Chapter 99

TESSA

With all the chaos still unfolding inside, no one notices when I slip out. I head for the front of Dimitri’s hotel to wait for my ride, heels clicking against the pavement.

It’s colder than usual. Not that it matters—my phone starts ringing and warms me up just fine.

Mother.

Perfect. I answer, mostly because I want a reason to stay angry. And she delivers.

“Must you always be a disgrace?!” she screeches before I can say hello. “All I asked—all I asked—was that you attend Anastasia’s engagement party like a normal person! Meet a decent man! Smile, behave! And what do you do? You ruin everything! What did I do to deserve this? You’ll put me in the grave one day, I swear—!”

Oh, she’s mad mad—but not mad enough to yell in Russian. English is her scolding language when she wants to make sure I really feel it. Unfortunately for her, I’m fluent in “guilt trip.”

I close my eyes. Count to three. Then smile.

“Mother,” I say sweetly, “if yo