Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Anastasia
W e stared at each other for what seemed to be hours but was probably just a few short seconds. But within those seconds, I got a closer look at his eyes. Now that I was seeing him so up-close, I could see the little specs of gold that littered his irises. It was like there were small little jewels in his eyes. I had never seen eyes so unique before.
My chest rose and fell between us, his front pressed up against my own. The heat from his body rolled off him in large waves.
“Hello, Anastasia.” My name rolled off his tongue effortlessly. I had never heard my name said in such a provocative way. I loved it. “It’s nice that we finally meet without me being on Death’s grip.”
I flicked my gaze down to his hand and then back up again.
He withdrew his hand and stepped away from me, but only enough for me to not have him pressed up against me. The man was still very much in my bubble.
I brushed my hands on the skirt of my dress as if there were dirt there. The truth of it all was that I was actually trying to give myself some time to calm my racing heart. I was not at ease at all. Seeing this man was like seeing a ghost from my past, and with it all the memories I had thought were left behind.
When I finally looked up, I caught his gaze, and my heart stopped right in its tracks. His eyes dazzled me the way a predator froze its prey. Not only was he mesmerizing, but his gaze was like a double-edged sword. It sliced right through me, opening me completely.
“It’s been a while since I saw you last.” He tilted his head to the side and regarded me for a moment. “How have you been?”
I gulped. “I’ve been well. You look well.”
“Yes, facing death has a tendency to bring out the life in you.” I had no idea if he was being sarcastic, or if he was being serious. I couldn’t get a good read on the man.
We stood there facing each other. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, not sure what to do with myself. I looked everywhere but him, unsure of if I could take his intense gaze again. The man had this way about him that sort of threw me off my equilibrium completely. I had no idea how to handle being in his presence.
“ Angel .” I didn’t need to know Spanish to know what he meant with that word. My breath caught in my chest, and my neck snapped in his direction, completely thrown off guard. “You truly are.”
My heart thundered. His words were subtle attacks that were thrust right into my chest.
“Don’t call me that.” I cleared my throat, trying to play off my raging emotions. “Look, Valerio, what happened two years ago doesn’t need to be discussed. What happened, happened. We don’t need to rehash it, we don’t need to talk about it. You’re alive, I’m alive and there is no need to speak about anything.”
His eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. It was the only reaction that I got from that man. He was incredibly hard to read, and that was what threw me. I was able to survive this world because I was able to read people well.
“Now that we have established this, I will be going. It’s great to see you on your feet.”
I pushed off the wall and turned to leave, but his hand shot out and clutched my wrist firmly. At first, I jumped at the contact, but then I had to remind myself that this was not him and I didn’t need to fear. I hated that. I hated how that man had made me so fearful. I was never like this a few years ago. But then again, that was what abuse did to you.
I snapped my neck back and looked at Valerio with a heated gaze. “Let me go, Valerio.”
“Did you even look for me?” His question caught me off guard. “After you saved me, did you ever think of me?”
His tone was serious, but there was a brief flash of vulnerability that moved through his eyes. It was only for a few seconds, but it had been there.
I gulped, trying to swallow down the nervousness that threatened to leave my chest.
I shook my head. “No. We only met for a brief moment, Valerio. I knew you were in good hands, there was no need for me to look for you. I knew you would live.”
I was lying through my teeth, but that was nothing out of the ordinary for me. I lied in this world to keep myself alive.
His eyes searched my face, trying to catch something. I hated that look. It was one of those looks that made you feel naked. Like he was directly looking at my soul. It was unnerving.
“You’re lying.” His words were as sharp as a dagger.
“Lying?” I scoffed. “It’s very bold of you to assume that I would even remember you.”
“But you did.”
My heart faltered. “I did not. Besides, it makes no difference to me. You are just a man who needed my help, and unlike most in our world, I offered you kindness.”
There was a delayed pause. He pressed himself even more into me, so much so that I could feel a slight poke in my abdomen. I tried to keep my features schooled, because I didn’t want to show him that I was uncomfortable in any way. He drew his face closer to mine, so much so that I could feel his hot breath on the side of my neck. The hairs on the back of my head raised from his proximity.
“If you want to lie to me, cielo , you’re going to have to do better than that.” My body vibrated having him this close to me. “I can see it in your eyes. If you want to lie you have to learn to conceal the veil. You have to hide what lies beneath.”
I shuddered, my body had its own reaction to him. I turned my head to the side to break the contact, but he gripped my chin harshly and forced me to keep my eyes on his. I sighed, heavily, my heart not feeling at all at ease.
“Don’t look away from me when I’m talking to you.” His tone was firm and authoritative.
