Page 21 of Best Man
“Oh, they did? Weird,” Paulina said casually, as if this news didn’t have her heart doing backflips. “You were just talking about her this afternoon.”
“Well, see, that’s my whole point about Niko,” Piper said. “He’s always got some new girl.” She peeked at Katerina in the rearview mirror. “When did he break up with Belen, anyway?”
“A few weeks ago, apparently,” Katerina answered. “Although I only found out this morning when he showed up at the airport without her. It’d be nice if he told his sister what was going on in his life, you know? We see each other almost every single day, after all. But nope. The boy is a vault.”
“Did he tell you why they broke up?” Austen asked.
Katerina tutted. “No, he never tells me anything! All he said was things were moving too fast.”
“Too fast for the king of speed, huh?” Emma joked.
“That’s what I said, too.”
“Not to speak ill of our fallen sisters,” Austen began with a wry grin, “but I can’t say I’ll miss ol’Belen.”
“Me neither.”
“Same.”
“Ditto.”
The girls snickered in shame, as if they were laughing at a bawdy joke.
“We’re all going to hell,” Piper said.
“Hey, it’s not our fault. She didn’t do herself any favors,” Austen said.
“She was truly awful, Paulina,” Katerina said, making an effort to bring the little sister into the conversation.
“How so?” Paulina asked. She was happy to learn more, especially if she didn’t have to raise any more flags by asking herself.
“Let’s just say we have a radar for gold diggers,” Katerina answered. “Which is the last thing that boy needs, considering how he loves to throw his money around to make everyone happy.”
“Ah, so she was after his money?” Paulina asked.
“And his clout, too,” Emma volunteered. “Dating Niko was probably the best thing that ever happened to her modeling career.”
“Honestly, forget the radar,” Austen said. “You didn’t need it with Belen. I don’t know what he saw in her at all. Like yeah, she’s beautiful or whatever, but who cares what you look like when you’re a coldbeeyotchat heart?”
The group unanimously agreed,mm-hm.
Austen continued ranting. “Like, okay, you’re a supermodel. Yay. You’ve got your own thing going on, that’s cool, no problem. A lot of the other ladies have their own gigs keeping them busy, too. We get it. We don’t expect you to make it to every single ladies’ night, or hell, even the team parties. But whenever Niko did bring her around, she acted so disinterested, like our parties weresocorny and beneath her and she couldn’twaitto get the hell out. You could just tell from the moment they showed up she hated being there. She wouldn’t talk to anyone and she’d just follow Niko around all night, looking miserable and whispering in his ear, begging him to leave.”
“Oh, weird!”
“Anyway. Rant over,” Austen said. “Sorry I got all catty there, Paulina. We’re not always this horrible, I swear.”
Paulina grinned. “It’s all good. I like hearing the gossip, actually.”
“Well, you’ll fit right in with us,” Emma joked.
Piper pulled the SUV into the restaurant parking lot. “Okay, we’re here!” she said, as she shut off the engine.
The girls spilled out of the car.
“I worry about that brother of mine,” Katerina said with a sigh as they cut through the parking lot. “I’m sick of always worrying about him, but who else will? I’m the only family he has left. Well, Derek, too—they’re basically brothers. But Sasha always says he feels like the third wheel when he hangs out with us … I don’t know. I was just telling him on the flight up here that he needs to find a nice girl to settle down with. He doesn’t seem interested. I’m starting to think he’s destined to end up broke and alone. I hate it.”
Emma and Austen, walking on either side of Katerina, comforted her.
