Page 85 of Emerald Malice

“But you got yourself in a miserable marriage with a young asshole,” I point out with a frown. “What’s the difference?”

“The difference is that Viktor Kuznetsov, asshole though he may be, doesn’t have a reputation for mutilating his brides after they’ve lost their virgin status.”

I grimace as unwanted images pop into my head.

“You may look at me and see a kept woman—a vapid idiot who spends her days shopping and ignoring her husband’s affairs. But me? All I see is freedom. That’s what I set out for when I did what I did. And that’s what I got.”

Despite myself, I am impressed.

Uncomfortable, horrified… but impressed.

“You want my advice, Nat?” she asks, her voice softening. “Stop looking for perfect. Stop looking for fairy tales. Stop looking for happily-ever-after. You’ve got your freedom. From where I’m sitting, that’s all you need.”

“It doesn’t feel like I’m free.”

“You’re free to work where you want and be friends with who you want. You’re free to buy what you want whenever you want it. You never have to worry about bills or expenses or whether or not you can afford to send your child to a prestigious private school. You can even have mind-numbing orgasms at the click of your fingers, without the hassle of a relationship to tie you down. What is that if not freedom?”

God, how I wish I could just copy-paste that mentality into my own stupid head. She seems so confident in it, so freed by it.

But it just doesn’t feel like me.

That night, I make sure to close all the windows and lock all the doors.

No more midnight visitors for me.

29

ANDREY

“That’s it?”

Leonty’s face falls. His fingers are twitching for a smoke in the same way mine do when I need a release. “I wish I could give you more, but she’s not exactly talking to me at the moment.”

“What’s that got to do with it?”

“Every time I enter the damn pool house, she kicks me out again and asks for Leif or Olaf. This morning, she actually said she preferred that Anatoly be on guard duty today.” He shoves his fist through his blonde curls. “Anatoly! No one prefers that miserable bastard to me. She hates me.”

“And this is a problem because…?”

“I don’t get invited to dinner or movies anymore,” he complains.

“You are this close—” I hold my thumb and index finger an inch apart. “—to being thrown out of here on your ass.”

“This is your fault, you know. She wouldn’t have turned on me if you hadn’t slipped and said I was the one who told you about her rekindled friendship with the blonde.”

“It wasn’t a slip. I want her to know I’ve got eyes on her at all times.” Leonty crosses his arms, ready to keep bickering, but I ignore his sullen mood. “What’s going on at Sunshield? Anything to report there?”

Leonty shifts uncomfortably. “Uh… no?”

“If you want me to replace you with Anatoly, too, then?—”

“Okay, okay,” he protests. “That Byron dude is getting out of hand.”

“What’s he doing?”

“Flirting, mostly. Never misses an opportunity to approach Nat’s desk for a conversation. Brings her stuff all the time—smoothies, cupcakes, cookies. And he’s asked her out a few times, too. ‘No’ is apparently not a word in the mudak’s vocabulary.”

I rise to my feet, fists already clenched and ready. “He asked her out?”

---