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Red lipstick. Just like I’d hoped.
As she’s twitching curls into place, I come up behind her and pick up the necklace on the hall table and thread it around her throat. Her gaze flickers between us as I fasten the clasp.
“We look good together, don’t we?” I murmur, resting my hands on her shoulders. We look powerful. We look like Belyaevs.
Zenya doesn’t say anything, but her hungry eyes devour my face.
“Are you looking forward to tonight?” I ask her.
Zenya turns to me and puts a hand on my chest. “I am, but…” She glances toward the stairs and back to me. “Under normal circumstances, I’d be going with Dad or he’d be coming with us.”
I stroke my thumbs along her collarbone and nod. As angry as I am with Troian, I understand how strange she feels.
Distress fills her eyes. “It’s a special kind of pain to be stepping into Dad’s shoes while he’s still living and breathing. I feel like a parasite. A vulture.”
“I promise you that when your father looks at you, he feels nothing but pride.”
Zenya strokes my chest and whispers, “He’s so happy you’re back.”
Is he? I’m not so sure about that, but I stopped caring what my brother thinks of me when he threw me out of this family two years ago. “How do you feel?”
She gazes up at me through her lashes. “I’m not sure how to feel. You’re not the same man you were two years ago.”
I take her chin with my thumb and forefinger. “I’m the same man I always was. I’m just choosing to show different parts of myself to you now. You were so young back then. Now, you’re…” I smile and let my gaze drop from her eyes to her lips to her dress.
Fucking delicious.
Zenya regards me with thoughtful blue eyes. “You were so wild and unpredictable back then. You’re still as dangerous as you always were, but now you seem more focused. I…think I like that about you.”
“I aim to please, princess,” I murmur, still holding her jaw. Maybe I don’t even need to wait for midnight. We’re all alone in the hallway, and I lower my mouth toward hers.
Zenya places a finger on my lips. “Don’t. I’m trying to talk to you. I still think you’re crazy, but I like this new you. The old Kristian would never have walked into a party behind a woman.”
I give her a baffled glare. “Since when was I a misogynistic asshole who can’t treat a woman like an equal?”
“You were Dad’s heir, and you made sure everyone knew it, especially after he grew sick, and it became possible that you would have to step up sooner rather than later. I’m surprised you’ve accepted me so easily. Surprised, but pleased.”
Guilt twists in my belly. It takes me a moment to realize what the sensation is because I’ve never much been plagued by the emotion before.
“You look good tonight,” she whispers, stroking her fingers along my jaw. “But you always look good.”
I groan and rest my forehead against hers. “Princess, if you keep paying me compliments and not letting me kiss you, I’m going to burst into flames.”
“I can’t lose you again,” she says, wrapping her arms around my neck and begging me with her eyes. “Don’t you understand? One wrong move between us and it will be like Chessa and that photo all over again. Dad’s so protective of me, and he won’t accept you being anything other than my uncle. He couldn’t save Mom. He couldn’t save Chessa. I’m all he has left, and he’ll shed blood to make sure I’m safe, even if he can’t wield the blade himself.”
I know she’s remembering the assassins Troian threatened to send after me. As if I’m worried about some scavenging little bounty hunters. We can’t be lovers because it will upset Troian? Troian might not be around for much longer.
I lean closer and press a kiss to her throat, murmuring, “So under different circumstances, if I were to slip a diamond ring onto your finger and ask you to be my wife, you’d say yes. Is that what you’re telling me?”
She breathes in sharply, her breasts pressed tightly against my chest. “No, that’s impossible.”
“All you say is wecan’t.” I kiss her throat. “Weshouldn’t.” I kiss her jaw. “But I never hear,I don’t want you.” My lips are close to hers but don’t touch, waiting for her to close the gap. “If you want me to stop pursuing you, you’re going to have to kill me, because while you look at me with that much desire in your eyes, I’m never letting you go.”
Zenya’s plush lips resemble soft and powdery rose petals. She stares at my mouth like she’s remembering what it can do to her. This girl needs to come so badly she’s burning up in my arms.
I dip my head and murmur in her ear, “Let’s go to this party and show them all who’s boss of this city, and afterward, I’ll give you a sweet goodnight. I’ll even find that blindfold for you. If you still need it.”
Zenya pulls out of my arms, reaches for her clutch with a shaky breath, and takes a moment to compose herself.
