Page 89 of Wicked Proposal

Then I pull Mia to her feet.

“Vory,” I announce, “meet your futurepakhansha.”

The table falls silent.

Every whisper ceases.

Slavik’s the first to recover. “That’s… a surprise,” he admits, but bows politely at the waist. “But a welcome one. Pleased to make your acquaintance,moya pakhansha.”

The othervoryrise as well, one after the other. “Pakhansha,” Kazimir greets with a pleasant smile. He’s the most easygoing of the bunch, but beneath that soft exterior and silver tongue, he’s as venomous as everybody else. “It’s an honor to finally meet you.”

“Hmpf.” I don’t even need to turn to know who made that sound: Zhenya. “Could’ve been an email.”

“She doesn’t mean that,” Anton, her twin brother, laughs as he digs an elbow into her side. “We are, of course, delighted.”

Mia gives an awkward laugh. “It’s, uh… it’s very nice to meet you all. I’m Mia.”

“At least it’s easy to remember,” Zhenya adds.

Everybody else introduces themselves then, with the exception of Rurik. He stands off to the side, his face a mask of displeasure.

It’s enough to prickle my nerves. “Something wrong, brother?”

It’s a warning. A chance. His relationship with my father is the only reason I haven’t put him in the ground for his insolence yet. The only reason I’m giving him an out.

But Rurik doesn’t take it. “Where to even start?” he laughs scathingly. “She’s a nobody. She’s got no connections, or else she would have said so. Instead, all she gave us is a first name. Like a goddamn stripper.”

“Careful,” I warn.

“Is that whatyou’rebeing?” he challenges, stepping forward aggressively towards us. “‘Careful’? Because from where I’m standing, it sure as fuck don’t look it. Just looks like you decided to marry your latest whore.” He spits on the ground. “If only your father could see you now.”

My hand darts to my gun.That’s it.No matter how much Otets valued him, I cannot keep around a man who’ll show me such blatant disrespect.

But before I can whip out my weapon, a smooth voice intervenes.

“I understand your concern,” Mia smiles, far too gently for someone with her temper, let alone one who’s been called a stripper and a whore in the last minute. “It’s reassuring, honestly. It means you really care about my Yulian.”

My Yulian.The words stick in my brain in a way I cannot explain.

“But—” And here her voice takes a dangerous, icy plunge. “—I believe you know him well enough to realize what he will or won’t tolerate. Don’t you?”

Then she takes my hand, guiding it away from my gun.

That’s when I realize she’s shaking.

Of course.This whole thing is an act. A shockingly well-executed one, but an act nonetheless.

Mia wasn’t bred for this. She has no idea what it takes to be a truepakhansha.

Could’ve fooled me, though.

Rurik grits his teeth. I can see the urge to fight back on his face, but then Kazimir steps in, smooth as silk. “Well said,pakhansha,” he praises. “Now, I think we’ve all gotten a bit carried away, yes? Maybe we can apologize to the lady for keeping her from the banquet in her honor?”

Rurik goes red. But I can tell something’s changed. That, somehow, Mia changed it.

“Of course,” he forces out. “My apologies.”

Then everyone sits back down.