Page 51 of Savage Little Lies

But she drew a line I can’t cross. And it’s driving me insane.

“Champagne fountain it is,” I reply before finishing off the last sip of my wine, my head growing hazier.

“Yay!” Annika says before turning to her father. “This will be the most incredible wedding that this city has ever seen!”

“We probably shouldn’t draw too much attention to ourselves,” I tell her.

“Why not?” Artur questions me as he narrows his eyes. “Are you ashamed of marrying my little girl?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“No, of course not,” I say, feeling the weight of both of their glares on me. “I only say that for safety and security reasons. We don’t want an attack to be staged at the wedding.”

Artur gradually settles down. “I suppose you’re right, but we’ll have plenty of security. Nothing bad will happen on my daughter’s special day. We’ll make sure of that.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Annika tells him with a glowing smile. She then grabs my hand and squeezes it hard. “We should look over the guest list together too. No female friends on your side. And I don’t want your little assistant or secretary to come either.”

My jaw tenses. “I wouldn’t invite my assistant or secretary to my wedding.”

I’d never force Cara to sit through that train wreck, and it wouldn’t do me any good to see her sitting in the pews either.

Annika’s eyes sharpen a degree. “Just making sure. I want my wedding to be perfect, and I don’t want to worry about any whores making a scene.”

The fact that she just called Cara a whore pisses me off, but I can’t explode on her in front of her father. If she ever spoke that word in front of Cara…I don’t know what I’d do.

“Everything will be fine,” I assure her. “Invite whoever you want. Take off whoever you want. I don’t care.”

“You should care, Dmitri,” Artur tells me before gesturing to Annika. “This is your wife. You need to work together and put effort into your marriage.”

I’m not going to be able to win with him.

“I hear you,” I reply with a nod. “I was just saying that I want her to be happy. I’m fine with whatever pleases her.”

Annika holds my arm and smiles at me in a sickeningly sweet way that makes me want to vomit.

“I think you two will be happy together,” Artur says, lifting his glass to us before finishing his wine.

“Me too, Daddy,” Annika replies before shifting her eyes to mine. “We’re just learning how to love each other.”

I almost laugh out loud. Learning how to love each other? There’s no love in this arrangement.

Only money and opportunity.

“Dmitri, you’ll pick up the check this time, won’t you?” Artur tells me as he hands me the check.

I love paying for a thousand-dollar dinner that I didn’t even want to attend. But I do it without complaint because I want to get the hell out of here.

“Are we leaving already?” Annika asks once I pay the check and stand from the table.

“It’s been a long day,” I reply as I glance toward the front of the restaurant where I can finally escape and go home.

Artur checks the time on his gold watch. “Oh, it’s still early. Why don’t we stop by one of my establishments and have another drink? There’s still plenty to talk about.”

I’d tear my damn hair out if they weren’t staring at me expectantly right now. But I do want a closer look at his businesses to figure out how I can best use them. After all, they’ll be mine someday.

“Sure, I can do one more drink,” I tell Artur before motioning for him to lead the way.

Annika immediately glues herself to my side, her fingers tightening around my bicep as we walk past the hostess. If she’s going to act possessive every time I’m in the same vicinity as another woman, she’s going to exhaust herself.