69
CORA
“I cannot believe you live here.” Jorden kicks back in the deck chair and surveys the sprawling grounds.
We’ve been sitting outside since she arrived. Niles brought out a tray of fruit and cheese, and you would have thought it was a lobster dinner the way Jorden oohed and ahhed over it.
“Like, a couple weeks ago, we were just two randos milling around with all of Ivan’s other guests on this same patio. Now, I’m here as your guest. Isn’t that wild?”
“Too wild to comprehend,” I tell her truthfully.
When Jorden first showed up, I was relieved. I wasn’t sure when, if ever, I’d get to have her or anyone else in my life here to visit me. But after the chaos of The Coop, Ivan decided his house should be the site of all future social engagements. At least until I’m not actively being targeted anymore.
Now that Jorden has been here for an hour, though… I’m exhausted.
Exhausted with all the pretenses and the lies. I thought it would be easy enough to avoid talking about the wedding or my relationship with Ivan, but there’s almost nothing else to talk about.
“Did Ivan ever tell you why you stuck out to him?” she asks. “Aside from your obvious beauty and charm and wit and voluptuous ass.”
I laugh and shrug. “I don’t know. Being naked in his office probably made me stand out from the crowd.”
“Right. Probably. But how much would that really stand out to him, you know? He has to have seen more naked women than the average Joe.”
I’ve honestly never thought about it. And as it turns out, I never want to. The last thing I need to do is think about how I stack up with every other sexual encounter Ivan has ever had.
“I wouldn’t know. We haven’t exchanged that data yet.”
Jorden gives me a knowing look. “Every woman at that party wanted to jump his bones. You can’t tell me some of them haven’t whipped out their birthday suits to get his attention.”
My stomach twists. I know Ivan has been with other women; I’m not an idiot. But it’s the thought of him going back to that meat market that is more upsetting than anything.
“I’m just saying,” Jorden continues, “that there must have been something about you that stuck out. Something special.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. He hasn’t said.”
“You should ask. You’re living the fairytale, girl. You might as well get the full experience, romantic insights and all.”
“We don’t really do that.”
“Don’t do what?” she asks.
“Romance. It isn’t really our thing.”
If Jorden had a drink, she’d be spitting it out right now. “Are you insane? You’re engaged to a kajillionaire right now. This is literally the setup to half of the romance novels I read.”
“Those are fiction. This is real life. I mean, we’ve been so busy that we’ve barely gone on two dates.”
She waves a dismissive hand. “You don’t have to go on dates to be romantic. It’s all about chemistry and sexual tension. And I saw plenty of both when you two were dancing at your bachelorette party.”
“I can’t believe you saw anything. You were dancing and shoving dollar bills in unsuspecting people’s pants all night.”
She cackles at the memory and gives me a mischievous smirk that reminds me a lot of Yasha. “Luckily, I’m a good multitasker. I saw plenty. Like, I saw Ivan swoop in and pull that guy off of you. Then I saw the two of you practically go at it on the dance floor.”
The photos Anya sent me flicker behind my eyes. My face flushes hot and red. “We were just dancing.”
“Puh-lease! There were legit flames coming off of you two,” she argues. “It was hot. I don’t even want to know where the two of you disappeared to when you left… Actually, just kidding. I do want to know. Where did you go?”
I shake my head. “Nowhere. We were just talking.”
Jorden wags her brows. “You spoke the universal tongue of body language, am I right?” I have to bite back a smile and she squeals. “I knew it!”
“Shut up.”
“Never! I need to know everything so I can use the same tricks to find me a guy like that. I mean, you’re raking them in. First, Ivan. Then that guy at the club. Who was he, by the way?”
“Who?”
“The guy Ivan pulled off of you,” she says. “He was cute. A little Addams Family looking for my taste, but handsome-ish.”
Mikhail. She has to be talking about Mikhail.
She says she saw me with him, but if she saw the full extent of that interaction, she wouldn’t be talking about it so flippantly.
“Oh. Yeah, I guess he was okay.” My voice sounds far away in my own ears. I can hear blood rushing through my veins.
“Okay?” she snorts. “Ivan has destroyed your standards. But whatever, more for me. Maybe I can ask Anya about him. She told me she’d introduce me to some of her friends and—”
“No.”
Jorden freezes, shocked for a second before confusion shifts over her features. “No, Anya can’t introduce me to her friends?”
I should drop it. Jorden probably won’t ever see Mikhail again. Even if she did, he’s made it clear he’s fixated on getting me back. I doubt he’d go for Jorden.
Yet the thought nags at me.
What if Jorden got involved with Mikhail? In some ways, he can be charming. And if Jorden is serious about looking for someone who can take care of her financially, Mikhail fits that bill.
I know firsthand how hard it is to get out once they suck you in.
I blow out a long breath. “You don’t want to know that man. He’s… You can do better than him, believe me.”
“Did something happen between the two of you last night?”
There’s so much I can’t tell Jorden. So many things I have to keep hidden from her for her own safety.
But this is something that will make her safer.
“Yes, something happened,” I confess. “But last night wasn’t the first time.”
