Page 67 of Lies He Told Me (Bratva Crime Syndicate 1)

Although one thing is for sure: I’m taking my mom here ASAP. God, she will just flip.

She’s literally never been to a spa before and if there’s anyone in the world who is more than overdue to go, it’s her.

Suddenly, the peaceful harp music is pierced by the sound of scrambling, then frantic barking. I jolt up, but a kindly face appears in the doorway to assure me, “Please, miss, do not worry yourself! All is being taken care of!”

And then she’s gone, before I can point out that clearly all isnotbeing taken care of.

More barking, scampering, foot patters, and then Chowder tears into the room triumphantly. With one bound, he’s on the bed. I burst out laughing, and he happily licks at my face.

“Miss!” the lady exclaims in horror. “No, no, no, no. The açai healing purity mask!”

“You evil dog!” Mario declares, rushing in and grabbing him. “Bad, dirty, evil, no-good dog!”

As Ludmil enters, Mario whirls to jab a finger at him. “And you! Where were you while Chowder was wreaking havoc on the entire spa?”

“Rushing into one room hardly constitutes havoc.”

Mario jabs the finger closer to Ludmil’s face. “I’ll have you know that, before you came in, Chowder dug a massive hole in the salt bath, which had two diplomats in there who were sprayed in the face with pink Himalayan salt. Then, he dove into the murmuring wave marble pool, raced into the meditation parlor and shook himself, spraying an heiress and her boyfriend. And now, here we are. That’s havoc in my book!”

Ludmil’s face betrays no expression, though his eyes twinkle with pent-up laughter. “Aren’t you forgetting the infrared chamber, where he stole one of Madonna’s gold-encrusted sandals?”

Mario’s lower jaw starts shaking like he might literally collapse to the floor and start hyperventilating. Meanwhile—and maybe this makes me as evil as Chowder—it’s taking all I have to not burst out laughing.

“No need to worry.” Ludmil’s voice is calm, sure. “It’ll all be dealt with. As for you”—his gaze goes to me—“have you had your fill yet?”

I hadn’t realized that I’ve grabbed Chowder back and am clutching him protectively to my chest, until he licks my chin. “Yeah, we’re good,” I say. As much as I could go for another açai healing mask, truth is, I’m tired. After all the shopping and massaging, I just want to sleep. And eat. Not necessarily in that order.

“Alright.” Ludmil’s shifts, suddenly looking uncomfortable. It then occurs to me that I’m half-naked, wrapped in seaweed that is supposedly ‘enhancing my circulation’ and ‘easing out cellulite’ I didn’t even know I had.

You learn something new every day.

* * *

On the fancy car ride back home, Chowder’s passed out from his naughty adventures, Ludmil’s in another seat on his phone, while a very cowed Mario apologizes to me. “I got … carried away. Mr. Vaknin told me to keep today simple, but I saw you and I …” A smile crinkles his brown eyes. “Got excited.”

“But why?” I ask.

I mean, as a kid, when my mom gave me a used, scraggly-headed Barbie from Value Village to spruce up, I wasn’t exactly doing the Macarena of joy or anything.

“Do you really not know?” Mario’s bushy brows jump in outrage, like he might slap me. “But Joy, your grace, your beauty …” He trails off with some undulations of his wrist, as if to say that if that description won’t sway me, then nothing will.

“Although, there is something you should know,” he adds significantly, in an undertone. His gaze sneaks to where Ludmil is as enthralled by his phone as ever, then he plows on quietly, “Mr. Vaknin is … how do I say it?”

Controlling? Alluring? Terrifying?

“Particular.” His lips form around the word like it’s a dish that could make you immortal.

“Particular,” I repeat, giving him an ‘and where’s the rest?’look.

“Yes.” His mouth opens, then his brow furrows as the car stops.

“Right, that’s us,” Ludmil says in a loud way that makes me think he overheard more of our conversation than he let on. “Here we are.”

“Just be careful, okay, love?” Mario murmurs before the car door opens and he arranges his face into a smile.

I have no clue what my own face is doing with the realization that’s just come over me.

The realization that I recognize the look on his face all too well.

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