Chapter 1 - Valery #2
“I know that I have a chance to protect my family. You guys have always put the family first, and now I can do that too. This isn’t about me or you as individuals. It’s about us . And I will do anything for us.”
While my shoulders are squared and my head is held high, I look confident in what I’m saying, but inside my body is trembling. Marrying Zakhar ties me to his family. The Shevchenko family. It ties me to Jaroslav …someone I thought was lost in my past.
“We need this,” Rigor says sternly. “Common ground. A stronger truce.” His eyes lock with Matvei, unwavering. I watch the muscles ripple over my oldest brother’s face as he clenches and unclenches his jaw.
Matvei groans and pushes his hands through his short, cropped black hair, and his dark eyes pierce into Rigor. Silence sits heavily in the room again as we all wait for his response. He is the leader. He has the last say in this matter.
My heart races and my skin burns with anticipation.
“Fine,” he snaps. “But I want clear boundaries set in place before anything is signed.”
“You can’t go dictating the grounds of marriage ,” Rigor argues. “Either you agree, or you don’t.”
Matvei snarls and squeezes his eyes shut. “I know,” he huffs. “Just make the arrangements,” he relents.
“Grish…” Timofey says his name in protest.
“It’s the only way, Timofey.” My oldest brother has spoken. I am going to be married into the Shevchenko family. Matvei turns to face me, his eyes dark with worry. “Are you sure about this, Valery?”
I nod. “I am. For our family,” I say with more confidence than I feel.
Matvei nods, accepting my fate, despite the clear disapproval written over his face. “Then you will marry Zakhar Shevchenko,” he says bitterly.
***
Walking out of the office, my hands are shaking, but I squeeze my fists closed to hide it from the men who have just agreed on my fate. I’m in shock, not even beginning to process what just happened. What was I thinking? You were thinking about your family.
Instead of going downstairs to read my book, I walk straight out into the garden, into the bright sunlight, and sit on the edge of a sun lounger next to the pool in the shade of an umbrella. I really didn’t think this through. Why in the world would I agree to something so crazy?
I bite at my lower lip anxiously, wondering about the intricacy of it all. Everything I didn’t take the time to consider.
Jaroslav can’t have thought this through either.
Why would he agree to let me marry his brother?
Was he also making a sacrifice for his family?
Won’t it be torturous for him? No. He’s the one who broke up with me.
He pushed me away. It was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. It broke me.
Sitting quietly outside, I can’t help but dwell on our past, the times we shared, and how it destroyed me when it ended.
It took a long time to pick myself up after that.
I don’t even know why he left me. He never told me anything that made sense anyway.
I remember his words as clear as the day he spoke them.
It’s over, Valery. It’ll never work between us, and you should leave. I don’t want to see you again.
It was cold and cruel, and I hated him for it. I embarrassed myself by arguing, telling him that whatever was going on, we could fix it together. We could make it work. But he said nothing more, and the empty, angry look in his eyes eventually made me walk away, tears streaming down my cheeks.
After that, I tried to reach out a few times because I needed answers. I needed to know why. But he never took my calls. He never replied to my messages.
Obviously, whatever we had between us was more one-sided than I’d understood. I was in love with him. Head over heels, madly, deeply in love with him. And he threw me away like I meant nothing. He got bored with me, and that was that.
I sigh and twist a long strand of my dark hair around my fingers. Then huff loudly, annoyed, tucking it back into the bun.
Wallowing won’t make anything easier.
Pulling my thoughts into order, I push away the fear and worry. Jaroslav agreed to this. Surely, he wouldn’t have done so if it was going to cause issues between his brother and himself.
Maybe he doesn’t even care. Just like he didn’t care in the past.
He’s obviously viewing this as a business decision.
The same way I told my brothers I was doing, even though my heart has now come into the argument and is horrified by what I’ve said, I’ll do.
Even pretending to be Zakhar’s wife is going to be complicated.
And while I can still spend my time here with my brothers, I will have to live with Zakhar.
Panic starts building like a quiet volcano in the center of my chest.
I agreed to this. It’ll be ok.
It’s just on paper.
But as I sit out in the summer sun, my heart is in chaos. Jaroslav already harbors anger toward my family…toward me…because of what happened in the past. I hope this isn’t some twisted way to get revenge on me because we couldn’t be together.
Either way, there is no backing out now.
I’m about to marry Zakhar.