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10
IVAN
I can still feel Francia’s heat wrapped around my cock when Yasha steps in front of me.
“I’ve got bad news.”
“I don’t want to hear bad news.” I wave him away. “Talk to me about it later when—”
“Konstantin wants to talk to you,” he blurts.
I spin around, glaring at him. He’s gesturing behind me, but I ignore him. “Then tell him that he can f—”
“Hello, Ivan.”
I wince. The robotic voice behind me can only belong to one man.
I turn around and face Konstantin Sokolov. He looks even paler up close. His blue eyes are washed out in the warm glow of the string lights. Instead of offering his skin a warm tint, he looks sallow. Almost sickly. Nothing new for him.
“You made it,” I drawl. “What a treat.”
I would have preferred not to put him or the rest of his sour-faced brood on the guest list. But excluding them would have invited even more drama I didn’t want.
He laughs without a drop of humor in it. “I’m too old for events like this. These parties are for the young.”
“So then why are you here?”
I feel Yasha prod me in the back.Careful, he’s warning.Play nice.
But I’m not throwing Konstantin out on his ass. As far as I’m concerned, thatisplaying nice.
“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Konstantin says. When he sees my face, he corrects himself. “Our families have been allies, rather. I’ve known your father for many years. He’s a good man. An honest man. He is a man of his word.”
I have to stop myself from spitting on the floor at Konstantin’s feet. Anyone who thinks my dad is honorable deserves nothing less than that.
“It’s a shame he isn’t the one on the auction block,” I reply. “The way you describe him, he’d be snatched up in a minute.”
Konstantin isn’t amused. He never is. In all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him smile.
Except the day he looked me over like he was inspecting livestock and then shook my father’s hand to seal a deal I never wanted.
“It looks like the ‘auction,’ as you call it, is going well enough for you. Plenty of women showed up. Do you plan to accept the highest bid?”
It’s a simple enough question, but I know what he is really asking.
“I don’t intend to announce my engagement tomorrow, if that’s what you mean.”
“So you haven’t met a woman special enough to turn your head yet?”
Francia’s face comes to my mind. A not-insignificant part of me hopes I’ll find her in my office when I finally get away from Konstantin.
But maybe it’s best if that’s not the case. It could never last. Konstantin may not think so, but I’m a man of my word, too. I’ve made promises I have to keep. Promises someone like Francia could never fit into.
“No one I plan to marry,” I answer simply.
He nods. “Smart man. You’re waiting for the right woman. As you should. But you don’t have to wait. I have plenty of daughters.”
Immediately, I feel Yasha tug gently on the back of my shirt. He knows what I’m thinking before I can even say it. But nothing can keep the disgust off of my face.
