Essence was in her home office late in the afternoon once Aisha and Chiti long gone home when the sound of a throat being cleared made her look up in surprise. She’d been so engrossed in reading the scandalous diary of one of Vadim’s great-aunts a bulldozer could have crashed through, and she would have missed it. As she looked up to meet her sister’s gaze, she decided she’d rather the bulldozer.
“Eliska. What are you doing here?”
“Can we talk?”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to be here.” Essence wondered where the hell Piper was. Despite all which went down and even knowing her mother was to blame for a lot of the messes, Eliska made her own choices and decisions as an adult and Essence was hesitant to trust her.
“Iwan cleared it with Vadim.”
“I’m sure,” she folded her hands on her d
