Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal Book 2) by Bethany-Kris, London Miller Page B

formal.”
    “For someone I don’t know—not likely.”
    Maya rolled her eyes and waved a hand like she was dismissing Viktoria. “Don’t mind her attitude; it’s not noon yet, which means she shouldn’t be out of bed.”
    Viktoria smiled serenely. “Yet here I am.”
    “And why is that?” Maya asked.
    “Kon came over saying someone was in town—figured I should come and say hello.”
    “Why?” Violet asked before she could stop herself or think better of it.
    Maybe it was the fact she didn’t get particularly nice vibes from Viktoria, or it could just be that she didn’t know the woman all that well. Still, the girl was a sort of beautiful that had an almost cold quality to it. Right from the platinum of her hair to the iciness of her blue gaze. So Violet was left wondering how this woman knew Kaz at all, and why she felt like she had to come over as soon as he was in town just to say hello.
    Viktoria turned her sights on Violet. “Why, what?”
    Violet’s upbringing made it difficult for her to be put in any sort of situation with confrontation. She had been taught to sit down, be pretty, and stay quiet. There was no need for her to go causing trouble when there were enough people who would do that for her.
    “Why come over?”
    Viktoria shrugged. “Old friends—it’s the right thing to do. And Kaz is always causing … some sort of ruckus. I enjoy the entertainment.”
    Maya pursed her lips, eyeing her sister-in-law from the side. “Cut it out, Vik.”
    Violet didn’t like the sound of that, either.
    Viktoria acted like she hadn’t heard Maya at all. “And it seems, this time, he’s really gotten himself mixed up in something fun. My brother—Kon—he talks. Maybe too much.”
    Stiffening, Violet asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    The girl smiled in that cool, unbothered way of hers. “Welcome to Chicago, Violet Gallucci. I certainly hope you’re worth the trouble you’re about to cause.”

 
    Kaz didn’t know what to expect when he came down from the roof with Konstantin and Kolya trailing, but it definitely wasn’t the girls sitting around the island. Maya was at the front door, collecting the delivery bags from the man standing on the other side.
    Like any good guard dog, Kolya broke away from them to help his wife—if help meant scowl at the man who was merely trying to get her to sign the receipt.
    When he reached Violet’s side, he scanned her face even as he dropped his hand to the small of her back. While she might not have looked upset, he knew Violet had a way of hiding what she was thinking from him. She did offer a smile, no matter how fleeting, before her attention returned to their guests.
    Kaz also didn’t miss Viktoria glaring at him from out of the corner of his eye.
    Most people mistook her surly disposition for being a bitch, but Kaz was one of the few who knew her well enough to know it was all a part of the wall she put up to keep people away—not to mention all the shit that happened sixteen months ago between her and her then boyfriend.
    One of the few times no one tried to call Kolya off someone.
    Beneath his touch, he could feel Violet stiffen, and when his eyes snapped back to her, she was looking back and forth between the pair of them, a thinly veiled accusation in her expression.
    Bending slightly so he was at her ear, Kaz said, “It was never like that.”
    “Not even once?” she asked in return.
    “You don’t stick your dick in a boss’ daughter,” Kaz said then added, “at least not a Russian one.”
    Rolling her eyes, she shoved him, looking back at Maya, who was grabbing plates from a cabinet. Konstantin took the seat next to his sister, but it wasn’t as innocent as he tried to portray, not when he hadn’t lost his smile.
    “So … is someone going to address the Italian elephant in the room, or nah?” he asked, glancing at each of them in turn.
    When Kaz leveled a look at him, he ignored it.
    But Violet sat up a little