This made Cassie sob more. We didn’t do this. Whenever we went shopping in the past or had a girls’ day, we didn’t talk about the giant elephant in the room. We just talked about everything and nothing.
“Dad was too powerful,” I said. “He had too many connections, and there was nothing any of us could do. You tried and we made the most of it. You always tried to give me something.”
“Charlotte, this was the first birthday I was able to get you something without fear, andit wasn’t even something you could own.” She pointed toward my neck. “Look at that. Ivan got you that, and your husband got you that.”
This made me laugh. “Ive had to give me the wedding ring and I think Ivan insisted on the engagement ring. They’re part of the deal they made withRage. As for this.” I pick the necklace up between my two fingers. “Ivan scared Dad, remember? He was the only person who had ever put fear in our dad’s eyes. As for this, I love this. You and me, finally at a spa, and at the end of the day, we don’t have to pretend that I didn’t have a good time. I don’t have to look miserable or sad. I can be happy.”
Tears filled my eyes now and Cassie climbed off the table and moved toward me. I stepped down and with the towels between us, we hugged tightly.
“I am so, so, so happy you are finally getting to live a good life.”
I didn’t know if I should tell Cassie that Iswore my loyalty to Ivan Volkov. Instead, I just held my sister and thanked whoever was watching down on us, and asked them to take care of her.
She’d been as good of a sister as she’d been allowed to be. I knew she had always wanted to stop everything that was going on, but there was no way for her to do so. When Dad was on a warpath, there was no stopping him. I was gladly the target.
“I love you, Charlotte.”
“I love you too.”
We climbed back on themassage tables and stared at each other, laughing.
Hubert entered the room with the two women following him.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“It’s fine,” I said.
The ladies came to finish our massages. Cassie wouldn’t let go of my hand throughout. After the massages, we opted to use the sauna, which I didn’t like. Cassie loved it, for me, I hated it. Sweating in a hot room was not my idea of a good time, and it made my nose wrinkle. All the stress the women had worked out of my body was back. After the sauna, we took long showers, and then got changed and headed up to the restaurant.
Cassie ordered some kind of fruit concoction drink, and I asked for their energy shake. It sounded nice. When it came tothe table, it was green, and I stared at it.
My sister chuckled. “I don’t think it’s poison.”
“It’s green,” I said.
“That just meansthere’s a vegetable or something in it. Like kale or broccoli?”
“Ew,” I said.
“Are you going to take a sip?”
“I will.”
Holding the straw, I leaned forward and wrapped my lips around it, sucking some of the liquid into my mouth. The moment it touched my throat, I stopped and sat back. I was pretty sure Hubert laughed behind me.
Cassie couldn’t keep a straight face. “This is why you always opt for something fresh. Here, try mine.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Charlotte, come on, stop being sodifficult.” She slid her drink toward me. “Try it.”
I tried my sister’s drink, and it was indeed a lot fresher and nicer, slightly sour, but I liked it. My sister ordered me the same drink and asked them to take the green drink away. I was tempted to ask Hubert if he wanted to try, but it was already gone before I could.
“Have you had a good day?”
“Yes,” I said.
Hubert stepped close. “We need to leave, Mrs. Yahontov. Ive is expecting to pick you up at seven.”
“He is?”
“Yes, he’d like to take you todinner.”
Should this make my heart race? My husband taking me to dinner like every other time, but this was after the kiss we had shared. Did he like the kiss? Crap, what the hell was I thinking? Ive didn’t like me. He’d been forced to marry me. Ours was not nor would it ever be a love match, and I had to get my head on straight. It wasn’t going to happen.”We’ve got to leave,” Isaid. “Unless you want to stay?”
“No, no, it’s fine. We can leave. I’m tired anyway, and I can’t wait to explore the apartment Ive’s prepared for me.”
We followed Hubert out of the spatoward the waiting car. Climbing in the back seat, Cassie kept pointing out places she hoped to visit during her stay. I sat in silence and watched her. Cassie was always so animated. She took everything in and just tried to live, and I found that addictive.
The journey came to an end rather quickly. Hubert took control ofthe elevator, and stopped it at the apartment for Cassie. There was no time for me to explore with her, and Hubert took us back up to Ive’s penthouse.
I missed his country home. This penthouse didn’t feel like home. I left Hubert to go to the main bedroom and I saw the dress already laid out for me. It hadn’t been there this morning, so I imagined Ive must have stopped off at home after lunch or something. Cassie and I had been out all day. This was a sky-blue dress. I wriggled into it, and slid the side zipper up, hoping it would fit.
Stepping in front of the mirror, I gasped. It was very revealing. The bodice was that of a corset, and it certainly did feel like it pushed everything in. My tits looked huge. They were big anyway, but they looked even more so within the tight confines of the dress. Even my waist looked small. My hips certainly didn’t, and the dress flared out to accommodate them.
Grabbing a brush, I ran it through my now frizzy locks. The sauna hadn’t been kind to my hair. I attempted to keep it confined and grabbed a clip, pulled some back, and slid the clip right in. Checking the mirror again, I knew there wasn’t a lot more I could do. I never practiced with makeup, and I hadn’t trained since being married to Ive.
I stepped out of the room and Hubert was waiting.