Page 77 of Emerald Malice

She deflates for a second. Then I smile.

Our eyes meet, for perhaps the first time in months. She puts a hand over her heart and sighs in relief.

Just like that, we’re friends again.

26

NATALIA

“It does have to do with the Kuznetsovs.”

There’s no point in dragging out the suspense. I’ve given Katya enough to worry about these past few months without adding to it now.

“Oh, God.” Her bottom lip trembles. “I was worried about that. Was it Viktor or the other one? Did… did one of them catch up to you that night when we made a run for it?”

“The other one,” I admit. “Andrey.”

“Nat…” Katya looks like she’s on the verge of tears. “D-did he hurt you?”

I’m so shocked that I let out a snort of laughter.

Katya pulls back. “So—that’s not what happened?”

“Not quite. I actually slept with him.”

Her jaw drops.

“But it was totally consensual.”

Her eyebrows fly up. “You are kidding me! Why, you little—” She stops short of saying what I know she was going to. Apparently, she’s worried that our freshly renewed friendship is still too fragile to withstand a joke.

I launch into the story with as much detail as possible. It feels great, to my complete and total surprise. With every passing minute, my chest gets lighter and lighter.

“… so that was that. He threw a couple of hundred-dollar bills on my coffee table and walked out with the last laugh.”

Kat looks furious on my behalf. “How dare?—”

I shake my head with a triumphant smile. “He walked out with the last laugh… or so he thought.”

“Oh?”

“Well, after I moved into his pool house—” I don’t pause even for Kat’s shocked reaction; her mouth has already dropped so low it’s nearly hitting the table. “—and he visited me for a quickie in the middle of the night, I’m the one who had the last laugh.”

Kat gawks at me. “You don’t mean… You paid him after sex?”

I understand her surprise. It’s not the kind of thing I would normally do. Truth be told, it’s a page right out of her book.

I give her a smug smile. “And then I slammed the door in his face.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of you.” Grinning from ear-to-ear, she starts to applaud.

A big burst of laughter explodes out of me. Heads swivel in our direction—including my curious, blond bodyguard manning the window.

I ignore him and focus on Kat’s admiring expression. “Such a legend. Such a fucking legend. Didn’t know you had it in you…”

“Being on my own helped some,” I admit. “I had to rely on myself.”

Kat’s face falls. “I let you down.”

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