Under the Parisian Sky by Alli Sinclair

Author:Alli Sinclair [Sinclair, Alli]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-07-24T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Paris, 1917

Viktoriya entered the apartment foyer, creeping through the shadows. Her body felt light, fueled by the possibility of the ballet really happening. But how much could she trust the baron? His sincerity seemed real and from all accounts he was one of the richest men in Europe, so putting money where his mouth was did not appear to be a problem. The issue—and she was afraid to admit this even to herself—was that she liked Baron Erik Cheverin a lot. So much so, she was looking forward to their next meeting.

“What am I doing?” she muttered as she ascended the stairs toward her apartment.

“You are late, that’s what you’re doing.” Came a voice from the shadows of the foyer.

Viktoriya jumped.

“My God! Alexei!” She held a fist over her rapidly beating heart. Taking in his steely gaze and twisted lips, her annoyance with him increased. “Are you spying on me?”

“I wouldn’t do such a thing.” Alexei held his chin in the air, his back straight. “I was worried about you being at the performance. I looked for you at the theater but someone said they’d seen you rushing out the stage door. I wanted to check you got home safely.” He glanced at his watch. “It appears to have taken you three hours to walk three blocks.”

“Say what you came here to say, Alexei.”

“What?” Alexei feigning innocence pushed her over the edge.

“You only came here to check up on me.” Her fingers tightened around her clutch. “I don’t like the shade of green you’ve turned.”

“I saw you two cozying up in the theater. Tell me, Viktoriya, should I be jealous?”

“So you were spying on me. I refuse to have this discussion. Besides, you have no right to spy on me.”

“Oh, but I have every right. I knew he was up to no good, using his money to charm you. I demand to know where he took you after the theater.”

“Really, Alexei? You think this behavior is going to make me want to tell you anything?” The accusatory tone in his voice hurt her to the core. Like most men, he was prone to the odd bout of jealousy, but this full-blown attack on her character cut deep.

“I don’t trust him,” he said.

“You don’t trust me, you mean.” She gestured for him to leave. “I’m not in the mood for your unfounded accusations.”

“I’m not so sure they’re unfounded.” He leaned in close. The cloud of alcohol nearly bowled her over.

“Jesus, Alexei. How much did you drink?”

“Not enough to forget about you and him,” he sneered.

She gritted her teeth and tried to count to ten. She gave up at five. Pointing at the foyer door that lead to the street, she lowered her voice, ensuring it had enough strength to get the point across. “Leave. Now.”

“This will not be the last time we discuss this.”

“I’m not discussing anything when you’re in this state.” She pushed him out the door and quickly shut it behind her. Leaning against the rough wood, the coolness bit through the flimsy material of her dress.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.