“And what?”
“And I’ll bring your father with me!”
“You bastard!”
It took another twenty minutes for the ladies to finish changing into their reception dresses. Gwen just looked bored by it all, never smiling unless she was looking at MacRyrie. It was clear she was doing this for his family and his family alone; the MacRyries were a respectable family of grizzlies.
But Blayne . . . Blayne was in her element. As far as she was concerned, this was a big party and she wanted everyone to have a good time. All those bears, felines, and canines together should lead to lots of fights and snarling, but Blayne had already managed to keep all the factions tolerant enough. The music and liquor would also help, of course. And Vic was sure that Blayne and Mitch Shaw would be able to get a good number of people out on the dance floor.
Vic was there to give Novikov a reprieve now and again from the crowds and all the loud music. They’d go outside the majestic reception hall that had been rented and stand around, talking about Russia and the great steakhouses Vic knew about. They ended up making plans to take a group trip there. A vacation. Something Novikov had started doing more because of Blayne.
If they actually went, Vic hoped they could also stop in Poland so Livy could spend some time with her Kowalski kin.
Vic didn’t know if any of that would be fun, but it would be worth a try.
Blayne suddenly skated through the dancing, partying crowd, pulling a reluctant Livy with her.
“I’m ordering you to take a break,” Blayne said as she shoved Livy into Vic’s lap. “You’ve been working for hours!”
“That’s what you paid me to do, Blayne. To work. At your wedding.”
“You’ve taken a ton of pictures. Just take a break.”
“Malone’s mother is gonna bitch about that.”
“I’ll deal with her. You just”—she wiggled a little—“relax with Vic.” She giggled and skated away, having removed her fifteen-hundred-dollar shoes and replaced them with sparkly white quad skates.
“You know,” Livy said, placing her camera on the table, “I think she actually believes she got us together.”
“Let her believe it. What do we care?”
“I hate seeing her so happy. She just gets perkier.”
“You could shift and attack her again.”
Livy laughed. “I don’t know what it is, dude, but my badger self just wants to maul her.” She cleared her throat. “But this is her wedding day. I will not maul her on her wedding day.”
“That is very big of you.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
She put her arms around his neck, relaxed her head on his shoulder. “I love my camera,” she softly sang.
“I’m glad it’s working for you.”
“Me, too. Oh. By the way . . . Melly’s back in jail.”
“The boyfriend again?”
“No. His wife. There was a fistfight.”
“There’s a wife?”
“I never told you that?”
“No!”
“He’s married. And Melly fucked her parole by hitting his wife in the face. A few times. She’ll be going in for another six months, probably.”
“Maybe you guys should consider getting her some help.”
Livy lifted her head, looked him in the eyes. “Help for what?”
Vic shook his head. “Nothing.”
“By the way, my mother says you’re a bad influence on me.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“Nothing. But because I didn’t track down Chumakov and rip his balls off when he was in town to pick up Melly’s painting, she thinks I’ve gone soft.”
Livy suddenly snapped her head around to glower at the tigress standing a few feet away, impatiently tapping one foot and glaring at Livy. “I’m on break!” Livy bellowed.
“For as much as we’re paying you, skank, you could at least get off your ass and do your goddamn job!”
“You aren’t paying me shit. And if you come at me one more time, I’m going to rip the eyes out of your fucking head!”
Blayne suddenly skated up to Cella’s wedding planning mother and took her arm. “Come on, Barb!”
“But, Blayne, she’s taking advantage of you!”
“There’s a problem with the chocolate room! And you know what will happen if the wild dogs don’t get their chocolate! I need you!”
“Fine!” She pointed a finger at Livy. “You’ve got ten minutes, and then you better get out there and do your goddamn job!”
Livy gave the older woman two middle fingers and added, “Eat me!”
After Blayne and the wedding planner moved away, Livy focused on Vic again and calmly asked, “What was I talking about?”
“How you’re going soft.”
“Right. So I just thought I should warn you that you have my mother very concerned.”
“Should I say something to her?”
“No. I like that she’s tormented. Let her marinate in that for a while. Maybe until her death.”
“Okay, then. Although, you know going soft is a risk when you fall in love.”
“Really? I’ve always thought of love as rage-inducing.”
Vic laughed, kissed Livy’s forehead. “Of course you do.”
“It’s a good thing, though, you’re very calm.”
“It is?”
“Sure. It would be bad if both of us were easily angered.”
“Especially because you’d take me in a fight.”
“Exactly. And then you’d feel nothing but shame.”
Vic wrapped his arms around Livy, held her tight. “For you, Livy . . . I’d endure the shame.”
“That’s good,” she said, nuzzling his jaw. “Because we both know my family will always be there to induce it.”
“Aw, Livy . . . so will mine. But we’ll be able to suffer the shame together.”
“Always you with the romance, Barinov,” she joked. “Always you with the romance.”