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“Mrs. Romanov.” I reached over my desk and pulled the lawyer closer by his tie. “Ekaterina is still, and always fucking will be, Mrs. Romanov.”
When the lawyer gulped, I let him go. He plunked back into the chair. I didn’t want the man to die of a heart attack. That would be counterproductive, as Katya would probably blame me. She blamed me for a lot these days.
“Of course. As I was saying,” the lawyer continued with a slight tremble in his voice. “Mrs. Kristoff told me that she doesn’t want any settlement whatsoever. She has even told me not to ask for spousal support.” He frowned. “Against my strongadvice, I might add.” When he realized what he’d just said, he turned red. “I mean…I was just doing my job and…”
“I don’t give a fuck about the money. There will be no divorce, Mr. O’Leary. Not now, not ever. You try to come between me and my wife, and I will make your world burn. You try to end my family? I will retaliate by ending yours. Starting with your son at Yale. Timothy, isn’t it? I will send him to you in a barrel filled with acid. It’ll stink up your entire house. Your wife’s prized petunias will die from the stench.”
“No…Please…” The man looked like he was about to pass out.
“Do we have an understanding?”
The lawyer nodded so hard that his double chin nearly hit his chest. “Yes! Yes! We have an understanding.”
“Good.Dospread the word in your...community.” I knew I didn’t have to tell him to not go to the police. Not only did the man have no evidence against me, he also knew that I would have him killed if he ever collected any. But he would whisper in the murky world of bloodthirsty divorce lawyers about the hazards of trying to fucking sue Kristoff Romanov.
Divorce papers.Blyat! What was she thinking?
I knew I’d fucked up, and I was going to take care of it. That didn’t mean I would allow her to divorce me.
The moment Damon opened the door, the lawyer barreled out of the room. Good riddance.
At the same moment, Caesar pranced in. The cat strutted around the house as he pleased. The second Damon sat in the chair across from me, the cat jumped onto my desk, then made a weird twist and landed in Damon’s lap. The feline hissed and pawed at him.
Damon growled, and hissed back. Then, to my utter surprise, the cat purred and made itself comfortable on his legs.
“Figures that you’re the damn cat whisperer,” I grumped.
I raked my hand through my hair. What the hell was I doing here, talking about cats while my life was imploding?
It was as if Damon heard my thoughts, because he put his tablet in front of me and clicked on an article. It was breaking news about the senator’s campaign manager who had been outed as having sticky fingers. The first crack in his carefully polished veneer as the perfect man had appeared. It would be the first of many.
I waited for sheer joy to ignite in me, expecting a moment of deep satisfaction. But nothing happened. Katya’s absence made me unbalanced, and cold to even this moment which should have been one of triumph. The woman had ruined me.
I looked at Damon. “Get the jet ready.”
***
KATYA
I stared at Mia. “I can’t believe he made you come here.”
Mia snorted and sat on my bed. “Made me? Honestly, the man made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. And it wasn’t a Godfather-style offer. I got to shop online with a limitless credit card, because I was supposed to look ‘Moscow chic,’ and then he chartered me a private jet so I would arrive in style. He sold the whole thing to me as a European jet-set vacation.”
“So, he bought you off?” I lay down next to her, with a hand propping up my head. “That does sound like Kristoff’s style.”
“I would have come regardless,” Mia said, and I knew this to be true. “Because, honestly, you look like you need a friend. I brought you some stuff. Mainly books Kristoff thought you would want.”
I swallowed. He was sending me my stuff? Even though I’d been the one to leave and contact a lawyer in the spur of themoment, him sending my belongings felt like a punch to the gut. I’d been spitting mad at him, and I was still hurt because he hadn’t told me the truth, but that didn’t mean I didn’t love him, or missed him so badly that I couldn’t sleep at night.
“How’s Caesar?”
Mia brightened. “You mean His Royal Highness, the emperor? He’s terrorizing casa Romanov as usual. I actually suggested I should take him with me, but Kristoff was very adamant that I couldn’t.” She gave me a pointed look. “I think he’s afraid that you won’t come back if your cat wasn’t there.”
The vice around my heart loosened. Perhaps he wasn’t happy to see me go after all.
I had to admit that it chafed that he hadn’t contacted me once since I’d left. It felt as if I didn’t exist to him anymore.
Mia took in my room. “Tell me, what have you been doing here for the past week? Sightseeing, clubbing? You do know you missed girls’ night last week, right?”
