Chapter 12 #2
“That would be wise,” he blew out, running a hand through his hair.
“Fine. But if he gets in my face, I can’t guarantee I won’t put him in his place.” I accepted disrespect from my family because they were my family. I kinda didn’t have a choice in it. But never from anyone else.
“I would expect nothing less.”
Good.
I checked my phone one more time, knowing there was no message from my little shadow, but still feeling the disappointment nonetheless. “I should go. Grandfather told me to be waiting outside the gates at 9:00 a.m. for the car. Will you be coming with me?”
“Of course.” Father made his way back to Autumn. He put his arm around her, pulling her into his side. “Let’s go.”
When we got to the front gate, Viktor stood on guard, that cool-as-fuck machine gun in his hands. He was missing something, though.
His. Fucking. Eye.
There was a big white bandage over his left eye, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out it had been cut out of him.
“Youch,” I commented, stopping in front of him. “What the fuck happened there?”
He did nothing but sneer at my father.
I looked over my shoulder, my mouth dropping open. “Did Grandfather do that because he let us through the gate yesterday when he wasn’t supposed to?” I whispered under my breath.
Grimly, Father nodded once.
Fucking hell. Talk about ruthless.
“One more infraction, and he’ll lose a limb. After that, he’ll be useless to Sergei, and he will most likely dispose of him.”
The gate opened. I gave Viktor an awkward smile because I kinda felt bad for the dude. “A little harsh, don’t you think?” I asked, walking out.
Father shrugged, as if he was used to that level of brutality. “Sergei gives three chances. The first infraction, fifty whips to the back. The second, loss of an eye. The third, a limb. He makes them choose which one they want to part with. After that, well…”
Yeah. Death.
A black limo was parked out on the street. “Ooo, riding in style. Nice.”
We all piled into it. Once seated, I took a look around.
I’d never been inside a limo before. At the very front was an opening with a partition that separated the front from the back.
It was lowered. A woman sat in the driver’s seat.
She didn’t turn around, keeping her head forward.
I glimpsed a lock of honey blonde hair peeking out from the bottom of the black cap on her head.
The engine roared to life, and the vehicle moved, heading to our destination. My father pushed a small bottle of vodka into my hands. It was like one of those ones you’d see in a minibar at a hotel room.
“Some liquid courage. You’ll need it for what comes next.”
I took it and downed the whole thing in one gulp. I wasn’t nervous about what was to happen. More…apprehensive. A thousand things could go wrong, and I had no control over any of it.
We pulled up at the venue. It was nice. Basic. To be quite honest, though, given my Grandfather’s net worth, I would have expected something a little more boujee.
I got out of the car, walked through the lobby, and was ushered into a reception area in a trance. Almost as if I weren’t in control of my own body. Like I was an outsider, watching on from above.
Before I knew it, I was standing at the altar beneath a floral arch.
A man dressed in black robes was standing beside me.
An aisle ran down the center of the room.
There were minimal decorations. Minimal thought put into any of it.
It made me purse my lips in distaste as I stared out into the room.
The color scheme was completely wrong. Not to mention the fact that they’d chosen beige Napoleon chairs.
Beige.
If I had any say in it, this wouldn’t have been what my wedding looked like. And I for damn sure wouldn’t have selected yellow roses as the primary flower choice.
Father and Autumn sat in the front row on the right-hand side, his hand on her thigh, her hand on top of his, both giving me supportive smiles.
There were a few random people in the background.
People I’d never seen before—or, more than likely, never paid attention to before.
The same went for the left side. I recognized no one except for my father and Autumn.
My grandfather was nowhere in sight. Neither were any of his men or Mr. Average.
I wondered if we were in the right place. It didn’t make sense that we’d get to the venue before Sergei did. Especially when this marriage was such a big deal for him. That he had so much at stake.
I turned to the man beside me. “What are the names of the people you’re marrying?”
He frowned slightly. “Lukyan Volkov and Anya Tarasova.”
Okay. So definitely in the right place then. Just to be safe, I pulled out my phone to message Sergei. With so much at risk, I couldn’t afford for something as trivial as being in the wrong location to screw everything up. When I glanced at the screen, I saw that I already had a message from him.
