Page 211 of Cashmere Cruelty

Yuri joins us. He hands Petra a mocktail and then turns to me. “Your phone’s ringing,” he points out.

I glance at the display. A spark of annoyance flashes through me at the sight of Grisha’s name. “Jesus Christ, doesn’t he know when to fucking quit?”

Irritated, I refuse the call and pocket my phone again.

“What are you going to do now?” I snark then at the unhappy couple. “I saved your ass, but it won’t last.”

“Motya,” Yuri pleads.

“Is the child going to grow up calling me ‘Dad’?” I taunt. “Are you going to be ‘Uncle Yuri’ for the rest of your life, brother?”

“Stop.”

“Or are you planning to wait until the old man croaks to finally step up?”

Someone grabs my tie.

I expect it to be Yuri. I expect him to yank my collar and punch me in the face, give me an excuse to finally vent my anger. With my fists, the only way I know how.

But it’s not Yuri.

“Thank you,” Petra whispers against my lips, making it look as if we’re about to kiss. “For all you’ve done. I’m not just saying that, Matvey. I truly mean it.”

“I sense there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

“But,” she hisses, “I’ll have to ask you to hold yourself to the same standard you’ve held me to.”

“Which is?” I growl.

“To not disrespect what’s mine.”

I almost want to laugh. I could snap Petra’s wrist with two fingers if I wished to. And yet, here she is—defending her territory tooth and nail. Fangs and claws.

Yuri pales. “Petya, stop?—”

“A toast!” Vlad yells, drawing all eyes to us. “To the newlyweds!”

Quickly, Petra releases her grip.

“I should kill you for what you’ve just done,” I whisper into her ear. “You know that, right?”

She goes as white as my brother.

“But I won’t.”

All along, something else had been spinning in my head—the suspicion that Petra orchestrated this whole thing. That she fucked my brother over just so she could fuckmeover afterwards.

That she was going to break his heart.

But no matter how good she is, she could never fake this.This consuming urge to protect.

I know—because I’ve felt it, too.

Petra exhales with relief. By her side, I watch Yuri do the same.

“This time, at least,” I add, low and dangerous.

The couple seems to heed my warning. With two quick nods, they disperse.

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