AllFreeNovel
Share Us
More tears start to burn the backs of my eyes and I blink them away.
I can’t think about what was promised or what could have been. There isn’t time for that. The only thing that matters is now. And right now, I’m being married off to a lunatic.
A lunatic who will probably keep me under lock and key after we’re married. There won’t be any more need to convince the public of our relationship. Actually, keeping me out of sight will work in his favor. We’ll look like stereotypical newlyweds, too busy between the sheets to come up for air.
The lie makes my stomach turn.
Mostly because it isn’t all false. Konstantin was clear that he thinks I’m past my prime. I’m sure item number one on Mikhail’s to-do list will beme.
My mom opens my door and steps out into the hallway. For just a second, she ducks out of view. I hear her moving something in the hall, probably to make room for the long train of my dress. And that’s when I see it.
The letter opener.
Alexander didn’t take it with him after he knocked it out of my hand earlier. It’s still on the floor, half-hidden by the shadow of my bed.
I don’t think or hesitate. I lunge for it.
By the time my mom reappears in the doorway, her placid smile firmly in place, the letter opener is tucked under the neckline of my dress.
The next time I pull it on Mikhail, there will be no warning. He won’t see it coming.
I hope to God it hurts.
35
CORA
Mikhail and Alexander didn’t use the last hour to get ready the way I did. When my mother and I walk into the sitting room, the two of them and a third man who I can only presume is the minister are lounging on the sofa.
There are no candles or flowers. No attempt to arrange the furniture into an aisle or play some music. Mikhail isn’t even wearing a suit. He’s in a pair of dark wash jeans and a dark gray button-down. I look ridiculously overdressed in comparison.
“Finally,” Alexander mumbles, rising to his feet.
Mikhail follows suit. He keeps a half-step behind my stepfather, but his eyes are glued on me.
I thought taking the time to put on the dress would give me a chance to get out of this. Instead, I’m in even deeper. There is nothing in Mikhail’s eyes that makes me believe I can convince him he shouldn’t touch me tonight. I told him I was getting dressed for the occasion, and now, he has some seriously perverted expectations.
His pale eyes go dark with twisted desire. Finally, he looks away. “Let’s get this over with.”
“The words every bride dreams of hearing on her wedding day,” I mutter.
Alexander grabs my arm and hauls me to the open space in front of the fireplace hearth. A TV hangs on the wall above our heads with an infomercial for kitchen knives on the screen. At least they had the decency to put it on mute.
A few guards linger in the hallway. I hear more patrolling the entryway.
Mikhail steps into place across from me. He reaches for my hands, but I keep them flat at my sides. I won’t run screaming from the room, but I’m not going to hold his hands and pretend this is all hunky-fucking-dory.
“Where is your father?” I ask. Not that I care. The only thing that would make this already gloomy wedding even worse is Konstantin Sokolov’s appearance.
“Probably in bed,” he admits. “He’s more interested in the outcome than the destination. I’ll fill him in later.”
“Okay. We’ve got a bride, a groom, a minister, and witnesses,” Alexander says. He snaps at the third man. “Let’s get on with it.”
The minister is a middle-aged man with dark circles under his eyes and what looks to be a tattoo peeking out of the collar of his neck. He looks like exactly the kind of person who would perform a middle of the night wedding ceremony with an unwilling bride and then hop over to his 4 AM appointment of harvesting black market kidneys.
He opens a book and begins reading. “Welcome. We are gathered here today to join—”
“Move on,” Alexander barks.
