Page 78 of Beautiful Deception

“I’m glad to hear it. We’ll have a happy marriage. I’m sure of it. You’ll no longer be my maid. I’ll hire someone else right away. I’ve been looking at different prospects these past couple of weeks in case you said yes.”

“And if I didn’t say yes? Would I have continued to be your maid?”

“You would have. I wouldn’t have fired you just because you said no. Things would have been awkward, I’m sure, but I would not have punished you.”

I rest my hands on his chest. His heart is beating fast. “You know, you’re not as scary as people make you out to be.”

“Who has said I’m scary?”

Shoot. I’m thinking of Elena and other Bratva girls who have said Viktor is a stern, cold man. And while he is those things, he also has a warm heart to him.

He just can’t know any of this. Am I to lie to my husband for our entire marriage?

I’ll have to tell him the truth eventually. I just don’t know when.

“Uh, Mrs. Green,” I lie. “She thinks you can be a little scary.”

He chuckles as he draws me in closer to him. “Well, Mrs. Green will have to get used to you no longer being my maid.”

“She won’t be happy.”

“I don’t really care what Mrs. Green thinks of me. Neither should you. Let’s just be happy together.” He lets me go. “Now, I don’t think we should wait long. We could get married in a few months.”

“So fast.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No. The opposite, actually. I want to be married to you.” Even though my heart is breaking knowing I’m lying to him.

“You’re engaged? To Mr. Smirnov?” Mrs. Green gapes down at my ring on my finger. “How did this happen? When did this happen?”

“Just a few minutes ago. He asked and I said yes.”

She eyes me over with suspicion as she sets her pen and paper down. Written on it is next week’s groceries. “So, you have been having a secret affair with him?”

“We haven’t slept together,” I admit.

“Really? Somehow I don’t believe that.”

“We haven’t, Mrs. Green. We did do… other things.” The memory of his mouth between my legs makes my stomach tighten. “But we haven’t slept together. We just care for each other. That’s all. And when you know, you know.”

It’s ironic: my father kept me from other Bratva men because he didn’t want me to get hurt. And now I’m going to be marrying one of the most powerful Bratva men in the entire city. My father would have a heart attack if he found out.

Or he might just be proud of me for once.

The only problem is being married to Viktor will thrust me into the spotlight. That’s a problem for another day though.

For now, I just want to feel happy in my excitement.

“And you know you want to marry him,” Mrs. Green says.

“I know I want to marry him. He makes me happy. He makes me… excited.”

“Mmm. Well, you’ll need a dress, won’t you? We can go shopping for once together. How does that sound?”

“You would go dress shopping with me? I figured you wouldn’t approve of me and Viktor.”

“Oh, I don’t approve. I think he’s taken advantage of you. You’re much younger and much more innocent. But you seem dead set on this and I know Mr. Smirnov is not a man to change his mind. He is my boss and it’s not my place to object to what he does. So, if he wants to marry you and you want to marry him, who am I to say no? I want you to look your best on your day. We’ll go wedding dress shopping tomorrow.”

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