The Master (The Game Maker 2)

"I'd love to see them."

Rebecca's gaze flicked to Jess, and she sucked in a scandalized breath. "Jessica! Where are the rest of your clothes? Must you?"

Completely deadpan, Jess said, "Becks, I must."

"Couldn't you slip on a sweater? This is why I shouldn't have let you fire the wedding coordinator! She would have told you . . ."

"We'll see all of you inside." Maxim steered me away from that, and we headed into the spacious wood-paneled Grand Hall. Elaborate crown molding adorned the ceilings. And there were fireplaces. Plural. Big ones!

About a dozen tables had seven or so seats each. Maxim found his placard, with one that read Guest beside it. He rubbed his thumb over it. "I suppose 'guest' is as accurate as the name you told me. Give me one thing right now, solnyshko. Anything."

My gaze darted. "Um, I never expected to like you even half this much?"

Good humor restored, he said, "That'll do for now." He curled his finger under my chin, and I wondered if he was going to kiss me right there. Then everyone else started arriving inside.

Jess sidled over to me. "Since Natalie's getting married, she won't be able to give me all the attention I need and deserve. You'll pick up the slack." She moved her placard to my other side.

Natalie, Aleks, Tom, and Rebecca made up the rest of the table. When we sat, Jess tossed back an old-fashioned she was holding--drank it down. Whoa. I expected her to swipe her forearm over her mouth.

As Maxim made small talk with Rebecca and Tom, and Natalie teased Aleks about something, Jess said to me, "We need to discuss shoe-polishing the limo tonight." She ordered another drink and got me one too. "I'm open to dirty limericks. Any suggestions?"

"I'll work on it."

"So lemme give you the lay of the land." She hiked her thumb over her shoulder. "At that table, we have three bridesmaids. Polly's the corn-fed-looking blonde, and the only one worth mentioning. The other two are lame and their invites make me wonder where Natalie's head's at. The three uptight guys are Russian groomsmen. My charm is lost on them, so obviously they're nobodies--guys who did hits with Aleks or some such shit."

Whoa, she was talking about his hit man background aloud? Just like that?

She continued, "I was surprised by the turnout, since Natalie gave us zero notice about this shindig. The rest of the crowd is extended family of Rebecca and Natalie's adoptive dad."

"Where is he?"

"He died. Natural causes. Not like her birth father."

Across the table, Rebecca said, "So, Cat, is your name short for Catherine?"

Maxim's gaze was lasered on me.

"They just call me Cat." I had a crazy impulse to stand on the table and shout to everyone, "I am Lucia Martinez! I was born and raised in JAX, baby!"

"Well, it's a cute name."

Jess said, "Your name doesn't suck too bad, Becks."

Rebecca ignored her, asking me, "Why don't you tell us about yourself?"

Maxim turned his chair and faced me.

Dodge and deflect? Bobbing and weaving was difficult in the hot seat. "I'm about to finish college."

"Oh, where do you go?" she asked.

"It's a small private school." Maxim would think I was lying, believing I'd denied going to college.

"You and Maksim met in Miami, right? What brought you there?"

"I like the city very much. I'm keeping my eye out for new opportunities there." Not a lie.

"How long have you two been together?"

He smoothly interjected, "Not long enough. How could it be?"

Charming devil. I tasted my old-fashioned. Not bad.

"What's your major?" Natalie asked.

"Business. Economics major, finance minor." Too much information was flowing from me! I felt like a miser flinging away coins.

Maxim raised his brows, sipping his drink.

Natalie looked impressed. "I can't even do simple sums in my head. Business was forever out of my reach."

"But you're getting your PhD, right? Who needs simple sums when there are calculators?"

"That's what I've always said!"

Jess said, "Hey, if I sit between her and Natalie, will I get smarter? I guarantee they'll get sexier."

