Page 9 of His to Own

“You don’t do yourself enough credit, Elena. Even just standing there, you’re already very fascinating to me.”

I swallow hard. I’m not sure if I should like Maxim’s attention. If I should be flattered or scared.

Sergei’s face flashes in my mind and I jerk back with a wince.

Maxim’s eyes narrow even more. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I squeak out. “Just… fine.”

The door behind me bursts open and Lana comes out. “Elena. I’m sorry. I –,” she stops when she notices Maxim. “Oh. You.” Her lips turn into a sneer. “What are you doing here?”

“Your husband invited me. I’m not here to hurt you, Lana. What I did was a onetime thing. I say we let bygones be bygones.”

She storms right up to him. “The only reason I’m not yelling at you right now is because Nikolai said you don’t beat women. I am choosing to trust my husband. But stay away from my sister.”

Maxim crosses his arms and gazes down at Lana with an amused expression. “That’s kind of hard when he invited me to her birthday party. This was his plan. I’m just going along for the ride.”

“Why?” Her tone is flat. Clearly, she’s not affected by Maxim the way I am.

“Because it’s more fun this way. And I want what Nikolai can offer me and I always get what I want.”

Lana looks like she wants to punch him but holds back. “You worked with Lev. I can never like you.”

“It was a onetime thing,” he repeats. “Nothing personal. I was paying back a favor I owed him. You don’t have to hate me, Lana. I have no intentions of hurting your sister. Your very pretty sister.”

Lana turns to me and grabs my hand, practically dragging me back inside. Maxim follows, whistling to himself like he’s in a cartoon movie. She brings me into the kitchen and fortunately, Maxim continues to the ballroom. I feel like I can breathe again.

The chef Lana hired is running around the kitchen, getting dinner ready. She ignores the chef like he’s not even here.

“Lana, what’s going on?” I ask. “What was all of that?”

“I don’t want you anywhere near that man.”

A shiver runs down my spine. “Who is he?”

“Maxim Morozov. He helped Lev kidnap me the first time.”

“Oh,” I whisper as a sense of dread fills my stomach. I knew Maxim was dangerous. It was written all over him.

“I don’t want him near you. Hopefully… he won’t have to be.”

“Hopefully? I don’t understand.”

She waves a dismissive hand. “It’s not important. Especially on your birthday. Elena, listen. I’m sorry this party isn’t going how you wanted. I told Nikolai to not invite so many people. That you wouldn’t like it but he wouldn’t listen. He’s doing this more for his reputation than for you. I’m sorry. I love my husband but sometimes he can be so practical that he doesn’t think about others the way he should. If it were up to me, I would have thrown you a small party.”

“It’s ok. I believe you.”

She squeezes my hands and gives me a soft smile that Lana only reserves for me. Typically, she has a hard exterior. “Thank you. Now, I know you probably don’t want to go back in there but that party is for you. But if you want to leave, just say the word. I’ll have my driver, Boris, take you back home.”

Father’s hard expression and Sergei’s face and Mother’s critical eyes all come back to me. Home is the last place I want to be.

“I would rather stay.”

“Ok. I’ll be by your side the whole time. How does that sound?”

Some of the tension in my shoulders eases away. “That sounds great.”

The party is in full swing when we return to the ballroom. People conversing, eating food, dancing in the middle of the room. The cake meant for me is already gone. I never even got to eat a piece. Just one small taste and I almost threw it up.