Chapter 7 #2
Alek is a good dancer, moving around the floor with ease. It’s effortless to follow him and that’s terrifying. Nothing about Alek should be effortless, especially not the way I feel for him.
I catch a glimpse of Nina and Susanna, glaring at us from their table. “Why do they hate me so much?”
“Who?”
“Nina and Susanna? They were mean to me at the shop yesterday and now today…”
“They don’t like change. I’ve been like a father to them for years, especially after their own father died.”
I look at him sharply. “Their father died?” I assumed they never went through trauma but maybe I was wrong. Maybe the trauma they went through hardened them instead of making them kinder.
“He did. When they were only ten and eleven. It hurt them a lot. He was a good man.”
“I… I didn’t know.”
“How could you? They don’t normally like to talk about it and I doubt they would have told you. I know they don’t like you. I know they weren’t happy about me marrying you.”
“Why?”
“Because I was honest with them and said we’ve only known each other for a couple of days now.”
“Because you kidnapped me,” I say point blank.
He gives me a sly look. “I did.”
“But you didn’t tell them that.”
“I did not. They don’t need to know everything.”
“Well, they seem to think I’m some gold digger from the way they’ve spoken to me. If you could help explain to them that I’m not, that would be appreciated.”
“I can do that. I want you three to get along. You’re in my life now, Katya. You should get along with Nina and Susanna.”
“It’s hard when they hate me. When they ruined my dress.” I can feel the rips in the dress along my skin and I fight the urge to cry. My beautiful dress. The one thing I was happy about and they ruined it.
“And I will talk to them about that. But for now, just focus on us. You’re not panicking at the moment. That’s a good sign. I take it the spanking I gave you helped.”
I scowl at him. “It was humiliating.”
“That was the point. To get you in line.”
“I am not a dog for you to discipline.”
“But it did get you to calm down, did it not?”
I can’t argue with him there. But Alek seems to think he’s the right thing for me when I know he’s not. The right thing for me is to be back with my family. Safe and sound in my room…
Except, do I really want to go back to my room?
Everything Alek has put me through has been exhausting, yes. But I’ve lived more in the past few days than I’ve lived in my entire life. I want to be a woman. The whole thing is confusing, between what I want and what I know is right.
And what’s right is to get far away from Alek and return to Dimitri.
But what I want is to have him look at me with desire again. To feel alive again.
We finish our dance and everyone claps for us. I avert my gaze. Looking at this many people is overwhelming. I don’t want to pass out and risk Alek spanking me all over again.
“I need to use the restroom,” I say.
He tightens his hold on my waist. “Are you going to try and run?”
“I just need a moment to myself to breathe. Please understand that.”
He hesitates for a moment before letting me go. “All right. But I have guards around the place. They’ll see you if you try to run.”
“I won’t run.” And I know I won’t. I doubt I’d get far and I don’t want to risk Alek’s wrath. So far, he’s only spanked me but what else will he do to me?
I don’t want to find out.
I glance at Nina and Susanna as I head for the ballroom doors. They both sneer at me, with Susanna’s sneer more pronounced and Nina’s sneer a bit softer like she doesn’t want to do it but she goes along with it anyway.
I leave the ballroom and rush to the nearest restroom. No other women are inside, thankfully. That will give me time to think. Time to breathe.
I lean over the counter and suck in deep breaths, trying to calm my pounding heart. The wild thing is, the more I’ve been out of my room, the less I miss it. It’s starting to get easier interacting with other people. Talking to Alek is almost… effortless. It doesn’t make sense.
An idea hits me. I could wait in the bathroom until a woman comes inside and I can borrow her phone and call Dimitri, tell him where I am.
Even though I don’t want to return to my room, I want the safety of my brother.
He’s always protected me from the evils of this world and I know he can do it again.
But the longer I wait and no women come inside, I know I’m running out of time. Alek will eventually come into the bathroom and pull me out if I take too long.
I give myself another minute…
Still, no one enters.
After splashing water on my face, I head for the door when it opens. I suck in a breath. This is it.
But it’s not a woman who enters the restroom. It’s a man.
A man I don’t know.
He has plain features. Unremarkable. But the grin on his face is dark and full of danger. I can feel it in my bones.
“So, you’re Alek’s new wife.”
“Who are you?” I whisper, startled that he clearly knows who I am. He must be one of Alek’s guests at the wedding. It’s a sea of faces to me that I can’t even recognize this man.
“I’m Jack. A good friend of Alek’s.”
“Right. And what are you doing in the woman’s bathroom?” My gut is screaming at me to run away but he’s blocking the entrance. The only option I have is to talk to him. Maybe he’s not a bad man.
Then again, anyone who knows Alek is probably bad. Most mafia men are. Even my brother is (of course not to me but I know he’s done bad things, even if he’s never told me what. I just know).
