Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Katya
Walking down the aisle in my torn wedding dress with so many eyes on me is overwhelming. My heart is going to explode out of my chest from how hard it’s pounding. My hands are clammy and my feet are like blocks of ice. The only thing keeping me upright is Alek’s arm wrapped around mine.
It’s a strange sensation. How he can make me feel stronger and yet is the reason I’m in this predicament in the first place. He’s trying to beat my brother in this war between them and I’m the collateral damage. Yet, he’s also the one trying to lift me up.
I don’t understand it at all.
We reach the end of the aisle and I look up into the eyes of the priest staring down at me. There’s no empathy in his eyes. What kind of priest did Alek get that would do a wedding on such short notice? Probably one who wouldn’t ask any questions.
Alek helps me walk up the steps but my foot slips and I stumble forward.
I hear snickering behind me. A glance over my shoulder tells me that it’s Nina and Susanna.
I know for a fact that they’re not my friends.
Susanna made that obvious yesterday and Nina made it obvious today when she flat out lied to Alek about Susanna ripping my dress.
They are not to be trusted. I don’t have anybody.
I’m completely on my own.
Alek shoots the girls a look that makes them stop laughing. There’s an anger inside of him, radiating out. I just hope that I’m not on the receiving end of that anger.
“Let us begin, Father,” Alek says to the priest.
I drown out the words of the priest as I look around the church. So many eyes on me. No way to escape. I’m no longer in my hidden room. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to return to it.
I sway on my feet and almost fall backwards but Alek grabs my hands and steadies me. Focus, I tell myself. I need to focus. I can’t pass out from this. Anything could happen then.
I keep praying that Dimitri will burst through those church doors and save me. Alek is not making this wedding a secret. He’s taunting Dimitri. But will Dimitri get here in time? My brother has never let me down before.
Yet, he never encouraged me to leave my room for all those years. Maybe my brother was letting me down all along and I just never saw it. Never understood it.
Not until now.
My eyes meet Alek’s and his intense gaze makes me lose my breath. How can one man be this handsome and yet scary at the same time? How can he be my kidnapper and also the man who’s trying to save me from myself?
“Do you, Alek Morozov, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
The priest’s words come rushing back into my mind. This is real. This is happening. I’m marrying a man I’ve only known for two days.
“I do,” Alek says, not hesitating at all. He wants me and he’s going to get me.
“And do you, Katya Ivanov, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
I can’t form words. I couldn’t get them out even if I wanted to and I most definitely do not want to.
Alek tightens his hold on my hands. “Katya.” It’s a gentle reminder that I’m not getting out of this mess.
Still, I can’t speak. It’s like my tongue is cement inside my mouth. Impossible to wade through now that it’s gone hard.
Nina and Susanna laugh again, mocking me very publicly. They don’t have a care in the world. Two teenage girls who’ve never gone through the trauma I have. Because if they had, they never would be so cruel.
Their laughter makes me squeeze my eyes shut but I can’t hold back my tears.
A few slip down my face. The other guests begin to murmur, questioning why the bride is crying.
But they all have to know. They’re Alek’s friends.
His coworkers. The men and women who have heard the stories of Dimitri’s hidden sister.
His secret sister. The one he kept locked in a dungeon.
They all know that Alek kidnapped me and that he’s forcing me into this marriage. They have to know.
And that’s what makes everything more frightening. They all know and they don’t care.
“Katya,” Alek says again.
I can only shake my head. Words will not come.
“Will this work if she nods her answer?” Alek asks the priest, who sighs with regret.
“No. She needs to verbalize it.”
Alek sighs and sets his intense eyes onto me. “Katya, you need to say the words.”
I shake my head harder.
“Katya.” His tone speaks to no disagreement.
Still, I cannot speak.
Alek grabs my waist and pulls me in close to him. “I didn’t want to do this on our wedding day but you leave me no choice. I am going to get you to say the words. You’re panicking. You need to calm your mind down.”
And right before everyone in the church, he pushes me over the altar and brings his hand right onto my backside, spanking me for everyone in the church to see. The sound of his hand spanking me echoes through the room. It’s loud and humiliating.
I can feel the shock of the people behind me, especially Nina and Susanna.
Alek spanks me again and again and again. Each one hurts more than the last.
