“I know. When are you going to find a nice girl and settle down?”
“When I find one who can tolerate living with a criminal,” he replies dryly.
“Don’t be so dramatic. You’re entrepreneurs with flexible ethics.”
Katya laughs from the kitchen, and I realize she’s close enough to hear Sasha’s side of the conversation. When I glance over, she’s leaning against the doorframe with a coffee mug, watching me with amusement.
“Is that her?” Sasha asks. “Let me talk to her.”
“Sasha—”
“Don’t you dare hang up on me.”
Before I can stop her, Katya walks over and extends her hand for the phone. “I’d like to talk to her, too.”
I have no choice but to hand it over, though every instinct screams that this is a mistake.
“Hello, Sasha,” Katya coos as she plops into the chair across from me and takes the phone off speaker.
Whatever Sasha says makes Katya smile, and the expression transforms her face. For a moment, she looks like the woman from those fake photographs, happy, relaxed, and normal.
“He’s been taking very good care of me,” Katya continues. “Though he has a tendency to hover.”
Alexei snorts, and Katya glances at him with genuine amusement.
“London sounds wonderful. I’d love to visit sometime… No, I can’t remember much about traveling. The accident affected my memory pretty severely.”
They chat for a few minutes, and Katya handles the conversation with easy grace, answering Sasha’s questions without discomfort and asking plenty of her own. But something about the way she does it bothers me. She’s too good at this. Too smooth.
“I think your brothers are very lucky to have someone who cares about them as much as you do.” Katya’s eyes meet mine across the desk. “Family is everything, isn’t it? I’d better let you get back to your business meeting, but I hope we can talk again soon.”
She hands the phone back to me, and I watch her face carefully as she does.
“She’s lovely,” I tell Sasha. “But we need to finish up here.”
“Fine. But I want to see my sister-in-law when I come home next month.”
“Looking forward to it.”
I end the call and set the phone aside, hyperaware that Katya is still watching me.
“Your sister seems sweet,” she notes.
“She is. Too sweet for this family.”
“And what kind of family is this?”
The question hangs in the room like smoke. Alexei tenses, and I realize we’re at a crossroads. I can deflect again and keep spinning stories, or I can give her a piece of truth.
“The kind that takes care of our own,” I say finally.
“At any cost?”
“At any cost.”
She nods like this makes perfect sense, which is either very good or very bad.
“I’ll let you finish your meeting.” And then, she walks out before either of us can respond, leaving Alexei and me staring after her.
