of line. I opened my mouth to tell him that, but Richard beat me to it.
“Stop, Mav,” Richard scolded him.
“Being nice wasn’t part of the deal,” Kingston grinned.
Richard took a deep breath as if he was looking for patience. “It is now. You better hope I don’t make any more amendments to the deal.”
Both guys scowled, but they shut their mouths.
“I’m sorry for the interruption, Katya,” Richard said as he shot each of his sons a warning glare. “We were talking about college?”
“I think Katya was explaining why she’s not going to college,” Maverik said politely, but with a dark glint in his eyes.
Kingston laughed, and Richard narrowed his eyes at Maverik, but there wasn’t anything he could say. Technically, Maverik hadn’t been rude – he was just trying to stir up trouble.
“Nina,” I said innocently. “Did you go to college?”
Both guys chuckled under their breaths as Nina shot daggers at me with her eyes.
“I’m sure your mother wants you to have a better life than she did,” Richard told me confidently. He didn’t realize his mistake until Kingston let out a loud guffaw, and Maverik smirked.
“I think my life is fine the way it is,” Nina said coldly.
“Yeah, dad,” Kingston laughed. “What are you implying? Are you saying that Katya shouldn’t prostitute herself like-”
“Enough!” Richard shouted. “I’ve already given you boys enough warnings. You’re going to sit here and behave, or there will be serious consequences.” His voice quieted as he spoke, but I could hear the rage that vibrated underneath.
I looked down at my untouched plate and regretted ever agreeing to come here tonight. Maverik and his father were staring at each other in a battle of wills, and I fidgeted. Ryan reached for my hand under the table and shot me a pointed look. Don’t make this worse.
I scowled at him in response but kept quiet. So far, it seemed like the guys were using me to get under my mother’s skin, but they were being assholes towards me as collateral damage. I didn’t care about most of the stuff they were implying about my mother - I actually agreed with them. But I would stand up for myself if they came after me.
“Fine,” Maverik finally agreed with gritted teeth. “We won’t say another word.”
I thought it was interesting that Maverik spoke for both brothers, but I could see how he was the leader. He looked like the older of the two and seemed to contemplate his words before he spoke, where Kingston just blurted out whatever came to mind. Maverik was the type who would plot, plan, and be patient until he had victory in sight. I wasn’t capable of feeling sorry for Nina after being abandoned, but I doubted that she and Richard would make it to the altar.
The staff was attentive as they used the break in the argument to exchange our plates for the next course. My stomach churned with anxiety, and I didn’t feel the least bit hungry, even though the plate in front of me looked like a work of art. My body tingled with the urge to dance, to lose myself in the endless search for perfection. I tried to hold still and not show everyone how uncomfortable I was with being trapped at this table. Most of these people were piranhas who would strike at the slightest hint of weakness, so I needed to appear strong.
Richard gave Nina an apologetic look, which she ignored. I had a feeling that she was going to be milking his misstep for some time to come. She seemed like the type of person that would use the situation to get him to shower her with gifts as an ‘apology.’
“Are your classes over for this year?” Richard asked pleasantly as he turned his attention back to me. It felt awkward to ignore what had been said over the last few minutes to pretend that we were just a normal group of people, but I’d play along if it would get this dinner over with sooner.
“We have a couple of weeks off,” I told him with a tense smile. “Ryan and I will work on flexibility and core strength before our intensive summer session starts.”
“Summer school?” Richard questioned. “Is that a normal part of the curriculum, or do you have to make up school-work from earlier in the year?”
“It’s normal,” I assured him. “Our classes are spread out over the whole year so that we have more time for dance. We usually do our academic