Page 134 of Deceitful Vows

When Maksim glares at me like it isn’t Nikita’s mouth that needs muzzling around married men, I shift his focus to the cause of Nikita’s outburst. “The blonde.”

“Slatvena?” Maksim asks, forcing heat to creep across Nikita’s cheeks from the provocative way he says her name. “She is my assistant.” He sounds more humored than frustrated while adding, “She also wasn’t forced to attend yesterday’s festivities. She was there for the same reason every other spectator was.”

“For charity,” Nikita assumes, always a goody two-shoes.

Maksim laughs before putting Nikita out of her misery. “She went to enjoy the view.”

“Oh…”

With Nikita still lost, I give the international sign for scissor sisters. Her eyes don’t veer lower than my face, but she gets the idea. “Oh…Then why not marry her?”

Aleena jumps back into our conversation. “It needs to look authentic.” Her nose screws up like a rabbit. “If it doesn’t appear legitimate, the inheritance will be voided.” Either out of excuses or desperate to wipe the suspicion from my eyes that she appears too adapt in marriages of convenience for me to let slide, she hooks her thumb to the door. “We should probably go. This is a private matter. We don’t want to intrude.”

I almost shake my head until I see the wish for privacy spreading across Maksim’s face. I hardly know him, but I trust that he has Nikita’s best interests at heart, so I change my shake to a head bob.

When I hug Nikita, she whispers, “If you leave me now, I’ll disown you for life.”

“He won’t hurt you, Keet. He only wants to help you.”

Although I’d sell a kidney to stay and support her through this, Aleena’s quick exodus leaves me no choice but to squirm out of her hold and race out of the room, hot on Aleena’s tail.

“Leaving again so soon?” I murmur when I notice her heading for the main exit door of the suite, slowing her steps. “I thought we had plans today?”

Her shoulders rise and fall three times before she spins to face me. “We do. I just thought I should wait for you down there.”

There could be anywhere, but she doesn’t extend her reply even with my expression showing my confusion.

“Is everything okay?” I thought we made good headway in our relationship yesterday, though now it seems as if we’re back to square one. Since I think I know the cause of that, I ask, “You seemed pretty knowledgeable in arranged marriages in there.” I nudge my head to Nikita’s room. “Is that for any particular reason?”

She looks panicked and then relieved. “No. Of course not.” My squashed heart gets a moment of reprieve when she steps closer. “I was coming to collect my phone. When I overheard Nikita’s panic, I thought a little bit of spit and polish wouldn’t hurt anyone. Maksim will be good for her, so I want her to give him a chance. If that needs an occasional lie to happen, I’m okay with that.”

“He will be good for her,” I agree, “but it doesn’t explain how you knew what ruse to run with.”

She exhales deeply before gesturing for us to move our conversation to the living room. I wait for her to sit first before sitting across from her. I’m better at reading people when I can see them head-on.

It seems like forever before she speaks. “This isn’t my first engagement.”

I nod, recalling her saying last night that Bayli had asked for her hand in marriage.

I’m knocked back when she says, “I was engaged last year. The terms were similar to the ones I just stated.” Her eyes fall to her hands knotted around her skirt. “The groom called off the wedding the night before.” I want to pop my knee into the groin of every man who has ever hurt her when her voice cracks. “He had fallen in love with someone else. She was pregnant and his family would never allow him to have a child out of wedlock, so she took my place at the end of the altar.”

“Aleena, I’m sorry.”

She brushes off my sympathies as if they’re not required. “It’s okay. I’m fine with it now. It just stung a little at the time. It kind of knocks your ego being disregarded like you’re worthless.”

She is preaching to the wrong person, but since this is about her, not me, I scoot to the edge of my chair before squeezing her hand in mine. “But things are different this time, right? This isn’t an arrangement. You love Kazimir and he loves you?”

Her sob breaks my heart, so you can imagine my surprise when she acts like everything is fine. “Of course. It’s wonderful.” When my expression announces that I need a little more convincing, she says, “Last night was nerves. I was getting cold feet and petrified that Kazimir was experiencing the same. But he put my worries to bed last night.”

“He visited you last night?” I need to get a second opinion on the medication I am taking. They’re making me far too sentimental. I sound like a lovesick fool.

A flare darts through Aleena’s eyes as she nods. “Yeah. He made everything better and had me so giddy that if a certain someone hadn’t hogged the hotel event planner’s evening, she may not have been the only one shacked up and married right now.” She bumps me with her knee. “If only we were in Vegas.”

I giggle. It loosens some of the tension hanging heavily on my chest. “So we’re still on for today? You still want to hang out?”

“Yes,” she whispers. “Of course.”

“Okay.” I squeeze her hand again. “Why don’t you go grab the girls and come back here. We have a full itinerary of activities to undertake.”

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