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She laughs. "Money really solves everything, doesn't it?"
"No." I wrap my arm around her, pulling her head onto my shoulder. "I can't buy happiness or peace of mind."
Morgana feels me tense up, and she knows what's up. "Are you still brooding over you not getting to kill Cassius yourself?"
"I guess. I wanted to deal with himmyway."
"Vladi, the outcome would have been exactly the same." The salt breeze whips her auburn hair, and she brushes it away from her face. "You have nothing to prove."
"I'm not so sure. Being heregetsto me. I love this house—my mother chose everything in it, and I feel her presence here. But this is where I let Lili down. Myself, too."
Morgana winds her fingers around mine. "You act as though you're waiting for your punishment to catch up with you. You've done all you could to atone and didn't even have anything to apologize for." She digs her toes into the sand. "Look at Lili now. Would she have considered auditioning for Juilliard if your father were still alive? The whole family got behind her, brought her out of her shell, and she's like a new person."
My little sisterisdifferent. My father was like a shadow, blocking the sun and preventing her from growing. Now she's thriving.
My desire to be like my father chafed against my hatred of him. The dissonance left me confused and miserable, and I didn't even know it—the feeling had become part of me. Morgana came into my life and shone her brightness into the darkest places, refusing to accept my insistence that I was a lost cause. She loves me notdespitemy worst aspects butbecauseof them. You can't appreciate the highs without knowing what it means to be low. She's seen me at my worst, but not once did she turn her face away.
I laugh as Morgana tries again to take photos with her phone.
"I'm spoiled now." She taps the screen, frowning. "I have an amazing camera that has ten thousand features I don't understand and about twenty I use all the time. This app has six settings and none of them doanything."
"Lisichka, I think this is a first-world problem, don't you?"
She throws me a glance. "I'm married to a billionaire bratva pakhan. All my problems will be first-world problems now." She flaps her hands in mock hysteria. "Errr nerrr, I want to go opening night at the Op-ear-aaa, but we'll be in the Caribbean. Whatevaaaaa will I dooo?”
"Stop that, you fucking nut," I say, sipping my wine. "You've had too much of this Sancerre or not nearly enough."
Morgana grabs the bottle and swigs from it. "Just remember—youdragged my ass into your crazy life. I'll be a dutiful wife in public, but you're getting the real me when it's just us."
"Thank fuck for that." I kiss her forehead. "You're stuck with the realme, too, so fair's fair."
She squares up the shot one more time and clicks the button, capturing the sunset perfectly. "There. I'll send this one to Lili. She wants to come out here soon."
"That'll be good," I say, snatching her phone, "but she's not here now."
Morgana lunges at me, trying to grab it, but I skim it along the deck and out of reach.
"We're still doing that, huh?" She folds her arms and pouts in the petulant manner I love so much.
"You convinced me to deactivate the tracking app, but I still reserve the right to toss the stupid thing if it's taking your attention from me."
She rolls her eyes. "Sodramatic. You have my attention now. Entertain me."
"I intend to."
I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder, and she giggles, hitting my back with her fists. "Put me down, you big nasty bratva man! I don't love you, I don't enjoy being your wife, and I definitely won'teverhave sex with you!"
"On all three counts,lisichka, you're a liar."
I carry her into the house and drop her on the bed. She squeals and tries to roll away, but I'm faster and stronger. I pin her under me, tugging her sundress over her hips as I sink my teeth into her neck.
"There's no one to hear you," I say. "I can make you scream as much as I like."
"You don't care who hears anyway," she says, turning her head to catch my lips. "You're an inconsiderate asshole."
She likes to insult me. Usually, when she wants me riled up and ready to get nasty with her, which is more often than I expected.
"You're a good girl, Morgana, but you should watch your mouth before I shove something in it to shut you up."