“Valerio, please,” I breathed the words, my voice just a decibel above a whisper. “My fiancé will be here any second, and if he sees me like this with you I?—”
He moved his hand from my chin down to my neck and gripped me tightly. “Your fiancé? Sergei?”
“Yes, and we both know what kind of man he is. And seeing as I saved your life, I would like you to extend the courtesy to me and move away from me before he or my brother see us like this.”
I was no fool. I knew what I was getting myself into with this man. He was cruel and callous and had no remorse for people. His bark was loud, and his bite was even harder. I knew that, when dealing with a man like him, I needed to play within the lines he had set and never stray from them.
His eyes raged with an emotion I could not quite decipher. It looked like a mixture of anger and disappointment.
“You can’t marry him.”
“You can’t tell me what I can and cannot do. You aren’t my keeper, Valerio.” I placed my hand over his wrist and tried to pull his hand from my neck. “And besides, I don’t even know you. You have no right to try and insert yourself in my familial affairs.”
“I think us sharing a near-death experience makes us more than familiar. Tell me, what would happen if your brother found out?”
My heart lurched. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I am only speaking hypothetically, cielo . Why do you want to keep our meeting a secret?”
“I don’t owe you an explanation.” I pulled at his wrist harder, but he wouldn’t budge. I hated not being strong enough to defend myself. I hated feeling powerless against men like him. Not only did I lack the power to have autonomy over my own life, but I lacked the physical strength to free myself. “I saved your life, Valerio. Had it not been for me, you would have died in a ditch that night, whilst the rain pelted down on your body. I have already lost everything in my life because of that night. The least you could do is step away from me as to not cause issues in my life. You go your way, and I go mine.”
The words all slipped from my lips all at once. I had not intended for it all to come out like that, but there it was. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind, with the engagement announcement and the fact I had to give up dance to appease my husband-to-be. The one thing that had been an escape for me, was now gone and ripped from me.
“Please.” I stared directly into his eyes.
Sergei was due to arrive any moment. I could not let him see me here with him.
I could not tell what was going on in his mind. But one moment his grip tightened ever so slightly around my throat, and the next he released me and pushed me away from his body.
His eyes looked me over a few times before he turned on his heels and walked away from me. I watched his retreating body for a second, not sure what had just happened. The entire interaction had left me feeling confused, exhilarated, and breathless. It was a flurry of emotions that filtered into my bloodstream, wreaking havoc on my system.
“Anastasia.” That voice sent a cold shiver down my spine.
I snapped my neck to the left and made eye contact with that devilish gaze. His glacier irises reminded me of a blizzard storm in Siberia. The snow was so cold that it would frost the Earth so nothing could ever grow. It sucked all life from everything, making it possible for only the toughest and most resilient plants to survive. The same could be said about the man who stood in front of me.
I shook off whatever feelings I had toward Valerio and made my way to my betrothed. From his expression alone I could tell that he was not happy, which meant that I needed to tread lightly.
I walked up to him with the same rehearsed smile I had perfected over the years. He had a fixed scowl on his face, and I could tell that he wasn’t happy at all. I gulped, trying to calm myself from the internal storm that raged on in my body.
As soon as I came in front of him, he gripped my wrist roughly and pulled me toward him with such force that I felt my shoulder pop. I tried not to show any sort of pain, but it was hard when the tendons in my shoulder blades were screaming at me.
“I told you not to wander on your own,” he hissed at me. “You are not permitted to be alone. You are my woman now.”
No one was in the hallway to see any of this happening. Which meant that we were all alone. The fear bubbled up in my chest.
“I just needed the bathroom. Don’t worry, I was perfectly safe—ah! You’re hurting me, Sergei.” He pulled me closer to his chest, and the pain in my wrist increased. “Sergei, please.”
He drew his face closer to mine but, unlike the man who had been in his place only a few short minutes ago, his breath made me recoil.
“Must I teach you another lesson, korotyshka ?” he seethed. I could feel the heat rolling off of him in waves.
I still carried the marks from his last lesson. I was not interested in having to endure more torture for him.
I shook my head. “It won’t happen again, Sergei.”
He withdrew from me and looked me up and down. “It better not. And you’ve gained weight. No future wife of mine will let herself go. I will send over a list of foods you need to cut out.”
I ground my teeth, trying to bite my tongue. “Of course.”
This was what my life had become. I was nothing more than a docile, silent trophy that was simply meant to be admired and never heard. This was the life that my brother had set me up for, all in the name of family.
“Shall we?” Sergei offered me his arm, his ice-cold gaze stabbing me with sharp precision.
“We shall.” I plastered on my fake smile and threaded my arm through his.
With each step I took with him, I felt my soul die inside a little each time.