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“Victor will walk you down the aisle.” Sergei gestured as another one of his men approached us.
He was just as fierce-looking as my soon-to-be-husband, but his hair was cropped much more closely to his scalp. Instead of a beard, he had a trimmed goatee that gave him a harsh appearance, but his brown eyes still held a respectful warmth. He offered his arm, and I hesitantly took it.
Sergei took his place at the alter while Victor led me to the back of the church. The musical notes of the organ started up again and I took a deep breath, tearing up a little that the song I had chosen was finally playing like it should have hours ago.
Sergei’s men filed inside and took their seats towards the front of the church. A few of them stood back to guard the doors. By the time all of them were seated, there were nearly fifty men gazing back at me from the pews. I noted that not even one peered at me with malicious malcontent, and they seemed supportive out of their loyalty to the man I was about to marry. I met his eyes once more, feeling a bit better about the unknown of all of this.
This man had brought an army with him to protect me, and all I needed to do was offer him my hand in marriage.
“Let me smooth out your dress for you, Miss Natasha,” Victor said, bowing his head respectfully.
I smiled and nodded, a bit surprised that a man like him would think of something like that. He knelt down around me, pulling on the bottom hem and ensuring that every wrinkle was ironed out. He took the train and gently spread it out behind me. When he was done, he stood in front of me and looked me up and down. There was no leering of any kind, and I felt instantly more comfortable the longer he stood by me.
“There. Perfect.” He grinned. He moved to my side and offered his arm. I took it and turned back to the aisle, taking a deep breath and swallowing hard.
I was about to marry a perfect stranger. I knew nothing about him other than his name. The thing that surprised me the most was that I wasn’t afraid, even though I was surrounded by an army of Russian soldiers. Shouldn’t I be?
I pulled my shoulders back as the song slowed down and the musical notes of “Here Comes the Bride” began to play. The acoustics of the church were flawless, each beat of the music bouncing off the walls and the ceiling to provide an all-encompassing sense of love.
I could do this.
I took my first step towards the future, not knowing what this evening would bring, let alone tomorrow. Truthfully, that didn’t matter at the moment. Right now, the only thing that did was the warmth in his eyes that drew me towards him. Even though we’d only just met, there was a gravitational pull between us that I couldn’t deny, or even ignore.
For the first time, I allowed myself to hope.
Sergei’s men surrounded me, like a battalion of soldiers stationed on the battlefield, all there to keep me safe from Robert’s deceit. I knew marriage wouldn’t be easy. There would be happy and sad times, arguments, smiles, and everything in between.
In that moment, though, it all felt right.
My feet carried me forward. My heels clicked against the beautiful wooden floor, but the music of the organ was loud enough to mask it. Before I knew it, I’d reached the alter. Sergei held out his hand, offering his support as I stepped up to meet him. He didn’t let go of me as I turned to face him. He smiled, keeping his focus centered fully on me. His hand squeezed mine.
“You look beautiful,moya malyshka.”
“What does that mean?” I asked tentatively.
“It’s Russian for my babygirl,” he whispered, and my heart swelled, filling with emotion from God knows where. My cheeks heated, and I looked down at the floor, hoping to cover up the fact that the sweet term had made me blush. Eventually, I braved a look up at him, catching his caring smile, and my heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second. When it started up again, I pulled in a shaky breath.
He was devilishly handsome in the roughest sort of way.
“You’ll take care of me?” I asked.
“Forever and for always,” he answered, sincerity bleeding from his every pore.
I swallowed hard and nodded once.
Beside us, the priest cleared his throat. “Shall I begin?” he asked.
Sergei didn’t answer, turning to me instead. He was letting me take the lead on this, which felt infinitely more special than anything Robert had ever done for me.
“Yes,” I nodded, feeling that maybe things were supposed to turn out this way.
My heart pounded in my chest as the priest began the vows. This was really happening. Every second was bringing me closer to actually marrying this man, a perfect stranger, and the thing that surprised me the most was that I wanted to.
I took a deep breath and the priest continued.
“Do you, Sergei Reznikov, take Natasha Page, to be your lawfully wedded wide, to cherish and love and protect for the rest of your life?”
Sergei’s steely gaze held mine and it didn’t waver for even a moment. “I do,” he vowed.
