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Maybe Viktoria has already told him I called off the engagement, or maybe she hasn’t. Either way, he’ll know soon enough. I have no intention of going back on my decision.
I push open the kitchen door and find the purple-haired maid from before. Her eyes bug out when she sees me in the kitchen. “Oh, Mr. Zaitsev, hi. Is everything to your liking? I can find Sonya if you need—”
“Rayne,” I interrupt. “Where is she?”
She hitches a thumb over her shoulder to a side door into the hallway. “Taking a break between courses. The next comes out in five minutes.”
I dismiss her wordlessly and shove through the door.
The hallway is dark. It’s a service shaft between the kitchen and the secondary dining room. Since we’re in the great room tonight, this place is empty.
Except for one familiar shadow leaning against the wall.
Rayne jolts when I push through the door. “Jumpy,” I observe. “Expecting someone else?”
“I wasn’t expecting anyone. I came here to be alone.”
“Rough night?”
“Rough life.” As soon as the words are out of her mouth, I can tell she regrets them. She shakes her head. “I’m fine. It’s just a joke.”
I step closer to her and immediately, I feel drawn to her. Once we get in range, it’s a magnetic kind of pull. A physical force beyond my control. “Don’t let Viktoria get to you.”
“Right back atcha.”
“That will be the fucking day,” I growl. “That family couldn’t get to me with a running start.”
“Well, something is getting to you. Isn’t it?” she asks hesitantly. “You don’t seem to be having a good time.”
I don’t know why I’m surprised she noticed. Rayne notices everything. Even when she’s forced to pick up glass from the floor and mop up spilled drinks, nothing gets past her.
“Parties like this are miserable.”
“I thought those were your people. You know, people from your world. Your peers.”
“Christ, don’t insult me like that. They’re miserable.”
She turns to face me, her shoulder leaning against the wall. “Is that why you came back here to hide?”
“No.”
She nervously twirls the end of her ponytail over her shoulder. “Then why did you come back here?”
I step closer to her. There’s barely a foot of space between us now. She has to lean her head back to make eye contact with me.
“I came to find you.”
Her mouth forms an “o” of surprise. “What do you want?”
Without warning, I grip her waist and press her back against the wall. My other hand smooths across her cheek. I can feel her trembling.
“Kirill,” she breathes. My name on her lips is a warning and a welcome. It’s a promise and a plea. When I feel her breath whisper across my neck, I can’t ignore it for another second.
I lean down and press my mouth to hers.
I don’t have a plan for this. No thought about where it will lead or how far I’ll take it. Maybe that’s why it gets out of control so fast.
Maybe that’s why, when Rayne sighs into my mouth, I lose my fucking mind.
