AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even I had to admit that while he might be a murdering psychopath, there was an appeal in his darkness. He was all hard angles with the type of cheekbones models starved themselves to achieve. His jawline was sharp and freshly shaven, and with his hair slicked off his face, I could see his dark eyes. I couldn’t tell if they were the darkest blue or just pure black. They were just cold and endless, and when I’d looked into them, I’d shivered.
The power that he exuded made me squirm uncomfortably in my seat. It might have of been better if he were ugly.
“Do you want a glass of champagne?” he asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“I’m not old enough to drink,” I reminded him, shaking my head to decline.
“I won’t tell.” He poured me a glass, ignoring my protests.
I took tit without complaint. My parents never let me have alcohol. It was unsightly for a young woman to drink. I was supposed to be prim and proper.
But I reminded myself that what my parents thought no longer mattered.
“To partnership,” he said, raising his glass to mine. I grimaced at the words. They reminded me of what our marriage truly was– a way for powerful men to become more powerful at my expense.
“Come on, Sasha,” he ordered when I refused to toast. “Cheers your new husband.”
I grimaced at his command but once more refused to fight. Something inside me felt compelled to give in to him.
I blamed my upbringing.
“To partnership,” I said, gritting the words through clenched teeth. The clink of his glass against mine felt like the final nail in my future's coffin, so I downed the glass and asked for another.
***
Dominic ignored me for the remainder of the limo ride. He ignored me as we walked into our reception. He ignored me through dinner.
Well, in fairness, he may not have been ignoring me throughout our reception. Every time either of us took a sip of a drink or a bite of food, someone came over to offer felicitations and introduce themselves.
Blanchi men kissed my cheeks, and their wives and daughters commented on my beauty. Petrov men congratulated Dominic on his luck, and the women flirted and batted their eyes.
The spectacle made me nauseous.
“What time is it?” I asked Dominic over the rim of my water glass. My face hurt from maintaining my smile all night, and my head ached. All I wanted was to take this horrid dress off and go to bed.
“Eager to go upstairs so soon?” Dominic’s tone was lewd and suggestive, and it made my stomach turn. I hadn’t thought much about what came after the reception.
“Not exactly,” I told him, honestly.
Throughout the night, I snuck peeks at my new husband. Even in the crappy blue uplighting my mother insisted on having for the reception, he stood out. Dominic wasn’t just handsome; he was drop-dead gorgeous. But that didn’t mean that I wanted to sleep with him.
“How much longer?” I groaned as another cousin came to introduce themselves.
“Go away,” Dominic barked to the interloper, and I jumped at the tone. My handsome new husband barked orders all night, and his behavior put me on even more edge as I thought about how he would treat me.
My father was Pakhan, but he always treated people with respect.
Dominic always seemed to be yelling.
It wasn’t something I was fond of or used to.
“You don’t need to speak like that to people,” I told him as the pounding in my head intensified.
“I’ll speak to anyone whichever way I choose.”
I released a heavy sigh as I massaged my temples. “I’m just saying that you might get more with honey rather than vinegar.” Maybe, I needed to try a softer approach myself.
Growing up as the only daughter of a mob boss, I learned how to deal with difficult men at a young age. I watched my mother bite her tongue her entire marriage, and she often told me that that was the way to deal with a powerful man. A good wife let him have his way. But I was not my mother, and holding my tongue was not my strong suit.
