wet bar by overturning a crystal glass, and pouring himself a hefty drink of vodka.
His blank, pensive stare drifted over the room, but barely took notice of her as he absorbed the surroundings. All the while, he never said a thing. Not even when Sumerki wandered out of the bathroom, and stopped to sniff his shoes.
Then, finally, Vadim turned that sharp gaze on her. “This is a step up for you, I imagine, no?”
Maya folded her arms over her chest. “The hotel, you mean?”
“My son’s wealth.”
Get right to the point.
“I don’t think your son realizes how wealthy he is, considering the only thing he has to show he’s got any kind of money is his vehicle and the suits he wears.”
Vadim tipped his glass in her direction, saying, “That’s fair enough, girl. Kolya never was the type to be … excessive.” His gaze pointedly drifted over the hotel room again. “Except, it seems he’s throwing a bit of money around at the moment, isn’t he?”
“Not because I want or need him to,” Maya returned.
“Money isn’t your angle, then?”
It was really hard not to be offended when someone was purposely trying to be offensive. Maya did her best to tamper down the automatic reaction to snap back at Vadim, but only because the two of them were currently alone and she didn’t think that would work very well to her favor.
Life had taught her to be wary of men like this.
To be careful.
Tread lightly.
“I’ve lived this long without having a great deal of money,” Maya settled on saying. “I’m not going to break down tomorrow if Kolya decides to, oh, I don’t know, cut me off from the funds he isn’t giving me to begin with.”
Vadim’s mouth edged upwards in the corners. It was the barest hint of amusement coloring his stone-like features. Maya didn’t think Kolya realized it, really, but in this way, he was very much like his father. Cold and inanimate for the most part—like a statue—and only occasionally allowing something real to shine through.
Tipping his glass up for one long drink that emptied the vodka, Vadim then set the cup aside before bending down to get a closer look at Sumerki. He put his hand out as if to offer it to the pup, but the dog didn’t move from his spot where he’d decided to sit directly between Maya and Vadim. He didn’t move, even when the man teased the dog a bit by bending his fingers as though to coach him.
Vadim glanced upward, saying, “You’re quite a dainty little thing.”
Maya blinked. “What?”
“Small featured, girl. You look like a sprite—a fairy. A good gust of fucking wind would blow you over, yes?”
“Is there a reason you’re insulting me? What, you woke up this morning and thought, yes, that’s on my to-do list today; insult Maya because I can.”
Vadim chuckled dryly, but stayed bent down on one knee. “I wasn’t insulting you by stating an obvious fact. I also didn’t say you aren’t beautiful, girl. You obviously are—although for the life of me, I can’t see what so many others seem to have found in you. What is it about you, do you think, that has a handful of men willing to go to war to either keep you or have you?”
A lump caught hard in Maya’s throat.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I didn’t ask for any of that.”
She’d simply woken up one day and gone to work like her father told her to do. From that moment forward, her entire life changed. Never once had she asked for this to happen, though.
The man shook his head when the dog still refused to budge from his spot and stood straight again. “I have always said and told my sons, that no woman is worth a war. There have been enough wars fought over women who were not worthy of the men fighting for them; our name does not have to be attached to yet another one.”
Maya opened her mouth to speak, although she wasn’t sure what exactly she might say in response to that statement, but Vadim held up a hand to stop her. His cold gaze met hers and he gave her a tight-lipped smile that screamed I am in control here.
“The pup is endearing, isn’t he?” Vadim asks. “Thinks he might protect you. From what, I don’t know.”
You, she wanted to say.
Maya kept quiet.
“His name?”
“Sumerki,” she said.
Vadim nodded. “Nightfall. Fitting.”
“Kolya thought so.”
“Yes and while we’re on the topic of him …” Vadim pointed a finger