Chapter 17 - Stefano
I grumble inwardly when Darya reminds me that we have the family dinner party thing tonight. It’s some reunion of friends and family she hasn’t seen in a while, and I really do not want to go.
I have never really enjoyed her family events, never really feeling like I belonged. Honestly, the only reason I ever went was to watch Darya. I would stare at her obsessively the entire time, and wonder what it would be like to have her. But now she is mine, and I see no point in going to her family things. I would rather stay at home with her and lie in bed all night.
“Are you sure you really want me there?” I ask tightly. “I won’t be offended if you go on your own.”
She laughs. “Yes, I told you, I definitely want you there. And I would be offended if you made me go without you.”
“It’s just that there is clearly shit going on between your brothers and me, and I don’t think any good will come of me being there. They really don’t like me, and they make it obvious.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Stef. They are your family now, too, and you are coming with me. There isn’t anything going on between my brothers and you. Just relax and enjoy yourself. The whole stupid thing that happened at the last meeting is over. It won’t happen again.” She sounds so sure of herself.
I sigh loudly.
She chuckles and stands on her tiptoes to plant a quick kiss on my lips, leaving me wanting more immediately.
“I am going to be ready in about an hour,” she says as she walks off and I have no choice but to go and get ready as well.
***
I feel incredibly tense as we walk into Paval’s house. Everyone greets us and comes across as friendly enough, but I can feel the static in the air when her brothers shake my hand.
Darya almost instantly gets pulled away by her nieces and nephews, who all adore her.
It makes me smile, because I love watching her being playful and laughing with them, but at the same time it leaves me entirely on my own and feeling even more awkward.
Her brothers drift off after greeting us, and I don’t follow any of them. I don’t quite know what to do with myself, and I start feeling more and more out of place.
No one has offered me a drink yet, and all of her brothers seem content with either talking to their own wives or each other, so I stand up and head towards the bar to sort myself out. I pour a whiskey on the rocks, making it a double to try and ease the tension I am feeling.
Then, with my drink in hand, I lean against the wall watching Darya for ages, not talking to anyone and wonder how long it will be before they serve dinner so that we can eat and get the hell out of here.
More people arrive, some family that I don’t know and some who are just close family friends. None of them pay any attention to me, so I don’t bother greeting any of them, either.
I hate this.
I can’t wait to go home.
When Chiara finally arrives I breathe a literal sigh of relief to see her and my little niece, who is wrapped up in her arms.
She comes straight over to me to say hello, and I don’t waste a second before scooping her daughter from her arms and nuzzling my face against her tummy until she screams with laughter. “How is my little teddy bear?”
I can’t help doting over her. She is the most beautiful child, and her chubby cheeks are always rosy and bright.
“Why are you standing over here alone?” Chiara asks, looking around at everyone else.
My niece squeals and kicks for me to put her down. When I do, she bolts off towards the other kids.
“I don’t know, it just feels a bit tense I guess.” I shrug.
“What feels tense?” Maxim arrives and smiles at me.
Chiara turns away from us. “I am going to go and say to the girls. Play nice,” she says, throwing me a sharp look.
“What does she mean, play nice ?” Maxim laughs.
Maxim and I didn’t get on when we first met, but after going through some stuff together, we got closer. We kind of bonded over both wanting to look out for Chiara when my stepfather was going crazy and doing all of that shit.
I know Maxim is a good guy. He did take a bullet for me, after all.
I sigh, knowing that if I am going to talk to anyone, he is the best one of all the brothers.
“What’s up with your brothers, man?” I decide to get straight to the point.
“What do you mean?” he asks with his brows knotted.
“There is clearly animosity towards me, no one is bothering to even speak to me. It’s just uncomfortable. What is their problem with me?”
Maxim chuckles, which annoys the hell out of me.
“Stef, it’s a two-way street. You are hiding here in the corner, not talking to them, either. Whatever effort you put in, they will give back to you. If you come to a family gathering like this one and hide away from people, they are going to assume you don’t want anyone to talk to you, and they will give you your space.” He raises his brows at me, waiting for my response.
I sigh in frustration. He’s right. I haven’t exactly been making it easy for anyone to talk to me, even if they wanted to.
“So, if you want to join the conversation, just come join the conversation. You'll see—there is nothing going on. No weirdness, no animosity.” Maxim holds his hands out in the air with a slight shrug.
