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“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, for starters, you’re planning on getting married without telling a single member of your family.”
“I told you,” I argue. “There’s one.”
“I’m your right hand man. I don’t count.”
I wave the thought away. “I don’t want the pomp and circumstance. I don’t want the fucking noise.”
“And your solution is to get married andthenintroduce her to the family? That is going to be nothing but noise, broseph. They’ll be pissed.”
“It’s simpler that way.”
“It’s also cruel. Aunt Nessa—”
“My mother will understand,” I say, cutting him off. “And if I need a lecture, Konstantin, I’ll go to my sister.”
“Ouch,” he complains. “Low blow.”
“Like I said, having a fancy wedding implies this marriage is more than it is. It is a business proposition, nothing more. Paige is a straightforward way for me to continue my legacy without having to deal with the messiness of—”
“Love and romance? Vulnerability? Being an actual human fuckin’ being for once in your entire robotic life?”
“Something like that,” I mutter.
Konstantin gives me an amused smile, but there is worry speckled throughout. “Maksim had a wedding, lest you forget.”
“Maksim was—” I stop short.
Maksim was a better man. He was better in every way. And now, he’s dead.
“Maksim was different,” I finish, though I know that Konstantin has already made note of my stumble. “Can I trust you to keep your mouth shut and make the preparations? Or do I need to handle it myself?”
He raises his eyebrows. I stare him down until he finally yields with a sigh.
“Alright,” he says at last. “But when your momma brings the roof down, I’m not sticking around to bail your ass out.”
30
PAIGE
“Are you okay, Mrs. Orlov?” Rada asks.
“Paige,” I correct weakly from my fetal position on the bed. I slept like a baby last night in the real sense of the phrase—a.k.a., up every two hours to cry and feel sorry for myself—and now, I’m exhausted.
“Paige. Paige. Paige,” she choruses to herself under her breath.
Nothing says “close personal friend” like practicing how to say your first name.
If this is going to be an issue, maybe I should just let her call me whatever she wants. Sighing, I force myself up into a sitting position and offer a meek smile in Rada’s direction. “But yes, I’m okay. Just… a little out of it today.”
“I thought you’d be over the moon.”
I frown. “About what?”
Rada immediately looks nervous. “I wasn’t snooping or anything. I was just cleaning inside your closet.”
“Okay… and?”
