Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
She takes one look at me in my robe. “Hi, I’m Polina, and there will be hell to pay for me coming in here, but honey, we have to get you ready. The wedding’s in an hour."
I grimace but need to ask her. I need confirmation. My voice sounds as if it’s coming from somewhere else for the pounding in my ears.
“Whose…wedding?”
She stares at me, unblinking. "He didn't tell you?"
I shake my head. “He told me a lot of things, but I don't remember the word wedding coming into play. I’m guessing it’s…mine? The wedding? The...” I gesture toward the dress. “The dress?”
The impending sense of doom?
She whistles. “Yeah, honey.” She waves her hand at the dress and then gestures to a pile of accessories neatly lined up beside it that I didn’t notice before. Shoes, a small satin bag, a gauzy veil. “My brothers can do a lot of not-so-nice things, but this is pretty low. Wow. Alright then. We still have to get you ready." Rubbing her hands together, she blows out a breath.
I should’ve known this. I should’ve pieced it all together. He’d said I’d be punished, that I belonged to him now. How else would I belong to him?
Marriage to a cold, heartless criminal? I remember how he touched me in the shower, detached and cold, as if I were his…property.
Property.
Polina looks from me to the dress and back again. "At least I have to say I did pick one that's going to look gorgeous on you."
"You bought that?"
“I did good, huh?” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “I’m really good at things like this. Explaining why my brothers do what they do? That, I’m not so good at.”
“But can you tell me what’s happening? Where am I?” I open my mouth to ask her more but can’t bring myself to do so. What happens after we’re married?
There’s a commotion outside the door. Voices rise and fall.
Uh oh.
Mikhail is back, and he’s furious.
Polina seems to realize this the same time I do.
“Hold your ground,” she hisses, just as the door opens. “He isn’t as scary as you think.”
Oh, really?
“Out, Mikhail!” She shouts. “Do not come in here. It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony."
He storms into the room, ignoring her.
"Who the fuck told you, you had a right to come in here?” His voice is a growl. I notice he’s lost the towel and has changed into a tux.
This is happening. We’re doing this. We’re going to get married.
“I asked you a question,” he growls at his sister.
“I did!” I stand between him and his sister. If I’m going to get married to this beast of a man, the least I can do is use that to my advantage. “I need a woman to help me get ready for this wedding, which, I’ll have you know, I didn’t even know was happening!”
He turns the full heat of his gaze on me, and I have to concentrate hard not to wither under his glare.
Instead of responding to me, he turns back to Polina. "I specifically told you not to come near my captive. You were told not to talk to her."
She stands her ground, her hands on her hips. “She needed help and you were nowhere to be found. Do you really want to get married with her wearing a robe?”
He responds with another growl.
“And by the way,” I say, asserting myself in an attempt to keep him on his toes. “When were you going to tell me about this wedding? On our honeymoon?”
"Very cute you think you're getting a honeymoon."
“Like I want a honeymoon with you,” I mutter. Polina stifles a snort.
“Watch it, Aria,” he says in a warning tone. “You think I won’t pull you over my knee in front of anyone? Try me.”
I look away, my cheeks flaming.
“You are going to spend the rest of your life with this woman, Mikhail,” Polina says candidly. “I suggest you treat her nicely. You know literally nothing about makeup and bronzer and highlighter, you have no idea how to style her hair, and correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it you who told me there’ll be photos we’ll have to publicize? It would behoove you to prepare her.”
"I'll help her."
"You will not see your bride before the wedding, Mikhail! It’s bad luck.”
One of the guards stands tentatively in the doorway, another hovering at his shoulder. “Boss, I’m sorry, there’s a situation.”
Mikhail shoves me behind him. Shit. I forgot I’m still wearing a robe.
“Get the fuck out. If you look at her, I’ll fucking kill you.”
Polina’s widened eyes tell me this is no bluff.
They scurry out of the room like terrified mice. Mikhail blows out a breath and turns to Polina. He says something in Russian that makes Polina flinch before he speaks again in English. "You help her get ready. But this is not over. There are consequences for disobedience, and you know it."