Maksim stares at me with wide eyes. “What?”
“You know… the blood,” I whisper. “He expects to see it on the sheet so he knows we… He wants to make sure this peace treaty goes through and that means we have to have… sex.”
“Your father is… an intense man.” He says it like he’s trying to be careful with his words. “You know, my sister told me that you were afraid of your dad. Is that true?”
I have to look away from him. “How would your sister know that?”
“She’s observant. And she told me you looked afraid of him. Are you?”
“No,” I whisper. I can’t tell Maksim the truth: that I’ve always suspected he killed my mom. But I have no proof. I can’t just through these accusations around. Even though Maksim is myhusband now, I have to be careful with him. I can’t do anything to upset my father.
“You don’t seem like it.”
“I’m not afraid,” I snap. “Now, let’s just get this over with. Isn’t that what you said?”
He flinches slightly. “I did say that at the altar and I’m guessing I shouldn’t have. But you don’t want this marriage either. We could bond over that. Why does it feel like I can’t say the right thing with you?”
“This isn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want a husband who clearly wants nothing to do with me. It hurts.”
“I… I didn’t realize.” He lets out a sharp breath. “I shouldn’t have shown up to our wedding drunk. I’ll admit to that. And I’m sorry. I don’t want to hate the woman who I’m married to but I never wanted this and I’m not going to pretend that I did. I’ll be honest with you.”
“Your honesty hurts.”
“I’m sorry for that too. I feel like I’m going to have to apologize for a lot in our marriage, huh?” He gives me a cheeky grin that makes my own lips quirk up. “So, you can smile.”
Instantly, my smile disappears.
“Sorry,” he mutters again.
None of this is going right. Maksim and I are just too different. We want different things. I’m not sure we’ll ever get on the same page. I know it’s just the first day we’ve met but everything feels hopeless.
“We shouldn’t keep stalling,” I say. “Let’s get this over with.”
“You sound miserable. I don’t want to have sex with a woman who clearly doesn’t want it. We’re not going to have sex tonight, Natasha.”
I sit up so fast, my head becomes woozy. “But my dad…”
“I have an idea.” And right before my eyes, he takes his jacket off and rolls up the sleeve of his shirt, exposing his forearm. AndI have to admit, he has incredibly nice forearms. Maksim is a handsome man. It almost makes me more upset that we’re so different.
He bends down and lifts his pant leg, exposing a small knife he has attached to his ankle. “In case of emergencies. You can never be too careful. It’s a dangerous world out there.”
It’s dangerous in here, I think.
“Are you going to hurt me?” I whisper.
He pauses. “No. I’m not going to use this knife on you.” After grabbing the knife, he brings it to his forearm and cuts his skin. I gasp. It’s a small cut. Not deep. But enough for blood to trickle out.
Maksim holds his arm out over the bed and lets his blood drip onto the sheet. “There. Blood. Your father will think it’s yours. Problem solved.”
I watch him as he goes into the bathroom and wraps his arm with gauze. Why did Maksim do this for me? He willingly cut himself so I wouldn’t have to give my body over to him.
Maybe there’s a nice side to him.
I force myself to join him in the bathroom. “Thank you.”
“Isn’t this what husbands do?” His smile is sweet and nice and makes my stomach flutter. He really is distractingly handsome. “Besides, I didn’t want to put us both through an uncomfortable situation neither one of us wanted. This was just easier. I’ve been cut many times before. This is nothing to me.”
“I’m still worried my dad will find out. He’s good at reading me.”
