Page 57 of Midnight Wedding

“We need napkins. You got some napkins?”

“Sure, boss.” I lower my voice and make it gruffer. “Hold a sec.”

I speed back into the kitchen and get the dishwasher to bring the cops their stuff. He agrees, but only if he gets a turn with my new girlfriend.

I’m fucking sweating when I step out the side door and into the back hallway near the bathrooms. The catering manager wheels a mop past, cursing silently to himself, but he doesn’t sayanything to me. The hall’s empty though, and I start toward the main room again, but I stop in my tracks.

Aunt Sona’s walking toward me.

She’s staring at her phone, furiously typing to someone, and doesn’t look up until she nearly walks right into my chest. Some sharp retort’s on her tongue, but it slowly dies as I pull down my mask and smile.

“Hello, Auntie,” I say.

Her jaw drops. “Arsen? What the fuck are you doing here?” Then she staggers back. “If you try anything?—”

“I’m not here to kill you, Sona. I just want to talk.”

“You snuck into my auction totalk? You could’ve reached out.”

“I tried that. You sent my messenger’s head back in a box.”

Her lips press together. Her body’s tense, and she glances over her shoulder. But she doesn’t call out or try to run. “You fucked us. You know that, right? You married some nobody Russian slut and ruined all our plans. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t have you killed.”

“If you kill me, Tigran will take over, and you know my brother will burn this city down to get revenge. Just listen, Sona.”

Her jaw works. But she crosses her arms. “Talk fast.”

“My wife is pregnant. That’s why I married her. I did the right thing for my family, but I know I screwed you and Uncle Garen in the process. That’s why I’m offering generous concessions. More territory, a bigger stake in the imports?—”

“We can get all that by destroying you.”

“But that’ll cost you too much, and you know it, assuming you can even pull it off, which is far from guaranteed. I always thought you were the clever one.”

She comes closer to me. Her lips tug into a smile. “The fact is, your uncle and I can never bow to you while that Russian bitch is your wife. If you want to make things right, divorce her. That’ll make all this go away.”

It doesn’t make sense. Her hatred of Lena seems bizarre. It’s frustrating that I went against our deal—but that’s onme, not on my wife. “If you talk about her that way again, I’ll strangle you. That would solve most of my problems.”

“Only half of them. And like your brother, Garen’s vindictive.”

“I could take my chances. You’re the brains. But I don’t want that to happen. We can solve this now and both our sides of the family can reunite. Everyone will profit. We’ll be stronger.”

“You’ll still be married to the Russian bitch. It isn’t going to happen.” She comes even closer, her voice lowering. It forces me to lean toward her. We’re alone and standing barely six inches apart now. “Here’s the thing about war. Sometimes, you only win if you do something risky.”

Before I know what’s happening, Sona lets out a snarl and rips something from her little clutch purse. I stare in shock as she lunges at me, closing the minuscule distance, a knife jabbing at my heart.

I jerk to the side. Sona’s smaller and older than me, and she’s not that fast. But there wasn’t much ground to cover. The blade misses my heart and sinks into my shoulder, dragging across bone. Agony blooms and I grunt at a sudden burst of pain.

If I were a little slower, if she were a little better?—

I’d be dead right now.

All because I wanted totalk.

Fucking Tigran’s going to have a field day with this.

“Die, you fucking—” She rips the knife out and rears back to stab me again. This time, I slam a fist into her face, cracking her jaw back, and kick her hard in the stomach. She topples away and hits the ground, the knife falling from her fingers as she sprawls in a tangle of her fancy fucking dress on the floor.

“What the hell is going on?”

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