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I sat across from her. “That’s okay. I’m starving as well.”
“Are you now?”
When I gave her a questioning look, she pointed a perfectly manicured finger at my head.
“I can recognize bedroom hair from a mile away, girlfriend.”
I flushed. “Yeah, well…” It wasn’t so much bedroom hair as sex-in-the-back-of-a-Bentley hair, but I kept that tidbit to myself.
“Uh-huh.” She grabbed a fry and rolled her eyes.
I picked up a menu and when the waiter came, I ordered sangria and garlic shrimp.
Mia’s phone dinged, and when she looked at it, she huffed. “It’s from Lily. Baran is taking her on a surprise honeymoon weekend.”
“Guess we got stood up.” Good for Lily. She deserved happiness.
Mia made a gagging sound. “She’s so despicably in love, sometimes I want to hurt her.” Her smile wasn’t malignant though, and I relaxed.
Mia and I had gotten pretty close, but I hadn’t told her about my upcoming nuptials yet. Just the other day she had received a letter from her lawyer that her divorce had come through. She’d been married for all of three months. Ever since, she’d gotten into the habit of summing up all her relationship mistakes.
My falling out with Lily fresh in my memory, I blurted, “Kristoff proposed to me and I said yes.”
“Oh my God, congrats!” Mia squealed.
I relaxed, realizing I had been nervous about her reaction.
She frowned. “Wait. I can’t believe that I’m the one saying this, but have you thought this through? The whole marriage thing? I mean, you’re about my age, right? Isn’t this a bit too fast?”
I shrugged, not offended by her spot-on remark in the least. “What can I say? Kristoff doesn’t want to wait.”
She dipped a chip into a small bowl of salsa. “I’m just saying. Don’t do as I did. Like a vintage Disney Princess, I married the first guy who told me he loved me. Cliff Notes? He was no prince. He did come attached at the hip with an evil mother-in-law though.”
That wouldn’t be a problem for me. There was no divorce in the Bratva. “I hear you.”
I put down my sangria and got up. “Be right back.” I needed to cut down on the caffeine, but Kristoff had kept me up all night. Like every night since we’d gotten together. He’d showed me all four corners of the bedroom and then some. I needed to get to the gym more if I wanted to keep up with him.
I’d barely gotten out of a bathroom stall when the door opened and a familiar face walked in. It was literally the last person I wanted to see.
My mood soured. “Svetlana.” She looked her usual self—a platinum-blonde bombshell towering on red heels. What was up with her following me around town?
“Katya,” she said. “You stupid girl. Thinking Kristoff will marry you.”
Obviously she had overheard me talking to Mia. It was even more obvious that the gloves were now off. She wasn’t even pretending this was going to be a somewhat civil conversation.
“So you’ve heard the news, but calling me names? Really? Don’t you have any pride?”
She put her bag next to the sink and took out a lipstick. Our eyes met through the mirror spanning half the wall. “Do you really think he wants you?”
“I happen to know that men can’t fake wanting a woman, so yeah, I do.” I wasn’t going to let her ruin this for me.
Her lips thinned. “He’s only saving you for Sokolov. The man he owes everything to and who’s going to help him avenge his mother. You are nothing more than something to pass the time with. He’s fucking you to get back at me for not choosing him before.”
What was she talking about? Before I could form a coherent question, she continued.
“Has he told you about Sokolov’s family? And the man responsible for their slaughter?”
“He has.”
