ALEKSEI
MY WEDDING DAY CAME FASTER than I expected, and it was no one's fault but mine.
I'd picked the date myself, after all.
I scheduled the wedding earlier because I didn't want the Italians to find a way or loophole—not that they would be able to. My lawyers made sure of that—out of the wedding.
Igor hadn't been pleased with the news of my marriage, and he'd let his displeasure be known for over thirty minutes. I'd put the call on speakerphone, offering occasional hums to make it seem like I was paying any attention to him.
I wasn't.
I was going over the final details of my wedding with Peter, my assistant. The same wedding he disapproved of.
Someone was going to have a bitch fit when he found out, but I couldn't find it in me to care.
"The Italians called again to make sure the no paparazzi rule was still intact," Peter said absentmindedly, finalizing things that needed to be done over the phone.
Unlike us, they didn't rely heavily on the media to paint a picture about them. I'd twisted the mind of the public through the media, and I was now one of New York's most eligible bachelors. Who'd think I ran a fight club behind the scene?
"Yes. It's a closed event. Are all the NDAs signed?" I asked, smoothing a hand over my tie.
"Yes, sir."
I nodded. I knew I could always rely on him to get the job done. "No phones allowed. Make sure the staff knows that. They're familiar with the protocol, but let them know again. Nothing should be outed to the press. Fire anyone that breaks the rule and make Jerald file them with a lawsuit. Everything has to be perfect."
I had a bride to impress, and I had a feeling she'd have a lot to complain about if a single thing was out of place. Not because she cared—she didn't—but because she wanted to spite me.
"Where's Mikhail?" I asked. I hadn't seen him at all this morning, and he was my best man at the wedding. Something he'd bitched about before ordering a custom Tom Ford for himself.
"He's waiting by the limo."
I straightened my tie one last time. "Let's go, then."
***
I looked up from my wristwatch when soft music began to play, announcing the arrival of the bride. Took her long enough.
She was thirty minutes late, and if the last few days had taught me anything about her, I knew she did it on purpose to annoy me. Too bad for her; I only found her actions amusing rather than annoying. She wanted to get a rise out of me so badly, and me not providing her with that reaction drove her wild.
"The fuck?" Mikhail hissed behind me when Ariana came into view, her arm entwined with her brother's.
The fuck, was right.
My bride-to-be was in an enormous dress that trailed behind her with every step she took, only it wasn't in the traditional wedding dress color you'd expect at a wedding.
No. She was dressed in a color you used to honor the dead at a funeral—black, and her once long black hair? It was now blonde.
I laughed at myself as I realized I'd fallen a victim to her trickery. Again.
What's your type in a woman, she'd asked me.
I like curvy brunettes with brown eyes.
The joke's on me. My bride was no longer a brunette. If there was a way to change one's eye color permanently in the short time leading up to the wedding, I knew Ariana would have done that before she walked down this aisle.
I couldn't help it. I found myself smothering a chuckle.
"Interesting choices," I said when she stopped in front of me. "How long did you have to sit to get your hair blonde just to mock me?"
She shrugged, her bright red lips curved up in a proud smile. The little minx. That was the only thing that had gone my way. The lipstick.
I'd almost fallen for the same trick twice when she sent me two different lipstick colors; red and black. She'd asked me for my favorite, and I'd almost typed red until I remembered the flower debacle. She'd sent roses over even after I chose orchids to spite me.
I chose the black lipstick.
She showed up to the wedding with red lipstick. Ballsy but also predictable. I shook my head at the self-satisfied look on her face as she stared up at me, her brown eyes twinkling with triumph.
My life was about to get a lot more interesting. I could feel it, and it was all because of the five-foot-nothing woman standing in front of me.
***
ARIANA
EVEN THOUGH TODAY WAS arguably on the top five list of the saddest day of my life—I never wanted to get married—I couldn't hold back my smile.
Aleksei's reaction when he first saw me was priceless, and I wished I'd been able to capture it on camera. I bet he didn't expect me to go blonde or show up in a black dress either.
The ceremony began, and it was finally time for the exchange of vows.
"I, Aleksei Tarasov, take you, Ariana Rossi, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part," Aleksei said without hesitation, his lips curving up in a smirk.
His words just sealed my fate. I was indeed getting married.
I almost rolled my eyes at myself. It wasn't like I expected him to change his mind last minute. He was the one who rushed the wedding, after all.
