Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Alexei
No one could be as perfect as Amy appeared to be. But it didn’t matter how much I dug into her or how many people I spoke to about her. Everyone said the same thing. She was an angel, selfless, giving, and kind.
She’s been orphaned before she had finished high school, and her sister had taken over her care and made sure she finished school, which she did at the top of her class.
She’d gotten a full-ride scholarship and had decided to study nursing instead of becoming a doctor for some reason that made no sense to me, because she was smart enough to choose the better-paying field.
When her sister became sick, she dropped out to care for her, working to pay for the medical bills. It didn’t seem to matter what life threw at her. She stayed the same sweet girl she had always been.
She was so perfect, it was almost nauseating. Or more specifically, how perfect people thought she was. In my world, no one was that good. It was always just an act, a mask they wore so people didn’t see the darkness within.
“Is everything arranged?” From his armchair by the window, my grandfather side-eyed me. “I would ask Amy, but she hasn’t been in a lot in the last week or so.”
“Her sister is in a bad way,” I muttered.
“Yes, it’s a sad state of affairs. I know Amy would have liked her sister to see her on her special day, but it will all work out in the end.
” Reaching out, he patted my hand with his.
“You’ll see it soon, Alexei, how perfect she is for you.
I know you didn’t think you would ever marry, but she really is what you need. You just can’t see it yet.”
I forced myself to smile at him. He was wrong, of course. I had always thought I would marry, but not Amy. My heart had been shattered years ago when my one and only love had left me.
Violet.
Even the thought of her name was enough for me to clench my fists. It had been ten years, and I still thought about her. Violet was the only woman I had ever contemplated marrying. All the others were just ways to release some tension.
Yet here I was, on the eve of marrying a woman I didn’t know and didn’t want to know, and she couldn’t be more different than my first love.
Violet was elegant and poised. Amy was— I frowned. I wasn’t sure what Amy was yet, but my grandfather wanted her to be my wife. He thought she was a good match. I thought he was an old fool, but I would go through with it because I wanted him to be happy. I owed him that much.
“Yes, everything is arranged,” I said, finally.
His old face lit up.
“I know you don’t really want to do this, Alexei,” he said gruffly. “I know you are just doing it to make this old fool happy. But trust me, she is perfect for you.”
Perfect. That’s what everyone said about her.
“That’s why I want you to have this.” His hand delved under the blanket covering his legs, and a ring box appeared in his hands. I recognized it instantly.
“Is that?”
“My wife’s ring. Yes. We never had a daughter live long enough to give it to. So I would like you to give it to Amy and welcome her into our family.”
The diamond and sapphire ring had been in our family for generations. It had come from the motherland, and it was priceless to my grandfather. It would have been my mother’s if she had lived long enough to inherit it.
Now he wanted me to give it to a woman I didn’t even know.
“I can’t take that.” Roughly, I shook my head.
Instead of answering me, he closed my fingers around the box. “It’s not for you. It’s for your bride. Now go. I know you have a lot to arrange. I will see you both soon.”
He dismissed me with a smile. My grandfather might have softened since his stroke, but he still commanded respect. I was being told to go, so I would go. And he was right. I did have things to do still and places to be.
The home was fairly close to the hospital, and I knew that’s where she would be. In the week since she had agreed to be my wife, I hadn’t seen Amy go home for more than a few minutes. She spent every hour she could at the hospital.
“Amy.” Striding into the hospital room that belonged to her sister, I quickly looked around. I knew it was just her and her sister because I had men watching her every move, but I liked to make sure of these things myself.
She was alone, well, alone apart from her sister. For a second, I stared at the woman in the bed. They looked alike.
Amy’s head snapped up like she had been dozing off, and I felt a little guilty for waking her up. I doubted she had been sleeping at all.
“What are you doing here?” Standing up, her sister’s hand slipped from hers and fell to the bed.
“I came to fetch you. Come along now.”
She looked confused, glancing between her sister and me like she didn’t know if she should step forward or not. I laughed impatiently. I really didn’t have time for this. “Now, Amy,” I snapped. “I have things to do and don’t have time for this.”
“My sister is sick. I can’t leave her,” she said finally.
Pursing my lips, I blew out a breath. “Seriously, Amy, you are trying to stall. You agreed to this and—”
Her face crumbled in on itself. “Alex, please.”
Guilt gripped me. It was the way she said my name in her sweet little voice, like she believed that begging me would make any difference to me. People begged me all the time, on their knees and soaked in their own piss, they begged me to spare their lives, and I never did.
Why did she think giving me puppy dog eyes would make a difference?
Only, they kind of did.
