Page 29 of Untamed Beast
“I get the hype now,” she mutters after a second, taking another swig of beer.
As evaluated as I feel, there’s something playful and warm in her gaze.
“He won’t like that, by the way.”
“Won’t like what?”
“The way the other guys are talking about you.”
It’s too late at night for me to parse what she means by that. It feels like where Aleksandr is concerned, everything I do is a misstep.
“He doesn’t like much about me,” I admit.
Vera is so relaxed here, lounging around like she owns the place. I’m still scared that I’ll break something or show my incompetence, like with the dishes. I’m in a new world where I don’t know any of the rules. Vera knows the rules, she just doesn’t care about them.
I bite my lip and glance at her. If this is the kind ofwoman Aleksandr wants, I see why he rejected me so firmly on our wedding night.I can’t hope to compete with the intricate tattoos and piercings and obvious experience that are all over Vera’s perfect figure.
Her gaze searches my face.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I avoid her eyes. “If you’re here to tell me to back off, or claim your territory… You have nothing to worry about. We haven’t?—”
“Oh, honey, no. That’s not why I’m here. Leks and I did, once, but we were teenagers.” She waves a hand, as if I’d understand how insignificant teenage sexual trysts were. “That man is not relationship material.” She wrinkles her nose.
If everyone else can see that he’s not capable of a healthy relationship, why does some tiny piece of me yearn for that?I keep expecting him to come home and eat dinner with me and compliment me on my outfit, even though that’s not what we have at all.
“Well, just so you know, he doesn’t want to touch me.”
Vera lets out a snort that I can’t decipher, flipping her glossy black hair over her shoulder. “Sure he doesn’t, hon.”
“I know?—”
“Natalia.” She laughs, taking a deep pull of the beer. “I’m joking. Leks is not exactly a loverboy, but you’re a hottie. There’s no way he doesn’t want to hit that.”
This is a confusing conversation.
“I don’t think I’m his type.”
Vera makes a face at that.
“Hon, if I may… I’m a professional at this.”
I stare at her blankly, not grasping her meaning.
“I’m a sex worker.”
She gestures to her outfit.
“Men pay to have sex with me.”
Oh my God, Vera is a prostitute.
She lets out a cackle when she sees my face. “Yeah, I didn’t think you would have met many girls of my vocation before. I work at one of the Bratva’s most popular clubs in Manhattan. Leks's favorite club, actually.”
My husband has a favorite brothel. Great.
“I know a thing or two about what men like, honey. And trust me when I say a girl like you? Blonde, great tits, that sweet femme pink girly thing you’ve got going? You’re every man’s type.”
