Chapter 42 #3
She was perfect for me. In every way, shape, and form. Nothing held her back from going after what she wanted. Not even a fully fenced property with a twenty-four-hour security detail and dozens of guard dogs.
She’d seen those obstacles and gone, “Okay, let’s have some fun” before making her way up to my bedroom.
I laid flat on my back, my hands behind my head, face up toward the ceiling, eyes still closed. I kept my breathing slow and steady—hard to do when I could feel Lyla’s gaze burning into the side of my face—and tried to slow the excited beat of my heart as she knelt beside me.
She didn’t touch me. Never did. She just sat there and watched me sleep.
I walked back into the kitchen with the iPad in my hands and showed it to Nikolai. “Look.”
“What am I supposed to be looking at here?” he asked, eyes darting all over the screen.
It was security footage from the night before. Footage of Lyla breaking into my room and stealing my dagger.
I’d debated long and hard about whether or not to show my siblings the video. Up until that point, they’d only pegged Lyla as a minor inconvenience. Nothing too serious or anything to worry about.
I wanted to change that.
I wanted them to see what an absolute badass she was.
The potential she had to improve our family and make it stronger.
That she was able to get through our mountains of security, up the side of the house, through my bedroom window, and watch me sleep for hours without breaking a fucking sweat. All completely undetected.
I wanted them aware of her.
In awe of her.
Like I was.
So, I’d accused Illayana of stealing my dagger to have an excuse to show them the security footage. To show them the very first glimpse of my one true fucking love.
“You’ve seen this?” my brother asked, concern on his face.
“Yep.” I couldn’t keep the excitement from my face even if I tried.
Nikolai groaned. “Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?” I smiled innocently.
“Like you’re giddy with anticipation. You shouldn’t be. This woman broke into your room and watched you sleep for over an hour. She’s dangerous. And crazy.”
“I know.” Isn’t that awesome? “My two favorite things. I can’t wait to meet her.” Properly.
“Before you leave, there’s something else we need to discuss.” Aleksandr held my gaze, and I thumped back down into my seat.
“What did I do now?” I sighed, because let’s face it, I was the preferable fuck up in this family.
“You haven’t done anything—”
“For once,” Nikolai added with a chuckle, and I cut him a glare.
“It’s about your stalker.”
Inside my soul lit up like a fucking Christmas tree, but I had to play it cool. I couldn’t let them see how the mere mention of her excited me to no end. “What about her?”
“Did you know she was the one who sent the location of Talon’s island to Drea? Or that she was the sniper who saved you in the arena?”
I widened my eyes, even though I had already expected as such. “She was? How could you possibly know that?”
Drea was the one to answer. “Because I didn’t order anyone up there. Neither did Arturo, Mikhail, or my brother.’
“Okay? I don’t get what the big deal is. If what you’re saying is true, it means she saved me. Saved us.”
They should all be singing her fucking praises, not talking about her like she is some sort of problem to take care of.
If it wasn’t for her, we’d all be dead.
“The big deal is, that woman is highly trained, highly skilled, has managed to sneak in and out of the property completely undetected, and we still have no idea who the fuck she is. The big deal is that she is a massive, massive threat, and the moment she realizes she can’t have you will be the moment everything changes. ”
He was talking about the arranged marriage with Anya.
Offering to take Aleksandr’s place had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Aleksandr and Nikolai both couldn’t do it now that they were head over heels in love.
As someone hopelessly in love, I understood the pain it would cause them, having to marry another.
I couldn’t do that to them, and if no one married Anya, Grandfather would kill Illayana.
I didn’t have a choice. I had to take his place, otherwise, my sister would die.
Not to mention the fact that it was my one chance to show my siblings I wasn’t as unreliable as they all seemed to think I was.
I had a plan.
There wasn’t much longer to go. I would do my duty to my family, marry Anya, and then, once my grandfather was dead, terminate our arrangement and finally be with Lyla again.
I was well aware of the fact that it was a risky plan, but any plan with so much at stake was a risky one, no matter what it was.
I couldn’t get out of marrying Anya, as much as I wanted to. But there was nothing saying I had to stay married to her after. Especially once Sergei was dead.
The only variable in the whole equation was Lyla. I’d been edging her for months, pushing her to act. She hadn’t yet, and the suspense was killing me.
She had to have something planned, but what?
“We need to find her and deal with her. She’s following you. That means you’re the only one who can do it. You do whatever you need to do to find her, and you kill her. Understand?” Aleksandr finished.
I understood that was what he wanted me to do. What he believed to be the best course of action.
But I didn’t.
That all too familiar sliver of guilt sank its way deep into my bones, but nevertheless, I said the words, lying to my brother. Again. “Got it.”
Me: Who are you?
