Page 112 of Emerald Malice

NATALIA

“Prygat’,” Shura orders.

Remi runs towards Shura, and, with one final burst of speed, coils and launches himself up until the tip of his nose grazes Shura’s outstretched palm.

“Well done, Remi!” I clap and Katya joins in, but she’s clearly distracted.

“So cute,” she mumbles, almost to herself.

“And the sweetest dog in the world.”

Katya turns to me like she forgot I was here. “Oh. Right. But I was talking about…” She gestures over to Shura, who’s got his back to us now.

“Shura?” I gawk.

“He has this raw, magnetic sexual appeal.” Katya licks her lips.

All I can do is shriek with increasing incredulity, “Shura?!”

“You can’t tell me you don’t find him attractive.”

“Watch me: I don’t find him attractive. Honestly, I’m surprised you do. He’s not your usual type.” Then again, that might be a good thing. Her usual type is Andrey’s fuckboy little brother. Straying from the standard might be exactly what the doctor ordered.

“I don’t know. He’s wiry, but strong. And broody. The whole package is… sexy as hell.”

I groan. “The last time you described a man as ‘sexy,’ I was forced to sit through a dinner with Viktor Kuznetsov.”

Katya throws a wicked elbow into my ribs. “How about we not talk about mistakes of the past? You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to even look at Viktor—” But then she cuts herself off, her eyes locked on something over my shoulder.

Suddenly, she turns away so she can fluff her hair and adjust her lipstick. Since she doesn’t drag the neckline of her shirt low enough for some tasteful cleavage, I know we’ve moved out of there’s a man I want to impress territory into there’s a woman I need to intimidate.

I wave Mila over and then hiss to Katya, “Be nice.”

“I’m always nice,” she mutters out of the side of her mouth.

She’s not, and the warning glare I toss her way makes it clear that I know it.

She sighs and raises her hands in surrender, but I swear I hear her muttering under her breath. “… fraternizing… look at her… some nerve…”

I manage to drown her out and plaster a big smile on my face as Mila steps onto the patio. “Mila, come meet Katya. Officially,” I add. “In a way that doesn’t involve being chased by security guards right after.”

Katya laughs, but it sounds like she’s being strangled. To her credit, she does offer Mila her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mila. Again. Sort of.”

Mila smiles. “No hard feelings about crashing my wedding. It’s all water under the bridge.”

Wow. This is going well.

“Well, of course you wouldn’t have hard feelings. You weren’t the one being cheated on, were you?”

I bite back a sigh. So close. We were so, so close.

As if he can smell the catfight brewing, Shura shifts closer to us. He tosses Remi’s Frisbee across the yard, but I know he’s eavesdropping, ready to intervene.

“I can’t believe you still care,” I moan. “This is Viktor we’re talking about. You just said you would spend another second near him even if you were offered millions of?—"

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Katya cuts me off. “You don’t steal another woman’s man! Even if that man is a worthless pile of shit.”

I’m ready to strangle my best friend, but Mila just laughs. “I get why you’re pissed, Katya. You have every right to be. But you’re making some big assumptions here.”

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