“Fine, I’ll be right there. Thanks, man. I probably needed to hear that.”
Maxim smiles. “Alright. I am going to get a drink. Do you need another one?”
“Sure, yeah, I’ll have another.”
He walks off and I feel a little bit of the tension ease away.
Maybe I was overthinking this, and in doing so ended up alienating myself. I guess I should just do what he says and go and stand with everyone else instead of expecting people to come looking for me. It is a party, after all.
I glance across the room to where Darya is and immediately the skin on the back of my neck is tingling. My fists clench in anger.
Who is that man talking to her, and why the fuck does he have his hand on her waist?
She laughs at whatever he is saying and leans away from him, but he leans closer to her.
Too fucking close.
Not a fucking chance am I going to let some slimeball gets hands-on with my beautiful wife right in front of me.
I march over there, hell-bent on tearing him apart.
I grab his arm and yank him away from her so hard that he almost loses his balance.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I snarl, standing over him.
“What—what—" he stammers, looking shocked to the core.
“Did you have your hands on my wife?”
“No, man, I-I—"
Darya grabs my arm and pulls me hard to get my attention. “Can I speak with you in private?” she asks, sounding very annoyed.
I glance between her and the stranger, some family friend I have never met before.
“Sure,” I grunt, shooting the man one last look warning-filled look.
She leads me off in a hurry to one of the back rooms where no one can hear us talking.
“What are you doing ?” she asks angrily. “You can’t treat people like that.”
“What was he doing?” I demand to know.
“Stef, you looked like you wanted to actually kill the guy. What is going on?”
“He had his hands on you, Darya. Who the fuck is he to be touching my wife?”
“It wasn’t like that at all.” She sighs.
“It certainly looked like that,” I snap, feeling heated and possessive of her in every way. She is mine, and I will not have someone flirting with her as though they stand a chance.
“Stef, hey, look at me. What is going on, really?” I look into her beautiful blue eyes and feel myself softening slightly.
I shake my head bitterly. Everything is going so well with her, I don’t want to mess it up now.
“I just can’t stand the sight of some other guy having his hands on you. I get worked up. No one else is allowed to touch you, Darya.”
She giggles, playful and cute. “Stef, I am your wife. No one else stands a chance with me, okay?”
“No one?”
“Not a soul in the world,” she says, stepping closer to me. “I belong to you.”
Her words run through me like wildfire.
“You do belong to me, baby girl,” I reply as I pull her up against me and feel her tight little body on mine.
She giggles again as I press my mouth over hers and step into her so that she is forced against the wall.
I lift her in my arms as our kisses gets more heated and run my hands along her legs, dragging her dress up over her thighs. She moans against my lips as I press my cock against her.
“You belong to me and no one else.”
She nods as I undo my pants and free my cock. She has me addicted to her. I can’t get enough.
I pull her panties to the side and push myself into her tight little pussy as she breathes heavily against my neck.
“You are beautiful,” I whisper as I thrust into her. “Beautiful, and clearly too naughty for your own good.” I chuckle, knowing that anyone could walk into this room at any time, but it only makes this hotter.
Her fingers are digging into my shoulders as I start thrusting faster and harder.
I keep fucking her, pressing her against the wall as I kiss her.
I know her body, and I can feel she is close to coming all over my cock.
She tilts her head back and cries out, so I quickly clap my hand over her mouth to stop anyone from hearing us. I keep fucking her, harder and harder, until finally her entire body is shaking and her pussy clamps so tightly over my cock I can’t hold back for another second.
I explode into her with a deep, satisfied groan.
When we walk back into the party, we both have secretive smiles on our faces. I wrap my arm around her and hold her against my side as we walk.
Maxim comes over. “There you are. I was looking for you. Here’s your drink. On the rocks.” He hands me a whiskey and Darya leans her head against my shoulder while Maxim and I start chatting about odds and ends.
Kiril and Paval come over to join us, and soon all of the bothers are chatting to me. This time, when one of the other men’s wives comes to lead Darya away for a cocktail, I don’t feel awkward at all.
She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me in front of everyone. Inside, I feel proud, because this is her way of letting everyone know that we are together, regardless of the marriage being forced. Then she grins, wide and beautiful, before disappearing with the girls while I continue to chat to her brothers.