into another expression she was not expecting. He smiled. A full smile that revealed white teeth and that dimple, deliciously deep, at the side of his beautifully sculpted lips.
Jude offered his hand to Andrey.
Andrey stared at the offered hand, then turned to gape at Ellina. She sensed Pasha’s equally stunned look, even as her eyes remained locked on Jude. She was sure her own expression matched theirs.
She waited for him to deny it, even though his smile didn’t indicate he planned to contradict her preposterous claim.
“Well, well. A boyfriend.” Pasha tilted his head, so his paleness blocked her view of the still smiling Jude.
Not that the image wasn’t ingrained on her mind. That smile. Wow. The smile was almost as overwhelming as the craziness of her lie.
Ellina blinked, forcing her attention on her brother. She managed a smile of her own. “Y-yes. A boyfriend.”
She glanced around Pasha, questioning Jude silently with her eyes.
Jude moved away from the brothers, coming toward her, nothing in his expression answering her wordless question. In fact, he looked totally serene, as if what she’d said was nothing less than the truth.
He stopped beside her, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his large form.
She glanced up at him, and he smiled down at her. God, not the smile again. It was—stunning. Lovely. Sexy. Yeah, they all fit.
She tried to collect her scattered thoughts, centering on his eyes, but they unnerved her just as much. Clearly they were causing her to hallucinate, because she could swear there was actually something akin to possessiveness in their green depths.
Bright green, now, like polished sea glass. A sigh escaped her, and she leaned toward him.
What the hell was she doing? What the hell was Jude doing? How were they going to pull off this stupid lie?
Ellina straightened away from him, determinedly keeping her attention on her brothers’ still bemused looks.
“When did this happen?” Andrey said, stepping closer to the other side of the desk. His perceptive gaze had shifted from surprise to suspicion.
Ellina glanced up at Jude. She wasn’t sure what to say. Okay, this was her fib…but it wasn’t a well-planned one. What did she say? What sounded even remotely believable?
But Jude didn’t even miss a beat, flashing another one of those dazzling smiles at her and then at her brothers.
He had to stop that if he expected her to follow along with this tall tale.
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind.”
Ellina blinked. Oh, he was good; whirlwind would be the most accurate description she could give of their relationship thus far.
“It’s really all very new,” she added.
Ellina could feel Jude looking at her, but she ignored him.
“Where did you meet?” Pasha asked, raising an eyebrow, the movement appearing nothing more than a shift of shadows, and Ellina could tell he didn’t believe this story one iota.
“In the living room,” Ellina answered automatically, then tried not wince at the stupidity of her response.
Okay, leave the story to Jude.
“I don’t think that’s what they meant, darling.” Jude shone another smile down at her.
She blinked again.
Mush. Brain mush.
Which was working in her favor—she was so muddled her demon side didn’t seem to be threatening an appearance.
“We were introduced through Maksim,” Jude said easily, turning his attention back to the twins, which allowed Ellina’s mind to function once again.
Both Andrey and Pasha nodded in that eerie unison that they often had. Again, Ellina got the impression they still didn’t believe a word. But she didn’t think it was her lame response that had them doubting. They were suspicious by nature.
Plus, given Ellina’s track record, why would they believe she had a boyfriend? Then again, why would they care?
Because they were meddlers. Troublemakers. Prankster demons.
And they seemed to live to torment their half-sister.
“I’ve known Maksim for a while,” Jude said. “I’ve been doing some work for him.”
Ellina tried not to react to that. Jude was getting pretty darn close to the truth, and she knew her half-brothers would pry.
“Really. What kind of work?”
Jude didn’t even hesitate. “I worked on the nursery for him. I’m a carpenter.”
Both brothers lifted their heads slightly in acknowledgment like synchronized swimmers surfacing out of the water. But plastered-on smiles weren’t part of their act. Doubt still shadowed their eyes as they studied Jude.
So she was surprised when they nodded again and suddenly lost interest in Jude, turning their full attention back to Ellina.
“Have you talked to Father?” Pasha asked.
Ellina frowned, confused by the shift in conversation. Or maybe it was because she was all too aware of each subtle shift of Jude’s body standing so close to hers.
“No. Why?”
“Daddy is not pleased with you,” Andrey said, toying with the edge of one of her piles of research notes. Ellina reached across the desk and slid the notes away from him. The movement not only protected her valuable, time-intensive research but also created a little distance between herself and Jude.
Her brother raised an eyebrow, but didn’t attempt to touch the stack of papers again. Instead he slipped his fingers casually into the front pockets of his jeans.
“Why? What’s going on with Dad?” Ellina asked, not really sure if she wanted the explanation in front of Jude or if she even wanted to hear it herself. Her father forever had issues with her.
“He’s not pleased with you,” Pasha said, his tone smug.
“In fact, he’s very angry,” Andrey added, his tone matching his twin’s.
“About what?” Ellina said, unmoved by their words and their self-satisfied expressions. They really were like naughty children, enjoying every minute of someone else getting into trouble.
“What do you think?” Pasha said, smiling smugly.
Ellina didn’t have to think too long or hard about that one. He’d been pretty clear in the past on what he thought of several things in her life. But one in particular really bothered him.
“Is he on another kick about my books?”
