Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal #2)(61)

It was also the first time Vera had seen the dress as she helped Violet slip into it.

“Huh,” Vera said under her breath, taking a step back to admire the gown with soft eyes.

Violet ran a hand over the skirt of the dress that just began to flare below her hips, but not too drastically that it would put the gown into the mermaid style. It was elegant; the lace hugged her hips and then fell smoothly to the floor.

“What?” Violet asked after Vera quieted.

Vera’s gaze snapped up to meet hers. “It’s a beautiful dress. I’m sure Kaz will love it.”

Violet smiled but didn’t respond.

Kaz enjoying the dress was just about the only thing Violet had cared about when she’d purchased it. No one else’s opinions were important, though she appreciated the compliment from Vera.

“I swore …” Vera trailed off, smile fading just a bit.

“Keep going.”

“I swore you’d go for something pretty—maybe even princess—y.”

Violet smirked. “Something safe?”

Vera tipped her head to the side slightly, not bothering to hide her appreciation in the slightest. “Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought, no? This is …”

She knew exactly what it was.

Violet turned to face the large mirror, her hand coming up to rest at her bare throat. The only jewelry she’d opted to wear for the day were a pair of sparkling, dangling diamond earrings with pearls resting on the ends to match the ropes of pearls on the gown.

“It’s perfect,” Violet said. “How much longer now?”

“Not very long.”





“Have you truly thought this through?” Konstantin asked from his position next to his brother with a tumbler of amber liquid in one hand.

Kaz stood staring at his reflection in the mirror as he arranged his bowtie. Today was the day, and waking up this morning, he had felt the change in the air. The wedding had yet to happen, but he already felt different—more complete almost.

“It’s a little late for that, innit?” The question came from Alfie, who was sitting off to the side, dressed as though attending a proper English wedding. A top hat rested on his knee, and he held a cane with the head of a lion in his hands. “Here we are.”

“But binding yourself to one female for the rest of your life … sounds awful.” And Konstantin did truly look sick at the thought.

“Perhaps you should have voiced these concerns before today,” Rus added. “Let the man enjoy it.”

Kaz was doing just that.

No one was going to ruin this day—not for him or Violet. He had placed extra security measures just to make sure no uninvited guests made an appearance. He had also made sure to have it indoors, just in case.

By the time he finished with his attire, it was nearly time for the ceremony to begin, but before it did, he wanted to make his rounds of the room—make sure he expressed the right amount of gratitude for the people who had chosen to attend.

It was his job, after all.

“Let’s go.”

Kaz was the first to walk out of the room, the others following behind. The distance from the room in which he got ready to the private ballroom he had rented for the day was a short one, and waiting for him outside the double doors was Irina, Maya, and another woman who Kaz had never seen before.

Though he hadn’t spoken to his mother since the day after she found out about the engagement, he wasn’t surprised to find her here. Unlike that day, she had no trace of stress in her features today—she looked rather happy.

Weddings did that to people.

“Look at my boys,” she said with motherly affection, straightening Kaz’s bowtie then smoothing a hand over one of Rus’s lapels. “I couldn’t have asked for better sons.”

Kaz readied to respond, but the woman who had been standing with his mother snared his attention. She looked out of place almost, at least until Rus offered her his hand, and she willingly, and quite happily, accepted it.

“You haven’t met Kira, have you?” Irina asked, smiling fondly. “She’s Ruslan’s date.”

Kaz didn’t bother to try to keep the surprise off his face as he looked at his brother, a silent question in his eyes.

Rus, who didn’t seem bothered in the slightest of the attention now on him, shrugged. “My tastes aren’t singular.”

Kaz wasn’t touching that.

Not even a little.

What his brother chose to do—or rather who he chose to do—was his business.

“Let me walk you to your seat, Mama,” Kaz said offering her his arm.

Once the doors opened, revealing the winter wonderland on the other side, the guests stood. It was only after he walked his mother to the front of the aisle did Kaz go back to make his rounds, making sure he spoke to every single person in the room.

Then he went back to the front of the room, his hands in his pockets, and waited.





“Oh, here let me fix that,” Vera said, batting Violet’s hand away from her face.

Quickly, Vera pinned the birdcage veil back in place properly, bent down to fluff the bottom of Violet’s gown, and then stood straight with a wink.

“Smile, Violet.”

She did, staring beyond Vera to the closed double doors that separated Violet from her present and her future.