Page 96 of Koroleva

"It was just a dance." Juliet let out a bitter laugh.

"It's never just a dance, he always has ulterior motives, you can't trust him." I would take her words into account, not that I wanted to maintain any kind of extramarital relationship with Salvatore, no matter how good he looked.

"Thanks for the warning. One thing wasn't clear to me, between you and him..."

"He's my cousin!" she exclaimed, horrified. She was rubbing her hands together very quickly.

She didn't fool me. I knew what I saw on that dance floor, and it was the look of a scorned woman, not that of a cousin.

"Whatever you say."

Irisha and Sarka appeared, silencing us both. My middle sister told me that my father-in-law said that Arasagasti and his wife had just arrived and that I had to greet them because they were my personal guests.

I thanked her and wished my sister-in-law a recovery, as well as thanking her for the advice. I didn't want to be on bad terms with her.

I went straight to the entrance door, where Irisha pointed out the couple.

Karlos Arasagasti was a serious and discreet man. There was nothing remarkable about his face; brown hair, small eyes, a prominent nose, and thin lips. He was about five foot seven and sported a bit of excess weight in the abdominal area.

His wife, Andrea, was prettier. She dressed with understated elegance, was petite, and had bright eyes. It was clear she assessed everything with the keen eye of an artist.

I approached with a couple of glasses of Moët that I had picked up before presenting myself to them. His was spiked with some magical powders courtesy of my uncle, which were safeguarded inside my ring.

A few swirls of the bubbly liquid and his drink was ready to be consumed. It was out of the question to think he wouldn't be enticed; it was just that the lack of time was pressing me, and that prevented me from weaving a sufficiently enveloping web.

I wanted to accomplish my goal, and the sooner I did it, the better.

"Good evening," I greeted them, offering each a glass. She gave me an immediate smile and he a complete and furtive inspection. Interesting.

"Hello!" Andrea exclaimed excitedly. "Nikita?"

"The same. Welcome to the party and thank you for accepting my invitation, it’s a pleasure to have you both."

"Mrs. Koroleva," he extended his hand and I shook it. "Karlos Arasagasti."

"You can call me Nikita, and I hope I can also call you by your first names." I needed them to feel close to me.

"Of course! We are all too young to be so formal," Andrea confirmed.

"I am very sorry about what happened to your predecessor, a tragedy."

"Yes, it has been," he responded succinctly.

"Marbella is a small town, bad news travels fast."

"I see," he replied uncomfortably.

"I hope you didn't find it inappropriate that I contacted your wife, they did the same with me when I arrived, it's much easier to adapt to a new environment that way. When one is new in a place, it's important to make friends."

"Absolutely!" Andrea replied, stepping ahead of her husband. "I'm eager to meet people so I won't be alone, I hate being alone, it’s very boring." I approached Andrea and, as is customary in Spain, gave her two kisses.

"Sorry, I didn't greet you properly and started talking."

"No problem, woman. I love the place and your dress is ideal!"

"Thank you, you look very pretty too." She blushed.

I looked away to see where my husband was. Romeo was just a few meters from us. Whether he was angry with me or not, I needed him.

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