Page 54 of The Pakhan

“Yeah, something happened. We argued like cats and dogs.”

“My father doesn’t argue. He lays down the law. He rarely says much so if that’s true, maybe I should call a doctor.”

“Very funny. He’s acting like Mr. Grumpy, the bastard.”

Sofiya chuckled. “You’ve never said that before. You’ve never called him names before. All those years I whined to you about his gruffness and his strict rules and you barely said a word against him. Now, you call him a bastard.”

“Yep.” I was forced to look away. I was walking a dangerous tightrope at this point. Yep. The girl was looking right through me.

She started squirting hair color with more vehemence than I’d anticipated, even pulling hair as she did so.

“Ouch. What’s gotten into you?” I finally barked.

“Me? Are you sleeping with my father?”

Oh, shit. There it was. The one thing I’d hope to be able to ignore for a long time. “Why would you think that?” Even as the evasion slipped past my lips, I could see my face flushing and was pretty certain she noticed it too.

She lifted her head, her fingers flying as she grabbed a brush, getting another color she was highlighting my hair with.

“Sofiya. Talk to me. Why do you think that?”

“Because I know you too well. Remember? I just… Let’s not talk about it. Okay? I think it’s best that way.”

“It’s not what you think.”

Sofiya’s snort indicated otherwise. “It never is. That means it’s worse. And I’m right.” She continued and we remained in utter silence for the full ten minutes as she continued painting my hair. When she yanked off her gloves, tossing them into the sink, I knew she wasn’t just angry with me.

She was furious.

“Forty-five minutes. Then you know what to do after that with jumping in the shower, lather, rinse. All that shit.”

“Yes, thank you for helping me do this.”

I heard a curse word as she headed for the door, maybe more than one. She snapped her hand around the doorway, not bothering to turn and look at me. “I forgot to tell you that my father called before I left to ask me to pick up some masks. I guess the festive ball you get to go to is a masquerade party.”

“Oh, wow. I had no idea. Do I need a costume?” I was doing my best to ignore her heavy emphasis on a few words. But my heart was racing. I’d never intended on hurting her.

“No. You’ll look fabulous in either one of the dresses we bought. Just… I’m going to have a glass of wine.”

She left and I felt sick inside. Sicker than before. After glaring at my reflection, I headed downstairs, finding her already out on the patio lounging on one of the chairs, a glass of wine in her hand. I did notice she’d brought out the bottle and another glass.

When I slid into the seat near her, she didn’t bother looking in my direction or lifting her sunglasses.

“Do you want to be alone?” I asked.

“Have some wine. Why not? You deserve it for putting up with the man.” Now she was acting as if our indiscretion didn’t matter to her.

“Don’t do that, Sofiya. There is an attraction, but I assure you that your father made it perfectly understandable he wants nothing to do with me.” I poured some wine, wondering if we could stay friends after this.

She finally threw me a look, laughing. “Perhaps I should have warned you since I’d sensed your attraction to him the other day. My father doesn’t do relationships. He barely talks to a woman more than once.”

“Because of your mom.”

“Yes. Because of my mother. He loved her completely. But I think it’s more about his fear of daring to care again and losing someone else. He is in a dangerous business.”

“I know. Don’t worry. I’m not the relationship type.”

Another moment of tension settled in. “I should be fucking angry with you, but I’ve pushed Daddy into finding someone in his life and he ignores me. Maybe you’ll be good for him.”

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