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“I can’t wait,” I said, over-the-moon thrilled now.
My bad mood washed away as the warm breeze caressed my skin. Up to now, I had nothing else to look forward to yet here I was, heading to Saint-Tropez for the first time ever. I was pumped because Sebastian would have to take me to the beach at some point.
Sebastian shook his head at my expression and prompted me to hurry up.
An hour later, we arrived at our hotel that was situated on a low hill right by the coast, overlooking the quaint town and the sea, and what seemed like its own private beach. We checked into our room and I immediately rushed to the balcony. The town itself was small but absolutely stunning we had the most amazing views from our vantage point..
“We have the entire floor to ourselves. There aren’t many guests here—maybe one or two other businessmen,” Sebastian explained once one of his guards, Pedro, brought in our luggage. “The ceremony will take place tomorrow in the small church near the hotel. I made sure no one will disturb us. A woman from a French boutique in town will come and bring you everything you need. Try to get some rest now, Marinka.”
I looked around the room, so taken back by the fact Sebastian was being nice to me.
“Small church? Hmm, that sounds good. I thought you didn’t believe in God,” I pointed out.
I wanted to be alone right then to process everything. He seemed too different, too unpredictable. But I couldn’t forget where I was and who I was truly with.
Just because he’d flown me across the world and held my hand in the plane didn’t mean he wasn’t a monster anymore.
He stood by the door, staring back at me as the sun slowly hid behind the horizon. The day was slowly ending here in France.
“Despite what you might think of me, Marinka, I am religious and I do go to church regularly. Sleep tight, don’t let the bug beds bite.”
He finally left and I stared out at the picturesque view for a while longer.I didn’t expect that answer. I wasn’t into religion much but I felt it was safe to assume that God wasn’t going to forget about all these people he had murdered. Yet, that’s the kind of man he was. Ruthless. And if I tried to escape, he would probably keep me in the cell from then on and not a nice, comfortable room.
I walked over to the bed and collapsed on it, trying to calm my racing thoughts. I wasn’t really sure if he was planning to keep me locked up or not, but for now, I needed to get that out of my head and try to enjoy the moment. Who knew if I’d ever have an opportunity to experience something like this? I couldn’t let fear of the future—or the thought of what I was here for—ruin it all.
Sometime later, dinner was brought to my room and I discovered French food was delicious. After eating alone, I fell asleep when it was still light outside. I hadn’t planned to knock out so early, but the flight must have really tried me out, because I drifted off as soon as my head hit the pillow.
16
Sebastian
I wokeup early and spent the morning speaking to a few of my men about the next shipment that was supposed to come from Italy. Vinny had been silent, but I wasn’t too concerned. Despite the incident with Marinka, I had a feeling things were going to change for me really soon. I still wasn’t entirely convinced we should be making this deal with Italians, but I’d wait to see how things panned out.
The French woman who called herself Madame Boie had already gone to see Marinka. I didn’t want to see her before the ceremony. I wasn’t superstitious but I wanted to make sure she wasn’t planning to look too overdressed. We didn’t want to bring too much attention to ourselves. I kept telling myself that I didn’t really care if she was happy with the dress and everything else. Deep down, I knew it was a lie. This whole wedding did matter because she was going to be my wife and business partner in the foreseeable future.
I had decided I would free her at some point, but not until things settled down and she played her part well.
I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, thinking about my past. The memories from my childhood started piling up again, rising to the forefront. I was frustrated and angry, but I had to calm down. The weather didn’t help. Despite the early hour, the humidity was off the charts. However, for the ceremony, I’d chosen a light blue suit and a white shirt, so I’d be comfortable enough and not end up soaked in sweat inside the church.
I hoped Marinka approved, although I told myself it didn’t matter what she thought. This whole ceremony was only a formality.
“Are we waiting for Miss Shevchenko?” Pedro asked when I got into the car outside the hotel.
“No, Andreas is bringing her. Just take me straight to the church,” I told him. My chest tightened and I wondered why I was so nervous all of a sudden. Like a schoolboy. The air conditioning was on in the Range Rover, yet I felt my shirt sticking to my back.
My wedding with Russina had been very much low key. We only had around ten guests and we got married in Vegas. She came to my room afterwards, tied me to the bed, and gave me the most amazing head. After that, she told me to fuck her until she couldn’t walk. That was only time she’d made that request. Good thing we both liked sex though, and we wanted to use each other. There’d been no emotional attachment between us.
A day later, we got busy dealing with business, so we didn’t have time to dwell too much on what had happened between us.
Russina was strong and fierce—different from Marinka in almost every respect and yet, I never fucking cared about my ex-wife’s body as much as I did about Marinka’s. I couldn’t fucking believe that she was stupid enough to cut herself.
I breathed in some air, trying to shake off the memories. I didn’t even notice we’d already stopped. Pedro parked the car on top of the hill, just outside a small Catholic church.
I’d asked for a local English-speaking priest. Pedro had paid him well. The priest understood not to ask any questions and now, he was waiting for me at the entrance. The man wore a simple green chasuble with gold orphrey, an ornamental stripe, all the way down the middle. He couldn’t have been more than sixty.
“Welcome, Mr. Dimitrei. I hope you are well rested after your travel from the United States,” the priest said, shaking my hands.
“Yes, I am doing great, thank you,” I replied before we walked inside. The church couldn’t have fit more than twenty people inside—more like a chapel—but it had character and charm. I was certain Marinka was going to like it. Despite the circumstances, I wanted to make sure she was pleased with the whole setup.
