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“Thank you for having me this evening.” I forced a tight-lipped smile, thinking I’d rather be anywhere but here.
“Anastacia will be joining us soon.” There it was again, that tension.
“Leave her be, Victor. She’ll join us when she’s ready.” My father raised his brow at his old friend to which Victor replied with a soft nod.
Did the pretty princess have cold feet?
If she couldn’t handle it, then why not back out? Why go through with it?
Victor Fedorov… that was why.
I guess she would never want to bring shame to the door of her family. She was a woman who put her family before herself might not be as easy to push around as I’d originally thought. But then again, she hadn’t met me yet.
“So, Lorenzo, are you ready for your father to step down?” Victor topped up my glass with what tasted and smelt like his expensive stash of bourbon.
“I’ve been ready for a while; it’s your daughter I’ve been waiting for.” I raised my glass to meet his, and his expression changed.
I refused to stand here and make him like me. I couldn’t give a flying fuck if Victor hated me after tonight. He’d bound his daughter’s life to mine the day he signed on the dotted line.
“Ah, yes… my daughter is one of the reasons your father is allowing you to take over, isn’t it?” His smirk said a thousand words.
Touché, Victor, touché.
I was about to think up some smart-ass remark when the sound of heels clicking across the marble stopped me just as it did everyone else.
Fuck me.
As I watched this fucking goddess round the bend of the stairs, revealing herself to me, I almost choked on a mouthful of bourbon. She descended to where we were all waiting, holding her headhigh. Sheplaced her delicate hand on the handrail to her right. As she peered up through the never-ending lashes that surrounded her translucent blue eyes, our gazes locked—if only for a second. There was no way I could deny just how incredibly beautiful she was, I was a man after all, and we all had needs and mine were what she would soon fulfil. Watching her was like watching a movie in slow motion, the room around us seemed to slow down a little with every step she took towards her father who couldn’t hide his smile. The dress she wore was obviously made for her as it molded around her petite frame and clung around her breasts, leaving little to my imagination. She was just as powerful as her father but in a completely different way. Now, I understood why men said she would bring them to their knees with her presence alone.
She neared the final step as she flashed Victor a smile that lit up the fucking room. If she were having cold feet, there was no way you’d be able to tell. Her poker face could be better than mine.
Oh, shit.
Before she took her father’s hand, I vowed to myself that no matter how stunning and well raised Anastacia was, I would never let myself fall in love with her. Maybe I’ll allow her to provide me with an heir, because we all need someone that we can pass our inheritance to. My life was too complicated, too busy to have someone like her become a distraction. Looking at her, I could tell we were at different ends of the scale. You could tell her heart was pure, like she could hold the weight of the world on her shoulders and still wear that brilliant smile. As for me, well, I no longer had a heart, and even if I did, it wouldn’t be as pure as hers; it wouldn’t beat for anyone else other than myself.
I was too lost in my own thoughts to even notice she had come to a standstill in front of me. The subtle but sweet smell of her perfume that brought me back to the present.
“Lorenzo, this is my daughter, Anastacia.” Victor placed his hand on the small of her back as she smiled up at me once more; it wasn’t as genuine as the one she had given her father just moments ago, but it was a smile, nonetheless. “Anastacia, this is Lorenzo.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lorenzo.” Her voice was almost angelic. Maybe molding her into the wife I want will be easier than I originally thought.
“Likewise, Ana.” The scowl on her face appeared almost immediately. Something told me she didn’t like outsiders calling her anything other than Anastacia.Did I care? Of course, I fucking didn’t.
Her once bright eyes had darkened as she narrowed them closer than what her father did moments earlier.
“Anastacia, why don’t you show Lorenzo around the garden while we go and check on dinner?” Victor smiled at the pair of us.
“I’d rather not, Papa.” It was then that Victor gave Anastacia the look of all looks. Theyou will do as I’ve askedlook.
“Yes, Ana, why don’t you show me around the garden that your mother has told me so much about.” I smirked as she scowled even angrier than before.
“Lorenzo, maybe we should take a look after dinner.” She raised one of her perfect brows.
“Then again, it’s nice to get some fresh air before dinner, wouldn’t you agree, Victor?” I went above her to her father, knowing he would follow.
“Flower, it’s just a walk in the garden. What’s the worst that could happen?”Oh, Victor, you have no idea.
“With someone like him, I’m going to say anything could happen.” She turned her back to me. She fucking turned her back to me, is she for real?!
