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I’m halfway through my spiel before I even look up at the men.
My mouth falls open in what has to be a very unattractive gape. But I can’t summon the energy to close it.
All of my energy is directed at remaining standing.
At not turning and fleeing into the kitchen.
At not throwing myself directly into Dino’s fresh vat of frying oil.
Because a set of molten amber eyes I never thought I’d see again are blinking up at me. There’s not a single drop of surprise in the rest of his granite expression.
“Good morning,solnishka,” Ivan Pushkin says. “Did you miss me?”
13
CORA
Oh, shit.
A crazed, manic laugh bubbles out of me and, even when it fades, I stay grinning like a clown on party drugs. “Wow. The world is so small. I can’t believe you’re here right now.”
“That’s the only thing you’ve said in the last twelve hours that I know is true,” Ivan Pushkin says darkly. “I can tell you weren’t expecting me.”
My heart is a hummingbird, flapping uselessly against my ribcage. “No. No, I wasn’t. But I—Well, I’m, uh, Francia.” I introduce myself to the rest of the stone-faced men at the table. I hope the real Francia is in the kitchen by now so she doesn’t hear me play-acting as her, but I don’t have time to turn around and check. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
The men don’t respond. Ivan does, though. With just one word. A single word that shatters my lie into a million pitiful pieces.
“Cora.”
On instinct, I turn towards the sound of my name. Towards Ivan.
And just like that, the game is up.
He smiles, the edges as sharp as broken glass. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
I sag into myself, eyes pinned to the floor. “Okay, so…I’m not Francia. You know that, obviously. She was the one invited to your party, not me. I was a guest. But I needed her name to get inside. Then I met you and I kept using her name. I don’t know why I did it. Well, I kind of know why. But it’s complicated. I shouldn’t have—”
I’m in the middle of a rambling explanation when the three men slide out of the booth in unison.
I stumble back, eyes darting from one goliath to the other. But they don’t pay attention to me. They split up, moving in three different directions.
One goes to the front door, one pushes through to the kitchen, and the other checks the long hallway that leads to the bathrooms and the manager’s office.
“What are you doing?” I call out.
No one bothers to answer.
The kitchen door swings open. Francia and Jorden are at the front of a very confused procession of line cooks and busboys.
“You’re closing early today,” Ivan announces. There’s no threat in his voice, but it’s impossible to miss the authority. “Enjoy the day off.”
Dino scowls at Ivan. “And who the fuck are you?”
Ivan’s eyebrow gives a subtle arch. “No one.”
“No one?” Dino parrots back.
Ivan nods. “Exactly. Keep practicing that. I’m no one. You saw nothing. Say it until you believe it if you don’t want any trouble.”