The priest must have been informed of my mutism because he asked, "Do you, Ariana Rossi, accept Aleksei Tarasov as your lawful husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"
I exhaled harshly when the priest finished reciting the vows. My palm turned cold and clammy. This was it. One of the days I feared most in my life. I was getting married to a man, who had no respect for the sacred vows he just spewed. All of it was a scheme to him.
He arched a brow at my hesitation, silently daring me to shake my head, his eyes promising destruction if I did.
'Calm down, Ari. You can always get a divorce later. This isn't for life,' I said to myself to calm my frazzled nerves.
I bobbed my head in affirmation, agreeing to this sham of a wedding.
One of my little cousins who acted as the ring bearer, walked over to us with a grin on his face, happy to be included in the ceremony, holding the ring out to us.
Aleksei smiled at him as he took the ring off the pillow, but that smile quickly disappeared when he saw the white-gold bracelet adorning my wrist. It had the name Sam spelled out with a heart next, and then my name followed.
Sam loves Ari was what the bracelet read.
It was easily the most precious piece of jewelry I owned in my life, and I always wore it to remind me of what I lost years ago. I especially needed the strength wearing the bracelet usually brought me today.
Aleksei's anger-filled eyes met mine, silently questioning me and the bracelet around my wrist.
I offered him a sweet smile in return as he reluctantly slipped his ring down my wedding finger. I was all too happy to do the same to him, knowing fully well that I'd won. The thought had already sunk into his head.
"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Aleksei took a step closer to me until the toe of his shoes brushed the bottom of my dress.
His eyes bled black with fury, but his tone was neutral when he spoke. There was nothing I feared more than people who were deceptively calm when they were livid, and right now, he scared the hell out of me.
"Sam, hm?" He hummed. "Interesting name. I personally think it'd look great on a headstone. Don't you think?" He asked under his breath, posing the death threat casually.
My jaw hit the floor. It was hard to keep the shock off my face. How could he be so calm and casual while he threatened to end a life?
"You have the guts to show up to our wedding with that around your wrist?" Anger and hatred seeped through every syllable that escaped his lips.
I glared up at him, grinding down on my jaw as liquid anger seeped into my veins, racing through my bloodstream until I was buzzing with the need to hit him. Hurt him. Anything. His question reminded me that I had no choice in this union.
Our wedding, he said, but I knew nothing about this man except he liked brunettes with big, fuckable lips and brown eyes.
I knew nothing.
He didn't ask if I was taken when he proposed this union. He also didn't get to blame me for his assumptions, but I'd die before I corrected him.
I held my head high, letting him see the defiance in my gaze. The crippling urge to slit his throat and dig out his eyeballs filled me. It took a lot of self-control to not act on the latter with me this close to him.
I swear I didn't know I was this violent until he walked into my life.
He scowled at me, grabbing my chin roughly in his callused palm. I sucked in a sharp breath at the contact.
He pressed his lips against the side of my lips. The angle at which he tilted his head made it seem like he'd kissed me, but really, his lips barely grazed my skin. The 'kiss' barely lasted three seconds before he pulled away like I'd scalded him, but it was enough to set a live wire that spread from the point of contact to the tip of my toes.
An involuntary shiver ran through my body.
Aleksei noticed, and a flicker of triumph passed through his eyes. It was gone just as quickly, an emotionless expression settling on his face, making me wonder if I'd imagined that happening at all.
Half-hearted cheers broke out in the church as we were congratulated on our union.
Everything faded into the background for me as Aleksei grabbed my hand in his warm, callused hand, wordlessly dragging me down the aisle, without a single care about the heels I was stuck trying to catch up with him in.
This was so different from the Aleksei I'd met at my house. This one was cold. Untouchable. Angry.
It permeated the air around him in waves, and unluckily for me, I was trapped in its orbit.
I was ashamed to admit it, but this version of Aleksei scared me. This was probably the real him. The man I met at my house could have been a façade to make us trust his promises to never hurt me.
Who knew maybe this was what I was bound to face regularly now that I was married to him?
My throat bobbed as I swallowed past a boulder the size of Africa stuck in my throat. Sweat built up on my palm, coating his with moisture.
He acted like he didn't notice as we walked out of the church. He didn't for once break his long strides until we were in front of a sleek, black limousine.
The driver pulled the door open, and Aleksei helped me into the car. He got in after me, taking the seat farthest away from me, like he was too disgusted to be anywhere around me.
I scowled, keeping my gaze strictly away from the larger-than-life presence stealing all the air in the car. He could go fuck himself for all I cared.
Spoiler alert: I didn't.
If he thought a simple ceremony bonded us together, he had another thing coming for him. I wasn't his wife—end of discussion.
It didn't matter if he liked it or not.