Page 133 of Deceitful Vows

I realize I hardly know the man in front of me when he mutters, “If you’re sleeping with the airline’s owner, you should have been given an upgrade for free.” He punches something into his tablet before locking his dark eyes with mine. “Or better yet, you should have flown in one of his many private jets.” An arrogant smirk stretches across his face. “Or perhaps he knew I was watching and wanted to leave this weekend breathing.”

I love his cockiness, but I also think he is a fool. He must be to underestimate Andrik’s level of dominance. I’ve only been standing across from Maksim for minutes, but I’m shocked the door hasn’t already been busted down. That’s how possessive Andrik is.

After a handful more finger punches on his tablet, Maksim says, “I will have the funds delivered with our wedding rings.”

I sigh in relief and panic at the same time.

“Is this really happening?” I ask while staring at the people transforming the living room of the penthouse into a wedding chapel.

“Yes,” Maksim answers, his eyes on Nikita. “It would have been weeks ago if they hadn’t tried to fool me.”

I ponder if his level of deception is as deep as what Andrik has endured the past two months but am stolen the chance to ask when Nikita thrusts two swabs of fabric in front of me.

“What color do you prefer?” Nothing but love and admiration shines in her eyes when she lifts them to my face. “You will be the most beautiful maid of honor, and I will be so blessed to have you standing at my side.”

She doesn’t necessarily ask for me to support her while she weds a man she hardly knows, but the sentiment in her eyes sees me giving the same answer I gave Aleena only hours ago.

“Yes.”

51

ZOYA

Nikita’s wedding was fast but gorgeous, though she seems to have no recollection of it.

“You let me get married!” Her high squeal whistles through my ears. “You let me get married to a man who hates me?”

“I don’t hate you.”

Her panic lowers to a manageable level from Maksim’s pledge, though not enough for me not to try to help her connect the dots she lost while sleeping. “I tried to stop you. But by the time I returned to our suite, you had already decided. You were so determined to go through with it that you organized a late-night visit from a local minister.”

“No.” One word shouldn’t take so long to deliver. “I wouldn’t do that. I went to the foyer for a room key and watched you shake your ass, and then I… I… I…” She peers at Maksim like perhaps her memories are more buried than gone before she whispers, “I married you.”

“You did,” he replies, grinning.

“Because…?” If she wants Maksim to fill in the blanks, she needs to give him a minute to speak. “Strangers don’t marry strangers unless they’re in Vegas, and they wouldn’t tie the knot with someone they don’t like. You dislike me so much you walked out when my pants were huddled around my knees and my pussy was exposed.”

“I didn’t?—”

I sling my head to the side when Maksim is interrupted by the last person I expected to see looking bright and chipper this morning. Aleena represents an angel ready to be placed at the top of a Christmas tree. It is a starkly contradicting look to the one she presented last night. “Want to miss out on a big inheritance?” I’m not the only one lost when she enters the room while saying, “When I accidentally let slip to Maksim about your excessive student loans, he mentioned an inheritance he’d never see if he didn’t wed. Putting two and two together, I realized how ideal this could be.” She gleams with excitement. “You need money, and Maksim needs a wife to get it. This”—she darts her hand between Maksim and Nikita—“fixes both dilemmas.”

Nikita sounds as confused as I feel. “Zoya just said I had already decided before either of you had returned to our suite. But now you’re saying you helped cook up a scheme that would have me believing marrying a stranger was a good idea?”

“No, that isn’t what happened,” I jump in, trying to save Aleena before she’s trampled by Nikita’s lie detector machine. “She… I…” I’ve got nothing, so I thrust a takeaway cup of coffee toward her. “I brought you coffee.”

When Nikita accepts it, she has a Janet Jackson Super Bowl moment.

“Shit. Sorry,” she apologizes.

I already knew Maksim was a good fit for Nikita, hence me colluding with Aleena to get them together, but his low growl of disapproval seals the deal.

“You loathe that too?” I backhand his chest like we’re lifelong friends. “Aleena is right. You are a perfect match.”

“Z!” Nikita shouts.

“What? Don’t act like you can’t feel the sparks. You’ve been panting like a dog in heat since we got here.”

“And you thought he was married, so you should have muzzled my mouth.”

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