Page 76 of Cruel Russian Monster
“How did we not see that you've been crushing on Jaroslav!” Mariya said.
“Come on, Vera, spill it!” Ninel exclaimed.
Kira plunked herself down next to me, excitedly. Everyone leaned in, and I shook my head and chuckled.
“Katya, you have to promise that if the cameras in this room have sound that you’re going to erase it.”
“Ohhhh, this is gonna be so good!” Kira said dramatically.
We chuckled.
“Lev knows this is where we hang out. The cameras don't have sound, but I would suggest that you sit where you can't read your lips, either.”
After switching seats and Katya closed the door, I looked at them as they looked at me expectantly.
“Whatever is said in this room stays in this room.”
There was a series of nods, lips being zipped, and keys being thrown away.
“Jaroslav and I used to date three years ago.”
A chorus of “what!” echoed through the room.
Over the next thirty minutes, I told the girls about the first night Jaroslav and I met up until Yegor and Zahkar confronted him. They sat and listened attentively, wine and snacks forgotten. I kept most of the good things to myself because I didn’t kiss and tell, but gave them enough to know that I was always pleased in the bedroom.
When I was finished, I exhaled slowly. “And now, here we are.”
“Well, damn…” Mariya's voice trailed off.
“Mariya, Ninel…do you remember when I told you I don't think Jaroslav likes me?” Katya asked.
Mariya nodded, “And one of us said something like he's that way with everyone.”
“But it wasn't that. He knew I wasn't Vera. I kept telling Lev I wasn't you, but he insisted I was. Jaroslav knew I wasn't you from the first time he laid his eyes on me.”
“O.M.G.! Lev was going to marry Jaroslav's ex! Jaroslav didn't say a damn thing,” Ninel said.
“But, when Lev told us that he did want to marry Vera, Jaroslav also wasn't the happiest camper,” Mariya noted.
“But he was just going to let Lev marry you, Vera?” Kira asked.
I shrugged. “I guess he was.”
“It makes sense now,” Katya stated. “Why you didn't want to marry Lev, but also why Jaroslav married you to stop the war. And you said since you told him the real reason you broke things off, things have changed between the two of you?”
I nodded. “We decided to keep things casual, but now he's doing all the sweet husband things like the flowers and the gifts, and I'm now in his bed every night…”
“Not that you're complaining,” Ninel interrupted with a wink.
I grinned. “I'm not, but…”
“It has you wondering where you stand with him,” Katya finished.
I nodded.
“If Jaroslav is anything like Lev, he has realized his own mistakes in all of it, and now he's trying to make amends.”
“Jaroslav loves you,” Mariya added. “He doesn't do anything without a plan. When you showed back up in his life and he realized how close he was to losing you again, he snatched you up the only way he knew how.”
