AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What the hell does he think I am? What the hell does he think this is?I give Yuri the coldest look I can possibly conjure, and to my relief, he seems to read the room immediately. He nods once, and dismisses himself, locking the front door behind him.
“Come,” says Aleks, as though he is merely the generous host of this house. He pulls out a chair at the kitchen table. “Sit. You need to eat so you can take your pain medication.”
“Aleks.”
“Hm?” He’s pouring me a cup of coffee, which he fixes—to my surprise—just how I like it. When did I tell him that? Or is it just one of those things he observed on his own?This damn man. The more I hate him, the more he manages to make me want to love him.“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
So, he’s really going to play it like that, hm? I’m shaking, and starving, and in pain, so I do sit. And when he hands me the coffee, I can’t help but be grateful for it, wrapping my hands around the warm, comforting sides of the mug.
Where to begin? With the marriage contract I didn’t agree to, or the woman who just kissed him in my kitchen, and cursed at me in Russian? “Tell me…” I hesitate. But what the hell? There’s no hiding from this anymore. There are no more illusions. “Tell me you didn’t move forward with the marriage without me.”
“I can’t tell you that. I don’t mean to lie to you.” He pulls a plate of food from my microwave: eggs, bacon, toast. When did he have time to make this, or did he? Did he have someone else do it? This is so strange, all of this—I feel like I’m in some kind of bizarre dream, some kind ofTwilight Zoneworld. “I did move forward with it. As you know, I have friends. Connections. And the money to purchase such things. In this state, and in Russia, we are now officially recognized as husband and wife.”
Impossible.I don’t even know which emotion to feel first—they all come bubbling up inside of me. Fear, rage, a strange and warped sense of safety; affection. Relief. Horror.
I know I sound stupid when I say it, but I can’t help myself: “You didn’t even ask me.”
“I didn’t need to. I know how you feel about the entire arrangement.”
I stare at him. I can still smell Marya in the room; her expensive perfume, lingering like a secret. “And her? Who is she?”
His eyes narrow slightly in annoyance. “No one. She doesn’t matter.”
“She’s not no one. She’s a marriage prospect.”
“She was.” He drums his fingers on the edge of the table, as though impatient with me. “But now I am married. She can no longer be a marriage prospect—no one can be. That’s really rather the point.”
My face heats. I’m married. I’mmarried?And I didn’t even consent. “What about…like, my signature? I didn’t sign anything.”
Again, he gives me a cool look, this one tinged with pity in a way that makes my flush deepen. I can’t even bear it. I have to look away, shamed. “Do you really think I can’t have such things taken care of? I told you I would, and I did. I don’t need your consent. I don’t need your signature. Indeed, the proceedings have already been filed for your last name to be changed.”
“What?” I shake my head. “But…”
“But nothing. It’s real. It needs to look and feel real. From now on, pursuing you, hurting you, blackmailing you—evendiscussingsuch things will carry a far different weight than they did yesterday. I’m sure you heard our conversation. It is so. Konstantin will no doubt continue his hunt. He’ll want to see this vendetta satisfied if it costs him his life—and it will. But the others, his subordinates, and allies, they will see this for the losing battle that it has become.”
I’d be lying if I said this didn’t give me at least some comfort. But at what cost? I’m now a wife. A wife to a man that, yes, I once loved—but also a man I fear. A man I walked away from. A dangerous, treacherous criminal, from a dark world I don’t even know the half of.
“There’s more,” he continues. “Your mother and son have been moved to a secure location.”
Tears burst into my eyes. I stand so suddenly that I knock my chair back. It falls with a clatter to the kitchen floor. “You had no right.” My voice is low. Almost a growl. “You had no fucking right to move them without consulting me first, I didn’t even get to saygoodbye—”
“And you won’t need to. It isn’t goodbye.”
Aleks watches me. There’s an interest in his expression that strikes me—like I’ve finally done or said something unexpected, and he’s genuinely curious to see where it leads, to see what I’ll do next.I’mnot even sure what I’ll do next. All I know is that I’m angry. Angrier than I have been in a long time, and tired, and in pain. And for some petty, childish reason—I can’t stop thinking about that woman, Marya. And her lips on his.
He’s hardly my man,I think bitterly.Just because we’re sleeping together. Just because we’re getting married—or…already married.Husband. Wife. Heat floods my face as I look at him anew.My husband.No. It’s too surreal. It can’t be real.
“Where are they?” I demand, gripping the edge of the table and looking at him hard. “My mom. Adam. Where did you send them?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“Where,Aleks?” I feel like I’m frayed down to the bone, like I’m walking a very, very narrow line. And I have no idea what’s going to happen when I cross it. “Tell me—”
“No. That isn’t pertinent information.” He raises his voice to speak over my protests. “But I’ll tell you what is. The timeline.”
“The timeline?”
“Yes. With your family out of the way and Konstantin’s first real move made, and with you now legally my wife—there are fewer precautions needed. I am going to find him, now, and I am going to kill him.”
