Page 61 of Bloody Lace

“Good.” Nicci looks pleased. “We can talk once we’ve got a glass of wine and some nibbles. Oh look—there’s the server. Perfect.”

The server coming over to our table has a bottle of red wine in one hand and two glasses in the other, another woman in the same uniform behind him with a white china plate. She sets the plate down between us, and I see it has a mound of what looks like raw beef in the center, a perfectly round, orange egg yolk in the center, surrounded by delicate crisps. A smaller plate is set down next to it, with two small porcelain ramekins of dips.

“Horseradish cream and maple mustard,” the server says with a smile, before backing up to let the wine be served. Nicci doesn’t say a word until the wine is poured, swirling hers in her glass and watching me intently as I ask for a glass of ice water with lemon as well. The last thing I want is to get overly tipsy on wine.

“Mm. My favorite.” She nods at the beef, which I’m very uncertain about, but I can’t exactly let on. I have a feeling that I’m going to be at a disadvantage if I let on that I’m uncertain aboutanythingduring this lunch, which is irritating, because I don’t even know what game I’m supposed to be playing. As far as I’m aware, this is supposed to be so that Nicci can apologize, not so that we can bat thinly veiled insults back and forth.

I watch as she breaks the yolk with the tip of a crisp, before scooping up a bit of the beef and egg and reaching for one of the tiny teaspoons to drizzle the mustard sauce over it. “Beef tartare,” she says, glancing at me, and I’m aware that once again I’ve failed to hide my reaction to anything that’s going on. It’s evident, clearly, that I’m unfamiliar with what’s on the table. “I know eating raw meat can seem a little strange, but it’s actually delicious. Do you like sushi? It’s not much different from that. And just a little…primal, don’t you think? A little bit of blood in our elegant world.”

Her smile sharpens as she pops the crisp into her mouth, chewing delicately before swallowing and taking another sip of her wine. “But then again, you’ve married Dimitri, haven’t you? There’s more than a little blood in his world.”

“I don’t know much about that.” I scoop up a bit of the meat and egg, eyeing both sauces before deciding on the horseradish. “I’m not involved in Dimitri’s business.” That much is true, at least.

Nicci looks at me narrowly. “Ah, so you’re one of those wives who prefers to not take an interest in her husband’s work. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to tell you?” She smiles, reaching for another crisp. “He was always a bit closemouthed about it all around me. Just—it’s business, Nicci, all of the time. He never wanted to talk about it.”

There’s a thin irritation to her voice that tells me exactly what she thought about that. I pop the bite into my mouth, hopingthat I can mask it if I don’t like the food. But surprisingly, it’s actually very good. Rich and sharp, and I let out a surprised hum of pleasure, reaching for my wine glass.

“I have my own business,” I tell her calmly. “I don’t need to know about Dimitri’s. And given what little I do know, I’d really rather not.” I’m not sure if that’s something I should reveal or not, but what I do know is that I’m not particularly good at playing this kind of game. I’m not going to reveal everything about our relationship to her, but trying to be coy and cagey is probably not going to work out well for me, either.

And I still don’t know what she really wants. I’m starting to regret not listening to Dimitri and staying home, and that pisses me off, too, because I don’t want him to be right about this.

“That’s right. The clothing boutique—” Nicci snaps her fingers, as if trying to remember the name.

“Pearls and Lace,” I supply.

“That’s right. Didn’t it have an unfortunate accident recently?”

“It did. Dimitri is helping me remodel. As a wedding present.” I smile at her. “It was very generous of him.”

“A wedding present. It was a quick wedding, wasn’t it?” Nicci’s gaze sharpens again, and I see her eyes drop down to my waistline hidden by the edge of the table. “Almost as if the two of you had been seeing each other for a long time, and had reason to get married in a whirlwind.”

Slowly, I finish another bite of the meat, taking a sip of my wine before answering. “The romance was a whirlwind,” I say calmly, and I see Nicci’s gaze flick to the large ring on my left hand. “Unexpected for both of us. But what the heart wants…”

She nods. “Of course.”

The server comes back just then, and I’m grateful for a moment to compose myself. Nicci orders duck breast withblueberry sauce and a side of green beans, and I order a chicken Caesar salad. When the server walks away, I look back at her.

“I’m not pregnant,” I tell her coolly. “And you said you asked me here because you wanted to apologize, not because you wanted to continue to insult me. If that’s not the case, Nicci, then I might as well just thank you for the…interesting lunch, and go.”

“I’m sorry.” She blurts it out, so suddenly that it catches me off guard, and I blink as she reaches up, toying with the corner of her napkin. “It’s not that I really wanted Dimitri. It was an arrangement. I mean, he’s handsome enough, and I didn’t mind the idea of being a Bratva wife, but?—”

I watch her, and I’m not as good at reading people as Dahlia is. But I think she looks sincere. She bites the edge of her perfectly made-up lip, the nude lipstick there smearing a bit, and she reaches up, dabbing at it automatically as she looks at me. “Our marriage was meant to secure a deal between my father and his,” she explains. “And my father was very disappointed when I failed to do that. It’s…difficult, you know? Having a parent disappointed in you.”

“I do know, actually.” I feel a pang of sympathy towards her, because I’ve been nothing but a disappointment to my parents, really, since I decided to open Pearls and Lace. They wanted security for me, and I chose art. “I’m sorry that happened. But isn’t it better than being married to someone who didn’t really want you?”

My chest tightens as I say it, because isn’t that also what’s happening to me? Dimitri might lust after me, but he doesn’t want me forever. He doesn’t want me as a partner, a real wife, and while that shouldn’t bother me, I feel a pang at the thought all the same.

“My father is not a very understanding man.” Nicci reaches for her wine glass a little too quickly, taking a longer sip this time. “He’s not very pleasant when he’s disappointed. So if I wasrude to you at the party, that’s why. But I know that’s not an excuse.”

I glance over her quickly, as unobtrusively as I can, wondering if I’ll see any hints of bruises. Anything to indicate that she’s really hinting at what I think she is. I don’t see anything, but that’s not necessarily a tell. Good makeup application can hide a world of sins.

“You were rude,” I say slowly. “And it was hurtful, to be honest. I didn’t ask for what happened between Dimitri and I. It just…happened.” That’s also true, technically. “He told me the two of you were never officially engaged.”

There’s a brief spark in Nicci’s eyes, something angry, but she quickly douses it. “We had an understanding,” she says. “But I suppose yes, that’s true. We were never officially engaged.” Her mouth tilts downwards slightly. “I was expecting the proposal over Christmas. Or maybe at New Year’s.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted to step on anyone’s toes,” I say carefully. “Or break your engagement. But…”

“You fell in love. I get it.” Nicci waves a hand, her shiny red manicure flashing in the sunlight. “I didn’t love Dimitri, and he didn’t love me. It was business.”

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