Tatyana moved through the room at the grandfather's side, a kernel of hope blossoming in her chest. Surely, death couldn't take all these people. Perhaps she'd been going about this all wrong the past few years, isolating herself from everyone else, living in the middle of nowhere, building her anonymous, non-contact internet business. Perhaps she should have spread the risk so thinly that death became confused.
Perhaps, her gaze flew to Nikky's handsome face, the people she cared for would live.
Perhaps.
"Are you from the Vegas area, cousin Tatyana?" smarmy Stepan asked.
She didn't like him. Not at all. He asked question after question, trying to trip her up, and when he looked at Nikky, his expression promised bad things. "Do I look like I'm from the Vegas area, cousin?" She evaded his question.
Stepan's laugh held no joy. "True, why you're such a delight." A sarcastic twist on delight.
"Not that Nikolay likes local girls. I always thought he'd pair up with one of those sophisticated New York women."
Implying she wasn't sophisticated. "Although my mom was born and raised in New York, sophistication isn't tied to one city." Asshole.
The grandfather's head turned. "Was she, Granddaughter?"
She had made a mistake. She felt it. Though she didn't know what that mistake was. "She was the strongest woman I've ever known."
"You miss your mother." While his face conveyed the appropriate sympathy, the grandfather's eyes were cool with calculation.
"Of course I do." Like hell he'd manipulate her emotionally. "As you miss your wife."
The entourage gasped, all conversation around them stopped, and a shark-like smirk of satisfaction oozed from cousin Stepan. She made another mistake. Damn it, she didn't know the rules to this twisted game.
What was allowed? Was there anything in those rules about telling the grandfather off?
Tatyana looked over her shoulder at her fiance. Or would that cause more problems for Nikky? He patted the arm of the elderly uncle he was talking to and moved toward her, her ludicrous hat, fake flowers and all, slapped against his thigh.
"We have much in common. Thursday, we'll have lunch, my newest granddaughter and I, to discuss our similarities," the old man declared, broking no refusal.
Hell no. She stepped forward, hands clenched.
"Tatyana." Nikky drew her back, his arms wrapped around her, her hat crushed between their bodies.
"Nikky." Her smile required extra effort. "Wonderful news." Far from it. "Your grandfather has invited us to lunch Thursday."
"Has he?" His body stiffened. His muscles contracted. "That is wonderful news. And a surprise."
Tatyana leaned against Nikky, his strength at her back. Two against one. Take that.
Grandfather. Her chin lifted defiantly.
Eyes, older but no less observant, glowed. "The space freed up and as I enjoy your charming fiancee's company..." A shrug of elegantly clad shoulders. "Hmm...but then, I recall you already have a lunch meeting Thursday, don't you, Nikolay? How unfortunate. It seems it will be only Tatyana and I." His smile at Tatyana conveyed triumph.
"I don't have a lunch meeting, Grandfather," Stepan offered.
Neither man acknowledged the cousin. "That's the amusing part," Nikky ground out, no amusement in his voice. "My lunch meeting has also been cancelled. I'll be able to join you, after all."
"That is amusing." A dry retort. "Then, it'll be the three of us." Nikky's grandfather tilted his head to Tatyana, conceding defeat.
Because they'd won; the two of them against the world. Tatyana wiggled in victory. Nikky's fingers spread over her stomach, hot through the thin fabric. "Are you tired, Brat?" It was a great facsimile of genuine concern. She nodded her head, her silence not allowing the grandfather another opening.
"She's had some late nights," Nikky said louder. The cousin snickered. Tatyana's upper lip curled with distaste. "Everyone." Her temporary fiance inclined his head. Tatyana smiled.
"Grandfather, we'll see you Thursday, if not sooner."
Four
"A frown may be trusted. A smile cannot."ȄSergei Kaerta
"I told the old man not to interfere and, the moment my back is turned, he dares to pull that shit." Curses spewed out of Nikky's mouth as he paced the hotel room. "I'm not taking it anymore. I'm going to go back there and..." He picked up his jacket, striding toward the door.
He was going to get himself killed. That's what he was going to do. Going up against his grandfather alone without her there to protect him. "You'll do nothing." She stood in front of him, hands on her hips. "Absolutely nothing."
His brown eyes narrowed. "You don't tell me what to do."
He was determined to die, the ass. "Someone has to. You're acting like an idiot."
"Move out of the way, Brat."
She wouldn't let him die, not without a fight.
"You will not tell me what to do." She dropped her straw hat on the carpeted floor. "I am not a child." She stomped on it once, then again for good measure. "I'm your fiancee, your equal." She pushed him. He stepped back, watching her, slack jawed. "An adult."
She pulled the granny dress over her head. "I knew what he was doing." She scrunched it into a ball. "Didn't I?" She kicked it. "I called you over. Didn't I?" She pushed him again. "I dealt with him. Didn't I?" His mouth twitched. "We dealt with him. Together. Didn't we?"
She unhooked her bra. "So, if you think you're going to rush off..." She threw it to the floor.
"And get yourself killed." His shoulders shook. "Before you fulfill your damn promise." His laughter added fuel to her temper. "You have another think coming." She pulled off her thong panties. "Stop laughing, you idiot." And beat him with them. "I'm trying to tell you something serious."
"Enough." He caught her hands. His laughter faded as he stared down at her. She stared right back up at him. Damn, he was a handsome man. And strong, her arms secured. "You're completely naked." The leisurely way he looked her up and down made her skin heat, her nipples pebble.
"And what
