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“I had work.”
“I’m sure you did,” she says, her gaze darting back to me.
She looks small, kind, and everything opposite to me. There is no judgment in her tone or gaze, but I feel it just the same.
“Shall we eat? I’m starved,” River says.
Again, I stay quiet as we walk into the restaurant. The hostess immediately escorts us to a table. River makes sure he takes the seat next to me, and grips my leg under the table. He starts massaging my bare thigh while his mother looks over the menu, and I can’t but help think how precarious this all is.
If she knew I was just selling sex for profit, would she be so inclined to enjoy a meal with me?
Then again, River mentioned his mother doesn’t know what he does for a living. I sell people, and he sells the tools that help kill them. Wouldn’t that just rock her world?
“Anya, was it?” she asks, and I realize I’d spaced out. I nod. “Do you have a preference for wine?”
“Anya doesn’t drink,” River interjects. “But order the red. I feel like red tonight.” As he says it, he squeezes my thigh.
“Oh, apologies. I didn’t know. Can I ask why?” she says sweetly.
Small talk. Great. Not my strong suit.
“One of my foster fathers was a drunk. That man was as bad as they come, in more ways than one. Every time he attempted to do bad things to me, he was drunk,” I say, no emotion in my tone. “So I just decided I wouldn’t let that happen to me. Nothing to inhibit my thoughts or impare my judgment.”
His mother goes quiet at my words and just stares at me with her mouth slightly open.
Small talk. Still not my forte.
“Anya is a very strong woman,” River says, and leans in to kiss my cheek.
“I can see that,” his mother replies and then calls the server over. “We’ll just have water, please.” I don’t say anything, but think she’s done it to somehow win me over. But isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? When the fuck did I start caring about what people think?
The server stops at the end of the table, pen and pad ready as she waits expectantly for the food order.
“Do you know what you’d like, Anya?” his mother asks. “I was here for ten minutes before you arrived, so I may have already decided, and I know River frequents this place for takeout.”
My eyebrows lift in surprise. The normality of this situation is so peculiar that I almost want to laugh. If Alek saw me right now, he would too.
“I’m not overly hungry,” I confess. “Can I try some of yours?” I ask River, knowing that if I don’t order something, he’ll force me to eat anyway. “I don’t usually have a big appetite,” I find myself saying. Why the fuck am I still talking?
River and his mother place their orders, and she offers me a smile. “So, Anya, tell me what you do for a living? You come across as very well put together and powerful.”
“Anya sells exotic jewelry,” River is quick to say. I hide my smirk.
“I didn’t realize you’d gotten into the habit of speaking for women,” his mother scolds.
Oooh, I like her.
“It’s as River says. I sell exotic jewels and such. My brother and I took over the family business from my foster mother.”
“Well, that’s most impressive. Do you get along well with your brother and foster mother? Is it the same home where the alcoholic gentleman lived?” she says.
“No, he’s definitely in the grave now. My brother and I are very close, twins actually. My foster mother and I have a very unique relationship, but I’m grateful for how she raised me.”
“Oh, wow, you have twins in your family as well? River has cousins who are twins. If you two were ever to have kids, it might be a possibility for you as well,” she says excitedly.
River’s hand stills on my leg. Before I can speak, he does. “Anya and I have no intention of having children. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?” he asks, looking at me.
I fall for him a little harder. I never told him specifically about my surgery, but I made it known I will never birth a child into this world. “Yes.”
