Fallen Stars and Broken Dreams - C.C. Masters Page 0,81

was such an asshole. Why did he have to be so hot? What was wrong with me that I was even slightly attracted to him?

“I know that look,” Abby teased me. “You have a secret crush.”

Words started coming out of my mouth, and I was helpless to stop them. “Maybe. But not really. Okay, yes.”

Abby raised an eyebrow at me. “Yes?”

“Yesss,” I hissed. The room spun around me, and my head felt so light I felt like I could fly away.

“Which one?” Abby prompted me. “Or both?”

I didn’t answer and closed my eyes to enjoy the flying sensation.

I opened them again when I heard her phone buzz. She looked down at it with a frown. “Let’s talk about your mom.”

“My mom?” I mumbled as I tried to clear the haze from around my brain. Was this what it was like to be drunk? I felt so out of control.

“Do you think she’s just a harmless gold digger that wants to leech off Richard, or do you think she has more nefarious plans?”

“Nefarious?” I giggled. For some reason, that word seemed so hilarious, like it couldn’t be a real word. I said it a couple more times because it felt weird coming out of my mouth. “Nefarious…” I sang to the tune of notorious.

Abby snapped her fingers at me. “I need you to focus, Kat.”

“No one’s ever called me Kat before,” I rambled. “I still haven’t decided if I like it or not. I like being different, and I like Katya. It reminds me of who I am.”

“Who are you?” Abby asked gently.

“A ballerina,” I informed her solemnly. “And Russian. My babushka came from Russia with her parents when she was a kid, but my grandfather’s family came over in the early nineteen hundreds.” I lowered my voice and leaned towards her, but I was a little wobbly. “Do you want to hear a secret?”

Abby started to look nervous. “Um…” her phone buzzed again, and she sighed. “Please don’t tell me anything that will get me killed by the Russian mob.”

I giggled, more than a little out of control now. “I’m pretty sure Richard saved me from the Bratva when he brought me here.”

“What?” Abby asked in horror.

I explained what had happened at the cemetery, and Abby’s eyes were wide. “That is so scary!” she exclaimed.

“Right?” I asked with a sigh. “Compared to Sergei, Kingston and Maverik are just amateurs. I’d much rather deal with them.”

“That explains a lot,” Abby told me. “You’re one of the few people who aren’t afraid to challenge them.” Her phone buzzed again. “Was that your secret, about the mafia?”

“No. My grandfather’s side of the family were descendants of the Russian aristocracy. Not Romanovs or anything,” I assured her. “But they hated Nicholas II and thought he was weak. As it turns out…” I paused dramatically. “They left the country just in time.” Abby looked at me blankly. “Because of the Russian Revolution?” I prompted her. “How the aristocracy was overthrown and the Romanovs brutally murdered?”

“Oh, yeah,” Abby said with a nod. “I loved the movie Anastasia as a kid. That was a true story, right?”

“Um, not exactly.” I tried to lean forward without tipping over. “Well, it’s not my family’s story, anyway.” I managed to prop myself up in a position that was surprisingly comfortable. “My grandfather’s ancestors could only smuggle so much out of Russia with them,” I explained. “They thought the whole revolution thing would just blow over and they would go back to being evil overlords in a year or two, so they left a lot behind and it’s passed down in every generation where the secret treasure trove is back in Russia,” I snickered.

Abby frowned. “So your family’s rich?”

I snorted. “Not at all. I don’t know much about what it was like for my grandfather’s family when they first came over here, but I doubt they were rolling in money as escapees from a country that was slowly collapsing. Being ‘royal’ isn’t romantic in Russia like it is here. The aristocracy was cruel and abusive to the Russian people, and they’re still intensely hated there for a lot of good reasons.”

I took another drink. “Being descended from aristocrats is more shameful than anything else. My babushka was able to look past my grandfather’s heritage and fall in love with him, but only because he renounced all of that.”

My head spun, and there were suddenly two Abbys sitting in front of me. This felt so much worse than earlier tonight. What was