“You think this is funny?” Maverik said with a heated glare.
“Do I think what is funny?” I asked innocently, barely containing my giggles.
Kingston pointed to his hair. “It took me fifteen minutes to get the glue off my entire body, and that gave this,” he ran a hand through his hair. “Time to set in.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I need to take a real shower,” Maverik told me. “Where’s all of our shit?”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Why are you bothering me? Go use one of the ten million guest bathrooms you have.”
Maverik’s eyes glittered, and I knew he wasn’t just asking for his stuff back. He was pissed that I’d gotten the better of him, and he wanted me to know it.
“Kitty Kat,” Kingston complained. “My hair. This is going to hurt my game with the ladies.”
I grinned at Kingston. “Nah, you can pull it off. You should probably use more of it to even the color out to make it look like you did it on purpose.”
Kingston scowled at me. “The entire time I’m sitting in that stupid chair getting this fixed, I’m going to be thinking of ways to get back at you.”
“We could call it even,” I said sweetly. “For the visit you guys paid me the other night.”
“You think this is about fun and games?” Maverik asked. “We’re not fucking around with you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Kingston snickered. “I’m going to have lots of fun getting my revenge.”
“I’m offering you a truce,” I told Maverik as I held his furious eyes. “Take or leave it.”
“We’re leaving it,” Maverik said before he slammed out of the fitness center.
Kingston pointed to his hair, then mimed a finger slitting his throat before pointing at me. Then, both of them were gone, and I was left in peace. Despite all the threats exchanged, I actually felt a little lighter. It felt good to fight back against all the shit that was being thrown at me. I wasn’t a helpless victim; if someone attacked, I’d go right back at them. Kingston and Maverik better be prepared for what I would bring their way.
I chuckled in delight when I realized they had probably stomped right out here after exiting the shower. They hadn’t even discovered their new cologne or deodorant yet. If I was going to suffer here in Bedford, then so were they.
Chapter 17
Katya
Sunday rolled around, and that morning I was informed by Mr. Ferguson that I was expected to attend a family dinner at six. Lovely. I spent half the day dreading it and the other half thinking of excuses for why I couldn’t go.
When evening came, I had the urge to march down there in sweats and shovel some food in my mouth before I ran away, but a couple of things stopped me. I hadn’t forgotten my mother’s threat to hurt me if I didn’t cooperate, and I also wanted to see if I could get Richard to patch things up with the Logans so Ryan could visit. Ryan and I were slowly drifting apart, and we needed to reconnect in person. My heart ached when I thought about all of the distance between us right now – literally and figuratively speaking.
I put on one of the dresses with a ‘dinner party’ tag on it and slipped my feet into a pair of uncomfortable heels. These shoes had better not give me blisters in awkward places - I was going to be pissed if they messed up my dancing schedule.
I walked downstairs at ten after six, knowing that I couldn’t delay for much longer before someone came looking for me. Richard and my mother were already seated at the table, and the guys trailed in only a moment after me. Kingston’s hair was an even brighter blond than before, so I guess the purple wasn’t that difficult to get out.
“You look lovely tonight, Katya,” Richard complimented me.
I blushed and smoothed my dress down. “Thank you,” I murmured. I had left my hair down and even put on a little bit of makeup to make it seem like I was playing my role in this charade of a family.
Maverik eyed me critically but didn’t say a word. I guess he was still being a sore loser about the pranks.
Kingston grinned. “Good to see you, sis.”
“Likewise,” I said with a bright smile. “Your hair looks nice. Did you get highlights?”
Kingston leaned back in his chair and gave me a cocky smile. “You have a thing for blonds?”
Richard looked between the three of us suspiciously. “I hope my sons have been welcoming to you.”
I nodded. “They’ve been very sweet.”
Nina choked on her wine, and Richard turned his attention to her.
Kingston gave me a wink, and I shrugged. If Kingston and Maverik thought I was going to run to Richard to cry about them acting like assholes, then they were going to be disappointed. I’d already proven that I could dish back anything they threw at me.
Once Nina had recovered, and Richard had finished stroking her back, Mr. Ferguson brought out the first course of dinner. Nina chatted through most of it, controlling the conversation and keeping it focused on her. The more time I spent with her, the more I realized that she had a bad case of narcissism. What did Richard see in her?
I let my eyes glaze over and zoned out, but I made sure that I occasionally nodded at appropriate intervals. When dinner started to wind down, and dessert was brought out, Richard actually opened my desired topic of conversation without any prompting from me.
