31. Alessia
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
ALESSIA
“ S o, you get married when?” the guy asks as he hovers over the bar and peers at me over his glass. He’s become like a gnat that won’t go away, regardless of how much we swat him off. He saw us earlier and attached himself like a leach. I don’t remember his name, just that he’s seriously annoying us.
“Five days,” I grumble, looking at Caro in the corner of my eye.
“Are you here alone? Don’t you need to get back to your friends or whoever you came with?” Elsi asks. He shrugs and looks into his now empty cup.
“They aren’t missing me, I’m sure.”
“Well, we’re heading out. Thanks for the conversation,” Caro says, standing and linking her arms through mine and Elsi’s.
“Wait, can we exchange numbers?” he asks. I look to Elsi and Caro, unsure of who he’s asking. He chuckles and grins. “I’m asking you, Alessia.”
“How do you know my name?” I ask, my brows furrowed.
“You told me.”
“No, I didn’t. Also—what part of getting married in five days don’t you understand?”
“Yeah, to a man who can’t stomach being around you,” he mumbles.
What the fuck.
I hear teeth grinding together and look around for the sound until I realize it indeed is me. I yank away from Caro and saunter up to him.
“Who the fuck are you? How do you know me and why are you here?”
“Someone who can promise that you have no idea who you’re marrying. He’s hiding so much from you.” Then he walks off, the bastard really walks the fuck off. I go to chase him when Caro pulls me back.
“Leave him, maybe call Astor and tell him.”
He’s hiding so much from you.
“Should we leave?” Elsi asks, looking around. She’s scared, I can tell. I give her a small smile.
“We’re fine. I’ll call your brother.” She nods at me, but still looks around.
I pull my phone out and hover over Astor’s number.
He’s hiding so much from you.
His phone goes straight to voicemail and I can’t help the worry that instantly fills my body.
“He didn’t answer.” I push the phone back into my pocket and decide that I’m not going to let one weird man ruin my last weekend of freedom. “Let’s get our massages. I suddenly have an enormous amount of stress that I need to get rid of.”
“I agree. That was fucking weird. Let’s go,” Caro says, laughing as we walk toward the spa.
It’s been two hours and Astor still hasn’t called me back. The massage was relaxing, but not enough for me to forget the prick who decided to bombard my space. We’re getting ready for dinner when my phone finally rings.
“ Malyshka .”
“Hi.”
“You called? Everything ok?”
“Some random guy came up to tell me that I was not only marrying someone that couldn’t stomach the sight of me, but that I was marrying someone who was keeping things from me. Care to explain?”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line.
“What did he look like?”
“Uhh, blonde, green eyes, tall. Fucking annoying.” Astor is silent and then I hear those fucking teeth grinding, making me laugh.
“Something funny?”
“Just that you’re rubbing off on me.” He gives an approving hum and Elsi steps out of the bathroom. “Elsi’s here, wanna say hi?”
“I’m sure I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.” Elsi snatches the phone and giggles.
“No, Ast, you don’t. Everyone here is obsessed with your girl. They can’t keep their eyes off her.” I roll my eyes at her as I pull my dress on. She laughs again and I can only imagine what Astor said back to her comment.
I’m choosing to ignore what the man told me about him, because I already know Astor is hiding something from me. He told me himself that it was something I was supposed to figure out myself. I don’t like that it’s something this mysterious, but it’s not a fight I feel is important enough for me to keep fighting.
“Ok, yup. Got it. Love you, bye.” She hangs up and throws me my phone.
“Caro, let’s go!” I yell out. She steps out of the bathroom and smirks, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.
“Sorry, I needed to have a little peek show time with my man.”
“Oversharing.”
“Whatever, let’s go,” she says and we follow behind her.
Our night was going perfect. Celebrating was actually starting to feel like I had something to truly celebrate. This marriage to Astor wasn’t what I asked for, but deep down, I think it was always what I wanted. Zander was right; when we were younger, Astor never gave me the time of day, but I still couldn’t keep my eyes off him. He was mean and rude, and instead of avoiding him, I’d find reasons to piss him off more. It was like after a certain time I craved it. I craved the anger I made him feel. I craved it because instead of him being silent and acting like I didn’t exist, he showed something. An emotion, a feeling, something . I never admitted it to myself, not until Zander said it that day.
“Are you drunk yet, bitch?” Caro says, sliding up next to me with Elsi on the other side of me. Elsi giggles and I shake my head. “I’m not, but she obviously is,” I say, tilting my head at Elsi.
“I can’t believe you’re going to marry my brother,” she slurs as I finish off the drink that’s in front of me.
“Yeah, me either,” I respond. The bartender sits another drink in front of me and I hold my hand up to stop him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t order this.”
He stops and nods his head to the other side of the bar. When I follow, it lands on the fucking creep from earlier and I groan.
“Is this a fucking joke? Why can’t he take the hint?” Elsi asks. I stand and stalk over to him.
“Alessia,” he says, raising his drink. “No need to thank?—”
“Shut the fuck up, I’m losing my patience. I told you I was getting married in five days, and not only did you blatantly disrespect that, but you also insinuated that I’d willingly give my life over to someone who doesn’t want me. It’s obvious that you know me, and while I don’t know or care as to how, I will say this. Stay the fuck away from me.” He opens his mouth to speak, and I swear, I can’t help how quickly my fist balled up to haul off and hit him.
“Dominic…leave her.” a man says from behind me. I can’t help the chills that run down my body at the sound of the voice. I turn around and for some reason, I’m stuck. I don’t know who this man is, but what I do know is that the way he’s looking at me, he definitely knows me.