Ken looked at Dominic, eyeing him up and down like he was his next meal. “And who might this handsome man be?”
“This is her brother Dominic.” Maria smiled, probably a bit to happily, at what was happening.
“Nice to meet you, Dominic.” Ken winked before quickly looking at Kat. “And you are gorgeous. Spin for me, honey, let me take a look at you.”
Slowly, she spun for him, feeling a bit awkward as she did so.
“Maria, you take her to the dressing room to get her undressed while I go pull some dresses.” His eyes moved back to Dom. “And you, handsome, can go take a seat in the sitting area.”
“Thanks.” Dominic politely smiled at him as they went to do as ordered.
When they entered the dressing room area in the back, there was a huge, lavish velvet couch for them to sit on while she tried on the dresses.
“May I offer you some champagne?” a woman in a tight black dress offered, carrying in three glasses of it.
Dominic quickly took a glass, downing the contents in a second, clearly looking like he needed it before he graciously handed a glass to Maria and then taking the last one for himself. Clearly afraid of looking greedy, he started to explain himself. “She’s not old enough to drink.”
The woman looked a bit mortified, taking another glance at Kat since she was the one needing a dress.
“But not too young to get married,” he told her.
Gotta love America.
“Okay, now you go in here.” Maria opened the door to the dressing room with her champagne in hand. “And put that robe on, and Ken will be in here in a minute.”
“And how exactly do you know that… and Ken?” she asked, feeling like she was probably asking a dumb fucking question.
“Because I used to come in here all the time to try on dresses for fun,” Maria answered just as stupidly as she had thought.
“Right… okay.” Going into the dressing room, she quickly undressed out of her black clothes, placing them in the chair and throwing on the white robe like she was told.
God, what am I doing?!
She wasn’t in there long enough to regret her decision before Ken entered with a handful of dresses and had her in one in just a few minutes.
When she came back out of the dressing room, Maria’s eyes lit up as she stepped up onto a pedestal.
As she took that first look at herself in the mirror, Katarina felt… strange. The expensive white dress was stunning, but it didn’t feel like her. “Hmm.”
The light in Maria’s eyes dimmed when she didn’t seem to like it and became more critical of it herself.
Dominic gave it a hard stare, then shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
They went back into the dressing room to put on another gown and doing the whole thing over again only to come out to feel even less like herself when she looked at her reflection.
“No,” Dominic stated, taking another sip of champagne.
Ken’s mouth dropped open in apparent offense at how no one was taking a second look at the couture dresses he had pulled.
Not wanting to waste Ken’s time any longer, she wanted the fake fairytale to end. “The dress I have is fine, Maria.”
Seeing her distress, Maria stood, coming closer to her to talk. “What’s wrong?”
“They’re beautiful, but—” She halted, then looked back at herself in the mirror. “This just… isn’t me.”
“Go back in there and get this thing off,” Maria ordered her after it looked like a lightbulb had gone off in her head. “I’ll be right back.”
They went back into the room, where Ken helped her out of the dress, and when Maria entered, this time with a much different dress both Kat’s and Ken’s jaws dropped.
When she put the dress on and came out of the room, she didn’t even have to look in the mirror to know it was the one.
“It’s perfect,” the blonde whispered in awe.
Now, as she looked at her brother, Kat would have sworn she saw his eyes turn a bit glossy for just a moment right before he blinked it away. He was only able to manage one word. “Wow.”
Thirteen
A Mission to Get Every Man in Kansas City Murdered
Kat couldn’t have heard the price correctly as they stood at the register with the dress. “Excuse me, what?”
Maria dipped into her purse. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a gift from—”
“The Carusos,” a dark voice spoke behind them before he slid a black card onto the desk.
Oh no. “I really can’t accept—”
“It’s okay, Kat.” Dominic pulled her closer to him by throwing an arm over her shoulder. “It’s the least they could do.”
The next few minutes were unbearably awkward while the dress was being paid for and she was told to return in a week to pick it up after the alterations were finished.