Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 85224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
I don’t allow him to introduce himself to her.
Dinner is a long affair. With toasts and blessings from all the notable members at the table. When Sergei’s turn comes around, he mocks me by simply saying, to my good health.
Katya’s eyes are on Talia throughout the whole evening, and Talia has taken notice of her as well. Beneath the table, her hand finds mine, and I move my attention to her.
She smiles at me, and it still disarms me.
I have half a notion to remove the sharp cutlery from her reach. Convinced she is deceiving me somehow.
But she plays her part well, never missing a beat when someone asks her a question. Every word out of her mouth is a lie of course, regarding our marriage. But only she and I know it.
When the plates have been removed and the men begin to scatter back into the sitting room, Anatoly stops me. He glances at Talia and smiles and then asks me in Russian to retrieve the information he needed on a local politician.
“I will look after your wife,” he tells me. “While you retrieve it.”
Instead, I call for Magda and instruct her to remain at Talia’s side.
“I will be right back,” I tell her. And with all of the eyes in the room on us, I lean down and kiss her as a husband should. Softly, on the cheek.
She smiles up at me, and I retreat upstairs to my office.
As I suspected, I am not in there for more than two minutes before Katya makes an appearance.
“Lyoshka,” she greets me.
My eyes move over her tall figure, filling out the blue dress she has chosen to accentuate all of her best features in the way she always does. She has the body of a model, and the face of one too. The gem that many of the Vory covet, but do not have the position to attain.
At least not permanently. Though I’ll never know how many she has been with besides myself and Nikolai. I was one of the few who had the rank she lusted after in a partner. Only, I did not have whatever else she needed.
I fell for her. And she made a mockery of me. And still, here she is, begging me back.
“When are you going to give up this ruse?” she questions, leaning against my desk and entrapping me into the space.
“There is no ruse, Katya.” I pull the information I need from a file though it’s clear to me Anatoly had only one intention upon sending me up here.
“This girl is not good enough for you,” she tells me. “She is not family. Not bred for being a Vor’s wife.”
“She was not bred for that,” I answer her. “That is why I married her.”
The insult does not go unnoticed. Katya flinches, but quickly recovers.
“It is not too late,” she tells me. “You can send her away and choose me instead. Tell me what I have to do Alexei. To win your forgiveness. Anything, and I will do it.”
“I want nothing from you.”
Her eyes move over me as she inches closer. So close that her leg brushes up against mine as she leans into my space, her perfume soaking the air around us. All calculated moves to get my attention. Katya is an expert of manipulation.
I was manipulated by her beauty and her words. But now, I feel nothing when I look upon her.
“It is only the chase that thrills you,” I tell her. “You need to give up these fantasies of yours now and accept reality. Take up with Nikolai. You two should be very happy together.”
She scoffs in my face as though I have burned her. “You know I can do no such thing. He is only a soldier. I am bred to be the wife of a high ranking Vor.”
I meet her wrath with a shrug. “He was good enough for you to fuck. What is the difference?”
“It was a mistake,” she utters. “Please…”
The desperation in her voice grates on me. I just want her gone.
A shadow falls over the doorway, and when I glance up, I find Talia staring back at me. Her eyes flick between Katya and I, questioning the narrow distance between us.
I reach out my hand in a gesture for her to come to me, pleading with my eyes that she will not misunderstand the situation.
She does, without hesitation. And once she is close enough, I pull her directly onto my lap, kissing her fiercely and possessively in front of Katya.
When I come back up for air, Talia is studying me, and Katya is barely able to conceal her disdain.
“Have you met my wife?” I ask her.
“No.” Katya’s lips curl into a false smile conceived from years of training. “I don’t believe I have.”
My hands move over Talia’s body, pulling her closer to me. It isn’t a calculated move on my part, but an instinctive one. Right now, she is pliable. Doing as I ask and playing the role of my wife as though she were born for it.