AllFreeNovel
Share Us
—M
I throw the card down on the counter and hold up the dress. Much as I don’t want to admit it, it’s beautiful.
Draping the dress over my shoulders, I lean my weight into the counter. It takes me a moment to realize I’m laughing uncontrollably now. I feel crazy in a way.What the hell is even happening?This has to be some kind of culture shock. Why am I doing everything a man says and acting at his beck and call?
* * *
A couple of hours later, Dimitri arrives to pick me up just like Mikhail said he would at eight on the dot. He opens the passenger door for me, and I get in the car. I glare at him as he closes the door and gets in on the other side.
Dimitri starts the engine and shifts the car into drive. “You look nice, Sloane,” he says.
My head turns toward him. “Thank you,” I tell him.
“So ... Mikhail told you to ... you know, to wear your hair up.” He stumbles on his words, and a small smile forms in the corner of his lips.
I glare at him. “I don’t have to do everything he tells me to do.”
He shifts in his seat and clears his throat. “I see why he likes you.”
“That’s what you call it?”
“That’s exactly what I call it. I’ve never seen him act this way before.”
I scoff. “You say that as if it’s a compliment.”
“It should be.”
I ignore him. My mind is already mush right now—I don’t need to think about this situation any more. The more I think about it, the more confused I get, which doesn’t even seem possible.
Eventually, we pull up to the side of the road. A man opens my door instantly, and I step out. Orange lights beam through the black-tinted windows of the skyscraper.
I walk toward the entrance, but I stop in my tracks once my eyes find Mikhail. He stands there in a black suit with a white shirt underneath. He looks so handsome in anything he’s wearing, but especially this. I shake my head as I walk up to him. He watches me through his brows as his fingers adjust the cufflinks on his suit jacket.
“Your hair is down,” he says.
I cross my arms over my chest and smile at him. His note asked—no,told—me to wear my hair up, so I did the opposite. “It is,” I say.
“Good,” he admits with a smile as his arm reaches around the small of my back. “I knew you’d do the opposite of what I said.”
“What—?” I begin, but I’m interrupted by him.
“Let’s get a drink.”
I walk with him inside and head toward a bar in the corner of the room. There aren’t many people in here. Those walking in through the main doors all make their way to the elevator.
Mikhail pulls out a bar stool for me, and I take it reluctantly.
“What am I doing here?” I ask.
He orders a drink before directing his attention back to me. Then he reaches into his suit jacket pocket and pulls out a velvet box. “You’re my wife for tonight,” he says, grabbing my hand and pulling it toward him.
He attempts to put a ring on my finger. I try to pull away, and he just smiles.
“I am not.”
“Tell you what, Sloane, you’ve got a few more months with me, give or take. Do this for me, and I might let you go for good behavior.”
“Forgood behavior?” I mock him. “Why should I believe you’d ever let me go after you threatened me?”
