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He shrugged. “In addition to English, I speak French and Spanish. A little Italian by default, although I’m not fluent. I’m OK in German. My sister speaks Russian, though. Not easy.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Wow, that’s—It’s amazing to me as an American. Most of us can’t even speak our language.”
He chuckled a full belly laugh. “I guess I don’t blame you. You don’t really have to in your part of the world. But here, we are a stone’s throw away from hundreds of languages on any given day. There isn’t really a common thread anymore. I guess it’s English if it’s anything. Lucky you.” He winked, making me blush.
The snow was really coming down by the time we got back to the hotel. We rushed through the front door, and I felt like my skin was going to melt off as the interior warmth defrosted me.
“Thank you for that,” I said, shaking off my coat and hat.
He stared at me in silence for a long moment before nodding simply. “You’re welcome. That was—unexpectedly fun.”
We stood in awkward silence in the hotel lobby. A thousand things to say ran through my mind, but I couldn’t make my mouth form any of my jumbled thoughts into words. Finally, he smiled resolutely.
“Right. Lots to do, so I should probably get on.”
“Oh, right. Yes, me too. Um, see you later?” My voice squeaked just a little.
“I’m sure I will.”
He turned and disappeared around the corner.
ChapterTen
Ondrej was lost in a hum, a cheerful tune that played like a secret between the walls of the hotel's back office. Papers shuffled beneath his fingers, but the ink and numbers were mere background players to the lingering sweetness to the morning spent with Sienna. He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly, but being in her presence was…energizing.
“What were you doing this morning with Sienna?” Pavel asked abruptly, yet in a completely nonchalant tone. Ondrej's fingers stilled on the papers and stopped his happy hum. He had considered that Pavel might think it was sketchy, but Pavel was paranoid about everything. He got suspicious if too many pigeons convened on the balcony.
Ondrej played dumb by staring at an old book on the shelf. “What do you mean?”
“You went out on some sort of holiday date,” Pavel said, now with mounting derision in his voice.
Ondrej smirked. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a date. We ran into each other, and I took her out for a little tour of the neighborhood. What are you so worked up about?”
Pavel strummed his fingers along the wooden desk and stared Ondrej down. “I don’t understand you. You wanted nothing to do with her, and now you’re taking her out for romantic winter strolls. Are you trying to sabotage the deal?”
Ondrej chuckled. “How is me giving her a tour of the city sabotaging anything? Or even romantic for that matter? She likes architecture so I showed her some interesting spots.”
“Right. Sounds innocent,” Pavel said with dripping sarcasm.
“Seriously, Pavel?”
Pavel shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past you to somehow figure out how to stop this whole thing. Convincing women to do things happens to be one of your superpowers.”
“Will you relax? Everything was totally innocent. I was just getting to know her a little bit.”
“But again, why? I thought you hated her?”
“You are so dramatic, Pavel. I don’t even know her. How can I hate her? Just because I’m not a big fan of her company trying to buy us out and destroy our family legacy, doesn’t mean I have anything against her personally.”
“Right. And would you feel like that if she were a middle-aged man with a gut and not some cat-eyed beauty?”
“That’s your description, not mine.”
The door creaked, and they both paused.
“Why is it that every time I enter the room, you two are in an argument?” Dominika spun into the room like a ball of pulsing warm energy. Pavel and Ondrej stared each other down, breaths heavy.
Finally, Ondrej forced a smile and turned toward his sister.“We weren't arguing. We were discussing.”