I opened my bedroom door and froze in the doorway. A smirk curled on my lips. Lyla’s delectable scent filled my senses, and I almost moaned from the excitement.
She’s here.
Two words I absolutely loved to utter, even if it was only inside my head.
I allowed myself one more moment to lock down the exhilaration hammering in my veins before walking in and shutting the door.
I flicked on the light and went straight to stripping off my clothes. I wasn’t sure exactly where she was, just that she was there.
Watching me.
Always watching.
So, I undressed slowly. Seductively. Giving her plenty of time to admire me and enjoy the show because…only the best for my girl.
Unknown: Given the events of today, I am willing to forgo that transgression, my love. But, never again. You know who I am. I am yours and you are mine. Until death do us part.
Oh man. She’s absolutely fucking insane.
I’m such a goner.
After exchanging a few more text messages, I decided to throw caution to the wind and see how far I could really push her. See if she would finally let loose some of that craziness I fucking loved so much.
Me: This was mildly entertaining at the start, but now, I’m bored. My attention is hard to keep, and unfortunately for you, you’ve lost it.
Not true.
Not true at all.
She held all my attention. From now until the end of time.
But I wanted to see what my little shadow would do when challenged.
I walked over to the bed, tossed my phone down, and headed for the shower.
Take the bait, my little shadow.
I drifted back to consciousness but stayed completely still, not making it known that I was awake. I was strapped to a chair. That much, I was sure of. Both my arms and legs were bound, and whatever drug she’d slipped into my drink was still coursing through my body, making me slightly lethargic.
Quietly, carefully, I opened one eye and peeked around the room. Lyla was standing in front of a long table along the wall, dressed in a beautiful white dress. She was humming to herself as she fiddled with a bunch of plates and trays filled with food.
She’d done it.
She’d actually done it.
I joked about it to everyone, but I hadn’t envisioned her actually kidnapping me.
Fuck, my whole body was on fucking fire.
The fucking balls on that woman to not only kidnap me from my own wedding, but play the part of my bride.
It was insane. Outrageous. Completely fucking mad.
And also, pure genius.
She was nothing short of amazing.
But I had to be careful. I had to play the part. Pretend I had no idea who she was, or that I’d been stalking her for a hell of a lot longer than she’d been stalking me.
I didn’t want to scare her off.
I needed to make her completely and hopelessly in love with me first.
Then, and only then, could all be revealed.
Lyla stared open-mouthed at me.
I cleared my throat and sat up straighter. “More champagne?” I asked, holding up the bottle.
I was nervous. Beyond fucking nervous. I wasn’t entirely sure how she would react to the knowledge that I had been aware of everything.
Aware of everything she had been doing from the moment she began following my father. Apart from the whole kidnapping thing.
But I thought I had winged that part pretty well, if I did say so myself.
Lyla still hadn’t said anything, gawking at me in complete and utter shock.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked, smiling cautiously.
She finally snapped her mouth shut. She picked up her wine glass and downed the whole thing in one go. She placed it down and then picked up mine, doing the exact same thing.
I poured her another glass.
She downed that too.
Then another.
Then another.
By the sixth, she stopped, still giving me that absolutely bewildered expression.
I mashed my lips together and waited anxiously for her to say something.
“Okay,” she finally blew out, eyes turning calculating. “Are you saying you’ve been manipulating me this entire time?”
I winced. “Manipulating is such an awful word. I like to think of it more as me steering you in the right direction.”
“That direction being you?”
I squared my shoulders and puffed out my chest. “Yes.”
She took the whole bottle of champagne that time, taking a big gulp. “That woman, the one from the club. Did you—”
“I didn’t sleep with her. Didn’t touch her. I haven’t touched another woman since the first moment I laid eyes on you. I told my siblings I had because that’s what’s expected of me. Told them I had been screwing some chick when I was kidnapped by Talon—”
“No, you weren’t.” She frowned. “I was there that night. If you had a woman in your apartment, I would have killed her.”
I smirked. “I know. I only told my siblings that so they wouldn’t ask what I was doing in some random apartment in the city.”
“I thought you went there to rest because you couldn’t be bothered driving back to your house?”
“No,” I said softly, shaking my head. “I only stayed there because it was easier for you to watch me there. I like it when you watch me.”
Silence reigned between us. I had to keep myself from fidgeting. For the first time ever, I couldn’t read her. Couldn’t read her thoughts or how she was feeling, and it made me sick to my stomach.
Did I go too far again?
Is what I did too much? Am I too much—
She leaped across the table and jumped at me, her lips smashing into mine. My chair tipped backward, and we went sprawling to the ground.
“Oh—ow, fuck.” I groaned and laughed, my mouth still sealed to hers.
Lyla kissed me even harder. “You’re even crazier than I am,” she breathed against my lips. “And I fucking love you for it.”
I smiled wide.
My girl was perfect.
The End