Page 83 of Gloves Off

“There you go. Not so hard, is it?”

“Shut up, Alexei,” she says to herself. “Don’t choke on your dinner, Alexei. Your tooth fell into your drink, Alexei. Hmm. You’re right. It’s not so bad.”

I clear my throat, shaking my head to myself. There she is. “Done?”

“For now.”

“All right. Let’s go.”

CHAPTER 40

ALEXEI

“Bella, where have you been, loca?”A man in his late forties approaches with a big smile—and vampire teeth. He wears a gray wool coat, button-up shirt, and jeans, but has pale makeup and silver glitter all over his skin.

“Dad. No.” My wife closes her eyes briefly, trying not to smile. “Your character doesn’t even say that.”

This is herdad? He’s so young.

“There’s my little troublemaker.” Her dad wraps her in a big hug.

I glance around the home, at all the Halloween decorations, the partygoers who look like average people.

“Shane.” A woman wearing a long brown wig with red contact lenses approaches. Also late forties. Also wearing the vampire teeth. “The line is, ‘This is the skin of a killer, Bella.’”

They both turn to me, smiling with their weird vampire teeth. My gaze snags on the woman’s smile, and I’m hit with the resemblance to her daughter.

“This must be our new son-in-law,” the guy says, beaming at me.

“Alexei Volkov.” My heart thumps.

“Oh, we know. I’m a huge fan. Shane Greene.” We shake hands, and I try to conceal my confusion. “And this is my wife, Georgia’s mom, Cece.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you.” Cece beams. I reach to shake her hand but she bats it away. “No way. I’m a hugger.”

She wraps her arms around me and squeezes. Emma’s parents never hugged me once. I don’t think they even shook my hand when they first met me.

“Georgia’s told us such nice things about you,” she says when she pulls back.

“Has she?” I give my wife an arch look. “That doesn’t sound like her at all.”

Cece cackles and Shane starts laughing.

“Well, Jordan told us you’re a good fit for our Georgia,” she says. “Congratulations. We’re very happy for you two.” Her mom steps back to look at me in approval. “The costume fits!”

“It does. Thank you?” I give her an odd look. Is it hers? Georgia didn’t say where it came from.

“I’m in film,” she explains. “Wardrobe department.”

She works. Of course she does, because these are clearly not those Greenes.

Fucking hell. Just another thing I’ve been so wrong about.

Shane says something to Cece, who laughs. I’m not listening. I’m just confused, turning over the pieces of information I have about Georgia and her family, inspecting them for where I went so wrong. My eyes slide to my wife, whose mouth tilts in a smug expression, eyes sparkling.

A weird rush of adrenaline hits my bloodstream.

Cece lights up. “I almost forgot.” She reaches for my wife’s hand. “Let me see the—oh.” She stares at the plain ugly ring on Georgia’s finger. “Well. That’s very subtle.” She’s surprised, but not upset. Maybe a little confused, though.

---