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Sofia
“I heard you met Zakhar Morozov,”Tavia mumbled around the huge bite of pastry she’d just hungrily stuffed into her mouth.
Staring at her in fascination, I tried not to think about the night before or the man who had left me dizzy and confused. It was better to watch my sister-in-law and her new love/hate relationship with all things food. One minute, she would be gobbling up anything in sight. The next, throwing up so hard I could hear her sobbing from my bedroom.
No one ever knew what would happen until they witnessed her either eating or turning green at the smell of whatever might be cooking in the kitchen. Because of her sporadic morning sickness, she and my brother had been staying at our childhood home more often than at their apartment. Especially if Theo had to work. That way, our mother or I was around to assist Tavia if she needed anything or suddenly became ill.
And it was due to her ongoing morning sickness that the newlyweds had missed the charity event the night before. Theo had called our parents as we were leaving, telling them that Tavia was throwing up so much he was worried. He’d brought her to the mansion, where our doctor had been waiting in their room to hook her up to an IV for some much-needed fluids.
They must have worked wonders, because Tavia had color in her cheeks, and her appetite was definitely back. At least for the moment.
“Sofia?” She swallowed the sweet pastry and gave me a concerned look when I didn’t answer her. “You okay?”
I blinked, still picturing her tearing into the buttery, flaky bread like a wild beast. Pregnancy hunger seemed to me like something that should be filmed as a documentary. Just as scary and yet as incredibly fascinating as watching a pack of lionesses take down and then proceed to devour a gazelle.
“Yeah, sorry. What did you say?” I lifted my mug of coffee, knowing she was going to say Zak’s name again and trying to prepare myself for my body’s inevitable reaction.
The ride back to the Volkov compound in his limo had been over too soon for me—not that I was going to admit that aloud. No one needed to know that, especially not Zak. I hadn’t wanted him to go, but at the same time, I needed him to be as far away as humanly possible. Because, obviously, I was still on the path of self-destruction where I completely lost my mind over a damn man.
“What did you think of Zak?”
Goose bumps popped up along my entire body at his name, surprising even me with the intense reaction. I knew it was coming, had tried to steady myself for it, but it still caught me off guard. It made me glad I’d chosen to wear a long-sleeved dress that morning instead of coming down to breakfast in my pajamas, so the effect of hearing his name wasn’t broadcast to my sister-in-law or anyone else.
“He was definitely interesting,” I said after a pause.
She smirked at me. “You like him, don’t you?” I shot her a glare, and she laughed. “I knew it. Victoria always has a sixth sense when it comes to these things.”
“Then why didn’t she set you up with my brother?” I snipped, only to instantly regret it. I was not that person anymore. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
She sighed but shrugged it off. “She did sense we would be good together,” she said after taking a considerably smaller bite of her food this time. “But she worried that Theo was too caught up in seeking revenge for his biological father. She wanted to wait until he was at peace with that before setting us up.”
“Understandable,” I murmured, still feeling guilty for how I’d cut her with my sharp tongue. It was a reflex I needed to continue to work on.
“Are you going to see him again?” she asked, reaching for her mug of weak tea.
“No.” I was quick to answer.
“Liar,” she laughed, and I released my held breath that she wasn’t upset with me. “I bet he’s just as besotted with you as you are with him.”
“He asked me to dinner tonight, but I turned him down.” I’d been so tempted to accept, but I needed to hold strong and focus on myself for a little while longer. Obviously, from my reaction to Tavia only moments before, I needed to do that more than I first thought.
Millie, the youngest of our maids, walked into the dining room with a huge bouquet of flowers and a grin on her face. She was twenty-five, her hair back in the severe bun that all our housekeeping staff wore theirs in, dressed in the simple black slacks and tucked-in white dress shirt our house manager required of those who were under her.
“Miss Sofia,” she said as she carried the flowers toward me. “These just arrived for you.”
Instinctively, I knew who they were from. My heart gave a happy leap that quickly had me clenching every muscle in my body to stop. Not returning Millie’s smile, I reluctantly took the bouquet from her. The delicate scent hit my senses without having to lift the flowers to my nose.
Pink roses. My favorite.
I clenched my fingers around the wrapping when I felt them begin to tremble at the sight of the little white card tucked into an envelope in the center of the bouquet. Gritting my teeth, I mentally told myself not to get excited. Whatever the card said, I was not going to give in. It wouldn’t be fair to him or anyone in my family if I started something serious with him before I completely got my shit together.
“It doesn’t look as if they are infested with insects,” Tavia teased over her mug. “I think it’s safe to read the card.”
“Safe for you, maybe,” I muttered under my breath, but I placed the flowers on the table and finally pulled the envelope free.
Taking the card from inside, I licked my lips before allowing my gaze to drop to what was written there. I’d expected it to be some typed-out message, but it was handwritten, the scrawl obviously male, yet oddly elegant. I never would have guessed that the way a guy wrote my name would be sexy, yet there I sat, more than a little turned on at the sight of how he’d written the “S” and “F.” The dot over the “I” was chunky, and the tail on the end of the “A” made me smile at how endearing it was.
I brushed the tip of my index finger over my name before reading further.
