“Well, it won’t happen to me. I’msmarterthan that,” I say, teasing her. She rolls her eyes at me.
“You’re not smart at all if you think you can go through life without love. It’s the meaning of everything.”
“Not mywholelife. Maybe when I’m old and wrinkly, I’ll want that.”
She leans forward and takes Nikita back. Her face is bright with emotion whenever she looks at him.
I kick my legs out onto the coffee table and close my eyes for a moment.Love. What a strange concept. I love my family. I love my friends. But it’s a different kind of love that Lara is talking about. One I don’t understand and probably never will. And that’s okay.
I think it’s too rare, and what she and my brother have is incredibly lucky. Most of the world goes their whole lives not experiencing that.
Nikita gurgles and kicks at his blankets.
“I guess that means it’s lunch time,” Lara sighs, standing up.
“I’ll take him after lunch if you want me to. You can maybe grab an hour’s sleep while I watch him.”
“Thank you,please, I’m so tired my eyes are burning, and poor Nestor didn’t sleep at all last night. He’s been amazing, helping with Nikita as much as he can.”
“You two are incredible parents. That boy doesn’t know how lucky he is.” I gesture towards my nephew.
When Lara is gone, I stand up to get my vodka again, carrying it back to the sofa. It was only a small amount, but it took the edge off of today’s conversation.
Sometimes we have to do crazy things to get to where we want to be.
Marrying Benedikt is one of those crazy things.
Besides, at the end of the day, there is always the option of getting divorced if it’s a total disaster. I chuckle to myself, taking the last sip and staring out the patio doors towards the garden.
Chapter 3 - Benedikt
Ulyana flew into Las Vegas this morning, along with her mother and her brother, for our wedding.
As per tradition, I haven’t been allowed to see her. It’s apparently bad luck for the groom to see the bride on the wedding day before the actual ceremony.
I never expected to be tense about this.
But I keep rolling my shoulders and wanting to pace. Getting married is more of athingthan I thought it would be. It’s so permanent. What if I was wrong about the girl I saw on the video call? What if I misread it and that instant attraction I felt towards her isn’t real?
I fumble with the bowtie again, getting frustrated. Tossing it aside, I mutter under my breath, “Who the hell wears bowties, anyway?”
I’m wearing a crisp tuxedo; black pants, black jacket and a white shirt. There’s an emerald green flower pinned to my breast pocket.
In front of the tall mirror in the hotel room where I’m getting ready, I run my fingers through my hair and slap my hands over my jaw. “You’ve got this, Benedikt. It’s better than being roped into whatever your mother had planned.”
I look damn good, clean-cut in the perfectly fitted tux.
Since the call with Nestor, I haven’t seen Ulyana. Not even a picture of her. The wedding was already arranged, so it’s all happened pretty fast. I keep second-guessing myself, thinking that the attraction I felt towards her was too good to be true. It was instant, intense—and probably too much to hope for.
“Whatever,” I mutter. It doesn’t matter. I needed a fiancée and I got one. But the vision of her has been haunting me.
“Are you ready, sir?” Jadon asks, stepping into the hotel room. I’m not in the penthouse suite; I arranged for that to be available for Ulyana to get ready in. I made sure she had every luxury she could dream of. This is one of the hotels I own, and the staff knows to treat her like a queen.
“The bride will be down in ten minutes, so you should be waiting in the church.”
“Yeah, I’m done here. Let’s go.” I grab my phone and hand it to Jadon. “Just during the ceremony. You can hand it back after.”
“Will do,” he says, slipping it into his pocket.
