Valerian
I peer through the window as a car rolls down the graveled driveway. This should be Nikolai returning with Joy.
I head downstairs, glancing at the time on my watch. Two p.m. This time is unacceptable. Joy was meant to be here hours ago.
But there’s still time to get married. I kept the vicar and the caterer here just in case.
The front door flies open as I descend the last few stairs. That’s when I come to a halt.
Not much surprises me these days, but I must say—I wasn’t expecting to see Joy in a red bikini.
She staggers in through the door. I can always trust Nikolai to do a job. He walks behind her, keeping the gun raised to the back of her head.
He doesn’t need the weapon. People take one look at Nikolai and freeze. His face is terrifying enough. He was burned as a kid. Endured a pretty rough childhood. But those experiences shape us into who we are today.
He seems to be putting Joy in her place just fine, keeping the gun raised to her head as he brings her more into the room. Water drips from her skin, the ends of her hair still sopping wet.
I finish walking down the stairs and smell sea salt mixed with sunscreen. Beautiful combination.
Joy stares at me, breathing erratically. Her chest rocks with each staggered breath, causing her breasts to bounce.
I could peel back the bikini and expose them to me now.
Better to save that until after we get married. The wide-eyed look she’s issuing me now suggests she wants to consummate things. Maybe even more than I do.
“Don’t worry,” I assure her. “We won’t shoot you.” I extend my vision over to Nikolai, prompting him to lower the gun.
He nods, sliding it back into his pocket.
His hair is dripping wet. By the looks of it, he went fishing for her.
I sent him out earlier today to go and find her. It never takes Nikolai long to do anything. He’s tech savvy. As long as someone’s carrying a phone, he can hack into the GPS and track down their location.
He’s always dedicated to his work and takes pride in everything he does.
That’s why we get along well.
Joy shoves Nikolai off now that he’s no longer holding the gun to her head. Surprisingly, she stays silent. But her chest still rises and falls like before, her eyebrows parting in despair as she looks at me, still working on catching her breath.
I have lots of punishment in mind for her making me wait. She’ll be losing her breath again in no time.
“Please see Joy to her room,” I say to the maid. She’s hovering over at the other side of the lobby. “The ceremony starts in an hour. Help her dress. Leave her hair and face alone. I want her looking as natural as possible.”
Joy pins me a glare. She can look at me like that until the ocean changes color. It won’t change anything. I like seeing her natural. My cock shifts in my pants as I watch her now, those pale blue eyes filled with a world of innocence.
She really is a fish out of water.
“Come along, Joy,” says the maid. She hooks her arm around Joy and pulls her upstairs.
She flashes me evils as she walks past me. Little does she know how much I like that. It’s different. Refreshing. I’m too used to seeing women swoon over me, bat their lashes, flirt with their eyes. I don’t like seeing the same things every day. It gets boring. And I hate repetition.
I could force any other woman to my bed, force them into marriage. They’d all say yes.
I killed a woman’s father once, and she still wouldn't leave me alone. She followed me around for weeks, begging me to fuck her.
Joy really has taken me off guard that way. A lot of women would kill to be in her position.
“She’s a good swimmer,” says Nikolai when we’re alone in the lobby. He steps forward, the burned side of his face coming into the light. “Much stronger than she looks.”
“I’m sure.” I stick my hands in my pockets.
“Are you sure you want this wedding to go ahead?” He eyes me. “When people are married, they’re legally bound to one another. You sure you want to be bound to her, boss?”
“I know what marriage is,” I say. “But Igor needs to learn. He stole millions of dollars from us. We could have been caught,” I say.
“All of us could be behind bars, paying the price for his stupidity. My son needs to learn the hard way. He needs to stop being such a fucking liability. This should put him back in line.”
“What? You think marrying his ex-fiancée will sort him out?” Niko frowns. “I thought you already took away his apartment and all of his money.”
“Yes. But he could have taken much worse from us.”
“So,” says Nikolai, “let me get this straight— you’re planning on giving him all of these things back eventually? Including the girl?”
“Would we get our Bratva back if the police broke it up?” I let that question ring loud though the lobby. Nikolai already knows the answer. “No,” I say. “We wouldn’t.” I turn on my heel, heading back upstairs to change suits. “Be ready in fifty minutes.”
I’m glad I went with a modest wedding dress for Joy.
I didn’t want my men ogling at her, since they’re all witnessing the event this afternoon. Some of them tend to get excited around attractive women.
They don’t get out much.
I have the ceremony by the fountain. Birds chirp as the afternoon transitions to evening. It’s a pleasant day, the congregation taking their seats as Joy prepares to walk down the aisle.
It’s not the most traditional wedding. But why go with tradition when you can do things your own way? Nikolai escorts her down the aisle, pressing the gun to the back of her head again to keep her in line.
