A few minutes pass. Five. Maybe ten.
Then Nikolai returns to the doorway, and there's something different in his expression.
"He's here," he says quietly.
I blink at him, confused. "Who?"
"The priest."
The wine makes my thoughts sluggish, and I stare at him blankly. "Why is a priest here?"
"He's presiding over the ceremony."
"Ceremony?" I shake my head slightly, trying to clear the fog. "What ceremony?"
Nikolai's eyes lock onto mine, and I see something in them that makes my stomach drop.
"Our wedding."
I laugh. The sound bubbles up from my chest, slightly hysterical. I could've sworn he just saidour wedding.
"I'm sorry, what?"
He moves back into the room, his steps measured and deliberate. When he reaches the table, he picks up my wine glass and holds it out to me.
"Drink up,malyshka," he says, and there's something dark and final in his voice. "We're about to get married."
12
NIKOLAI
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m marrying you.”
She stands so fast she stumbles, and I have to grab onto her to steady her.
“From where I’m standing, you don’t have much choice,” I say.
She shakes me off. “Does the priest know that I’m here against my will? That you’ve kidnapped me?”
“No, and he won’t. Not if you know what is good for you.”
She grits her teeth. “I’m not marrying you.”
"We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. It’s your choice."
"There is no easy way, not for me," she snaps, but she moves toward me anyway. "You can't actually expect me to go through with this."
"I expect exactly that."
Her eyes flash with something dangerous. "Why do you want to marry me?"
"Because I need a wife. And lucky you, you're it."
"That's not a reason." She steps into my space, all fire and fury, her boldness fueled by several glasses of wine. "Why do youneeda wife?"
"Because a family makes a pakhan stronger."
And it’s true. A family strengthens a pakhan’s position. It does not make him vulnerable. It makes him more determined, more fierce, and more capable of anything when it comes to protecting them.