She frowns. “You’re freaking me out.”
“I’m not trying to freak you out.” Then I think better of it and chuckle. “Actually, maybe I am. But it’s only because that guy is an absolute creep. You don’t want anything to do with him.”
“Okay. I believe you,” she says. “But how do you even know him? I thought you and I were the outsiders to this whole world. Francia is the one who knows these people.”
I bite my lip. “I don’t want you to get mad…”
“Then don’t stop talking,” she says. “I’ve been without human contact for the last week, and this is the most riveted I’ve been since the last season of The Bachelor. Spill the beans, girl. All of them.”
So… I do.
After keeping so many secrets and navigating the murky waters of my not-really-on and off again relationship with Ivan, it feels good to speak the truth.
I walk Jorden through my mom getting remarried to my stepdad and his expectations for me. I tell her about my forced engagement to Mikhail and how, in the final weeks before what would have been our wedding, I ran for it. I took what little money I had, packed a few changes of clothes in a bag, and left in the middle of the night.
“…Then I got the job at Quintaño's and met you and Francia. And now, I’m here.”
By the time I’m done, Jorden is full-on gawking at me, jaw unhinged like an anaconda. She blinks, shaking her head slowly. “That is unbelievable. Honestly, if you’d told me all of this two weeks ago, I would have said you were full of complete and utter shit.”
“Thanks for your confidence.”
“It’s the truth.” She shrugs. “I would have thought you were delusional or something. But now, you’re engaged to Ivan Pushkin. If that can happen, anything can happen.”
“Hey!”
She laughs and reaches for my hand. “I didn’t mean it like that. You’re a catch. I just mean…well, you know what I mean. One minute, we were working the opening shift and now, you’re engaged and being targeted by assassins. It’s wild. The shit with Mikhail doesn’t sound nearly as crazy compared to that. Even though that dude is obviously a straight-up psychopath.”
I sag. “Yeah. He might be.”
The look in his eyes last night as he towered over me… It sends chills down my spine just thinking about it.
“And your dad was just going to marry you off to him?” she asks.
“Stepdad. But yeah. He still would, I’m sure. If I went home, they’d put the announcement in the paper the minute I stepped through the front door.”
“This just doesn’t make any sense. We’re women in the modern era. You don’t have to marry anyone you don’t want to.”
I look down at my lap. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“How? Explain it to me, because I’m lost. Why can’t you just call the police on these people?”
“Because they are the police,” I snap. I take a deep breath to try and soothe my racing heart. “I’m sorry. I just… I haven’t thought about any of this stuff in a long time.”
Jorden lays a hand on my shoulder. “What happened?”
“Before I left, I tried reporting my stepdad to the police. He was basically planning to lock me in the house until the wedding. ‘Then you’ll be Mikhail’s problem,’ he said. So I called the police and said I was being imprisoned.”
“What did they do?”
I grit my teeth together, the memory as fresh now as it was that day. “They sat around the dining room table and had a cup of coffee with my stepdad. Then they shook hands and left.”
“Nuh-uh.” Jorden shakes her head. “That is not how that works. They can’t do that.”
“They can when my stepdad is one of their biggest donors. His company bought them a fleet of new squad cars a few years ago.”
“But that’s not right! They’re paid to protect people.”
“They’re paid for loyalty,” I fire back. “People like my stepdad have enough of them in their pockets that they get away with whatever they want. It’s how I know, if they catch up to me, I probably won’t get away again.”
Jorden slides to the edge of her chair, her knees touching mine. “Then don’t let them catch up to you.”
I throw my arms up. “If they’re willing to come after me when I’m engaged to Ivan, then nothing will stop them.”
“Ivan will!” she says. “Does he know who Mikhail is?”
Guilt rises up in me. I should have told him about Mikhail days ago. I definitely should have told him that night at the club.
Jorden sighs. “I can tell by that look on your face that Ivan doesn’t have a clue. If he did, Mikhail would probably be dead right now.”
I snap my gaze to her. How much does she know about who Ivan really is?
Then I realize she didn’t mean it literally.
“He would have wiped the floor with that scrawny man,” she continues.
“I thought you said he was handsome.”
She wrinkles her nose. “That was before I knew the truth. Now, he’s a disgusting creep who deserves whatever is coming for him. If I had my way, I’d say Ivan is what is coming for him. But that’s your choice.”
“So you aren’t going to tell anyone?” I twine my fingers together nervously in my lap.
She sighs. “No. No, I won’t. But you should. If Mikhail knows where you are, then Ivan should know about him and your history. Even if it’s just so he can better protect you.”
“I know.” I stare down at the ground, nodding my head. “I know you’re right. I would just rather forget that part of my life ever existed. This time with Ivan has been a fairytale. I don’t want it to end.”
“Aww, honey.” Jorden pats my arm. “It won’t end. You and Ivan are going to get married and live happily ever after and have so many beautiful babies. Mikhail will fade in the rearview. Trust me.”
I give her a tight smile and do my best to make it look convincing. It’s hard, though.
Because she has no idea how wrong she is.