“I don’t know,” Susanna says. “You look kind of fat in the dress. I mean, your back rolls are spilling over.”
I frown and turn my back to the mirror but I don’t see what Susanna is talking about. I’ve always been naturally thin and between the healthy food I’m given and the exercise I do, I know I’m not overweight. So why did Susanna say that?
“I think you look great,” Amanda says. “Nothing is spilling over.”
“I just think there’s other dresses you could wear instead,” Susanna says.
Nina gives her sister a questioning look. “Do you not want Katya to wear this dress? Why? She looks great in it.”
Susanna gives her sister a pointed look. “I just think there are other dresses she could try on.”
“I like this,” I say. If I’m going to marry Alek – a man who kidnapped me – then I’m going to marry him in a dress that I feel good in. It’s the one nice thing I get to have a voice in the matter. No one is going to take that from me. Especially not an attitude filled sixteen year old.
“Then you should get it,” Amanda says.
“You just want to make the sale,” Susanna mutters. Amanda makes a point of ignoring her.
“I am going to get this one,” I say, feeling good about making a decision for myself for the first time in… well, my entire life.
Ian drops Nina and Susanna off at their house first before bringing me back to Alek’s home. Neither of the girls says goodbye to me. It’s clear that they don’t want to be friends. That they want nothing to do with me.
I bring home the wedding dress in a garment bag, hidden from Alek’s eyes. It’s such a surreal thought that I’m carrying my wedding dress with me, soon to be married to a man who kidnapped me.
Alek greets me in the foyer. “Did you try to run?”
“No. Ian would have stopped me.”
His eyes flick down to the garment bag. “You got a dress. Good. Because we’re going to be married tomorrow.”
The dress falls from my hands. Alek scowls but only picks it up and doesn’t scold me for it.
“Tomorrow?” I ask. “We’re going to be married… tomorrow?”
“Yes. It will be better to do it sooner rather than later. I don’t want Dimitri getting any ideas.” Meaning, he doesn’t want to risk Dimitri getting me back before he gets the chance to marry me.
“I’ll take you back to the cage,” he says. “You have a big day tomorrow.”
“How were you able to plan this so fast? Don’t weddings take weeks, months even to prepare?”
“I have contacts. A friend who owed me a favor. Everything will be ready for tomorrow. Don’t worry. I am going to give you a wonderful wedding.”
That’s not what I’m worried about and Alek knows it. I can see a teasing glint in his eye. It’s clear that he doesn’t care though. He wants me and he’s set on having me.
Alek brings me back to the cage where I feel like I can catch my breath. Slowly, my nerves dissipate and are replaced with a strange sense of calm. When I’m in the cage, nothing can hurt me.
But I also can’t deny that for the first time, I feel the urge to be in an open space.
Alek gives me a large spread of food for breakfast that I can’t even eat since I’m so nervous about our wedding. Which is today.
“Ian will drive you to the reception,” he explains over the kitchen table like we’re already a normal couple when we both know we’re the furthest thing from it. “I want you to surprise me with your dress today. Make it a proper wedding.”
“I know you want to marry me to get back at Dimitri. But why aren’t you married already?”
He gives me a curious look that makes me blush. “I just never found a woman I wanted to marry before.”
“But you’ve… dated, I’m assuming.” Why am I even asking this? It’s not like I care about Alek or his past. And yet, intrigue is coursing through me.
“I have. My fair share of women. But I never wanted to marry any of them.”
