Seven

Valeria'S POV

It took quite a while for me to regain my composure. Dimitri had done this on purpose. He knew that the appearance of Sasha would shake me up. The girl looked like she belonged on a runway as a model, instead of at an office. His eyes lit up with excitement the longer I remained silent. He shifted in his seat, leaning forward and keeping those grey eyes trained on me. He did not even have the decency to pretend that this was not another one of his manipulative moves.

With some effort, I turned back to Sasha. She still held on to her smile, but it had gotten strained, and there was a puzzled frown on her face as she wondered why I wasn't responding. I didn't think I would ever get used to the sight of her.

Now, I summoned up all my willpower, reminded myself of Ivy's counsel that I shouldn't let Dimitri affect me so much, and forced a smile for Sasha. She relaxed a little.

I shook her hand, still held on to my strained smile which I could feel slipping every second. Sa