2. Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Anastasia
I startle at Adrien’s words. “My… husband?” Am I dreaming? Is this insanely handsome man telling me that he’s going to be my husband?
“I don’t understand,” Natalya says, running her hand over her baby bump.
Mikhail places his hand over hers, cradling her stomach.
There’s no doubt my sister and brother-in-law love each other.
He almost died a few years back from an explosion.
Mikhail still has the scars to prove it.
But he survived and they’ve been in love even more since then.
Mom enters the kitchen, staring at Adrien with distrust. She then turns those distrustful eyes onto Mikhail and Nico. “What is happening here?”
“Care to explain?” Adrien says to Nico.
With a sigh, Nico turns to us, looking like this is the last thing he wants to do.
“Adrien is a business partner of mine from France. He works for the French mafia. He’s high ranking.
We’ve been in talks for a while about working together.
But Adrien wants assurances that I won’t screw him over.
Apparently, he doesn’t trust me not to do that after I ended my alliance with Denis.
And so the only way he believes there will ever be trust between is us if he has something that will tie us all together. ”
Nico gives me a pointed look.
He doesn’t even say it before Mom gasps and wraps her arm around me. “No,” she says. “You’re going to marry Ana off? To this man? I don’t even know who he is.”
“He’s a friend of mine,” Nico says.
“That’s not reassuring.” Even though Nico has been married to Sasha for four years now, Mom still doesn’t always trust him. I don’t think she trusts Mikhail or Liam either with Natalya and Irina.
“It’s the only way,” Mikhail explains. “Nico spoke to me and Liam about this. We all agreed. This is a good way to make a deal with Adrien. Expand our business. But to do that, Adrien wants to marry Ana to ensure we’ll never betray him.”
“And what if you want to make a deal with anyone else in the future?” Mom asks. “Who will you use in your schemes then? My future granddaughter?” She nods at Natalya’s large stomach. “You’re going to take her and marry her off to whoever you want?”
“My mom has a point,” Natalya says. “I don’t like that you three made this decision without talking to me first.”
“It wasn’t your decision to make,” Nico says.
It’s a good thing Sasha isn’t here because she would have probably smacked Nico for saying something so dismissive. I’m a lot like Sasha – feisty and not afraid to speak my mind. But Nico is not my husband. I can’t just slap him without consequences.
And after how Denis used to beat me for speaking out, I’ve become more aware of what I should and shouldn’t say around dangerous mafia men.
“She is my sister,” Natalya hisses. “My baby sister. And you all just agreed to marry her off without discussing it with me, Sasha, or Irina? Or Ana herself?”
“Or me?” Mom adds.
Natalya nods at her. “Exactly. Ana is the baby in the family. We’ve all been torn apart because of what Denis did.
I had to marry Mikhail for my own protection, forcing me away from my family for years.
Sasha was forced to marry Nico due to Denis.
And Irina was forced to marry Liam because of Irish mobsters.
Does Ana not get a say? One of us should finally get a say. ”
“That’s not how this works,” Nico says. “Us men decide what’s best for our women.”
I wish Sasha were here. I know she’d say ‘Bullshit’ and put Nico in his place. She will later when she hears about this, I’m sure. But I don’t have my fierce talking sister right now.
Adrien leans against the kitchen counter, watching everything with amusement. I can’t help but look at him. He’s distractingly handsome. His eyes catch mine and he winks. The blush that hits my face lights me on fire and I quickly look away.
I always thought I’d be bold and sexy around men but when faced with an incredibly sexy man, I’m not either of those things. I feel like a little girl who’s been sheltered all her life.
But that’s not who I want to be.
“You can’t be serious,” Natalya says.
“Natalya,” Mikhail gently scolds. “I know you’re upset.
You love Ana. You want to see her protected and cared for.
But trust me when I say I considered this offer in depth.
I didn’t just agree to it right away. I believe it’s for the best. Adrien has been a friend to Nico for a long time.
He wants to be a part of our alliance. He will take our business to a whole new level. ”
“And it’s just my sister who’s the sacrifice?”
“I won’t beat her if that’s what you’re worried about,” Adrien says, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “I promise. I have no desire to beat women. To rape them. I won’t hurt your sister.”
That calms Natalya down slightly. “She’s still my baby sister and you’re giving her away like it’s nothing.”
