?”

“No … actually, that makes it easier.”