“I wanted to talk to you. Away from your husband. I wanted to know if the story is true. If you’re really Dimitri Ivanov’s sister?”
“We share the same last name.”
“I know. But no one has seen her… ever. And yet, you show up one day and marry Alek? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“He kidnapped me.” No point in lying to this man. I don’t know what he wants from me yet.
“Sounds like Alek.”
I stand up straighter. “He kidnaps a lot of women?”
“No,” he says with a chuckle but there’s no humor to it. “I just meant that he likes to get his way. And if he wanted you, he would have taken you. It seems like he has.” His eyes roam me over in a way that makes me feel naked despite my wedding dress.
“I’m done in here. I’d like to leave now.
” I try to infuse as much strength in my voice as I can muster, but it’s hard.
I’ve never been in a situation like this.
Dimitri never prepared me and that’s why, in this moment, I hate my brother.
I hate how sheltered he kept me. Hate how he didn’t prepare me for the evils of this world.
I move to walk past him but he steps in my way.
“I’m not done talking to you yet.” He turns around and locks the door. The sound is like a gunshot: loud and shakes me to my core.
“Well I’m done and I’d like to leave.”
“Alek will fuck you tonight, I’m sure, if he hasn’t already.”
I gasp and can’t say a word. I am amazed that Alek hasn’t tried to rape me yet but that doesn’t seem like his style. He seems more interested in who I am as a person than just my body.
Granted, he did make me strip down before him so he could look at me. I didn’t exactly give my consent… even though it was thrilling and exciting and made me feel more like a woman than I’ve ever felt in my entire life before.
“I just want a taste myself before he gets it,” Jack says, reaching out to touch my waist. I jump back from him.
“You don’t get a taste. Alek hasn’t raped me. I am not going to give my body to just any man.”
“So does that mean you’re untouched?”
“What?”
“If you’re really Dimitri’s secret sister, then that means you’ve been hidden away all your life. Ergo, you’re untouched. A virgin. Is it true?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“So, it’s true then,” he says with a definitive nod.
“Just let me go.”
“Not until I’ve had a taste. It’s Alek’s own fault if he hasn’t taken you yet.
” Jack lunges at me and grabs my waist. I let out a loud scream but he clamps his hand over my mouth, muffling the sound.
I respond on instinct and bite his hand.
He yelps and removes his hand from my mouth but then he smacks me across the face with it.
I’m stunned for a moment and in that moment, Jack presses me against the counter. No. This can’t be happening. I can’t be raped.
I want to return to my room right now. I know it’s safe there. Nothing can ever happen to me in there.
A pure rage courses its way through me. Adrenaline and fear mixing together to create a strength inside me I didn’t even know I possessed.
With a loud scream, I push Jack away from me and he stumbles backwards… only to slip on a small puddle of water.
He loses his balance and falls straight to the ground where his head smacks against the hard floor.
And he doesn’t get back up.
I watch in horror as blood spreads out from his head. “Are… are you ok?” I know it’s a dumb question to ask but I have to ask it.
Without even thinking, I bend down and check his pulse, only to find out there is none. He’s dead.
I rip my hand away with a gasp. It takes me a moment to realize that it’s covered in blood. Somehow, I touched it and I don’t even remember doing it.
Oh my god. I killed a man. It was an accident of course. I was just defending myself.
But I still did it.
I back up until I hit the wall and then I sink down to the floor and wrap my arms around myself. The blood on my hand stains my white wedding dress.
I’m not even sure how long I’ve been sitting here when someone knocks on the door.
“Katya.” It’s Alek. “Are you still in there?” The doorknob rattles. “Why is the door locked? Katya, are you in there?”
I can’t answer him. I can only look into the dead eyes of Jack. His blood has stopped pooling out around him finally. He’s just… lifeless. Because of me.
“Katya,” Alek snaps. “Open this door.”
When I don’t answer him, he starts pounding on it, like he’s slamming his body against the door. Then everything goes quiet.
Faintly, I hear a clicking sound before the door opens and Alek is standing there, looking at me with anger. He must be mad that I’ve been in the bathroom for a while.
That is until his eyes lower down to see Jack’s dead body and the blood everywhere.
“Shit,” he mutters before shutting the door behind him and locking it. “What happened? Katya?” He rushes over to me and grabs my arms, giving me a little shake. “What happened?”
“He… he attacked me. I pushed him back. He fell and…”
Alek looks between me and Jack and an anger forms in his eyes. “He attacked you? What do you mean?”
“He said he wanted a taste,” I spit out.
“What? A taste of what?”
“Of me. He said you hadn’t taken me yet and he wanted to know… he wanted a taste of me. He… pushed me into the counter so I pushed him back and he slipped and fell and…”
“Ok,” he says in a more gentle tone than I thought possible. And before I even know what I’m doing, I wrap my arms around Alek and cling to him tightly.