Page 79 of Black Ledger

“Who wouldn’t want to marry you?” His eyes traced the edges of my face and down the column of my neck. He sighed. “But you agreed to marry my brother. If you change your mind, you must let me know.”

I giggled, actually giggled like a schoolgirl. Get yourself together, Xeniya. “If I don’t marry him, I will certainly let you know.”

“Who are you planning to murder?”

“Is everyone not the right answer?”

Mikhail chuckled. “Oh, I knew I was going to like you.” He held out his hand. “Would you like to dance, and make my brother jealous and maybe cause him to stop ignoring his beautiful fiancée?”

I giggled again.

Oh, for fuck’s sake, Xeniya.

“Yes,” I said, and I let him lead me onto the dance floor.

Vesper Graves was on stage singing a beautiful yet seductive ballad. Many were dancing to it, and others were watching her performance. Among the watchers was Severin’s head guard, Maksim Petrov, who seemed utterly enamored with the singer.

Clearly not doing his job tonight.

Mikhail pulled me into a close hold for our dance. It was somewhere between a slow foxtrot and a waltz. As a mafia princess, I had been drilled in ballroom dances for such occasions, and I was moderately okay at them.

No great.

Not bad.

A bead of sweat rolled down my back, and my heart pounded into my throat as my body pressed against his. He smelled of cedar, amber, and a hint of smoke.

It was thrilling, and I sucked in a deep breath and held it to keep myself from falling over a cliff I couldn’t climb back up.

Before my kidnapping, I had only had an attraction for two men. Severin and Mikhail. And afterward, I didn’t know if I could be attracted to anyone again.

It turns out I could, and to the same fucking men, because my life was one big joke.

What would my life be like now if I had chosen the other brother back then? Would Mikhail choose me back? Would he have protected me?

Would none of this have ever happened?

They were foolish, useless questions to ask because it happened, and my life was forever altered.

And to make all of it worse, Mikhail was the consummate gentleman throughout the whole dance, never placing a hand where it shouldn’t be and never making me remotely uncomfortable.

I’d never danced with Severin. Not once. It wasn’t safe because of his father, but I had danced with Mikhail on multiple occasions. And somehow, I’d always wished it were Severin, even when I hated him.

As if summoned by my thoughts, I glimpsed Severin out of the corner of my eye. To say he was not happy would have been an understatement. He radiated anger. It poured off him like seismic waves from an earthquake.

When the dance was over, I excused myself to the bathroom because I needed to catch my breath and gather my thoughts.

I was not here to flirt with Mikhail or develop feelings for anyone. I was here to destroy the Lethean Order and any of its members. The Russians held up the order, and so I would break them apart one by one if I had to.

It was time to let them know the ghost was always watching. Always there.

It was time to show them.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and rubbed my face, smudging my makeup and fake freckles.

I removed my glasses and placed them into my purse. I’d wipe off my smeared makeup, but I didn’t need to. It would come off with the transition to Ghost Xeniya.

I took off my red wig and stuffed it inside the trash can for safekeeping. Hopefully, Severin kept his establishments clean because I was going to need to come back for that later.