5. Chapter Five #2
I put my pointe shoes on with trembling hands and I hate myself for it. The last thing I want is to show my fear.
“Oh my god. There she is.” I recognize that voice. Glancing up, I see Ana and Maria standing inside the hotel… walking towards me. They’re both in casual loungewear. Nothing fit for a wedding.
“What are you two doing here?” I ask.
Ana looks me up and down with a sneer. “We heard you were getting married today. Camille had it all written down. Where everything would be. We decided to come wish you congratulations.”
I huff. “You came here to embarrass me. I know it. So run along. This is my wedding and you don’t want to upset my husband.”
“Oh. Your big, scary husband, huh?” Ana scoffs. “He’s just some man.”
They don’t even know that Nikolai is part of the Bratva or they wouldn’t be saying this. I don’t correct them. The less people who know that I’m part of the mafia, the better.
“All right. You wished me congratulations. Now leave.”
Maria’s eyes land on my feet. “Why do you have your pointe shoes on?”
“Because I am going to dance.”
“Oh, I have to see this,” Ana says, her eyes lighting up with an eagerness I hate.
“You were not invited. You’re not even in the proper dress wear. You will not be allowed inside. So go. Now.”
Ana walks right up to me and smacks me across the face. I grit my teeth to stop myself from gasping. “You will invite us inside or I’ll ruin your dress. I don’t think you’d like that on your wedding day.”
“Ruin my dress? With what?”
She nods at Maria, who steps forward and grabs something from her purse. A small container full of what looks like eyeshadow. Without hesitation, Maria throws the container at me and the eyeshadow lands right in the middle of my dress.
Staining it a dark, brown color.
“Oh,” Ana says, laughing as she covers her mouth. “Oops.”
“You bitch,” I snarl as I pick up one of my heels and jab it towards her face. She jerks back, narrowly avoiding her eye getting poked out. “Leave. Now.”
The ballroom door opens and Nikolai comes out. “Lana? What’s taking so long?” He stops when he sees Ana and Maria. “You two. What are you doing here?”
Now that they’re confronted by my husband, both girls can’t seem to speak.
Nikolai looks at my dress and then turns to Ana and Maria. “I take it you did this to my wife’s dress?”
“Your wife is a bitch. Respectably, sir,” Maria says. “She had it coming. It was her own fault. I tried being nice to her in the past and she never even tried with me.”
“So you came to her wedding and ruined her dress? What kind of demons are you? I have met a lot of bad people in my life but you girls are just annoying.” Nikolai towers over them. The sudden fear in both of their eyes is a satisfying sight. “Leave my wedding. Right now.”
Maria takes off running but Ana remains behind. Squaring her shoulders, Ana says, “You can’t scare me. Lana will get what’s coming to her.”
“Are you threatening my wife? I would think very carefully about that if I were you. Do you know what kind of man I am?”
“A rich one? My own father is rich. You’re nothing.”
“Little girl…” Nikolai chuckles. “I am your worst nightmare. You don’t want me as your worst nightmare. So go now, while I’m being generous.”
Ana seems to finally realize just how serious Nikolai is. Her eyes flick to mine and back to his before she walks away.
Nikolai turns to me. “Are you all right?”
“My dress is ruined.”
“Well, the show must go on.”
“How can I dance after what they just did to me?”
He places his fingers under my chin and makes me look up at him. “What are you feeling right now?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Just answer.”
“I’m upset. Angry.”
“What else?”
“Sad,” I admit. “I feel an ache in my chest.”
“So use that and channel it in your dance. You are a beautiful dancer, Lana. It’s what drew me to you.
But you hold yourself back too much. You don’t let yourself go.
But I saw it that night of your attack. How you danced on that stage, all by yourself.
I saw, for just a moment, the passion inside of you.
Use your emotion and put it in your dance and show our guests why I chose you.
” He swipes his thumb over my lips and I can’t help but part them.
Nikolai places a soft peck to my lips before letting me go. It’s just a taste. Something to tease me with but it lights my body on fire.
“Make me proud,” he says. “Show our guests what I’ve seen in you for months now.”
“But what about Ana and Maria?”
“I’ll handle it.”
A shiver runs over me. That’s the same exact thing Nikolai said about the man who attacked me. He’ll handle it. And then Claudia died. I just know it can’t be a coincidence.
Nikolai takes my hand and leads me back into the ballroom. I can hear the guests murmuring about my dress as I take to the dance floor. My mother is probably horrified. A glance at my father shows him shaking his head.
