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“No, it needs to be said.” She flashed me a stern glare. “I don’t know if you believed what Uncle Misha said about an end to the feud, but if what you say is true, then you know as well as I do this marriage won’t be the end of it. I know that if I were sold to the man who murdered you, I would not rest until a knife was buried in his back.”
“I’m aware of that, Alya.”
“I already watched Father be lowered into the ground,” she said. “I don’t want to see that happen to you too.”
“Alya,” I started, but she lifted a hand to stop me. The fierce curl of iron in her eyes kept me from wanting to tease her.
“Promise me, Alyosha!”
“All right,malyshka.” I sighed and gave her shoulder another soft squeeze. “I promise not to let my guard down.”
“You better not.” Her eyes flashed angrily. She threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “I can’t lose you, Alyosha. You know that.”
I hugged her back. “I’m not going anywhere,malyshka.”
Alya released me and left shortly after, leaving me alone to my thoughts. She was right though. If Elia Tarallo was anything like my own baby sister, then nothing would bring her greater pleasure than to bury a knife in my back.
There must be some sort of plan in the works. And I needed to figure that out before it had a chance to cost me my life. That, and I needed to ensure that my uncle wouldn’t just steal what was rightfully mine. Father and I had our differences. That much was true. But his position, his legacy, and his title of Pakhan belonged tome.He wouldneverhave wanted Uncle Misha to take over.
Of that, I was one-hundred-percent certain.
Chapter Six
Elia
“I can’t do this,” I muttered as the manicurist fussed over my nails while the hairdresser was busy applying seemingly every hair product in the universe to tame my hair into the perfect shape that would please my future husband. I was thankful that at least the makeup had already been done, so I could finally speak. The engagement ring that had been forced onto my finger last night at the conclusion of the announcement party felt like an anchor dragging me down to the depths of my own despair.
“What was that?” Lana asked in the chair next to me. She was the only person in my half of the bridal party that I actually knew. The other bridesmaids stayed silent the entire time, and part of them suspected that they were here to keep tabs on me in case I tried to back out.
I didn’t think I could feel more dread if I was headed to my own execution.
What’s the difference?I thought bitterly. The engagement party had been a shitshow of the highest order. Everything from the surprise second marriage announcement made by Aleksey’s uncle to the way the two of us tried to crush each other’s fingers.
And how he made me feel…a shameful voice purred at the back of my head. I closed my eyes.
Ever since that night outside the bar, Aleksey Korolev had been haunting my dreams. I hated it. It wasn’t his display of violence that rattled me. It was the way he teased me intowantingto kiss him, the words he had spoken to me and then just walked away, that bothered me.
When his fingers found mine…My body had reacted like I would always be at his beck and call.
The verythoughtof Aleksey sent another shameful warmth surging between my legs. I was torn between nightmares and dreams when I recalled his brutal gaze and steely grip. I hated this duality…I couldn’t stand knowing that a part of mewantedto find out what it’d be like to let him use me.
To let him carve valleys of pleasure between my thighs and leave me aching.
I wanted him to think about what he had done to my brother. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t just going to marry him because my father said so. That he would have to come clear across the world to find me again. I wanted to disappear so that both he and my father would lose this round.
Because I was tired of them winning.
“All right, you need to tell me what happened.”
I opened my eyes and blinked. “Huh?”
I hadn’t even realized that the two of us were alone. The other bridesmaids were gone. The manicurist was gone. And even the hairdresser was gone.When did this happen?Lana looked at me expectantly, her eyes searching mine for an answer.
“Elia,” Lana said. “You’re my best friend, and I know when something is bothering you. Now, I get that you don’t want to marry Aleksey for very obvious reasons. But this…something else is going on. What are you not telling me?”
I leaned back against my chair. She was right. I couldn’t keep hiding things anymore. Not from her.
With a shuddering breath, I admitted, “I saw Aleksey.”
