A Reputation For Revenge(53)

“There’s nothing to talk about.” He told himself he was doing her a favor. This small hurt would be nothing compared to how she’d feel when she discovered he’d kept her prisoner all this time to blackmail her sister.

Let her learn the truth of his dark heart by degrees.

He had to let her go.

He had to push her away.

Now. Before she made him surrender his very soul.

Kasimir straightened the black tie of his tuxedo. “I have to go.”

Her brown eyes were deep with unspoken longing. “Go where?”

“Out,” he said shortly.

She bit her lip. “In a tuxedo...?”

“Bree and Vladimir will be at the most exclusive New Year’s Eve ball in the city. I’m going to go have a little chat.” He stopped, then kissed her briefly, not on her lips, but on her forehead. He gave her a smile that didn’t meet his eyes. “Your sister will be surprised to hear we’re married.”

“Take me with you,” she said.

He shook his head. “Sorry.”

“I need to explain to her why I married you.” She swallowed. “She’ll be so disappointed in me, that I did it to break my father’s trust....”

“Bree? Disappointed in you?” he said harshly. His eyes blazed. “You gave up everything to save her.” Forcing his shoulders to relax, he pulled a colorful, brightly decorated phone out of his pocket. “And you can explain that.”

She blinked. “What are you doing with my dead phone?”

“All charged up now. I’ll give it to her so she can call you here. Tonight.”

Kasimir could see the emotions fighting for domination in her expression. But what she finally said was, “Thanks. That is very—kind...”

Kind. Again. Scowling, he turned away. “I have to go.”

“Wait,” she choked out.

He stopped at the door. He looked back at her.

Josie’s beautiful eyes were huge, her soft cheeks pale. “Just tell me one thing,” she whispered. “Do you—do you regret taking me to bed last night?”

His eyes met hers.

“Yes,” Kasimir said simply, and as he saw her face crumple, he knew it was true. He regretted that for the rest of his life, he’d be haunted by the memory of a perfect woman he could never deserve. A woman he could never have again. A woman who would despise him forever the instant she heard he’d blackmailed her sister.

“Oh.” It was the kind of gasp a person makes when they’d just been punched in the gut. She blinked fast, fighting back tears. He wanted to comfort her. Instead, he said, “I’ll be back after midnight. Don’t wait up.”

“Happy New Year,” she whispered behind him, but he kept walking, straight out of the house.

As his chauffeur drove him away from the dacha, heading down the lonely road through the snowy forest, Kasimir looked up at the icy moon in the dark sky. His hands tightened in his lap. He missed her. After ten years alone, without ever letting down his guard to another human soul, he missed Josie. He missed his wife.

But his days with her were numbered. They were ticking by with every minute on the clock. And so this had to be done. Although suddenly, even in his mind, he didn’t like to specify what it was.

It was betraying her.

The New Year’s Eve ball was in full swing when he arrived at the elegant palace outside St. Petersburg. Beautiful, glamorously dressed women stared at him hard as he stepped out of the expensive car, and he felt their eyes travel down the length of his tuxedo as they licked their red lips.

In another world, he would have been only too glad to take advantage of the pleasurable services clearly on offer. But not now. Kasimir looked down at the plain gold wedding band on his finger. There was only one woman his body hungered after now. The one woman who would soon leave him, no matter how much he cared. Turning away, he backed into the shadows, avoiding notice as much as he could. Watching. Looking.

“There you are,” Greg Hudson said from behind a potted plant. He nodded towards the dance floor. “Your brother and Bree,” he panted her name, “are over there.”

Kasimir’s lip curled as he looked from the man’s greasy hair to his totally inappropriate sport jacket, which barely covered his pot belly. With distaste, he withdrew an envelope from his pocket.

Hudson’s eyes lit up, but as he reached for the envelope, Kasimir grabbed his wrist. “If you even hint to Vladimir I’m here, I will take back every penny, and the rest out of your hide.”

“I wouldn’t—couldn’t—” With a gulp, the man backed away. “So goodbye, then. Um. Da svedanya.”