Page 50 of The Beauty Who Loved Him

Vera’s nose scrunched up. “You were listening to my call last night?”

She hadn’t expected the late-night call from Hannah in Italy, but it made a lot more sense when her friend explained she’d finally gotten details about her ex-husband’s funeral. Hannah intended on attending no matter how much Vera tried to convince her friend that it might not be a good idea.

Hannah wasn’t hearing it.

I need this, she’d told Vera. I need to know it’s real.

How could she argue with that? In the end, Vera offered Hannah a place to stay so she didn’t have to room in a hotel for a couple of days, and even to attend the funeral of Viktor Antonovich. As long as her friend promised the two could stay out of sight and out of the way while they did it.

“Hannah sounded very upset,” Vaslav noted.

He had the nerve to look serious.

Not at all guilty of eavesdropping.

“Knock it off, Vas.”

He smirked, saying, “Listen, you have things to handle, and you might as well take the time to do it because you can’t get anything done here with me.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Vera had an event coordinator to find to plan a small wedding in a very short amount of time. Vaslav had already made it clear where he wanted the wedding to take place, and the man he intended to marry the two of them. If those things were already settled, and Vera didn’t really have a reason to argue about it, then that made some things simpler for her. She still needed to return to The Swan House to get what remained of her things. The longer she left her belongings in the locker, the better chance she had of not getting it back. Even if it was just an old pair of ballet shoes she couldn’t even wear and a change of clothes ... that didn’t matter to her.

It was still hers.

Feliks might have proven how much Vera was worth to him, but she wouldn’t give the bastard anything extra in the meantime.

“I’ll still be here when you get things rounded up,” Vaslav said. “Hell, I might even drop in for a date.”

That had Vera brightening. “A date, like ...” She waved a finger between the two of them. “With me and you?”

“Da, yes.”

Vera shut one eye. “Really?”

He didn’t seem like the type considering the amount of effort he put into staying at home. Literally. While the people around him, Igor, Mira, and even Kiril, came and went from the house and property without much fanfare, Vaslav couldn’t say the same. She didn’t want to call him a hermit, but he certainly wasn’t living a very public life, either.

“If things go right,” he settled on saying.

She didn’t have a clue what he meant.

Then, Vaslav nodded her way. “Get an appropriate dress for that, too, yeah? While you’re already out shopping for something white.”

“What, a date?”

“Yes, a second dress for a date.”

He was still on that?

Vera shook her head. “I don’t know what kind of imaginary date you’re planning so how—”

“It’s not imaginary, kisska.”

“I’m just saying.”

He gave her a pensive look.

She winked right back.