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“Done.” She twirls in her chair and pulls the hoody off her head. “What brings you to the tower?”
“We’re on the second floor. I’m not sure the new wing can be considered a tower.”
“Wait until the turret is added.” She twists her curls into a knot. “But you didn’t come here to discuss my office. Are you ready to take me up on my offer?”
“I wasn’t…it’s just that—” I wipe my hand over my damp neck. “It’s possible that Lina is the missing Tarasov heiress.”
“Lina, the seamstress that you secretly admire? The one that creates a love letter with every stitch of the custom monograms she makes?”
“I wouldn’t describe her that way.”
“You have the soul of a sociopath, not a poet, so that’s unsurprising.”
Crossing my arms, I press my mouth together so I don’t bite back. Gianna is the Vor’s wife, and disrespecting her in any way is not only unacceptable but a death sentence.
“I didn’t mean it as an insult. Half my family tree is filled with them, and we wouldn’t have survived and flourished if it wasn’t the case.”
Facts. The woman speaks straight facts.
“I’ll make us a coffee, and then we can dig into this Tarasov thing.”
“I appreciate it, G.”
“I know.”
I watch her stroll over to the coffee bar in the corner and make two espressos. “Lina shared a story yesterday that weirdly lines up with the Russian heiress one.”
“You finally asked her on a date?”
“No!” She adds two sugars to one small cup and three to the other. “We ran into each other at the cemetery.”
“That’s disappointing. I hoped your desire would’ve beat out your fear of commitment by now.”
“I fear nothing.” Accepting the cup she gives me, I watch her exaggerated eyes roll. “Ask your husband if you don’t believe me.”
“My husband only has one nightmare, and it’s about losing me. No matter how vicious and bloodthirsty, every man has one thing he would burn the world down for.”
Sipping the strong brew, I question if that’s true.
“Your pinched mouth tells me you’re committed to swimming in the River Denial, so I’ll just show you what I dug up on the heiress.” She drops into her chair and then pushes it toward one of the long desks. “You’ve refused to join my Bravo watch parties with the bratoks, so you don’t know how much I love reality dating shows.” Picking up a stack of papers, she presses them to her chest. “I live for this kind of thing, and I’m ready to be your fairy godwitch and make all your dreams come true.”
“I thought you only made my dreams possible.” Alexey strides into the room. “Do I have a competitor?”
“Yes. Netflix, Hulu, and occasionally HBO.”
I watch the two share a passionate kiss and know that if I ever tie myself to someone, I will accept nothing less. “I can come back.”
Gianna puts her finger up and slides her mouth away from her husband. “No. We have to see if Lina is Cinderella.” She shakes her curls. “Wait. That totally doesn’t work.”
“Aahh, the heiress question,” Alexey replies as he sits in an oversized chair. “Fill me in.”
“Yuri might’ve cracked the case.”
“If Linaisthe heiress, she has no clue. The stories her mother told were woven with both fact and fiction, and she doesn’t know what is true and what is fantasy.” I stare into the dark liquid in my cup. “During dinner, she mentioned something about Orlov being her mother’s family name, not her father’s.”
“Interesting.” Gianna spins her chair once. “It makes sense that a woman running from her husband would change her name. Not that she should’ve stopped there. If it were me, I’d wipe fingerprints and possibly have reconstructive surgery so facial recognition wouldn’t be an issue.”
“Love the plan, wife. But don’t ever try it.”
