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It seemed too good to be true.

I was lost in thought when the air shifted.

"Ladies."

The temperature in the room plummeted.

Pavel's voice cut through our conversation, and even these fearless women straightened slightly.

The easy camaraderie of moments before shifted into something more formal, more careful.

"Time for you to leave."

I met his eyes in the mirror, my breath catching at the intensity I found there.

Something dangerous flickered in those dark depths—not anger, exactly, but something that made my pulse spike with equal parts fear and unwanted anticipation.

He filled the doorway like a storm cloud, his expensive suit doing nothing to civilize the predatory energy that seemed to radiate from him.

The other women exchanged glances, a silent communication passing between them that spoke of experience with their own dangerous husbands.

Yelena helped me out of my dress and into a robe before packing the dress up along with her tools, while everyone else gathered their things with practiced efficiency, no questions asked, no protests offered.

Yelena pressed a quick kiss to my cheek, her voice barely above a whisper. "The dress will be ready first thing tomorrow morning. Try to get some rest tonight."

Marina squeezed my hand. "Everything will be fine. Trust me."

Samara and Viktoria offered encouraging smiles, while Nadia simply nodded her understanding.

Then they were gone, leaving me alone with Pavel, who had walked in and caught me in a wedding dress that suddenly seemed more like a costume for a play I'd never auditioned for.

The silence stretched between us, heavy with unspoken tension.

I remained frozen in place, afraid to move, afraid to breathe too loudly. In the mirrors surrounding us, I could see him studying me from every angle.

"Did they have to go?" I asked finally, lifting a champagne flute I hadn't touched all afternoon.

The crystal felt impossibly delicate in my trembling hand as the bubbles tickled my nose, sending another wave of nausea through my already unsettled stomach. "We were having fun."

It was a lie, and we both knew it.

I'd been too anxious to truly enjoy anything, too caught up in my own spiraling thoughts to engage properly with the women who'd tried so hard to include me.

"Yes." His gaze never left mine in the mirror, dark and unreadable. "You and I need to talk."

Oh god.

Nothing good ever followed those words.

Not in my experience with Pavel, and certainly not when delivered in that particular tone—calm on the surface but with undercurrents that made my skin prickle with warning.

CHAPTER 26

PAVEL

Iwas going to catch shit from my family for kicking out the wives, especially when they were having fun.

Damien was going to be particularly pissed at me for rushing his wife.