Page 96 of Wrapped in Perfection

And there won't be any deadlines to meet.

19

Anna

Maksim comesup to my brother's penthouse. When I come into the main room, he's talking to Vivian.

"Anna, you changed your hair. It looks nice."

I didn't expect a compliment from him and freeze for a moment. "Ummm...thanks. What are you doing up here?"

"Picking Vivian's real estate brain."

She smiles. "I think it's a great idea. The foundation would be grateful for your help in developing it."

Maksim smiles, which I haven't seen him do very often, and his eyes twinkle. "Great. Should we get Chicago's newest, up-and-coming designer to donate her time to the project?"

Vivian laughs. "I think I can twist her arm."

I wave my hand between them. "Hello? I'm in the room."

"I'll tell you in the car. We should go, or we'll be late," Maksim replies.

"Alrighty, then. I'll see you later."

Vivian waves. "Bye."

Viktor rises and says to Vivian, "Thanks for the coffee."

"Anytime."

The three of us leave, and when we get in the car, I turn to Maksim. "So, what were you discussing?"

"Vivian has a piece of land that was donated to the foundation to develop. Her friend, I think she said her name is Charlotte, approached her about it. They want to build a new orphanage. The current one is falling apart. She contacted me a few weeks ago to build it. She has some grant money for materials, but we will supply the labor for free and oversee it."

"Wow. That's generous."

He shrugs. "So what do you think? Do you want to donate the design work?"

"Sure."

He tilts his head. "Just sure? You don't want to know any more details?"

"Do I need to?"

"You know you don't get paid, correct?"

I draw in a dramatic breath of air. "Is that what donate means?"

He chuckles. "Fair enough."

"Did you just laugh?"

"Yeah. Why?"

I raise my eyebrows.

His phone rings. "Excuse me." He answers it and starts speaking in Russian.

---