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“Since I realized that she’s been really happy lately and this stupid wedding might be the reason why. Well, that and your pretty little wife.” She curls her top lip. “It’s nauseating how well they get along. Mom finally has the daughter she always wanted.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Nikita. Mom already has the daughter she’s always wanted,” I say. I pause for effect, then add, “She got that the day Maksim married Cyrille.”
Nikita punches my arm lightly with a shocked laugh, then slouches against the back of the sofa. “Speaking of perfect daughters, Cyrille is here, too. She brought Ilya.”
“Oh.”
“‘Oh’?” she repeats in disgust. “Don’t you want to go say hi? You haven’t seen your nephew in months.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“If anything, I’m being generous to you.”
I sigh. “Is this the part where you tell me I’m a shit uncle?”
“Why would I bother?” she asks sweetly. “You’re already well aware of what a shit uncle you are.”
I snort with laughter and Nikita joins in. For a moment, it takes me back twenty years. When she used to sneak into my room in the mornings and wake me up with a poke in the ribs just because she was bored.
“You’re still a pain in the ass, you know that?”
“It’s been so long since we’ve hung out I was afraid you might have forgotten.”
I shake my head. “Impossible.”
She smirks and for a moment, I can feel her longing. The need to go back in time for just a few minutes. Back to when things were simple. When Maksim was around and laughter came easily and being together wasn’t a painful reminder of everything we’ve lost.
“Paige seemed a bit down when we arrived,” she observes. “Does that have to do with the run-in with her sleazy ex-husband or is it being forced to live with the grumpy current husband?”
I straighten up a little and stare at her. “What do you mean?”
Nikita’s frown sharpens. “We ran into her ex at lunch the other day. She didn’t tell you?”
Fuck.
“She saw Anthony?” I demand, jerking all the way upright.
“Okay, so I’m guessing she didn’t tell you,” Nikita says with a sigh. She gets to her feet, too. “He tried to order her a drink. I guess a ten-dollar cocktail and a sticky note is the going rate for reconciliation after abandoning someone to be penniless and alone.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing. She didn’t seem interested in hearing his explanation. He was getting kinda pushy, so I stepped in and told him to fuck off. End of story.”
“And then?”
She raises her eyebrows. “And then we drove home. Like I said, end of story.”
I look around for my clothes and start pulling them on. Nikita watches me warily. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go pay a visit to this fucker.”
She rolls her eyes. “Maybe you should just pee on Paige. You know, like, marking your territory. It would serve the same purpose and save you some gas money.”
I shoot my sister a vicious glare. Then I storm out before she can tell me more shit I should already know.
68
MISHA
