“That’s so romantic,” Mila says in a dreamy tone. “He likes you, Sofiya.”

“They’re married,” Vik snaps. “Of course, he likes her.”

I sigh. “Vik, can you drop the attitude?”

“What attitude? My leg is still broken, Sofiya.” She nods at her cast. “Or have you forgotten? I wasn’t exactly happy about traveling overseas with a broken leg.”

“I know. I’m sorry. That couldn’t have been easy. But let’s just focus on the positives. You’re both here now. You’re safe from Boris. No more fighting.”

Mila nods right away while Vik looks around at everything but me. Finally, she sighs herself. “Fine. I’ll try to be nicer. I just have no idea what dress will go with my cast. This is impossible.” She continues to mutter to herself as she walks into her room.

Mikhail doesn’t wake me up that night to spend time together. And the next morning, I’m disappointed when I wake up and see he’s not in bed with me. He’s already downstairs, working in his office.

What Mikhail and I shared has been a constant thought at the back of my mind. My body craves to be touched again. But since we’re having the party tonight, I doubt that’ll be happening anytime soon.

I introduce Mila and Vik to Mary. Mary takes an immediate liking to Mila, which isn’t surprising. Most people like Mila. Whereas Vik eyes Mary over, and Mary does the same to her. Eventually, they settle on a silent respect for each other.

Wish that would happen for me. Mary still hates me, and I’m unsure if that will ever change.

I change into my dress for the party. It’s pink and flowy, and there’s a fairytale quality to it. Mikhail likes me in clothes like this and I want to make him happy.

Mila is in a gown similar to mine, but just in blue. It makes her kind of look like Cinderella. But Vik … she knows how to rock a dress. An old Hollywood-style red dress that she somehow manages to make work with her cast. Her light blonde hair is styled in voluptuous curls.

I blink as I look at her.

“You look great, Vik,” Mila says.

Vik smiles demurely, but I know it’s fake. “I just want to make a good impression on Mikhail’s guests.” I know what she’s really saying. She wants to make a good impression in case there’s a potential husband in the mix for her.

“Come on. I think the guests are arriving.” I can hear faint chattering coming from downstairs.

The three of us stand at the top of the stairs, looking down at the already crowded living room. Mikhail is in the center of it all.

“Oh,” Vik says in surprise.

I know why she’s saying it.

There’s not one other woman in the room except for us three.

The only people Mikhail invited to this party are men.

Chapter

Eight

SOFIYA

Istare into the sea of male faces. They range from older men with white hair and wrinkles to younger men with slicked-back hair and easy smiles. It brings me right back to my parents' funeral. Mostly, the people there were men. There were a few other women attending the funeral, but none of them made any effort to comfort us. We were on our own.

And we’re on our own again.

All of the men look up at us with expectant, eager expressions. I hate it. Why can’t we just be left alone? Why do we always have to be at the mercy of men?

Mila grabs my hand. “I’m scared,” she whispers.

“Mikhail is hosting this party. He wouldn’t let us get hurt.” At least he wouldn’t let me get hurt—I don’t think so anyway. I’m not so sure about my sisters. He was in no hurry to bring them to Moscow. I just have to hope that, because he cares about me, he’ll make sure they’re taken care of, too.

Mikhail is a hard man to read, though. I feel somewhat safe with him in the fact I don’t think he’d let any other man hurt me. But Mikhail can also be demanding and intimidating. It’s a strange combination to both fear my husband and know he’s the only one who can keep me safe.

Vik flips her hair over her shoulder. “Well, I guess we should go down. Be polite.”

“Are you not afraid?” Mila asks her.

“No.” She keeps her head held high. Vik is always good at doing that. It might even be her best quality. “I see this as an opportunity. You and I need to make good marriage matches, Mila. This is our chance.” She looks at me. “Tell me these men are just as powerful as Mikhail is.”

I shrug. “I’ve never seen any of these men before.”

Vik pouts and sets her eyes back on the men. “That’s fine, I guess. I’ll just have to go talk to them. See who’s worthy of me. Let’s go.” She starts walking down the stairs.

Mila and I hurry to catch up.

Once we reach the bottom of the stairs, I feel even more intimidated. There has to be at least forty of them in the apartment. Even though Mikhail’s penthouse suite is large, it feels cramped. I’m not sure I can breathe.

The sea of men part, and Mikhail walks through, coming to stand before me. “You look beautiful.”

His words make me blush. “Thank you.” I think back to what we did the other night. How he touched me with my underwear and almost made me orgasm. My body is still wired from that, having never gotten my release. Standing next to Mikhail only makes me more aware of my body. How does he have this effect on me?

He links my hand through his arm as he walks me over to some men clustered together. I look back for Mila and Vik, but they’ve been sucked into the crowd. My heart beats faster when I can’t find them.

“Gentlemen,” Mikhail says. “This is my wife, Sofiya.”

“Beautiful,” one man says, taking a sip of champagne as he rakes his gaze over me. Mikhail’s arm tenses.

“Does she talk?” another one asks. That makes all of them laugh, including Mikhail. The betrayal slaps me in the face.

“She talks.” Mikhail looks down at me. “Say hello, Sofiya.”

“Hello,” I whisper, feeling my face on fire.

For some reason, my response makes the men smirk like I just said something funny.

One man turns to Mikhail and starts speaking in Russian. Mikhail responds in Russian, and they continue to speak while I don’t understand a word they say. The other men in the group join in, and I’m left out.

I look around, searching for Vik and Mila, and I quickly spy Vik talking with Andrei. I don’t trust Andrei, and I definitely don’t like him talking to my sister.

I want to go over there and make sure Vik is ok, but out of us three, Vik is the strongest. She can handle herself. I just hope Mila is ok because I know my baby sister will be eaten alive by these men.