I saw his face fall flat, wondered if I’d got something wrong, but I knew I couldn’t have. I knew I was right. My safety couldn’t really be what he was so worried about.
“My plans, your safety. None of it matters. You’re my prisoner, remember? If I say you can’t go, you can’t go,” he said in a deathly even tone that crept like ice around the edges of my heart. “I’m not arguing about this anymore.”
And just like that, he thought nothing of it to put me back in place. This whole morning, I had tried so hard to let his siblings think the best of him, despite what he had done to me, and all of it now felt like it had been for nothing. All the warmth, all the connection I thought we’d shared this morning and during breakfast evaporates in an instant.
“Right,” I said, giving him a sad, cold smile. “How silly of me to forget my position.”
“Look, Beatrice,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair as he took one step forward.
“Please don’t.” I extended a hand, halting him. What was I thinking? That a few kisses and a family breakfast meant something had changed? How fucking stupid of me. Yes, this morning in bed had felt different, special. Yes, I’d never been inbed with a man before, touched by one in the way he touched me. Yes, I’d kissed a few boys back in the day, but none lit me up like Arko had this morning.
But why was I so damn stupid to think any of it meant something to him? For him, I was probably just another woman, and today was just another chance to play frisky. The disappointment crashed over me then.
“I want to go to my room now, if that’s allowed?” I asked, keeping my tone cool.
“Fine,” he said, matching my tone for tone.
He didn’t even try to stop me as I walked away. I didn’t look back. If he wants to remind me that I’m his prisoner, then I’m not going to let him have the power of thinking that the way he kissed me left my head spinning wild.
Let him think it meant nothing to me, too.
Chapter 11 - Arko
I knew Beatrice was still mad at me when she walked into the dining room the next morning, saw me sitting there already, and turned on her heels.
“Beatrice, wait up.” I pushed back my chair and jumped to my feet, rushing to catch her before she stormed off. The previous night, she had refused to join me for dinner, choosing to eat in her bedroom instead.
I realized it might not have been the wisest choice to deny her an innocent little shopping trip out with my sisters; being cooped up in the house all day could make anyone feel stifled. However, I knew just the way to make her feel better.
“I was meaning to talk to you.” I caught up with her on swift feet.
“About what?” She halted and whirled to me, her arms crossed indignantly before her, like she was already closed off to anything I had to say to her.
“There’s a party an ally of ours is having tonight. The entire family is going, and I’d like to introduce you to some of the families we’re close to. I thought we could leave at around seven?”
She narrowed her eyes at me, and I stood straighter. I didn’t just want to take her that night to make up for denying her an outing the day before; I also needed her on my arm because, now that my family knew I was married, I thought it was time to put the next phase of my plan into motion.
By taking her to this party, I would claim her in front of the whole damn world. Tonight, it was people close to us, harmless and loyal, but I knew the word would spread, and justlike that, the Lebedevs would know who they had lost their sister to: me.
I’d kept her hidden away for far too long. Almost a month now, but keeping her secret wasn’t the plan, though. I wanted to throw this marriage in the Lebedevs’ faces and watch them reel when they learned their sister’s new husband’s name.
“Do I have to come?” Beatrice asked coldly.
“I thought you wanted to step out of the house.” I tilted my head out of curiosity.
“I did. On my terms.” She shook her head. “Besides, won’t tonight be dangerous? What if something happens like it did that time we went out for dinner…”
My heart clenched as I saw fear flicker in her eyes. For all her bravado and the strong armor she usually kept on, during moments like this, all I could do was see the terrified woman in front of me in a storage closet, telling me a story of that time she was left to choke to death in a burning building.
Like every time I thought of that incident she was a victim of, I found myself wrecked. I hated that she had to suffer through that, and even more so, hated that I had triggered her worst nightmare when I set the club on fire that night I kidnapped her.
“Beatrice.” My voice softened. “Tonight, it’s just allies and a closed-knit scene. I just thought that since you couldn’t go shopping last night, perhaps you’d like to catch up with my sisters tonight. That’s all.”
I saw her hesitate, arguing with whatever logic she had going on in her head. At last, she groaned and threw her hands in the air. “Fine. Seven, you said?”
“Yes.” I held back the smile that I knew hinted at victory. I couldn’t wait to scream to the world that Beatrice Lebedev wasmy wife, and equally so, I was sick and tired of watching her sulk around the house. That night, I wanted to kill two birds with one stone and show her the time of her life.
***
