Page 131 of Dirty Damage

Tonight, there’s only a wilted salad that looks like it crawled out of the compost bin, and pasta so cold the sauce has basically fossilized.

Leftovers from lunch with the Dragon Lady herself.

I find Sutton in the living room, spinning that ring around her finger like she’s trying to saw it off. Her blue eyes flash to me in the doorway before finding something fascinating on the carpet.

“I’m going to order dinner. You want anything?”

“I didn’t think it mattered what I wanted,” she bites back.

Well, shit.

When I told Artem my mother had been by to see Sutton, he told me I could crash at his place.“She just spent the afternoon with her mother-in-law, which means you need to disappear for a week. Since her mother-in-law is Oksana, maybe two. I’d leave for the Sardinia trip early, if I was you.”

Maybe Artem was right.

I drag a hand down my face, feeling the ridges of scar tissue catch against my palm. “If something is bothering you, you can?—”

“Nothing is bothering me. Nothing ever bothers me.” Her eyebrow snaps into a dangerous arch.

“Is this about your period?”

Murder fills those baby blues. “I’m a woman, therefore I must be upset because I’m on my period, is that it?”

“That’s not what I?—”

I roll my neck on my shoulders, rethinking this entire plan. Sutton is fucking gorgeous, but holy shit, relationships are exhausting. Even fake ones.

“If you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong, then don’t. But I’m not going to stand here and fucking guess.”

I start to turn around when she leaps off the couch, cutting me off at the doorway.

She flashes her hand in front of me, wiggling her ring finger. “Thanks for the ring. Or, I guess I should thank your grandmother.”

“You could, but she died fifteen years ago.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to thank Oksana. Not that she wanted to give it to me, either.” She drops her hand, staring down at the ring like she’d rather peel her skin back than wear it. “She doesn’t even want me in the family, let alone anywhere near the family jewels.”

I snort, and she catches the double meaning a second after I do. She scowls up at me and tries to look away, but I catch her chin in my hand. “What did my mother say?”

“Nothing.”

I force her chin up, letting my skepticism show.

“You’ve met your mother, Oleg. You know she doesn’t need to say anything to make her opinions perfectly clear. It was just more of the same.” She pulls her face out of my hand, her eyes shimmering. “I’m beneath you and your precious family. You’ve made a huge mistake by saddling yourself to me. And I can’t be trusted to choose napkins for the wedding, let alone my own dress.”

The second I saw my mother on the security cameras, I should’ve come home. Sutton is so fierce with me that I forget she’s new to this world.

She’s not ready for a one-on-one with Oksana just yet.

“My mother can be overbearing.”

“She’s abitch.”

On second thought, maybe Sutton is ready to face off with my mother after all.

But as soon as the thought crosses my mind, her blue eyes widen.

She looks up at me, her mouth open in horror. “Oleg, I’m… I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have?—”

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