Page 26 of Beautiful Deception

I stare down at the blisters on my arm and the salve coating them. “He only helped me, Mrs. Green. I was hurt. He was being nice. There’s nothing going on between us.”

“I know there isn’t and there better not be. That Natasha woman is going to be his wife one day. You need to make friends with her.”

“I thought you went to bed.”

“I did.” She sniffs, straightening her robe. “But then I heard screaming and commotion from the kitchen. I went down to see what was happening. I overheard everything.”

So, Mrs. Green likes to eavesdrop too.

“Nothing happened,” I tell her. “Natasha was just… being strange to me. Viktor was just helping me.”

“Mr. Smirnov,” she corrects.

“Yes. Mr. Smirnov. Now, can I go to bed? It’s been a long day and I’m tired.”

“Just be careful.”

“Yes. I heard you.”

Mrs. Green eyes me over with distrust before letting me walk past her. She’s still watching me as I shut the bedroom door.

I’m in more trouble than I care to admit.

Viktor

I’m not sure what Natasha was thinking spilling hot water onto Inessa but she needs to know that can never happen again. I may be a Bratva man who’s done questionable things in my life but abusing women has never been something I’ve done. I do not stand for it.

We meet up for lunch at a café. I think cafes are dull and insipid but Natasha likes them and I’m trying to make the effort with her.

“I had a lovely time last night,” she tells me after we sit down.

“Yes. I wanted to talk to you about that. Why did you pour hot water onto my maid?”

She clutches her chest like I’ve offended her. “I did no such thing. She poured the water onto me.”

“Inessa wouldn’t risk her job doing that. So, I’m sorry to say, Natasha, but I believe Inessa in this instance. I don’t believe you. So, this is your chance to tell me. Why did you do that to her? Unless it was an accident?”

She stirs a spoon in her cup of tea. “It… might have been an accident. She was reaching for the kettle at the same time I was and… it happened to spill on both of us.”

“All right then. It was an accident. So why did you claim she poured it onto you?” I can’t forget that Inessa told me the opposite – that Natasha poured the water onto her unprovoked.

“I thought that was what happened. I was mistaken. Now, let’s put that behind us.”

“Do you have a problem with my maid?”

Her fingers tighten on her teacup. “Of course not.”

“Are you lying to me?” Natasha is good at pleasantries like most Bratva woman are but I’m not looking for pleasantries. I’m looking for honesty.

“Well…” She huffs. “I don’t love that you have a pretty, young maid in your house.”

“Are you worried I’d cheat on you? Because I can assure you, I do not cheat. Not after what happened with my two previous fiancées.” Both Nadia and Elena fell for different men. It’s not that I loved either of them. In fact, I barely knew them. But it was the principle of the thing. They wanted to be with other men than me.

I don’t want a repeat of the past.

“Most men would be tempted with such a pretty girl living in their house.”

Is Inessa tempting? I can admit to myself that I have found myself watching her this past week when I’ve been at home. How soft spoken she is. How easily she blushes. How determined she is to keep this job.

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