Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
It’s everything my teenage self dreamed about, and I still have to pinch myself that this is my life right now.
The only fly in the ointment—and it’s more of an Asian giant hornet—is Alexei’s categorical refusal to let me get pregnant. Even though my doctors have cleared me, even though each scan I’ve undergone has confirmed that my cancer is in remission, my husband is convinced that I’ll die if we try to have a child.
The only reason he hasn’t gotten a vasectomy thus far is that I threw a huge fit when I learned that he’d scheduled one. It took a major fight and lots of tears, but I convinced him to let me get a nonhormonal IUD instead.
I still have hope, though. One day, the IUD will come out, and in the meantime, Alexei has started therapy alongside me. It’s not a magic fix for either of us, but maybe one day in the intermediate future, he won’t automatically think of his mother’s death when I bring up wanting a child. And if not… well, he did tell me he’s not averse to surrogacy or adoption.
I’m politely listening to the Japanese businessmen tell me why I should let them invest in my company when I spot Konstantin entering the ballroom. I immediately excuse myself and pull Alexei in his direction.
My husband comes reluctantly. For a couple of months after my brothers’ attack on our mansion, he refused to have any contact with my family, but slowly, he’s come around. The men in my life are still deeply mistrustful around each other, but my brothers have accepted the fact that I’m with Alexei of my own free will and have stopped all “rescue” attempts. Though Valery did let me know discreetly that if I ever change my mind about my husband, he has a plan to get me out. Because of course he does.
As we approach my oldest brother, I’m surprised to see a woman at his side.
More of a girl, I realize as we get closer. Slim and brown-haired, she’s maybe twenty-two years old, max, though it’s possible she looks younger than she is due to her petite stature and delicate facial features that combine in a strikingly cute way with her unusually thick dark eyebrows.
“Arielle, this is Alina, my sister, and Alexei, her husband,” Konstantin says in English as we stop in front of them. His amber eyes glint a silent warning at us from behind his glasses—a warning that is echoed by the way he wraps his arm around her back, resting his hand possessively on her hip.
Ookay. This is unexpected, to say the least. I try to remember if I’ve ever seen Konstantin with a woman—or anyone—and I draw a blank. To the best of my knowledge, my oldest brother has never dated, preferring computers to people. Until this Arielle… whose gray eyes hold a peculiar wariness.
I push my confusion aside and smile widely. “It’s nice to meet you, Arielle,” I say in English, as presumably, that’s the language Konstantin’s date is most comfortable with. “Do you reside here in Moscow?”
“I’m… staying here for a while,” she replies, her American accent clear. There’s a fractional hesitation in her voice, a slight flicker in her eyes before she looks at Konstantin, as if for confirmation.
He gives an almost imperceptible nod.
Arielle then continues. “I’m actually from New York—well, New Jersey, if you know where that is.”
“I do,” I say. “I went to Columbia.”
“Oh!” She brightens. “So you’re practically a New Yorker.”
Konstantin observes our exchange with intense focus.
What is his deal? Is he afraid I’ll be mean to his girlfriend, if that’s what she is? I would never, and he should know that, but to put him at ease, I smile even wider and chat her up about all things New York and New Jersey. In the process, I find out that she’s just finished college and is heading to law school, so I was right about her age.
She’s way too young for Konstantin, who recently turned thirty-five, but I’m glad my brother is interested in someone… even if something about their dynamic feels a bit off.
Alexei is largely silent as we speak—he often lets me take the lead in social situations, especially those that involve my family—but he doesn’t step away, not even when acquaintances try to get his attention. Even now, two years into our marriage, he’s scarily obsessed with me. When we’re out in public, he almost never leaves my side, which is probably for the best, as his possessiveness knows no bounds. A drunk politician who hit on me at a New Year’s party disappeared suspiciously soon after the incident, and when I confronted Alexei about it, he neither admitted nor denied his involvement.
Needless to say, no man dares to so much as look at me an extra second too long these days.