Page 100 of Fake Fae-Ancée

"I am a little," I managed. "But not really, you know…"

He took my hand. I wanted to recoil but didn’t find the strength. "We will talk about this," he said. "What happened during the dance was just… crazy."

"Yeah, I know." I threw him a burning look, searching his face for anything that gave away any sense of apology. For lying to me, withholding information — but then again, it had been me who hadn’t signed the papers. He had. He didn’t owe me anything. We had a deal, and the deal was almost done.

I had been the one who had misread the whole thing.

"Let’s talk about everything when I get back," he said. "I promise."

I just nodded, looking down. Trying not to burst into tears as he squeezed my hand.

"Are you really alright, Kai?" He sounded so concerned I almost believed him. Like he really cared that I was falling to pieces right in front of him. At least he was here this time.

"I am. I’m just a little shaken," I managed but was cut short by a roaring call.

"Yuri!"

Nicolai appeared at the top of the stairs, looking furious. "Come back here! You are needed!"

"Just a minute," Yuri roared back.

"The King is demanding you!" Nicolai glared down at us. "Come back right now! You have to claim your kingdom!"

Bates, who appeared next to us out of nowhere, cleared his throat.

"The car is ready, milady," he said with a curt nod.

Yuri turned to his butler. "You’ll make sure she gets back to the house safely, right Bates?"

"Of course, Your Royal Highness." Bates gave him a short bow, deeper than usual. "Long Live the House of Kalinin."

"Thank you Bates." Kalinin nodded to him. "I know I can count on you."

"Always, Your Royal Highness."

With a last, wondering look, Yuri let go of my hand and strutted off in a run, up the staircase and back to his brother.

Bates smiled, extending one arm for me. "Shall we, milady?"

* * *

Helsinki rushedby in a flurry of lights and darkness, mimicking my swirling thoughts. And the further we got away from the Winter Palace, the more the stupor lifted from my mind and the gears in my head started grinding again.

There had been something strange in the way Yuri had parted from me. He hadn’t mentioned the divorce papers at all — which struck me as odd, given that it had been all we’d been talking about for weeks.

Given that this had obviously been part of his plan…

I pulled out my phone — thank God those ballgowns were spacious enough to have hidden pockets — flipped open my messenger and tapped on Yuri’s name. Just when I was about to type the first letters of the question that was dancing on the edge of my mind, I caught the number of missed messages of — the chief. Taggart had tried to reach me for two hours.

Again.

My insides froze.

Apparently, cellphone reception was abysmal within the Winter Palace. With a sharp trickle of dread, I opened the first message.

"McKenn, this is not a drill! You have to retreat immediately! Report back as soon as you read this!"

"What the…" I muttered, scrolling with growing dread. This time I complied with my boss's order. He took the call right away.

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