Rebecca spoke over her: "Tell us about your family, Cat." Such a "mom" thing to say. In an arch tone, she added, "It's like pulling teeth getting information out of any of these Russians."

Over the rim of his glass, Maxim said, "Yes, Katya, tell us all about them."

"My mom was from Cuba. She met my father when he visited from the US." The weight on my chest was returning.

Servers approached with the first course, distracting the table's attention from me. Gracias a Dios.

Under his breath, Maxim said, "How much of that was true?"

"Whatever you think is true, multiply that by ten. Oh, wait, anything multiplied by zero equals zero."

"For future reference, a US citizen would have difficulty traveling to Cuba, especially twenty-plus years ago."

"Thanks for the tip," I said, instead of crying, "My father was an attache there!" One day this boiler was going to blow. . . .

Over the next hour, the dishes continued to arrive. Some were Midwest Americana, some traditional Russian--both exotic to me. The cook in me relished the experience. When I tasted pelmeni, meat dumplings, I told Maxim, "This is really good."

At my ear, he murmured, "I'd much rather be eating Cuban."

I coughed and kicked him.

All throughout the meal, he kept his eyes on me. When he wasn't indulging in the courses, he rested his arm over the back of my chair. Protective, possessive.

He wasn't the only one studying me. Aleks seemed to be taking my measure. Even Natalie cast me a couple of quizzical looks over her wineglass.

After the dessert course--Jess inhaled her red velvet cake, then trespassed on mine--she rose, telling Maxim, "I hope you're ready with your best-man speech. We're doing our dog and pony shows tonight, while I'm still coherent."

Rebecca said, "What? You can't! Those come after the ceremony."

Jess blinked. "No. This works best for me." When Rebecca started to bluster, Jess said, "This is how they do it in Russia. Ask Maksim."

Rebecca turned to him. "Is that true?"

Maxim gave a measured answer, "The most prominent Russian families fairly much do as they please."

Jess cast her a see? look. "In any case, the wedding coordinator ordered that this happen tonight. And who is she? Oh, yeah--she's me. Relax, Becks. Remind me to get you a Valium."

Rebecca turned to her daughter to do something, but Natalie said, "Jess's coup to oust the coordinator was successful, Mom. We're slaves to her dictates now."

Rebecca faced Jess. "What are you going to do?"

"A vid." At that, she swerved toward the front of the hall, to a computer.

"A video?" Rebecca whispered, aghast.

"Listen up," Jess called as she queued up a video on a large screen against one wall. "Hey, errybody!" When the room quieted, she said, "I'd introduce myself, but let's face it, my reputation precedes me, and I've slept with half of you. As maid of honor and coordinator for such a rush-job wedding, I did a vid instead of a speech. You're welcome." She pushed play, then returned to her seat.

She'd put together a compilation of pictures from the last couple of months of Natalie and Aleks's relationship.

Leaning in toward me, she said, "Keep your eye on Aleks in the pics. He fucking worships the ground Natalie walks on."

It was true. He always had his gaze on his fiancee. Such devotion! Also interesting was the evolution of his expressions. At first, he looked stern and uncomfortable. As time passed he loosened up, even giving tentative smiles.

There were pictures of an older gentleman with twinkling blue eyes--must be Natalie's birth father, Pavel Kovalev. As Natalie watched, tears welled. Even steely Aleks was moved.

The last frame was the date of the wedding with a message from Jess. "As you go about your married li

ves together, always remember: Dance like nobody's watching."

While there were a ton of Awws, I thought that was kind of lame.

Then another line appeared to complete the message. "Dance like nobody's watching. Fuck like everyone is."

Oh, no she didn't! I turned to her. "There went the last little piece of my heart, Jessica."

She air-smooched me.

Red-faced Rebecca screwed her eyes shut, but everyone was laughing. Natalie had to hold her stomach; even Aleks chuckled.

Maxim laughed, telling me, "Like I said, colorful."

Rebecca pointed at her. "We will talk later."