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She doesn’t need to know how nervous I was for Paige coming into tonight. I hid it well enough from Paige and that is all that matters.
“She’s definitely holding her own, with the old perverts and the bitchy wives alike.”
“Not all of the perverts are old. Not all of the bitches are wives.”
Niki sniffs pointedly. “Please—if you think I’m going to talk to the mistresses, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Your loyalty is admirable,” I say. “But if you remember correctly, Mother spoke to everyone at her parties. Mistresses included. Sometimes, most of all.”
Niki glances over at our mother. She’s locked in intense conversation with another wife. “That’s because she’s a better woman than I am.”
I lean in, voice low. “Aleksandr Golubev is looking in this direction.”
“Then go talk to him if you want to. What do I care?”
“He’s not looking at me.”
She rolls her eyes and does her best to look disinterested, but her cheeks redden.
“He’s not a bad choice, Niki. He’s wealthy, accomplished, speaks four languages. As far as I’ve heard, he has no mistresses.”
“That’s because he doesn’t have a wife,” she snaps. “You can’t have a mistress without a wife. Once he is married, the mistress will sure as shit follow.”
“I’ve spoken to Aleksandr enough times to know that he’s a decent man,” I tell her.
She turns her dark gaze on me. “Are you trying to get rid of me, brother?”
“I just want to see you happy,mladshaya sestra.”
That catches her off-guard. She looks away quickly, trying to blink the tears back before they fall. She clears her throat and grabs a glass of champagne from the tray of one of the passing waiters before taking down half of it in a single gulp. “A man can’t make me happy, Misha.”
“A woman then?”
She gives me a half-hearted smile. “When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.” She takes a sip of her champagne, and looks around the room. “Cyrille has disappeared again.”
My sister-in-law has made herself scarce tonight. Usually, Nessa is the one who is gun-shy about these kinds of parties while Cyrille works the crowd, but it seems the roles have reversed for this one.
“She used to like this kind of thing.”
“Yeah—when she was the one hosting,” she reminds me. “She’s no longer the lady of the house. There are a fair few people here who’ve probably enjoyed reminding her. Especiallythatbitch.”
I look towards the platinum blonde woman my sister is gesturing to. “Yustina Smirnova? She used to be Cyrille’s little shadow.”
“Yes, because Yustina Smirnova is an unrepentant fucking ladder climber. And at the time, Cyrille was the woman in power. She…”
Niki trails off when we notice Yustina corner Paige by the champagne fountain. Without saying a word, we move closer so that we can hear their conversation.
“… a wonderful night, Paige,” Yustina is saying, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “You’ve outdone yourself.”
“That’s easy to do, considering this is my first party. The bar couldn’t be lower.”
Yustina laughs uproariously. “Of course. You’re just such a natural that it all feels effortless.”
Pleasant as her words are, there’s an edge of malice in her voice. I’m guessing seeing my beautiful, young wife take on the Bratva pack and succeed is killing Yustina on the inside. Jealousy is a cancer, and Yustina is as sick as they come.
“I was surprised to see Cyrille here, though.”
Paige’s polite smile sharpens. “What do you mean?”
