Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Poppy
The last place I wanted to be was at a celebration for the rich and famous.
I didn’t want to congratulate the Cristof couple that would be getting married soon, but my mother practically dragged me out of the bed by my hair and told me in not-so-simple terms— You are a Fairchild.
You will be strong like one. You will put on a brave face for the cameras and show the world that we are stronger than this.
This will not break us. They want to scare us; whoever did this, they won’t.
Amelia helped with my hair and applied very little makeup to my face. I just kept crying it off until my mother caught wind of it and smacked me. “Snap out of it!”
I didn’t understand why I needed to show my face at this stupid celebration, but my mother had screeched something about the Cristofs being business partners with the Fairchilds, and in society, if we wanted their support, we would need to give ours.
I didn’t care about society or money or any of this, but I knew that if I wanted to have a peaceful rest of my life… I would appease my mother on this.
The last thing I was expecting was to see Ivan.
Shock rolled through me as I looked him up and down.
His hair was shorter, but still curling around his ears, and he had a little bit of stubble growing on his jaw.
There were dark circles under his eyes, but other than that, he looked even better than he had months ago.
I swallowed thickly as all the sounds came rushing to me.
He squinted at me as if he didn’t recognize me.
He probably didn’t with the big glasses covering half of my face.
They were necessary to hide my bloodshot eyes and the bags under them that accumulated in such a short time.
“Ms. Fairchild,” Alexei, the groom-to-be, turned toward me with a sympathetic smile, which was odd.
I’d known Alexei for a long time, or rather known of him, and there was nothing soft or kind about him.
Much like his older brother Ace. They were ruthless in business and illegal dealings, at least that was what my father said.
He preferred doing business with their father.
“I was so sorry to hear about everything that happened yesterday and a little surprised to see you here today.”
I pushed the sunglasses up on my head and looked at the man with new eyes. Maybe getting married was changing him. “It was… unfortunate, but my mother said we show up for people and that’s what we are here to do.”
My response sounded practiced because it was. It was practically drilled into my head on the drive over. The only thing that was getting me through all of this was having Amelia beside me, but her jaw was almost on the ground as she realized Ivan was here too…
“Have you had the chance to meet my brother, Ivan?” He patted Ivan’s shoulder, and the man shook his head.
“I don’t believe we’ve had the chance to meet, no.”
Excuse me?
I pushed my sunglasses back down my nose and held out my hand for him to shake. His grip was unforgiving and reminded me of how his hands had felt on my breasts. I hated and loved it all at the same time.
“I’m Poppy,” I whispered as Amelia picked her jaw up off of the floor and elbowed me in the ribs. “I must excuse myself, congratulations, Alexei, I can’t wait to meet your bride-to-be.”
Like the coward I was, I fled. I didn’t know where the bathroom was, and I didn’t care.
Any excuse to get as far away from that man as humanly possible.
Was it that bad for him? My first time was that bad for him that he pretended I didn’t exist?
That had to be it, and here I was spiraling about my father, and all I could think about was that night.
At least it was a distraction, something to keep my brain busy from revisiting my father’s dead body.
Amelia was right on my heels as I beelined for the hallway. There had to be a bathroom around here somewhere. “What the hell was that?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t tell her because I didn’t even know. All I could think was that it was awful for him, so he wanted to forget. But also… He was a fucking Cristof?! I’d thought he was a local. I pressed my fingers into my hairline as the spiraling only got worse.
What did any of this mean? Finally, at the end of the long hall was a door to a bathroom. I shoved it open, and Amelia watched me in the mirror with just as tired eyes.
“That hottie from the lodge was a Cristof? How did we miss that?”
I was wondering the same thing. At least Jade would have known, right?
She was here somewhere, so if she didn’t know, she knew now.
I would never escape this, but at least my mother would be happy when the news made it to her.
It would be the highlight of this weekend, finding out that her daughter could potentially lock down one of the Cristofs.
She would try to ensure that I did too. This was a mess— a disaster.
“I don’t know,” I whispered to my hands.
“He must be one of the younger ones. They didn’t go to the same schools as we did because of their older brothers' reputations. They also don’t have many appearances.
I think Griffin was there when Dimitri was sworn in, but I’ve never seen Ivan around.
I only recognize him from the lodge. This is… delicious.”
Delicious was the last word I would use to describe this. That night, on the other hand… It could be described that way, at least to me. But the more I thought about it, and his reaction to me today, I doubted it all. Had I dreamed it all up? Was he even the Ivan from the lodge? What were the odds?
Could this weekend get any worse?