was terribly aware of him, felt a need to fill the silence. But he was staring out of the window, his expression unreadable, and Lavinia was filled with a sudden urge to tell him she knew who he was, to drop the pretence and find out the truth.
The drive took a good thirty minutes, and was one Zakahr had made a few times in the past months as he had slowly infiltrated Kolovsky. Each time heâd left Australia his heart had blackened a touch further at realising just how lavishly his family had lived all these years while leaving him to fend for himself.
âItâs just coming upâ¦â
Zakahr frowned as Lavinia interrupted his dark thoughts.
âWhere Aleksiâs accident happenedâ¦â
There wasnât much to show for itâthe tree that had crumpled his car simply wore a large pale scarâbut it did move Zakahr.
A troubled Aleksi had been trying to halt Zakahr in leaving after his speech at the charity ball, unsure as to his own motives, not even realising that the businessman he was dealing with was actually his brother. Somethinghad propelled him to race to the airport in the middle of the night with near fatal consequences. Though little moved Zakahr, Aleksiâs plight had. At seven years old Aleksi had uncovered the fact that he had not just one but two brothers in Russia, and he had confronted his father with the truth. Ivan had beaten him badly enough to ensure that it was forgotten. Only the truth had slowly been revealed.
Out of all of them, Aleksi was the only Kolovsky he had any time for.
âHave you known him long?â Lavinia fished, but Zakahr didnât answer. âI was surprised Iosef wasnât his best manâ¦â Lavinia tried harder ââ¦given theyâre twins.â
He was, Lavinia decided, the most impossible manâcompletely at ease with silence, with not explaining himself. He didnât even attempt an evasive answerâhe just refused any sort of response.
âFive minutes, Lavinia,â Eddie the driver warned her and, sick of her new bossâs silence, Lavinia opened the partition and asked after Eddieâs daughter as she pulled out her make-up bag.
âSix weeks to go!â Eddie said.
âAre you excited?â Lavinia asked, and then glanced over to Zakahr. âEddieâs about to become a grandfather.â
It could not interest Zakahr less, and his extremely brief nod should have made that clear, but Lavinia and Eddie carried on chatting.
âI canât stop my wife shoppingâweâve got a room full of pink!â
âSo itâs a girl!â
Lavinia seemed delighted, and Zakahr watched as she snapped into actionâtouching up her make-up and combing her long blonde hair.
She could feel him watching her, sensed his irritation, and her blue eyes jerked up from the mirror. âWhat?â
He shrugged and looked away before he answered. âI donât like vanity.â
âIâd suggest that you do !â
âPardon?â
âYouâve dated enough vain women,â Lavinia pointed out. âAccording to my impeccable sources.â
âFive-dollar magazines?â Zakahr was derisive, but still he was intrigued. Lavinia wasnât remotely unnerved by him, and it was surprisingly refreshing. âAre you always this rude to your boss?â
â Was I rude?â Lavinia thought about it for a moment. âThen, yes, I suppose I am. You wouldnât last five minutes in this place otherwise.â She was annoyed nowâhe just didnât get it. âAnd it has nothing to do with my being vainâthis isnât me !â Lavinia said. âThis is me at work. Do you really think the Princess wants someone greeting her in jeans with oily hair?â She was on a roll now! âAnd another thingâwhile by your calculations I was five minutes late, I was actually fifty-five minutes early . Most people start work at nine. And because work