Page 30 of Cruel Juliet

“Bet he told you all about why I left, then.”

“Unlike you, I know my place. I don’t pry into the lives of others.”

Hot, irrational jealousy flares inside me, but I force it down again. Petyr and I are over. There’s nothing left to be jealous of.Then why does the thought of Kira comforting him when I was away feel so fucking painful?

I shake it off and step forward. “You sure as fuck seem eager to pry into mine.”

“Just because you won’t stop being a nuisance,” she bites back. “Petyr was so obsessed with finding you, he barely visited his brother since he woke up from his coma. It’s been months, and he still?—”

“Dimitri woke up?”

Kira blinks, taken aback by my interruption. “Yes. He did.”

For the first time since she walked in, I let all my anger go.

Petyr’s brother is awake. He’s alive.

For a second, joy fills me. A smile—arealsmile—almost breaks through. “When?”

“A few weeks after you ran.” Her tone is cagey. She doesn’t understand why I’m pushing this.

“How is he?”

My sudden friendliness must unsettle Kira, because she keeps looking at me like I’m an alien. “Fine,” she answers vaguely. “He’s making progress.”

I can’t help grinning now. “Thank you for telling me. I’m really happy for him. And for you both. I know how hard Dimitri’s situation has been on you and Petyr, and?—”

“Don’t you dare.”

Kira’s words freeze the smile on my face. “What?”

“I said, don’t you fucking dare.” She steps closer. Her body language is aggressive now. Not passive-aggressive, like her jabs from before. She’s ready to throw hands with me. “Don’t youdaretalk about my husband.”

“I was just?—”

“You don’t understand the first thing about being a wife.” Her face is white with rage. “Now, you’re going to pretend you have any idea what I went through?”

“I never?—”

“Yeah, I bet.” She crosses her arms and stares me down. “I’ll tell you what you never should have done: You shouldn’t have spoken vows if you weren’t prepared to stand by them.”

Heat rises to my face. Shame and anger tangle in my chest.

I want to defend myself. Those vows were forced on me. And yet, despite that, I never planned to walk away—not once I’d truly fallen for Petyr.

But my throat closes up. Because no matter what I say, Kira won’t believe me. No one here will believe me.

Except maybe one person.

“Is Petyr home?” I whisper.

Kira shoots me another suspicious look. “Why?”

“Can you tell him I need to see him?”

“No.”

“What?” Confusion mixes with hurt. “Why not?”