So far, she’s been well behaved. A little bit too fucking quiet for my liking. I’m expecting her to kick up a fuss any minute now and make a run for it when Nikolai puts away the gun.
That’s why I have security guarding all the exits.
Golden light partitions around her face, painting her in the most wonderful light.
She wears her hair down, natural. It’s now fully dried.
The curls have returned, and they blow in the slight breeze, lifting at the ends.
I could see her on the front cover of a magazine.
Her eyes really do hold a world of their own.
But she’s looking past me, not at me. Almost like she’s dissociating.
Trying to make the time pass as fast as possible.
After not showing up here when she was supposed to, I’ll make sure she’s extremely present for this moment. She won’t miss a thing.
“Joy Carter and Valerian Sokolov,” begins the Vicar.
The rest of his words fade away as I pinch Joy’s chin, forcing her to look into my eyes. Of course, she shoves her head the other way, fighting to keep her gaze on the floor so she doesn’t have to look at me.
I snake my arm around her hip.
That seems to capture her attention.
She finds my eyes and subtly shakes her head, like I’m the one in trouble. But from my perspective, we didn’t have any bad blood until she decided to run away and take a dip in the ocean instead of being here.
I hold her by the waist, gazing into her eyes. She tilts her head back, looking at me. Her eyes are full of venom. I’m sure she’ll try and poison me when this is all over. But she’ll fail. Nobody wins when they come up against me. Not even my own son.
“I officially announce you husband and wife,” says the vicar.
Claps fill the garden. This is our cue to kiss, but I’ll save that for later.
Joy breaks from my grasp as soon as the ceremony finishes, hitching up her skirts to stalk across the garden.
She heads over to the catering tables, dipping a strawberry under the chocolate fountain and taking a bite.
The congregation stand from their seats, plucking champagne flutes from the serving trays, using the ceremony as an excuse to kick back and have a few drinks.
Tomorrow, they get back to work. I need those documents from Igor’s apartment burned— the ones Joy was breaking in to steal. I want my money back.
And I look forward to seeing my son’s face when he realizes I found out he was stealing.
I head over to the catering table as Joy bites into another strawberry, pulling her aside. I drag her into the stone cloister where it’s sheltered from the sun, keeping my hand hooked around her hip.
“I know what you do for a living,” she starts.
“Good. A lot of people do.”
“You’re skating on very thin ice.”
“I get told that a lot,” I say. “The more powerful you become, the more threats you receive.”
“No,” says Joy, biting into the strawberry. She curves her lips around it while looking into my eyes. “The higher you climb, the harder you fall.”
“There’s no need for that attitude,” I say, pulling her closer. “Any woman would kill to be in your position, living a life of luxury. My estate is one of the best in Beverly Hills.”
“Maybe,” says Joy, “but you bought it using blood money.”
I shrug. “What makes you think everybody else in this city is so innocent? Everybody has secrets.”
Joy tightens her jaw and looks away. “Doesn’t matter,” she mumbles. “Your resentment should be directed at your son. Not at me.”
“It wasn’t directed at you. Not until you decided to take a swim and not be here when you were supposed to be.”
“Right,” she scoffs. “Because this world revolves around you.”
I step in, shadows falling over her face as I become the center of her vision. “I think you underestimate me, printsessa.” I drag my eyes up and down her face. Her cheeks are the same, ripe color as the strawberry in her hand. “All due respect, I saved you.”
“Um,” she scoffs, “I beg your pardon?”
“It’s been three days since you broke off the engagement with my son. You were living with him before, which means you’re currently homeless, searching for a new place to live. You’re lucky I found you when I did.”
“Lucky?” Joy sniffs a laugh. “What? That you’re trying to control my life?”
“You say that like you’ve been living the life of your dreams, getting everything you want out of it.”
Joy furls her lip and tries to barge past me.
I pull her into me, her chest colliding with mine.
“You don’t know anything about me,” she says.
“I know that you’ve been writing for the same magazine since you were eighteen years old.”
Joy clicks her teeth. “Of course. I forget how much a person’s career sums up their life.”
I arch my brow at her. No need to waste my breath and keep speaking. She knows that’s all her life consists of. Tapping away on a computer all day. Pouring her heart and soul into writing about fashion, and not quite reaping the rewards of her hard work.
“I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
Joy’s breath hitches again.
“Finances, food, everything—like we discussed before.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Doesn’t it?” I stick my face in hers and accidentally smell her sweet, strawberry breath.
Fuck. It’s taking everything in me not to kiss her.
“Everyone loses at some point,” she says, bringing the strawberry back to her mouth.
She makes a point of sinking her teeth into the flesh, sucking all the juice until the fruit is completely drained.
“Sorry, Valerian, I don’t wanna be the one to put a downer on your wedding day. But you just married the wrong girl.”