Page 51 of The Beauty Who Loved Him

“At least tell me what kind of dress to look for,” she said.

“Tasteful. Black. Formal, but not too ...” Vaslav pulled a long face. “Black-tie.”

“Like an event?”

“Oh, I’m not going to any event.”

“But I need a formal black dress,” she pressed.

He shrugged. “They’re good to have.”

“I already have five.”

“Pick a new one.”

“Are you paying?”

That earned her a sharp laugh, and almost like it was on cue, Vaslav pulled an item from the back pocket of his slacks. “Actually, kisska, I am. And for anything else you might need, too.”

He held the card up for her to see. Black all around with gold lettering that spelled out her name, the card number, and the expiration date, he spun it between two fingers, and then yanked it out of her reach when she tried to grab it.

“Does that say Vera Pashkov?” she asked.

He still held it out of reach. “Patience is a virtue.”

“If you wanted a virtuous woman, you wouldn’t like bending me over as much as you do.” The amused shock that danced over Vaslav’s otherwise stony expression had Vera grinning herself. She took his momentary distraction as a chance to snatch the shiny black credit card out of his hand before he had a chance to stop her.

Sure enough, Vera found it was her first name on the card. The surname, however, came from the man across from her. Interestingly enough, despite the two-tone double circles made of solid colors to say it was a credit card, there was no other branding to tie the card to a bank.

Vera opened her mouth to ask how exactly he managed to get the card, less interested now in the new surname, but he stopped her from saying a thing when his hand snagged her wrist in a cuff-like grip. He took one yank of her arm for Vera to stumble into Vaslav, and she swore her heart felt each of those shaky steps. The organ raced out of control inside her ribcage when the man flattered her chest against his when he pushed his hand against the small of her back, and he stared down at her.

“What?” Vera asked.

He didn’t even blink. “I’m not sure what I want to do now.”

“What?”

Just like a parrot.

Vaslav didn’t seem to mind.

“A part of me would like to show you what happens to people who take things from my hands just to make sure you won’t do it again,” he said, his piercing stare skipping down to where her lips still curved with her sly smile. It was the way he sneered back, as annoyed as he was bemused by her antics but with a much shorter fuse than most people, that kept Vera in place. “And then you stand there, and you smile at me like you’ve won something, and that’s all I fucking see.”

Her brow puckered with her next question. “Is that supposed to be a bad thing?”

She didn’t think so.

Vaslav let go of her wrist, he’d not taken the card back from her, but his other hand at the small of her back didn’t leave, keeping her crushed against him. She felt every breath; for a man who didn’t like to be around other people, he didn’t seem to mind keeping her close.

She didn’t get to look at the card again. He distracted her with the sweep of his fingers along the wispy pieces of her hair that framed her face. Then, he tapped the high point on her cheekbone with the pad of his index finger, making sure he gaze didn’t move from his for even a split second.

“The card came in with the courier the day before your father left,” he explained, that hand of his at her back tapping all five fingers like her spine was his personal drum to make a beat. “It was in the works the day after you gave the go ahead on a wedding. I’m aware you have a good deal of money to your name, and I won’t even consider touching it. The card, however, covers everything else from here on out. There is not a limit, or a bottom.”

“So no spankings if I spend more than I should?” Vera asked with wide eyes just to seem all the more innocent. As fake as it was.

Vaslav knew it, too. “Right. Just ask for that, yeah? As for the name on the card, you little witch—”

Vera’s grin widened even further. “Tell me you don’t like it.”