Page 6 of Defiled Innocence

“Nikolai, this is Amelia Moreau. My fiancée.” I keep my eyes on her when I make the claim, and she doesn’t disappoint. Irritation floods her expression.

Her nostrils flare and her cheeks redden another shade.

“No. I’m not.” She sweeps her heated gaze to my cousin, immediately softening. “I mean, I am Amelia, but I’m not his fiancée.”

“Dammit. I told her to wait.” Oleg hurries into the office, his breath short. “I was dealing with a delivery when she rushed in, I told her to wait, but…” He swipes a hand through the air in her general direction.

He needs to start working out if chasing a young girl up a flight of steps to my office has him so winded. My office is on the second floor of Velvet Tower with a private entrance into the casino from the back.

“It’s fine.” I wave him off. “She’s to be let up whenever she’s here, Oleg. Let the others know. Amelia Moreau.”

I stand, bringing my eyes to meet hers.

“Well, at least for a little while longer. It will be Dragunov by the end of the month.”

She pinches her lips together and drags a long breath into her lungs.

“Stop saying things like that,” she demands and she has that look about her again. She wants to stomp her foot at me.

And just like before, she denies me the pleasure of watching her temper tantrum.

It’s for the best, I suppose. If she were to behave so poorly, I’d have to do something about it. I won’t have her being a brat when she doesn’t get her way, especially in front of my cousin. Or anyone for that matter.

“Saying things like what? The truth?”

She shakes her head. “It’s not the truth. I’m not marrying you.”

Amelia draws herself up, rolling her shoulders back. Visibly she calms.

“Let me start again.” She looks to Nikolai. “I’m sorry if I interrupted a meeting.”

“Not at all. We were finished.” He grabs his jacket from where he draped it over the back of the chair and looks to me. “Charlotte is filling in at the deli today.”

“So, you need to go watch her work?” I cock an eyebrow. His obsession with his wife—the same as all three of my cousins—makes no sense to me. A wife is a necessity in our world, but to put his entire life on rotation around her has no logical sense to it.

“No. I need to make sure she’s letting her staff do their jobs and isn’t overworking herself.” He folds his jacket over his arm.

On his way to the door, he stands in front of Amelia, blocking my view of her.

“It was nice to meet you, Amelia. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other.”

She huffs. “Thanks, but that’s really unlikely.”

Nikolai shoots me a look of amusement after he’s passed her and she can’t see him anymore. As he shuts the door, I can already hear him laughing.

“You’ve met with your attorney finally.” I make my way around my desk toward her.

“I did.” She jerks her head in a single nod.

“Good. Then all we need to do is discuss the details.” It’s better to have a simple understanding at the beginning.

“Details?” She tilts her head like I’ve said something she didn’t understand. A beeping sound comes from her purse, and she scrambles to unzip the bag and grab the phone.

I watch as she hits the call button and answers it, turning her back to me as she does.

“I’ve already sent over the appointment history… Then he’ll need to wait until I get back… I don’t care if he has a subpoena, he’ll need to wait until I get back and can review it.”

While she’s arguing with her phone, I move to the front of my desk and lean back against it. Her tone is firm, steady. While I can see the annoyance in her body language, she’s keeping it out of her voice.

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