36. Emily
36
EMILY
After Konstantin had left from our bed to talk with Gerasim, I got up on wobbly legs, slipped on a robe, and ventured out—driven by hunger and thirst—just in time to catch the two of them walk away with their heads bent low and whispering.
Whatever it is they’re talking about, it seemed important.
Against my better instincts, I followed just out of sight behind them to a different wing of the castle.
And now, I wish I hadn’t.
With my ear pressed against the door, I can only hear some muffled voices as Konstantin speaks with Gerasim.
Whatever it is, both men sound agitated.
But nothing can prepare me for the next set of muffled words coming from behind the door.
“The only way my grandmother will release my inheritance is after I put a baby in Emily’s belly.”
I clap my hand to my mouth to stop myself from gasping as soon as I hear them.
A cold trickle of sweat rolls down my ribcage, and I back away from the door.
What did he mean by that? I ask myself. He can’t be serious …
I turn, head looking down on the floor as I walk. I’m so wrapped up in my thought that I don’t even notice the massive man standing in my way until I crash against him and fall to the floor.
I look up and see that he’s not alone.
There’s an entire wall of men in suits.
Then, they part, and my heart drops away when I see Alla staring at me. Both her eyes, the good one and the one cloudy from cataract, drill into mine, and I fight the urge to shrink back from her.
“Up,” she says coldly.
It’s not a request. It’s a command. I scramble to my feet, and instinctively, my hands clutch around my arms as her withering gaze follows my motion.
“Come.”
Heart-rate spiking, I spare one final look at the door, hoping desperately that Konstantin might emerge. If he does, I’ll confess that I was listening. He’ll be mad, but he’ll understand.
But the door remains closed. Konstantin must still be talking with Gerasim.
“Don’t make me ask again, devushka, ” Alla says as she continues to walk.
A man moves behind me gives me a hard shove forward, and I follow after her.
Alla leads me to what seems to be a sun-filled library. As soon as I enter, the guard behind me closes the door with a thud of finality, trapping me inside with her. He then stands with his arms folded in front of him and stares forward at nothing in particular.
There’s nowhere for me to go.
“Sit.” Alla gestures to one of the armchairs by the window as she takes a seat in the one opposite it.
Reluctantly, I obey. Although the chair is in direct sunlight, I feel impossibly cold. My stomach turns uncomfortably. Partly from hunger, but mostly from the fact that I’m trapped in this room with Alla and her guards.
To say that I’m scared is the understatement of the century.
“Something to drink, devushka? ” she asks, her voice hard as iron. “Tea? Coffee?”
“No, thank you,” I look down answer shakily. “I’m not thirsty.”
“Liar.” A steaming cup of tea on a dish is shoved before me and I look up to see one of her guards towering over me. “It’s rude to reject a host’s offer . ”
Realizing that all she’s offering me is the illusion of choice, I accept the tea with trembling hand and take a small sip before setting it down on the table nearby. It does nothing to warm me.
The man who handed me the tea takes a step back, but hovers nearby, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.
“Why were you outside my grandson’s office?” she asks. “No lies this time.”
“I …” I chew my lip. Can I even risk telling her the truth? She hates me enough already. What will she do if I tell her that I was spying on him from outside?
Her mouth purses into a line and she inclines her head, demanding that I answer.
I take a deep breath.
There’s no way out other than the truth.
“I was listening.” I confess.
“I’m aware.” She nods. “Why?”
Because I wanted to know just what it is that’s so important that he left our bed.
“Talk!” she barks when I take too long to find an answer.
“Because I was curious,” I stammer. “I wanted to know what he and Gerasim were talking about.”
“What do you think gives you the right to do that?” She scowls.
“I’m his wife,” I answer. “I have a right to know what he’s doing.”
“Do you?” she cocks her head to her side for a second.
Her eye suddenly darts to the man standing behind my chair and she barks a command in Russian.
Immediately, rough hands haul me up to my feet.
Before I can protest, my robe is yanked away, exposing my body for everyone in the room to see.
I yelp in surprise and try to cover myself up, but several tattooed hands wrench mine away, pinning them at my side and holding me still until I’m exposed before Alla.
Her one good eye rakes my naked body, going over every inch in methodical detail like I’m a horse on sale.
For a moment, I have the absurd notion that she’ll even ask me to open my mouth so that she can count my teeth.
She says something else in Russian, and I’m turned around for her to examine.
A few seconds later, I find myself flipped around to face her again. The robe is draped haphazardly over my shoulder and I quickly wrap it around myself.
What the fuck just happened?
My lower lips start to tremble, but I know better than to show her any sign of weakness.
Pushing my fears deep down to somewhere I can’t reach, I stand up just a little bit taller as I meet her hateful gaze.
“Do you imagine that just because of the ring on your finger?” she says softly, venom dripping with every word. “It makes you one of us?”
My heart pounds. “Doesn’t it?” I ask back.
“No.” Alla shakes her head. “Your ink-less skin is proof that you are not. You are an outsider.” She leans forward, and exposes her shoulder to reveal the tattoo of a five-pointed star. “And your marriage is as worthless as you are, you gold-digging whore.”
Worthless …
Whore …
Her word stabs at me like needles, and all I can think of is memories of Olivia as she stood before our parents as they berated her in the same tone. Useless. Ungrateful. Worthless.
“I’m not a gold-digging whore.” I whisper. “I am not worthless. This marriage is real! Konstantin told me so himself.”
But even as I say those words, they feel hollow.
The only way my grandmother will release my inheritance is after I put a baby in Emily’s belly.
Was that why he asked me to be his real wife?
I asked him about babies from the moment I arrived in this castle.
I should’ve known that his silence was an answer!
I’ve been reckless with him in bed since the wedding, having sex without any protection.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
Alla smirks as if she can read my mind. “What did you hear through that door, little whore?”
The room spins around me, growing colder by the second.
My mouth opens, but no sound comes out.
“Answer me.” The smirk on Alla’s face twists into a cruel smile as she spares a glance at a guard standing by her side. “Or I’ll have Styopa beat it out of you!”
The man cracks his neck menacingly, and I gulp down my fear.
“H-He said …”
“Speak up!” Alla barks. “And speak clearly!”
My hands ball into fists and I take a trembling breath to steady myself before speaking. “He said that you’ll only release the inheritance if he …”
The words die on my lips.
“If he what, little whore?”
My breaths start coming rapidly, and I have the sudden urge to vomit. But Alla’s vicious gaze roots me in place, demanding an answer.
“… If he puts a baby in my belly.”
The smile on her face turns sickly sweet as it widens, and her piercing gaze travels down my body until it rests on my belly.
“Has he?”
“I don’t know. It’s only been a week.”
Alla stands up and I snap my mouth shut as she approaches me. She reaches out with those talon-like fingers and grip my arm again.
“Then in that case,” she whispers as her fingers dig at my flesh. “You will march yourself back into his bed, spread your legs like the good little whore that you are, and take every drop of his seed until you are pregnant.”
I wince from pain but I don’t dare pull back.
“And if I find out you dare to spill even a single drop anywhere else,” she snarls. “I will have you begging on your knees for me to end your pathetic little life.”
She releases her grip and gives me a slight shove.
“Now get the fuck out so I can have my tea in peace.”