Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sasha
We make the drive to the church in silence, each of us clearly lost in our own thoughts.
As we drive to the back of the church, I draw in a ragged breath as I begin mapping the parking lot and exits. The drive is narrow, a fence separating the property next door.
If I can get out of the chapel unseen…
Dimitri steps from the car and comes to my door to open it, but his eyes are cast across the parking lot to the church’s entrance. “Where is Katarina’s car?”
“Probably just got caught at a light,” Ava answers from her seat even as Dimitri helps me out.
He goes around the car, opening Ava’s door and collects the garment bag with the wedding dress before he takes her hand, leading her out of the car. “I’ll wait here for her to arrive, you two can go inside and get out of the heat.”
With a nod, I follow Ava to the back entrance. I lift my skirt as I take the two steps up to the door.
I’ve had to wear dresses to formal events my entire life, so I know how to move in them, but if I’m not careful, I stumble on long skirts.
Like I’ve said, I’m short, which has meant loads of gowns have been too long. And even after my father started hemming them, it’s like I got this thing in my head that I’m liable to trip.
It probably didn’t help that he’d berate me every time I did.
It’s stupid, and I know I let him get in my head, but I still prefer to wear pants.
Stepping into the church, Ava turns into a back waiting room behind the chapel to hang up the dress, while I keep going, following the rumble of male voices.
I tell myself I’m scoping escape routes, but I must confess, I’m also just curious.
Just as I’m about enter the chapel, I spot a group of seven men standing in a half circle near the pulpit. I stop in the shadow of the hall and take them in.
Tall. Strong. They stand straight, shoulders broad, feet wide.
I can’t deny that are the sort of masculine that might make a woman’s heart flutter.
Most of them I recognize. I’ve met all of Ryker’s brothers at one point or another over the last month. Killian stands on the end, his tattooed hands-on full display as he scans the room, his eyes hawkishly watchful.
Next to him is Triston Smith, CEO playboy of the family, whose looks and charm have made them billionaires.
His twin, Griswold Smith, stands next to him.
They both have polished looks and charismatic smiles that hide the devilment in their eyes, but I see it.
I’ve grown up amongst dangerous men, and I know the markers.
Finally, there is Winston Smith, the Duke of Grandmont. The story goes that his dukedom was nearly bankrupted by their father, but Win sent his brothers to America to remake the family fortune.
If his brothers reek of power, Win absolutely glows with it. It’s in every subtle line, every small gesture.
And finally, there is Ryker. I skip over him, the sight of him making my heart tick up several notches.
Just behind them are two men I’ve met once before. Mason Kincaid, builder and mastermind of the tunnel that has created the frenzy that has led to my sister marrying today.
Mason has the same energy as Win. Power radiates off him in waves.
Next to him is a man I’ve met once, on the night my father nearly killed me. Jake Kincaid.
The oldest man of the bunch, he was as kind as a stranger could be that night it all went down, and I feel myself relax to see him here today.
“Nervous?” Triston asks while flashing a row of straight white teeth, set off by his perfectly swept-back dark hair.
“Not at all,” Ryker answers, the deep timbre of his voice moving through me. “Today is going to be perfect.”
Gris clears his throat, grimacing at his brother. “For a man who barely even commits to a girlfriend, you’re taking this whole marriage thing with a great deal of calm.”
Ryker shrugs. “Marriage has a purpose. Or this one does. Girlfriends are just to pass the time, and I can usually find better ways.”
Killian scowls at his brother at the same time I shiver. Katarina is strong. Tough. She’ll take Ryker’s indifference and craft it to her advantage, I’m certain. She’s way tougher than me like that.
But the idea of marrying in this way…of being tied to man who doesn’t care at all, makes me want to hide. If he doesn’t have the emotional pull to even date, I take a step back, shrinking into the shadows, how cold will he be toward my sister?
I blow out a breath. Would my brother do to me what he’s doing to Kat? Of course he would. It’s my reminder to keep looking for my escape route. Today is my chance.
I turn away, starting down the hallway when I hear Dimitri’s voice echoing down the hall. “I don’t know where she is, but the car’s not here.”
“What about her location? Don’t you have it?” Ava asks and I freeze. They can’t be saying what I think…
“It’s showing her at home, but obviously I put her into the car myself so either the phone is off or still at the apartment.”
I press against the wall, my eyes squeezing shut as all my plans evaporate.
“Where could she be? Where could she go?”
Dimitri snorts. “Anywhere. If she convinced the driver to take her to the airport…” The noise of a door closing punctuates Dimitri’s words. I hold my breath as I search for Katarina. Instead, my niece walks into the hall with her nanny.
She’s wearing a dress that is in the same fabric as mine, and she gives me an excited wave, the flowers bouncing in her hair. “Look!” she points down at her dress. “We match.”
“I see,” I answer, the blood rushing in my ears as I hide my distress under a falsely bright smile.
“Daddy?” she calls.
Dimitri appears in a second, his gaze finding his daughter as I remain frozen against the wall. He moves toward her, sweeping her in his arms and kissing her cheek.
Watching them, for a moment, I forget my fear.
Because as shadowed and dark as Dimitri’s intentions are toward me and my sister, I can see that he is very different with his daughter.
He loves her in a way that our father never loved us.
She wraps her arm around his neck and squeezes, squishing her cheek into his.
He hugs back.
“Don’t hurt my flowers,” she says as she leans away to look into his eyes. “They pretty.”
“They are beautiful and so are you,” he answers as he turns, his eyes meeting mine. I see the change in him. The way he hardens, his eyes growing more distant. “Sasha.”
“Dimitri,” I say back, unable to disguise the breathiness of fear, my palms spreading out on the wall for some measure of strength.
“Is everything all right?” Another male voice asks. This one too close for comfort.
Ryker. My eyes close as a wave of anxiety overtakes me. I’m trapped between the two of them with no way out. Physically. But also, some sense is telling me they are closing a much bigger net about me. “Anna,” I call to my niece, needing something, anything to hold onto.
She wiggles down from her father’s arms and runs to my side.
Reaching down, I sweep her into my arms. Living with her has been the only joy of staying with my brother instead of my father.
She wraps her arms about my neck and, holding her with one arm, I adjust the flower in her hair that Dimitri shifted out of place with his hug.
Just having her in my arms changes my energy. I relax as I breathe in her scent, feel her small hands on my skin. “Ya tebya lyublyu,” I whisper, having already taught her the Russian words for I love you.
She smiles at me. “I love you,” she whispers back in English. She doesn’t speak any Russian, even her English has been slow to develop, but the words still fill me with joy.
Ryker approaches slowly, stopping a few feet from us. “She looks like you,” he says, clearing his throat.
I’ve noticed it too, how much Anna resembles Katarina and myself, how like our mother we all appear. Dimitri joins me on my other side, his palm coming to his daughter’s back.
“Sasha, do you think you could take Anna into the back room with Ava? I need a word with Ryker.”
I already know what they need to talk about. My gaze shifts to the back door, half hoping to see my sister walk through. I’m afraid of what this day will bring if she doesn’t.
Where is Katarina and what happens if she’s found a way to slip this knot?