The Emperor (The Tarot Club 2)

Her smile was infectious and I watched her hand brush against the many plants that sat up here. For a moment, I thought she might even twirl beneath the moonlight, but she seemed to suddenly remember that her parents were here, and instead, seated herself at the table.

“Well, this is just delightful.” Chalk scratched against a blackboard sounded better than Emily Rand’s voice.

Corinne hummed some sort of non-committal response, downplaying her delight with this place. It fucking infuriated me. Alan seated himself, and immediately helped himself to the basket of bread that sat on the table. Pick pocket fingers indeed.

“If you enjoy such greenery, I have a fantastic florist that could assist with arrangements for the wedding. Of course, they’re in New York, but I’m sure he could fly out to your venue of choice.”

Corinne coughed discreetly immediately after she brought her glass of water to her lips, while I simply stared at Emily Rand. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she was the sole reason Corinne’s family had climbed the social ladder of Manhattan. The woman had gone from despising me over breakfast to forcing a marriage proposal down my throat over dinner.

I smiled at her, throwing every ounce of relaxed charm I possessed into that gesture, not allowing my fingers to so much as twitch in the direction of my gun. Because a bullet between her eyes seemed a far simpler solution right now instead of dinner.

Although I would bring Corinne back here - I wanted to see her here without the noose that was Emily Rand.

“Perhaps.” I grinned at her and watched in satisfaction as she settled down. If she thought that I viewed Corinne as someone only to warm my bed, then once again, she had gravely underestimated her daughter.

Corinne, in contrast, sat next to me in silence and I allowed Alan to guide the conversation back to business, where he alluded to the fact that I was a wealthy man - just like him.

But he was wrong, because Alan and I were nothing alike. The only thing we had in common was our shared interest in his daughter, and even then, I found him indifferent towards Corinne.

The waiter brought out dish after dish, and while I wasn’t paying attention to the food, the way Corinne’s lips wrapped around her fork, along with the moans and gasps of delight she exhibited after each bite, had me wishing I’d never agreed to this dinner with her parents.

Alan went out of his way to inform me that he had some ‘time on his hands’ to assist me with my new venture. Honestly, it was a goddamn miracle that the man hadn’t been truly fucked over in business yet if this is how willing he was - or perhaps he was so willing due to my own reputation, I couldn’t tell and didn’t care.

And even as I fucking despised the woman, I had to give it to Emily Rand, as she managed to steer the conversation back towards myself and Corinne once more.

“Excuse me, Dimitri.” She smiled coyly, but there was nothing coy about her. I slid my hand onto Corinne’s thigh as she stiffened next to me, no doubt bracing herself for whatever else Emily Rand was about to say.

I swept my palm back and forth, transferring some of my heat to the little Vedman sitting next to me as I turned towards Emily Rand. I didn’t even attempt to plaster a pleasant expression on my face as the woman spoke.

“You are Russian, is that correct?”

As if the woman who sat before us hadn’t fileted every one of her sources for information about me - to understand who exactly her daughter was in bed with.

Still, I dipped my head in a nod, because I needed them to be comfortable with the fact that Corinne was mine.

“Are weddings important in Russian culture?”

She was hedging, and we both knew it. I felt Corinne’s flinch through the entirety of my body. I soothed my hand over her thigh, wanting to bury this conversation before it coils gained momentum.

“They are.” I flashed her my teeth in warning, but the Society broad was either too ignorant to acknowledge it for the threat that it was, or she was simply too cunning to not care.

“But,” I added carefully, “we need to table this conversation, because it is a private matter that Corinne and I need to discuss, without the interference of others.”

“Of course.” She purred in satisfaction. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that Corinne has found you. I imagine the company you keep will be different to that riffraff she picked up in Summer Camp. I don’t imagine you would allow the likes of them at your wedding.”

I felt Corinne’s nails dig into her thigh, and promised myself that although I needed to win her parents over, it did not mean that Emily Rand was guaranteed a long, peaceful life.

“Corinne is free to invite whomever she chooses to whatever functions we host.”

My words were cordial, but my tone was anything but. I signalled to the waiter for the check, not willing to spend a moment more of my time with these despicable people.

“Darling.” Alan’s watery voice served as some sort of admonishment because Emily Rand quickly jumped to defend herself.

“I mean no disrespect,” she gushed, “It’s not every day that you discover that your daughter will be married soon.” She spoke as if that were explanation enough for her poor behaviour - her lack of manners.

“This conversation is tabled.”

Emily’s face paled at my tone, but I was beyond giving a fuck.