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She suddenly thinks better of telling me this and shakes her head. “Never mind. We have to get you ready.”
“I see.”
Quirking a brow at me she tips her head to the side. “What did you do?”
I give her a wry smile. “I came to them for help and protection and just sort of…maybe hacked a bit into their database and, uh…maybe breached a little security.”
She turns to face me, a trace of a smile on her lips. “Wow. Seriously? That’s the most badass thing I’ve ever heard in my life. But didn’t anyone warn you what you were dealing with?”
Maybe?
“Girl, I could tell you stories...” She shakes her head. “There’s something he likes about you, which is the only reason you’re getting off easy.”
I stare at her as if she’s speaking a foreign language before I respond. “Listen, Polina, first, I hope to God he likes me because we’re getting married. And in what universe is getting married to a man like him getting offeasy?”
Obviously, they live in a world that operates within a much different set of rules than I do.
“Aria, they let you live,” she says finally. “I know, you’re obviously normal and not related to a bunch of psychopaths, and this is all hard to understand. But I’m so excited. Iknewyou were brilliant. You and I are going to be very good friends. You’ll see. Now, let's get you ready. He’ll probably be back here in like two minutes breaking the damn door down.” She rolls her eyes but doesn’t completely cover up her fear.
In a whirlwind that makes my head spin, I lose the robe and don the most luxurious undergarments known to humanity. She tones and moisturizes and primes my face, helps me into my dress, then applies makeup with expertise. I let her take the lead since I’m sort of in a state of shock and she knows what she’s doing.
“Wow,” I whisper, staring at my reflection. “You’re a genius.”
“Makes two of us,” she says with pride. “Oh, you look amazing. If my brother doesn’t swoon for you, I’ll marry you myself.”
“Now wouldn’t that be a plot twist,” I murmur. But I’m staring at myself in the mirror. I turn my head to the side, the logical side of my brain trying to make sense of the fact that this woman in the mirror is…me.
My almond-shaped eyes look mysterious without the shade of glasses, the deep brown almost black. My high cheekbones are tinged with pink, my lips a glossy rose. My long, jet-black hair flows past my shoulders with none of the frizz I’ve grown accustomed to.
“They say you can’t buy beauty in a bottle, but…” I murmur.
Polina snickers. “Girl, you can’t. You can enhance it, though. No wonder he got one look at you and made his move.”
My heart beats faster. I feel as if I’m an actor in a play, and I’m not sure what the next act is going to bring.
A fist pounds the door so hard we both jump.
“Time to go.”
“We’re not ready!” Polina says, even though we totally are. Apparently, she doesn’t like being told what to do. That makes two of us.
I give her a ghost of a smile, because I’m not sure that isn’t Mikhail, and if it is…
“You have three minutes or I'm coming in and taking both of you out of there myself.”
“Thatwas Mikhail,” she says. "Something happened. Let's finish getting ready. I was going to style your hair, but it's gorgeous down. We’ll leave it down. Dear God, you really are stunning.”
That actually makes me laugh. It feels good to laugh. "How do you survive with all this testosterone?”
"Well, it's a little bit of a secret. I might be Mikhail’s favorite.” She leans in. “Though something tells me you’ll be top of his list.”
I open my mouth to protest. He hates me. And I’m not even sure Iwanthim to like me. But she leans in and kisses my cheek. “I can’t believe I’m going to have a sister,” she whispers. For one brief moment, I don’t regret hacking into the Romanovs’ databases.
The door opens and Prince Charming himself storms in. Polina groans. “For an otherwise superstitious people, it’s shocking to me that you don’t seem to believe in bad luck.”
“What I believe in is Volkov’s revenge,” Mikhail says in a tight voice.
He takes me by the hand and suddenly seems glued in position.