“Amy,” I said, softening my voice. “I know she’s sick, and my promise still stands. I will help her in any and all ways that I can, but you must come with me now. We have things to discuss.”
Amy sighed, her shoulders heaving. “OK,” she whispered. Bending over the bed, she pressed her lips to her sister’s forehead, and I watched open-mouthed as two tears fell.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Just hold on, OK? I’m going to make everything better.” She choked on a sob. “I love you. Please don’t die.”
I rolled my eyes, striding across the room. I took her by the elbow. “That’s enough of that.”
She didn’t put up a fight when I led her out of the hospital. My hand curled around her elbow. Forcing her into the back of a waiting car, I instructed the driver to drive, and we quickly pulled into traffic,
“This isn’t your usual car,” she said after a few minutes. “Don’t you usually drive yourself?”
I turned to her in shock. “How do you know that?” Through narrowed eyes, I searched her face.
“You’ve been following me,” she said simply, turning her face in profile to look out into the rain-soaked street.
“I’ve seen two black cars and a silver one, both at the hospital and at home.
It didn’t take a genius to figure it was you.
Or—” her eyes darted toward the back of the driver’s head. “One of your cronies.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Cronies? I’ve never heard them called that before, but you are right. I have been keeping tabs on you.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because I think you might be up to something. I don’t think you are what you seem, Amy, and if you are going to become my wife today, I need to know all of your secrets,” I growled. “I will find out what your plan is.”
“I don’t have a plan, Alex. I am just a normal girl trying to do the best she can and hold it together. Not everyone around you is out to get you. Most of us are just trying to survive,” she paused, and a line appeared between her eyebrows. “Wait, did you say today?”
I nodded silently.
“I am becoming your wife today?”
“Yes.” I was quickly losing patience. Nothing I had said was cryptic or vague. “Did you think we would have some long, drawn-out engagement. This isn’t a love match.”
“I know that.” Her voice was ragged. She reached up and tugged at her hair, gathering it up in her hand and securing it on the top of her head.
I watched as she did it. It was a security thing I realized with a start.
She put her hair into one of those messy buns when she was feeling overwhelmed or threatened.
Staring at her profile, I took in the slight upturn of her nose and the way her lips did a weird sort of inwards trembling when she was trying to figure out what to do next.
Amy had the kind of face that showed all of her emotions—every single one of them. And right now, she was freaked out but trying to hide it. She would be absolutely rubbish at the poker table.
“Then why ask such stupid questions?”
Instantly, her face changed from soft and confused to angry. And it was great to see a spark in her. It gave me proof that she wasn’t the complete innocent angel everyone thought she was.
“I am not stupid.” Her fists clenched at her side.
“According to your records, no, you aren’t.” I looked away, which would just infuriate her more. Being called dumb had triggered her, though. That was good to know.
I always liked to know people’s weak spots. It made controlling them easier.
“Perfect friend, perfect sister, perfect student? Isn’t that how everyone describes you? So, stop acting like a dumb brat and asking asinine questions. You agreed to be my wife. I agreed to help with your sister’s medical bills. Of course, I was going to push for the wedding to be soon.”
“I know that, Alex. It’s just I thought we might have a date? Even if it’s just coffee. I don’t know anything about you.”
Inwardly, I groaned. Turning towards her, I shook my head.
“You don’t need to know anything about me, Amy.
We will be married on paper only. There will be no dates, no romantic gestures.
Sometimes, I’ll expect you to accompany me and act appropriately.
” I eyed her coldly. “Do you even know how to act appropriately?”
Her eyes flashed, but with one look from me, she quickly averted them.
“You’re an asshole, Alexei.”
I couldn’t help it. I threw my head back and laughed. “See, you do know something about me, Amy. And it’s the most important thing to know.” Lashing out, I grabbed her chin and drew our faces together. “I am an asshole. You aren’t going to get dates or romance from me, Amy.”
“I know.” Her eyes darted down towards my lips, and she blushed.
“You thought I would wine and dine you and kiss these pretty lips?” I couldn’t help myself, I brushed my thumb against her bottom lip. Pulling it away from her even white teeth.
She trembled.
“That’s it, isn’t it? You’re waiting for me to kiss you so that you can pretend this isn’t a business arrangement?”
She didn’t nod, but she didn’t have to. I could read every thought in her pretty little head. My eyes scanned her mouth, and she did have very pretty lips. Kissable lips. The kind of lips that looked so soft that any man could happily spend hours kissing them.
My head dropped an inch before I could help myself. Because she really did have the prettiest lips I had ever seen. Soft lips. Her eyes fluttered closed, and the moment they did, my head snapped back.
“You’re not going to get such foolishness from me,” I said harshly and moved away.