“Happy birthday to you both,” Anton said to the two of us. He looked as untouchable as always, every inch the hockey god-slash-Bratva prince with his perfectly styled dark blond hair, inscrutable ice-blue eyes, and imposingly tall, muscular build. He rummaged in his suit pocket for a moment before producing two small boxes, one wrapped in deep green paper, and the other, a midnight blue. After handing the green box to my brother, he lifted my hand and turned my palm over. “This is for you,” he said.
My hands were shaking as I peeled off the wrapping paper and opened the box. It was a stark reminder that at some point in the near future, I’d be engaged to this man I barely knew, and all because of a business deal. Now I was eighteen, there was nothing to stop it from going ahead.
“Thank you.” I took in the sapphire teardrop earrings, nestled in black velvet. They were beautiful and clearly very expensive, but they were notme.
Ryker cleared his throat. “Yeah, thank you, Volkov. These are, uh, very generous gifts.” I glanced into his box to see a pair of white-gold cufflinks studded with tiny sparkling emeralds.
Anton inclined his head, sweeping his hand out to encompass both boxes. “A gift from my family to yours.”
“What you got there, Volksy? Bribes?” Daniel swaggered over, Jay in tow. Jay’s gaze was hard and full of disdain as it swept over mine, and I glared at him.
“I have no use for bribes,” Anton said smoothly. “These are heirlooms from my family, given as a sign of friendship between the Thorpes and the Volkovs.”
Heirlooms. “They really are beautiful,” I managed. Glancing over at Jay, I saw his lip curl into a sneer.
“Not really your style, are they?”
Daniel’s head whipped from Anton to Jay. “Not yours, either, Banks.”
“I’m not Banks.” Jay’s eyes glittered dangerously, but Daniel was undeterred.
“But you’re so good with money. It’s the perfect nickname.”
Anton rolled his eyes, steering me away from my brother and his friends with his hand still on the small of my back. “Come. Let’s toast to your adulthood with my family’s vodka.”
Helping himself to two crystal tumblers, he uncapped the vodka and carefully measured two shots into the glasses. After handing me my glass, he clinked his own against mine. “To new connections.”
“To new connections,” I repeated dully, tipping my headback and getting the vodka down my throat as quickly as I could. It burned, but I held back my grimace.
Anton watched me dispassionately, and my stomach churned. How was this my life? Promised to this man who was essentially a stranger, with no choice in the matter?
“I would like to speak with you alone for a moment,” he murmured, taking the empty glass from me and placing it on the table. The way he said it made it clear that this wasn’t optional, and so I simply nodded, following him out of the drawing room, down the corridor, and into a small study that was rarely used.Despite that, the cleaning staff kept up with the maintenance, so everything gleamed, including the polished mahogany desk Anton was now leaning back against.
“Wh-what do you want?” I was suddenly very aware that we were completely alone here, and Anton was a big man. I didn’t have my knife anymore, either, not to mention that if he forced himself on me and I fought back, I’d be the one punished.
A wry smile pulled at his lips as he stared down at me. “No need to look so scared. I simply wanted to wish a happy birthday to my future fiancée without an audience.”
“Oh. Um. Thank you. The earrings were lovely. Um.” He was so fucking intimidating, and I was beginning to panic.
His icy gaze bored into me. “I would like to give you one more gift. A kiss. You…” For the first time, he hesitated. “This will be your first kiss?”
I nodded slowly, cursing Jay with everything I had. I was fully aware that everyone knew I was supposed to be saving myself for my future husband, the man who had been determined before I was even old enough to consent. That included my first kiss, and there was no possible way I wouldeveradmit what had happened in the woods.
“O-okay,” I managed.
As soon as the word escaped my mouth, his hand curved around the back of my neck, and his mouth descended on mine.
I froze in place.Hard. Cold. Impersonal. So very different to my kiss in the woods.
It was over as soon as it had begun. Stepping back, Anton nodded as if he were confirming something to himself.
“As I suspected. No matter. We will come to care for one another eventually.”
With those words ringing in my ears, he left me alone. I slumped back against the wall, touching my fingers to my lips.
I’d been kissed twice tonight.
One kiss, from the man I was betrothed to. I’d felt nothing.