I grit my teeth together to keep from screaming but it’s getting harder and harder. My hands scramble to hold onto the altar but that won’t make Alek stop. Nothing will until I say my wedding vows. Until I bind myself to him.
“Calm your mind, Katya. Focus. This is the way.”
His next slap hurts so much that I can’t stop myself from crying out. Because of the echo in the church, it makes my voice sound loud. The loudest it’s ever been. The most anyone has ever heard from me.
“Please, stop,” I sob.
“That’s it. Let it out. Let your fear go. I will stop when you promise to say your vows.”
“I will. I will.”
“Good.” He steps back. My backside is throbbing from the pain. The only saving grace is that he kept my dress in place, not exposing me to a room full of people. But Alek doesn’t win any brownie points for that. He’s an evil man.
Alek helps me stand upright and sets me back into place. The priest looks stunned but he doesn’t say anything about what Alek just did, proving my point that he’s a corrupt priest. Alek must have paid him off or helped him get out of a bad spot.
I glance at Nina and Susanna, who are staring at me and Alek with their mouths open. I’m guessing they’ve never seen that side to Alek before. Maybe now they’ll finally believe me when I say I was kidnapped.
“Ask her again,” Alek says to the priest.
He stares at Alek for a moment before clearing his throat. “Do you, Katya Ivanov, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
This is it. The moment I become Alek’s and lose the life I once had. Because I’m never getting it back now.
“I do,” I whisper.
The priest nods while Alek gives me a smug smile, like he knows he won. And I guess he has. He’s made me his bride.
He pulls out two wedding rings and slips one onto my finger. It’s a perfect fit. Did he guess my finger size or is it fate trying to tell me something? My wedding dress was also a perfect fit without any alterations.
Alek opens my hand and places the other ring in it. “Put it on me.”
My hands are shaking as I do as he says but I manage it. The moment I put the ring onto Alek’s finger, I know this is it. He’s making me complicit in this crime. By making me take action by putting the ring on his finger, I’m silently saying I’m all right with this.
Of course I’m not but to everyone in the room that’s how it appears.
I have sealed my fate with Alek and there’s no going back.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
I squeak when Alek cups my face. Is this really how my first kiss is going to go? He gives me the tiniest brush of his lips on mine before pulling back. I’m grateful it wasn’t a real kiss. I’m not ready for that yet.
Alek’s eyes soften as he looks down at me. “You’re mine now, Katya.” He says the words low so they’re just for my ears.
I am his wife now.
The wedding continues at a reception hall inside a hotel. It all happens so fast that it’s all a blur. I don’t even know the name of the hotel. Just that it’s elegant and beautiful and rich. And that it’s filled with people who shout out ‘congratulations’ as Alek and I head into the ballroom.
This is not a wedding to congratulate. This is more of a funeral. The death of my previous life.
Alek’s guests – because they’re not mine – congregate inside the ballroom, sitting around the many tables in it. The place is decorated beautifully with soft cream and green accents. It’s like a fairytale but this is a nightmare for me.
We walk onto the dance floor together.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
“We have to have our first dance, don’t we?” He pulls me into his arms as the live band begins to play a soft, sweet song. I almost laugh. Soft and sweet are the last ways I’d describe Alek. He literally spanked me on an altar.
“Why did you do that?” I ask, my face on fire. It’s not a question I want to ask but I need the answer to.
“Why did I do what?” he asks, settling his hand on my low back. It’s distracting to say the least.
“In the church. You…”
“When I spanked you?”
I let out a breath. At least he’s not making me say it myself. “Yes. That.”
“Well, you needed to calm your mind. And it seems that a good spanking does that for you. It got you to say your vows, did it not?”
“You forced me into that.”
“I never claimed to be a good man, Katya. I did kidnap you after all. I would have done anything to get you to say yes to me.”
“Even murder someone again?” I think back to when he shot Travis in the head like it was nothing. I don’t even think he flinched.
“Yes.” There’s no hesitation in his voice.
“Why do you want me so badly? I know you want to get at my brother but…”
“But?”
“This seems excessive. You didn’t have to marry me to hurt my brother. Just kidnapping me was enough.”
“True.” He leans into my ear. “But this is more fun.”