Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
That Dimitri’s wife Emma and Damien’s wife Natalia would likely be the nicest and most welcoming.
That Carinna and Brynn would try to get me to invest in their businesses.
And that Katia and Yelena would likely ignore me since they were still fine-tuning the plans for tomorrow’s photoshoot on Michigan Avenue.
And there was one more…
My eyes widened.
Crap.
Why hadn’t I put two and two together?
My fingernails dug into Var’s forearm.
He looked down at me with a frown. “What’s the matter, beautiful?”
“Holy shit, it’s her! I have to get out of here!”
With that, I turned and bolted out of the room.
CHAPTER 44
VIVIAN
Islammed my fist against the elevator button. “Come on! Come on!”
Var’s hand wrapped around my upper arm and swung me around to face him. “Explain.”
The women still approached us, although now several of them had a look of concern on their faces.
I bit my lip. “I… I can’t… there’s no time. They’re coming.”
“Vivian, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Rising on my toes, I peeked over his shoulder.
Crap.
The women were almost at the entrance to the ballroom.
I snatched at his sleeve and dragged him further down the hall and into the empty billiard room. In a vain attempt to control my rising panic, I paced to the side of the ornate mahogany table as I ran nervous fingers along the green velvet.
Var crossed his arms over his chest. “Vivian…”
With my hands on my hips, I turned to confront him. “You didn’t tell me that Samara was Samara Ivanova!”
He shrugged. “So?”
Stretching out my arm, I gestured wildly in the direction of the door. “So? It didn’t occur to you that as an…” I lowered my voice to a stage whisper, “…art forger… I’d need to know if a famous artist was among your friend’s wives?”
His head pivoted to look at the still open doorway as he turned wide eyes back to me. Marching over to the door, he slammed it shut. “Fuck.”
“I know!”
He rubbed his eyes. “How bad?”
My fingers twisted into the fabric of my gown. “It’s not that bad… but it’s not great.”
He leaned his hands on the end of the pool table. “Tell me.”
“A few years ago, a gallery in Boston reached out to me. This billionaire Russian had just paid a stupid amount for a painting from an unknown artist. When the gallery tried to get ahold of the artist to buy more paintings, she had disappeared. So they wanted me to replicate the original work so they could sell it a few more times.”
Var nodded slowly. “Let me guess, Samara’s Little Girl Lost series?”
I twisted my new wedding rings around my finger. “Maaayyybbbeee…”
He groaned. “Viv.”
“It’s not my fault. How was I supposed to know that she’d become this huge artist or that one day we’d be practically sisters-in-law in some fucked-up pseudo-Russian cult?”
“Fair point.” He sighed. “Is it possible she doesn’t know?”
I shook my head. “Samara found out about the fakes a year ago and apparently her husband spent a small fortune tracking them down. I only know that because there was an investigative article about it on an art critic’s page. Apparently, there was this big effort by a bunch of amateur art detectives to track the forger down.”
“Christ, Vivian. Is there anyone you didn’t piss off during your forgery career?”
“Says the man who kills people for a living.”
“Technically, I don’t do it for a living, more like a side job.”
“Not funny. What are we going to do? The boys all told me how important it was that the girls like me.” I groaned, knowing I sounded like I was on a freaking school playground.
He placed an arm around my waist and pulled me close. Putting a finger under my chin, he raised my gaze to his. “Don’t you worry about that. No matter what, they won’t be able to resist falling in love with you.”
His dark sapphire eyes searched mine as the weight of his words created a thick, almost palpable tension in the room.
I licked my lips. “How do you know that? I’ve done some pretty annoying things.”
The corner of his mouth lifted as he rubbed his thumb over my lower lip. “Maybe they have a soft spot for beautiful, filthy-mouthed women who are annoying as fuck and constantly challenge and excite them.”
My fingertips played with the button on his tuxedo shirt as my cheeks heated. “They don’t sound very smart. Women like that can get tiresome.”
His chest vibrated with his low chuckle. “I highly doubt that. Come on. I’ve known Samara for a while now, and I promise you, she is not going to hold this against you.”
He led me toward the door.
“Are you sure?”
His arm tightened around my waist. “I’m positive. Either way, I’ll be right at your side.”
The moment we entered the ballroom again, it was Samara who came running up to meet us. She clasped at both of my hands. “I have been dying to meet you!”