“You’ll be my wife soon. I have to do right by you.” He offers me his hand and I slowly take it.
His touch is all I can think about as we walk into his house. The marble floors make everything look beautiful but also cold. The large foyer is larger than a lot of peoples’ houses. I grew up with wealth but this is wealth to a whole new level.
“The dresses are this way,” he murmurs, leading me down a hallway off the foyer. “I’ll show you the rest of the house after we’re married.”
Married. I’ll soon be married to this man and I don’t even fully know what I’ll be getting myself into. Mikhail could be a lunatic for all I know. I mean, he does want to marry a woman he barely knows because he liked the way she dances. There’s something strange about that.
We pass by a room that has the door cracked open. I sneak a look inside to see that it’s decorated in soft browns and cream. But it’s what’s on the walls that’s stranger.
Objects of some sort. Whips and paddles and –
Before I can see anymore, Mikhail shuts the door. “That’s not for you. At least, not yet. Not until we’re married.”
I’m desperate to ask for more but I can tell Mikhail won’t answer my questions. I’ll just have to wait until we’re married to see what is inside that room.
It only makes me more wary of Mikhail though. I saw whips hanging on the wall. Is it a torture dungeon? I know Bratva men can sometimes torture people for information. I’m sure my father even did it.
But I shudder, thinking of Mikhail doing it in the same house I’ll be living in.
He takes me into a smaller bedroom near the end of the hallway. “One of the guest rooms. I’ll wait to show you the master after we’re married. Here. There are the dresses.”
Hanging in a row on the wall are six different wedding dresses for me to choose from. It’s eerie that Mikhail picked these out,thinking of me. Who exactly is this man that I agreed to marry to save my family?
“Try them on.” He nods towards the walk-in closet. “I won’t look.”
“Thank you.”
Except, Mikhail’s eyes follow my every move as I grab the first dress. It’s like he’s watching for every tiny detail. I feel the urge to step closer to him and sink into his gaze but I hold back. I’m still not fully sure who he is and I need to be careful.
Mom said that he delighted in killing people. There’s a darkness in Mikhail.
I slip on the first dress in the closet and am shocked to find that it fits my size perfectly. It’s a mermaid style, not really me, but I walk out of the closet anyway.
Mikhail doesn’t look away. “No. Not that one.”
“I don’t like it either,” I agree. “But… how did you know my size?”
He leans back on the bench at the end of the bed. His fingers brush his lips as he eyes me over, like he’s drinking me in. “I went into your dressing room. I looked at the sizes of your costumes.”
“You… invaded my privacy?”
“I knew you’d be mine, Natalya. I wanted to get your size exactly so I could choose the perfect wedding dress for you.”
The way he’s so confident knowing that I’ll be his makes me both afraid and excited. He already has so much power while I have none. And yet, I want to sink into his orbit. I want to feel consumed by such a powerful force as him.
I quickly try on the next dress and the one after. Once I try on the last dress, I know it’s the one.
Satin. No lace. It hugs my body perfectly but it’s soft, not tight. It’s classy and elegant and feminine. It feels like the white swan version of me. The innocent part of me.
I know Mikhail is going to take that part of me.
I walk into the room and he sits upright when he sees me.
“That’s the one.” He looks me over like he could eat me right up. I’m worried he might actually do just that.
Mikhail booked the church in advance.
“But you didn’t know I was going to agree to marry you until yesterday.”
