“Are you going to cause trouble?” I groan, checking my hair in my compact mirror.
“Would I?” he teases.
“Oh God.”
“By the way, Alyona,” he says as I attempt to get out of the car. “I can see straight up that dress, sweetheart. Thank you for the lovely view.” I yank the bow from the dress and throw it at him. His laugh follows me out of the car.
Gravel isn’t heel friendly. I hobble into the building and get directed to my position at the makeshift altar in one of the reception rooms. It’s beautiful, decorated with an abundance of flowers and crystals, and over-the-top.A lot like Vika.
Maddox looks handsome in his tux, and when my eyes slide to Adam next to him, I flinch. His hooded eyes bore into me, making me squirm. It’s uncomfortable and there for everyone to see. Music starts, and all eyes go to the bride entering. All but Adam's.
“I can’t believe you’re a Whitmore.” I clink Vika’s glass, taking a deep swig of my own. There’s a nervous bubbling in my gut that I can’t shake, and as soon as the dancing starts, I’m making for the nearest exit.
“It’s my favorite name yet.” She winks, and it’s the first time I’ve seen her this relaxed.
Glasses clink and guests start chanting, “Speech, speech, speech.”
“Make it good, Ally,” Vika says, and I spit my wine.
Aren’t the parents and best man supposed to do the speeches?
“Ally,” she scolds, and then her eyes burn at something over my shoulder. Better yet, someone.
“Sister.” Viktor holds his arms out wide, drops a kiss to each side of her cheeks, and then moves to Maddox, kissing him, and stealing the microphone that gets offered to me.
“I’d like to say congratulations to the happy couple. I made a special little something for you both. Please,” Viktor instructs the DJ, who presses play on a large projector, spreading a screen across the full back wall of the room.
Baby photos appear on the screen accompanied by cheerful music, prompting everyone to "oooh" and "aww."
Then it flickers, and a white room appears. Not a room. A container of some kind with a woman cuffed naked to a bed, her body littered with scars. Gasps echo in the room, and I look over to Vika, who gets up and rushes around the table.
What the hell is this?
“This has to be the last time,” Maddox’s voice booms across the room from the speakers, his silhouette coming into focus on the screen. “I’m getting married in a week, Tanner.”
“A wedding gift,” Viktor’s voice says through the speakers. On screen, he hands Maddox a knife. The screen flickers again, and then there’s fucking and cutting, blood dripping, skin slapping. Maddox is balls deep in the girl, slicing into her flesh, and Viktor is balls deep in him. You never see Viktor’s face. The angles are precise to prevent his identity being shown, but I know it’s him, Maddox knows, and of course, Vika, who is now screaming for the DJ to cut the video, knows it’s him.
Chaos erupts in the crowded room as voices rise angrily, creating a chorus of gasps and screeching. Freaked out guests quickly flee, their faces panicked, while others rush toward thetable where Maddox stands, his face as pale as Vika’s wedding dress. I leap up from my seat, and my chair crashes to the floor with a loud clatter. The table teeters precariously, nearly toppling over as a surge of bodies push and shove, trying to get to Maddox.
Wincing for Maddox, who has gone catatonic, I get bumped around and decide to make an exit when I see Vika fleeing.
“Amelia?” I call out when I reach an empty corridor, but she’s disappeared in one of the rooms. Surely this means I can just go home.
Footsteps sound behind me, and as I turn to see if it’s Viktor, something crashes down on my skull, and darkness consumes me.
My eyes flutter open, the harsh light streaming through the window feels almost blinding against my sensitive retinas. “Ow,” I grumble, my voice raspy. I try to lift my arm to rub the sore spot on my head, but it’s like they’re weighted. What the hell happened?
“They took everything from me. Now I’ll takeyoufrom them.”
No.
Adam’s fuzzy voice penetrates my mind, and I stiffen. The room floods in, and I try to take stock of where I am. A living room of some sort?
My head swims and my arms won’t cooperate. Adam is crowding over me, holding a needle, pulling the silver prick from my skin.
“Stop it,” I plead, my words slurring together in a haze. A sharp pain radiates down my neck, and my skull throbs in rhythm with my pulse. I struggle to piece together what happened, and a flicker of memory surfaces. I was hit from behind, the sudden blow catching me completely off guard. “What is that?”
“This will keep you conscious and able to feel every damn thing I’m about to do to you, but immobile. You’ll be able to scream for me too. You owe me a piece of that cunt, Alyona. You’re a fucking dick teasing whore and I’m going to give you what you really want.”
