Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Nina
It’s embarrassing to cry at my own wedding.
I remember when Katya married Alek and Susanna also tore her dress.
I had stood back and said nothing. I didn’t help Katya like I should have and now it’s come to bite me in the back.
Because Susanna, my own sister, is turning on me and I’m the one left crying over it with a torn wedding dress.
It’s karma at its finest.
Luca finds me in the hallway. I turn away from him, not wanting him to see my tears. Even though he’s my husband now, he’s still a stranger.
“Why do you let your sister boss you around like that?”
His question startles me. “I don’t,” I mumble, wiping my tears away.
Luca sighs and grabs my arms, turning me around to face him. “You clearly do. She ripped the sleeve of your dress in front of all of our guests. She waltzed onto the dance floor during our first dance. She clearly has no respect for you.”
“Susanna is just a hard person to understand. She has a softness underneath her hard exterior.”
“Does she? Because so far, I haven’t been able to see it. It’s partly the reason I chose you. I could tell your sister would be difficult and I don’t want that in a wife.”
“What do you want in a wife?” Since this is the first time me and Luca get a real chance to talk, I’m realizing there’s so much I don’t know about my husband.
“I want one that’s docile. One that can stand at my side. One that won’t let her sister walk all over her.”
“But you want me docile. How can I be that and be strong at the same time?”
“They’re not opposites.” He wipes my tears away like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
I guess Luca has been around other women in the past. But for me, I haven’t had the chance to be around men and especially not around men like him.
“Docile just means sweet. Kind. But you can be sweet and kind and still be strong. That’s what I want in a wife.
You need a sturdy hand to help guide you.
I can tell. You’re afraid to stand up to your sister but you’ll learn in time. ”
“And if I don’t?”
His eyes darken and a shiver runs down my spine. “Then you have me to help guide you. To help control you. Now, I am telling you to go back in that room and stand up to your sister. And if you’re incapable… well, we’ll talk about that if we have to.”
“What kind of man are you?” It comes out as a whisper.
Luca presses his hands on the wall on either side of my head, locking me in place.
His beauty is almost too much to look at.
“I am a man who knows what he wants. It’s why I chose you.
I knew out of the two of you that you would need me the most. And I wanted that.
I am not the warmest of men. But I will be a good husband to you.
You will see that in time. Even if I push you sometimes. ”
“Push me? How?”
He gives me a knowing look before pulling away. “Get back in there. Now.”
His command sends a flare of heat through me.
There’s something so powerful and… sexy about Luca that I like.
I’m so used to listening to my sister that I guess it’s not a stretch that I would like to listen to Luca too.
But unlike Susanna, Luca has a presence about him that is intoxicating and not annoying like Susanna is.
“What if I can’t get her under control?”
“You have to try, Nina. I need to see you try.” He takes my arm and leads me back into the ballroom. No one is dancing except for Susanna. Everyone seems too afraid to do so.
Taking a deep breath, I storm up to Susanna. “You need to stop acting this way. Now. You ripped my dress.”
Alek finally comes over. “Susanna, listen to Nina. You are making a fool out of yourself.”
Susanna ignores all of us and continues to dance even though there’s no music playing.
“Susanna,” Alek says in a hard tone.
I glance at Luca and he nods, silently telling me to handle my sister. But the only way to handle Susanna is to fight fire with fire so I grab the sleeve of her dress and rip it.
Her gasps is as sharp as lightening. “What the hell?”
“You need to stop acting this way. Now.”
Susanna sneers as she looks me up and down before flipping her hair over her shoulder. “No. I’m good right where I am. You’re the one who got the fairytale ending. Not me. Why should I bow down to you?”
“Susanna –,”
She holds up a hand, cutting me off. “No, Nina. Just go be with your husband and leave me alone.”
My shoulders slump as I walk back over to Luca. The disappointment on his face is clear: he wants me to be strong enough to stand up to my sister but I’m just not. I’m a failure.
Alek grabs Susanna’s arm and literally drags her off the dance floor. She objects but doesn’t put up a fight.
“You need to be as strong as your surrogate father is,” Luca says into my ear. “Fearless. Until you do, I’ll guide your hand.”
I’m not sure what he means by that until Luca literally guides me by the hand to our table.
We’re served our plates of food. I’m so shaken up by Susanna that I don’t immediately dig in.
Instead, I keep my eyes on my sister, who’s fuming at the table next to mine.
Alek and Mom are talking to her but I can’t make it out from here.
The music picks back up and more people venture onto the dance floor, figuring it’s safe now.