The music starts and I begin to dance.
I do what Nikolai told me. Channel all the emotion I have felt today into this one moment. Anger over Ana and Maria. Fear over Lev. Excitement for Nikolai.
I let the emotion wash over me as I dance around the floor. The guests all go quiet as they watch me. Good. This is my moment.
It’s not the easiest to dance in my wedding dress but I make it work. I don’t dance with flashy moves. Instead, I focus on simple movements with more emotion in them.
For once, I feel something inside of me crack and I pour it into the dance.
The room falls away and it’s just me.
Just me and Nikolai. I can feel his eyes on me the same way I did at the theater. His intense eyes that scare me. His intense eyes that excite me.
I dance and dance and dance until I can’t anymore.
I take a bow, catching my breath. The lights around me turn back on. The music resumes in my ears. The guests come into view.
They’re all clapping for me. I’m not sure if it’s out of obligation or because they really mean it but I don’t care. I’ll take it. I want their applause.
Nikolai comes to stand at my side. “That was beautiful, Lana. Truly beautiful.”
For the first time that night, my smile is genuine.
I have to say goodbye to my family.
The rest of our guests remain inside the hotel, having a party, while me and my family stand outside with Nikolai waiting by the car that will take me to my new home. His home.
Elena and I share another hug. “Just be safe. Please.”
“Of course.” I pull back and before I can react, Adriana throws her arms around me.
“I’ll miss seeing you every day,” she says.
“Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” I turn to my mother who offers me a cool smile.
“You danced well tonight. But your dress.” Her eyes rake over the stain on my bodice. “It’s a shame it was ruined.”
“Father,” I say. “What do you have to say?”
“Make me proud.” That’s it. That’s all I’ll ever get from my father.
I glance back at the hotel and see Svetlana standing by the front doors, just watching me. It makes me want to ask her more about the comment she made to me but I didn’t get the chance during the reception and I don’t have the chance now. Not when I’m leaving to move into my new home.
I turn to Nikolai and take his hand he has offered to me. Once Nikolai and I are in the back seat and his driver is taking us away from the hotel, I finally speak. “Who exactly is Svetlana? You said she was a friend.”
“She is. A friend I’ve had for a long time.”
“Just a friend?” I ask flatly.
He slants his eyes towards me. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I can spot a backstabbing bitch when I see one. I don’t trust her. I don’t think she’s just a friend to you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because she told me you’d make me bloody. On our wedding night.”
Nikolai shifts around in his seat. “It’s common for a virgin to bleed her first time.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I say with a flush. “And I don’t think that’s what she meant either.”
“Svetlana… she and I dated at one point.”
A rough blow of air escapes me. “I wondered. It felt like it.”
“But that’s done. I have no desire to be with her.”
“So why was she at our wedding then?”
“Because she’s a high ranking Bratva woman. She was once married to a Bratva man who’s now passed away. It’s customary to invite people like her. I didn’t do it to offend you.”
“There really isn’t anything between you two anymore?”
Nikolai looks me right in the eye. “Not at all.”
“All right. I’ll choose to believe you. I have no other choice. You’re my husband now. I have to listen to you.”
He sets his hand on my knee again. “You are an interesting woman, Lana. Not quite what I had been expecting.”
“What had you been expecting?”
“Someone more demure. But you’re not that. You’re not afraid to speak your mind. You have a strength to you. I’m glad. As a Bratva boss, I need a strong woman at my side. I knew you captured my interest for a reason.”
I tilt my head to the side. “So why, out of all the ballerinas you saw on stage, did you find me the most interesting?”
“Because I see your untapped potential and I want to be the one to help you bring it out.”
“How exactly?”
He taps my knee before pulling away. “You’ll see in time.”
I watch the winter landscape pass me by as we drive through the city towards Nikolai’s house. My heart beats faster the closer we get and once we come upon a large mansion, I feel like my heart is going to fall right out of my chest.
The mansion in question is quite stark. Red brick and sharp lines. A beautiful house but something… cold about it.
Nikolai gets out of the car and opens my door for me. I take his hand again, only to steady myself. The cold air makes me shiver and my shawl doesn’t offer me any sort of protection.
“Welcome to your new home,” he announces before leading me inside. I sigh after the warmth of the house envelopes me. The inside is much more grand than the out. White marble floors. A bright chandelier. A large staircase leading to a second story.