Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“I’m not touching that. It’s for Lena,” she says as if it’s obvious.
I take it from Julie’s hand and apologize.
“Do you have other clothes?” I ask her.
“Yeah, I always carry two dresses with me, just in case. You never know what type of night it’ll be.” Julie winks as she riffles through her oversized bag and pulls out a loose dress and quickly puts it on.
I look at the dress she’s given me. Fuck, this is going to be tight on me, considering Julie is half my size. I tug on the material. Thank fuck it stretches.
“Good. Get dressed, put your hair up, and throw on some heels. I’ll be waiting in the car,” Anya says, then turns on her heel and leaves.
As quickly as Anya comes in like a fireball, she vanishes.
“Gosh, she’s bossy, isn’t she?” Julie says as she finishes getting dressed.
“That she is,” I agree, heading to the dressing room.
Julie should be used to it now since she’s worked for her a few times at the auctions, which I still don’t entirely understand. Had I been smarter, I should’ve asked about them, but instinct tells me I shouldn’t ask too many questions.
Another part reminds me I probably shouldn’t be involving myself further with the Ivanov siblings, yet here I am.
“Lena.” I look back over my shoulder at Julie. “I know you’re a smart girl, but be careful, will you?”
“Of course I will be,” I tell her, smiling. She nods and walks off without a second glance. What was that about?
Quickly changing—I’m always cautious about not leaving Anya waiting for too long—I pull the brush through my hair and tie it up so it’s out of the way, but not so grand in height and volume as it is from the performance. I inhale as I shift the dress down inch by inch, satisfied when it’s over my hips and ass. I rest a hand on the wall for a moment, feeling as if I achieved something monumental by getting this dress on. I find a nicer pair of heels and slip my feet into them.
I open the back door, and her sleek black car is one of the few that remain in the lot. Vance—I finally learned his name the day Anya and I went shopping—holds the door open for me. Clay’s waiting in the driver’s seat. Anya’s speaking on the phone in the back seat.
“Hello, boys,” I say cheerfully as I dip into the car.
They both offer me a smile, and Vance says, “Good evening, Miss Love.”
It always feels strange with how formal they speak. When Vance gets into the car, I say to them, “I don’t care what everyone else says about you two, I think you’re both all right.” They understand the joke, and I can tell they’re smiling as Anya finishes up her call.
When she hangs up and the car is moving, she turns to me.
“You don’t scrub up half bad.”
“Thanks, I think.” She tries to hide her smile and amusement at my response.
Is it a rule in this family not to show happiness or humor in something?
“Does Alek know I’m coming?” I ask.
“No, it’s best he doesn’t. It was a pain to get him to agree to attend in the first place, but as they say, you only turn thirty once,” she says, furiously typing away on her phone.
Great. Well, this is going to be awkward. I look down at my dress. I had to remove my bra because the dress wouldn’t fit otherwise. It’s fine now, but if it gets too cold, my nipples are definitely going to show through.
I watch her as she busily moves from one task to the next on her phone.
“You and Alek are so much alike,” I note, and her gaze swings to me.
“You say that like it’s an insult.”
“No, just a fact.”
“It’s an honor to be anything like Alek. He is the best man I know.”
“What about your husband?” I ask.
“Replaceable,” she’s quick to say, and I’m shocked. But then the corner of her mouth tilts up, and I realize she’s joking. “But River also knows that nothing will come between Alek and me. Our foster mother tried in the past, and let’s just say we had a family rift because of it.”
My eyebrows furrow as I recall Alek mentioning something about foster care. “What happened to your parents?” I ask, but I’m not entirely sure if she’ll answer. The siblings have being human vaults in common.
After a moment, she cautiously says, “If Alek wishes to tell you, then he will in his own time.”
I highly doubt that but don’t push any further. It’s not my place. Hell, I’m not even a family friend at this point. But I doubt the twins have such things anyway.
She nods as the car comes to a stop. “We’re here.”