Luca reaches across me and cuts up my steak before holding out a piece towards my mouth. I try to grab the fork but he pulls his hand away. “No. I will feed you. Since you are incapable of taking care of your own self. I will do this for you.” Be my guiding hand.
“I can feed myself,” I say with a blush. I don’t want Luca to feed me like I’m some child. I already feel so young still at only nineteen. I don’t want him to look at me as if I’m a baby.
“I will do this. Eat.”
I look into Luca’s eyes and see that he is perfectly serious about this. It’s a look I’ve seen in my own sister’s eyes many times before. Unmovable.
Slowly, I open my lips and Luca places the steak on my tongue. I chew it even more slowly while keeping my eyes glued to his. Once I’ve swallowed, Luca picks up another piece to feed to me.
He doesn’t stop feeding me until the entire steak is gone.
“There,” he says, even going so far as to wipe my mouth for me with my own napkin.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you need help, Nina. And I’m willing to help. You have to learn to give in and find strength and maybe then you’ll learn how to stand up for yourself.”
“I’m doing that right now. By standing up to you.”
There’s a glint to his eyes. “You have spunk in you as well, I take it. Maybe you’re not so different from your sister.
But I didn’t mean stand up to me. I meant you need to learn to stand up to your sister.
She’s the one you struggle with. I can tell.
I don’t want a weak wife. It’s why I didn’t want Susanna.
She’s too weak. Too insubordinate. Too stubborn. ”
“Don’t let her hear you say that. She’ll show you how un-weak she really is.”
“Just because she’s not afraid to run her mouth off, doesn’t make her strong. She’s a scared woman. Soon, she’ll learn. But it won’t be me who teaches her. You’re my main focus as my wife now.”
I duck my chin and stare into my hands. Luca places his fingers under my chin and raises my gaze to meet his.
“Do you feel bad that I chose you over your sister?”
“A little,” I admit.
“Why?”
“Because then she wouldn’t hate me. Life would have just been easier if you had chosen her.”
“I never intended to make life easy for anyone. Not you. Not Alek. And not your sister.”
Another shiver runs down my body and settles in my stomach. “I’m worried you’ll hurt me.”
“I won’t beat you. But I will be firm with you. Now, it’s been a long day. It’s time we head back to my house.”
“Your house?”
“You’ll be moving in after all.”
“Right. Of course.” How could I forget? I won’t be living with my mom and Susanna any longer. The thought makes me both relieved and sad at the same time.
Luca stands up and offers me his arm.
“I should say goodbye to my family first,” I say. “Before we go.”
“It’s not like you’ll never see them again.”
“I know. But still.”
After a beat, he nods and I practically run to my mom’s side and give her a big hug. She holds me close for a long time.
“Be safe,” she says into my ear.
“I’ll try to be.”
Once we’re done, I turn to Alek and hug him with everything I have inside of me.
“Did you have to do this to me?” I whisper to him. “Give me away like this?”
“I am sorry, Nina. It’s business. But I’m always on your side.”
Katya offers me a quick hug and then it’s time for Susanna. I turn to my sister but she insists on ignoring me.
“I’m moving in with Luca,” I tell her. “So I won’t see you as often. I do love you, you know.”
She huffs. That’s the only thing I get from her.
“Fine,” I say. “Bye.”
As I’m heading back to Luca, the ballroom doors open and a man waltzes inside like he owns the place. I don’t think anything of it until I look at Luca and see the strain on his face. He doesn’t like this man.
“Hello, Luca,” the man says, stopping by Luca’s table.
“Gabriel,” Luca practically hisses. “I didn’t send you an invitation.”
“I didn’t need one to come.” Gabriel sets his eyes onto me. He’s a handsome man in a dashing sort of way. Looks to be around Luca’s age. “This must be your new wife.”
Luca makes a point to stand in front of me. “Gabriel, go. You’re not going to show up here just to kill me.”
“Of course not. I just wanted to see who you married. That’s all. And now I know for a fact that you made a deal with Alek Morozov, a fucking Russian. You are a traitor to your own kind.”
With those menacing words, Gabriel storms back out of the ballroom.
The tension in Luca’s body is palpable.
“Who was that?” I ask.
“Just a man to watch out for.”
“An enemy?”
Luca sighs and finally meets my eyes. “Yes. Be careful of him. He likes to cause problems.”
I settle my eyes on Susanna. It appears that Luca and I have something more in common than I ever thought possible. We both have our own personal demons.
Something about that thought urges me to take Luca’s hand in mine. He raises his eyebrows in surprise but doesn’t say anything. Only gives my hand a squeeze in return.