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“I… I wasn’t talking about Roman.”
“Another lie.” She spits the words at me, the Russian accent thickened. “He lied to my father.”
“No. Wait.” I take a step in her direction as she makes for the door. “Wait!” But she’s faster in her heels than I am in gym shoes.
“Go find Roman.” Mandy hurries to keep up with me. Maxim stops her.
“What’s wrong?” He puts his arms out to stop us both.
“That horrible woman knows it’s not real. Billie has to find Roman. Let her go, Maxim.” Mandy lightly taps his arm.
Maxim looks at me then at the door to the hall. “He’s by the bar, getting drinks. Go.” Maxim gives a nod. “You stay with me; we’ll be right behind.”
Once his arm is out of my way, I rush through the lobby, gently pushing away an older man who didn’t see me coming.
When I enter the ballroom, I set my sights for Roman. I find him quickly, thanks to his height and rush to him. While hurrying, I sweep the room looking for Anastasia. She’s waving her hands in the air in front of her father, who looks ready to kill.
“Billie.” Roman catches me as I run into him. He grabs my arms to steady me. “What’s wrong, why are you running?”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry.” I suck in a breath. “I didn’t mean to say anything. I thought I was alone with Mandy.”
His brows pull together. “Billie. Take a breath and tell me what you’re talking about.” He looks behind me. “Maxim, what’s going on?”
“Roman.” Yefim shows up, three men flanking him and his daughter standing beside him with a pitiful pout on her perfectly painted lips. “Is what Anastasia telling me true? Is your engagement to this girl not real?”
Roman’s expression relaxes for a beat then goes hard.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, but he says nothing in response. He gently pushes me to the side and turns to face Yefim head on.
“You lied because you didn’t want to marry me.” Anastasia forces a tremble to her lips. Roman has to see through this act. He said himself she was a manipulator.
“You insult me, humiliate my daughter.” Yefim switches to Russian, and I can’t understand anything other than anger. Roman keeps the conversation in his native tongue, locking me out of understanding anything.
“I’m so sorry.” I turn away and start for the doorway.
A heavy hand on my shoulder gives me pause.
“He’s going to want you to stay, he’ll handle this,” Maxim says.
“I can’t.” I shake my head. We’ve moved far enough away that I can’t hear Roman’s voice, but I can see the anger on his face. “Please.” I wiggle the engagement ring off my finger and hold it out to Maxim. “Give this back to him, please.”
“No.” Maxim folds his arms over his chest. “You need to stay here until he’s done over there.”
Seeing no help from him, I hand it to Mandy, who takes it with a sad nod.
“You should wait, though,” she says softly.
“I can’t. This was all such a mistake. All of it. Please, just make sure he gets that, and tell him I’m sorry.” I take a steady breath and leave them.
I don’t bother stopping at the coat check. Roman has the ticket. I hurry outside and down the steps to the valet.
“I need a cab,” I tell the man standing at the key box.
“No problem.” He looks me over quickly as though seeing if he recognizes me, then lifts his hand. A car immediately pulls up with a drive share sticker in the front windshield.
The valet opens the back door for me, and I climb in.
“Thanks.” The doors lock as soon as I’m inside. The car pulls away before I’m even buckled. Once the seatbelt clicks, I notice another figure sitting in the row behind me.