Mikhail sets his hands on her arms. “We knew this day would come. You knew it, Natalya. You and your sisters were raised to be wives. You knew Ana would be married off someday for political gain.”
“I know,” she says, ducking her head. “But I just wished that Ana would be given more choices than me or Sasha or Irina were given. I wanted the best for her.”
“Maybe we should ask what Anastasia thinks?” Adrien suggests.
All eyes turn to me. I stand up tall, telling myself to be brave in this situation. I always wanted an adventure and this could be it. Married to a super sexy Frenchman would be an adventure.
So why do I feel so nervous?
Probably because I never thought this would actually happen. I figured I would just be kept locked up for the rest of my life. Now that it’s happening, I’m not fully sure if I’m ready for it.
But I don’t want to be locked up forever.
“Will we get the chance to talk before we’re married?” I ask. “Get to know each other?”
“We can talk.” There’s a glint in Adrien’s eyes that speaks to a mischievous side. He is a mafia man after all. It’s exhilarating but also terrifying.
“But the wedding should happen soon,” Nico says. “If we want this deal to happen.”
“How soon?” Mom asks flatly. “And Ana still hasn’t said if she wants this or not.”
“Ana doesn’t really get a choice, does she?” Nico snaps.
“Nico,” Mikhail murmurs. “Careful.”
Mom stands to her full height and glares at the men in the room. “My daughter is finally safe. I will not have her just sold off into a marriage. She has the right to decide if she doesn’t want this.”
“But our alliance –,” Nico starts.
“Fuck your alliance,” Mom cuts him off. “I want my daughter to get to make the decision. That’s it. Plain and simple. If she says no, then this marriage is not happening.”
Nico huffs, rolling his eyes. Mikhail raises his hands, trying to calm the situation down.
And Adrien only continues to stare at me…
like he’s studying me. It’s unnerving. But I kind of like it.
Like the attention. It makes me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt. More aware of myself. My face. My body.
What would it be like to have the attention of a man like Adrien? Someone who screams power and danger but also a pure sexiness that continues to make me blush.
I don’t know anything about Adrien. He could be lying about not wanting to hurt me.
The second he got me alone, he could beat me the way Denis did.
I still wake up at night sometimes, scared out of my mind that Denis will be standing over me, ready to rain his fists down onto my face again.
All my bruises have faded now but I still remember the pain of it.
If I’m married to a man who intends to hurt me, I’m not sure I could live anymore.
“Will you promise me excitement?” I ask Adrien.
“We can have more fun than you’ve ever imagined.”
There’s a suggestiveness about his words that make goosebumps break out on my skin.
“Will you promise to never lay a hurtful hand on me? And if you do –” I turn to Mikhail and Nico – “you two will protect me and help me leave the marriage.”
Adrien looks me steadily in the eye. “I promise you, Anastasia, that I will never lay a hurtful hand onto you.”
I can only take him at his word. I look at Nico and Mikhail and after a moment, they both nod.
“You’ll end your alliance with Adrien to save me if need be?”
“Yes,” Mikhail says.
Nico only hesitates for a moment before nodding.
“Then I shall make sure I give no reason to end the marriage,” Adrien says. “I will not beat you.”
“And if I’m unhappy? Will I get to leave the marriage then?”
That makes all the men pause.
“Well,” Nico says slowly, “as long as you’re not in any physical danger, there’s nothing we can do. We won’t end this alliance just because you’re unhappy in your marriage. So if you’re unhappy, you’ll need to figure that out with Adrien. Since he will be your husband after all.”
“I’m afraid to say that Nico is right,” Mikhail says. “You have to give us something, Ana. Some compromise.”
Mom tightens her arm around me. “If my daughter says no, then she says no. Ana, what do you want to do? Do you want to marry this man?”
“I have to make the decision right now?” I ask.
“Yes,” Nico says flatly. “We have to work on wedding plans. The sooner the people know Adrien is working with us, the better. So make up your mind.”
“Don’t talk to my sister like that,” Natalya says.
Mikhail puts his hand on her cheek. “Stay out of this. This is up to Ana to make.”
I can tell it hurts Natalya to not have a say but she goes quiet, letting me make my own decision.
I could say no. Go back to my normal, boring life. But it’s a safe one. That I know for sure.