Page 80 of Dirty Grovel

“Well then, you’ll have to correct your mistake. That ismyroom.”

“There are five other suites in this bungalow,” I say. “You’re welcome to choose one of them.”

Her eyes narrow. “This is my house, Oleg. Why should I?—?”

“You’ve mentioned that a couple of times now,” I interject, my tone hardening like concrete. “That this is your house. It may have been once, but as you’ll recall, after father died, he left it tomein his will. Which makes it my house. And given that it is my house, I will dispense with the rooms as I see fit. You will take the Taupe Suite.”

Oksana looks like her head is about to explode right off her neck.

Sutton senses the impending violence and rises to her feet. “It’s okay, Oleg. I don’t care so much about the room I stay in. If she wants the suite so badly, she can have it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve lost my appetite.”

Without another word, she turns on her heel and walks out.

“There,” Oksana says with a haughty little sniff. “That’s settled then.”

I turn my fiercest glare on her. “You have some fucking nerve.”

“I don’t appreciate your tone.”

“And I don’t appreciate you coming here uninvited and throwing your weight around. I’m not a child anymore, Maman. And this is no longer your house or your staff to order around as before.”

Her eyes darken as she leans in towards me. As a boy, I used to stiffen in my shoes, praying that whatever sentence she passed down would be one that I could withstand.

It’s been a long time since those tricks worked on me.

“The womanbetrayedyou!” she hisses. “She sold you out to your enemies. She was working behind your back.”

“She was a pawn,” I reply, feigning boredom. “Nothing more.”

“Is that what she claims?”

“It’s what I know.”

Oksana slams her palms down on the table and rises, leaving her soup untouched.

I’ll have to apologize to Jesse later. She cooked for nothing.

“I expected more from you,” Oksana snarls. “I thought you were stronger. I thought I raised you to be smarter. Not to follow in the footsteps of every other man on the planet and be led around by your cock.” Her glower becomes even more pronounced. “People are talking, Oleg! This woman… she’s not fit to be your wife. She’s not fit to wear the Pavlov name. She has no idea what it takes—and who can blame her? She’s the derelict child of an absentee father and a whore mother.”

“Stripper.”

“Excuse me?”

“Her mother was a stripper. Not a whore.”

Her jaw clenches. “I see no difference. You need a real woman by your side. Not some cheap bitch off the street. Look at her, Oleg. Look at the clothes she wears, the company she keeps. Look at?—”

“Enough!”

I don’t raise my voice, but the command is unmistakable. Oksana’s lips seal shut, her eyes widening as I rise to my feet to tower over her.

“You’ve said your piece. Now, allow me to say mine: Sutton Palmer is my choice. That’s all you need to know.”

“Oleg—”

“You forget yourself, Maman,” I growl. “I respect you. I have always respected you. But things are different now. I am a grown man and I can make my own decisions. You can disagree with them all you want—but you will disagree in silence. Don’t mistake my respect for weakness.”

She starts to talk, but I hold up a hand to hush her.

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