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“In bed by midnight or Cora the Explorer will turn into a pumpkin. Roger that.”
Even when she’s sober as a judge, Jorden is a ten out of ten. She laughs loud, loves loud, lives loud.
Anyone who’s ever worked in the food service industry knows that customers do jaw-dropping things. Married men leave their phone numbers on the receipt; friendly-looking grandpas pinch your ass; their wives hiss that you’re a slut beneath their breaths.
So that’s my predicament in a nutshell: hottest guy I’ve ever seen plus one hell of a wardrobe malfunction. I’m a waitress, not a mathematician, but even I know that that doesn’t add up to anything great.
“Lucky for you, fantasies are what I’m good at.”
Tonight, I want to be the heroine of this story.
“I don’t care about my guests, Francia,” he says simply. “I’m more interested in you.”
Ivan Pushkin always gets what he wants. And right now, for whatever reason, he wants me.
But Ivan Pushkin lives in the gray space like no one I’ve ever known. I can’t make sense of him.
Marriage in Ivan’s world is an exchange, a sacrifice. Life isn’t a fairytale. Every good thing comes at a price. The question is whether I’m willing to pay it.
“This should be fun.”
Being with her feels more right than it should.
In Niles’s hands, no one will question whether Cora belongs here or not. She’ll look made for the role. She’ll look made for me.
“That’s what the wedding ring is for.”
Endless windows and doors and rooms and secrets tucked away in what can only be described as a castle.
Except the man inside is no Prince Charming.
And I’m sure as hell no...
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“Oh my God! I thought this kind of thing could only happen in fairy tales, but you’ve got yourself a real life prince.”
Sure. Prince of darkness, maybe.
One day, I’m going to sit down and tell Jorden everything. The truth.
What would someone like Ivan Pushkin want with someone like me?
“Lev and I are so happy. I want that for you, too,” she said on her wedding day. “Whatever it takes, I want you to be this happy, Ivan.”
Like the villain in a slasher movie coming back to life after you’re certain he’s dead.
Anya is light and warm in the same way Ivan seems to stay shrouded in darkness and mystery. They balance each other out. Two sides of the same coin.
“First rule of surviving in our world, Cora: don’t trust anyone.”
I know what it’s like to be in the shadow of your family with no way out.
We’re alike in that way: I also love the allure of something I’m not supposed to have.
The bride I never asked for. The queen I never saw coming.
It matters to me because I got a hit of Ivan Pushkin. All I want now is more.
She can’t finish the sentence. She doesn’t need to. I know what it was. I also know exactly how dangerous it’s becoming.
I’ve been ruined on all men who are not Ivan Pushkin.
“We were pretending then and we’re pretending now. Nothing has changed.”
Sure, I could have said that Cora is different. That she brings color to the monotone drudgery that is my day-to-day life. That my pulse quickens when she enters a room and when she leaves it. That I fucking dream of her.
This might all be a game for him. But I’m not playing. Not anymore.
But this is no fairytale. I’m no Prince Charming.
In this fairytale, I’m no hero. I’m the monster.
The yearning I have to burn the world down just to see her open her eyes isn’t casual or temporary or fake.
I want to get married to the wrong girl.
“Ivan cares more than anyone knows. More than he shows.” She lays a hand over mine, squeezing gently. “If he reveals even a drop of emotion to you, there’s an ocean of feeling where that came from.”
“Things are already complicated. But this?” I grind into him again, trying not to moan. “This has always made perfect sense.”
I want all of him. The warrior. The protector. The leader. The charmer.
“I always get what I want, Cora. And what I want is you.”
“You were the belle of the ball. There is no way to be discreet when all eyes are on you.”
wherever you’re going, I’m going, too. I won’t let you take off on this adventure alone.”
“if you sacrifice yourself now, when it’s no longer necessary, you aren’t a hero—you’re a coward.”
I think I managed to find my peace. And then I let her walk away.
“One woman’s opportunity is another’s prison,”
“Ivan will never be yours,” I spit. “He is and always has been mine.”
“It’s simple. I want you, Ivan. Marry me and Cora lives. Refuse me and she dies. So what’s it gonna be?”