Sally Sergei: Running late. Continue without me.
Weird.
I shrugged, tucking my phone back away. That was all the confirmation I needed. I was never usually that paranoid, but with so much at stake, I couldn’t help being extra vigilant.
The doors at the back of the room opened, and I held my breath. An older man stepped through, a beautiful woman around the same age on his arm in a floor-length black dress.
I released my breath. Not her.
Father glanced over his shoulder, his body tensing slightly when he caught sight of them. He watched the man walk down the aisle, eyes like a hawk, and take a seat in the front row on the left hand side. Tension filled the air as the two men stared each other down.
He needed no introduction. I knew the man who’d just entered was my future father-in-law.
He was big. Brawny. Mean-as-fuck attitude.
He and Father continued to glare at one another before his gaze swung my way and locked on me.
He had a scary vibe, sure. But I wasn’t the least bit intimidated.
Respectful protocol dictated I approach him.
Introduce myself. I was marrying his daughter, after all.
The look in his eyes told me he expected me to do just that. To greet him…
Yeah, I wasn’t going to do that.
We locked into a stare down, neither one of us wanting to be the first to look away.
Usually, I liked to keep an outward appearance of being aloof.
Carefree. Mischievous. I hid the murderous, vicious beast that lived deep beneath my skin, never letting anyone else see it unless I was about to kill them.
The fear that flashed in their eyes when they saw that side of me, the change, always made it worth it.
But this time…This time, I wanted to let the beast fucking free. Everyone thought that because I liked to crack jokes and have fun, I didn’t have a dark side.
They couldn’t have been more fucking wrong.
A cold, unrelenting darkness swept over me.
The smile that was always on my face dropped, and the beast reared its head, shining out through my eyes.
I stared him down, face hard as stone. A flicker of fear flashed across Akim’s face.
He squirmed ever so slightly in his seat, and his gaze fell to the floor.
I internally scoffed. Akim was all for show. He thought that because he was big and looked scary, and I was young with a playful, carefree attitude, that I was weak. That he could intimidate me into submission.
I would never submit to anyone.
Soft classical music hit the air. The doors at the back of the room opened. It took a considerable amount of effort and energy, but I wrangled the darkness back into its cage, plastered my signature smirk back onto my face, and stood taller just as a figure stepped through.
The first thing I saw was the white, ball gown-style wedding dress.
It was a conservative type of dress. Not an ounce of skin was on display, lace winding up her arms, across her chest and up her neck.
A veil covered the majority of her face, only a set of ruby lips on display. Everyone rose to their feet.
She glided down the aisle as if walking on air. Her manicured fingers grasped a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Her footsteps weren’t rushed. They were calm. Collected. Not an ounce of nervousness.
I tracked her every movement, my eyes fixated on her as she made her way toward me. When her foot landed on the first stair, I took a step and held out my palm. Her hand slipped into mine with zero hesitation, her skin smooth and soft. Electricity shot up my spine. I took that as a good sign.
With a small pull, I guided her the rest of the way until she stood right in front of me. Our hands dropped back to our sides. She was tall. The heels she wore made her only a little bit shorter than me, her head coming up to my chin.
Silence reigned over the room. The veil was thick enough that it stopped me from seeing her face at all, but I knew we were looking into each other’s eyes.
The suspense was fucking killing me. I’d spent so long wondering what my future wife looked like.
Spent so long stopping myself from searching for her online because I wanted to be surprised, and now, she was there, standing right in front of me.
The priest began to speak, jumping right into the proceedings, his words going in one ear and out the other, barely registering.
Shouldn’t I be more excited?
Shouldn’t my thoughts be on her?
They weren’t. All I could think about was what a big fucking mistake I was making.
I knew I had to do it. I knew I had no choice.
But I just couldn’t shake the feeling that it was wrong.
I wanted to fucking run. Being forced into a spot like that, given no option, no choice…
I hadn’t thought it bothered me much, but it did, and it was becoming abundantly clear that it wasn’t what I wanted.