Page 92 of Sinful Blaze

“My brother is hardheaded and intense,” Sofi answers, “but he’s a good man. Family means everything to him. And now, Daphne is our family, too.” I recognize her sweet smile and soft voice more and more like it’s a sort of mask she wears in public.

A smokescreen, So people don’t know about her.

Or her family.

With a capital “F.”

35

PASHA

“Well, well, Mr. Chekhov! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Cora’s eyes scan my body as she struts into the foyer of the Brennan estate. The exaggerated sway in her hips is pushing the limit; the dip of her neckline paired with what’s obviously a push-up bra makes her deep cleavage beyond obscene.

What’s even more obscene is how my mind immediately leaps to Daphne wearing the exact same thing. The scarlet wrap dress hugging her thighs, her breasts threatening to spill out of the top of it…

But only for me. It’d be a cold day in hell before I let another man lay eyes on her like that.

“We need to talk about your husband.” I’m determined to keep this strictly business. Sofi stands behind me, no doubt doing her best to conceal her own disgust at Cora’s antics.

“My husband is out for the day.” Cora purrs each word and saunters forward until we’re barely a breath apart. She smooths her hands over my chest and smiles up at me. “All day.”

I can feel Sofi step forward. Her irritation practically ripples in the air.

But I make the move before she can. “I’m engaged,” I inform the senator’s wife bluntly as I remove her hands from my chest. “And we’re expecting.”

Cora’s mask promptly crumbles. She takes a step back, smooths her dress down, and clears her throat.

“Well! Congratulations are in order.” She flicks her wrist as a signal for us to follow her into her home. I’m not surprised that her room of choice includes a wet bar, which she beelines for. “A toast to the happy father. Are you registered?”

“You know what would be a great gift? A thorough explanation as to what the hell’s going on with your husband.”

Cora takes her time mixing a cocktail, her back turned to us. I glance over at Sofiya, who is glaring at the woman like one word from me will set her fury loose.

“I don’t actually know what’s going on with Scott.” Cora sighs and stirs her drink before taking a sip and turning back to us. “He’s certainly been twitchy lately. Hiding his phone from view, taking calls in the middle of the night, claiming he has all these different lunch meetings and late nights at the office.” She takes another sip. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he started up a new affair.”

I frown. Cora’s no fool—she’s known about her husband’s extramarital activities for years. She’s also guilty of having plenty of her own, just to “keep the ledger balanced,” as she once described it to me.

That’s the one thing the two of us have in common: blackmailing the senator with his sins.

Something in her tone snags my attention, though. “But you know better, don’t you? This isn’t an affair. This is different.”

She rolls her eyes but her jaw tightens. “When it comes to sex, Scott’s sloppy. Both in the act, and in trying to cover up the evidence. It would be embarrassing if it wasn’t so damn entertaining.”

She sashays over to a lounger and sprawls herself across it. If she thinks she’s being subtle about the way she occasionally eyes me, she’s mistaken. But since she is being surprisingly helpful in the face of her husband’s flakiness, I’m not going to call her out.

Yet.

“This time, though? He’s being too careful. Too clean. No panties under the couch, no costume jewelry in the bathroom. And it wasn’t perfume I smelled on him the other night.”

I know what she’s doing, but I bite anyway. “What did you smell?”

She stares at me over the rim of her martini glass and nearly downs half its contents in one gulp. With a sigh and a smack of her lips, she answers, “Scotch, bourbon, and expensive cologne.”

I bite back a laugh. “You don’t think…?”

“I wouldn’t fucking care if he did, but no, I don’t think he’s taken up residency in the closet just yet.” Cora lifts her glass as if toasting an idea. “If you ask me, he’s making friends in shady places and your little deal is in trouble.”

“So you know about that.”

---