My throat was so dry that it was difficult to utter a word.
"Uhm—", I said slowly. He was too close to me, way too close. I could feel some part of his body touch me, the parts of Ryan I would have loved touching me.
"You're lucky that I respect your parents, there are the reasons I haven't done a number of things to you", he said, his eyes never leaving mine.
I wondered what he meant by 'a number of things', as chills went down my spine.
I was about to ask what he meant by doing a number of things to me, but I saw two men in black coats walking into the room from the corner of my eyes.
My eyes went back to Alexander who seemed to have noticed that my eyes had wandered, and had also felt the presence of other people in the room.
"Is this a new toy?", one of them asked. He had not seen my face yet. Clearly he did not know who I was. "You have so many Suki, you keep adding to your collections daily."
I began to fume. 'Suki' was the plural form of 'Suka', a Russian term for 'bitch'. A derogatory term had been used to describe me simply because I had to marry Alexander. Moreover, the Russian man's statement revealed that even the people Alexander worked with didn't think he was serious about women. It implied that even the woman I had seen just a few minutes ago was considered a 'Suka'. Suddenly, it dawned on me why she had smiled. She was probably relieved that there was another person to take her place. It seemed that Alexander was hurting her.
Alexander turned away from me, looking at the other second man who had not said a word to him.
"Zuó tiān de yào pǐn jiāo yì zěn me yàng?", he said.
"Hēn hǎo", the Chinese man responded.
I realised the second man was Chinese. Alexander must have thought that I did not know Chinese, but I did. I had used several months back at school to learn some languages so as to make my business more successful. After all, it was a known fact that China was one of the best countries to trade.
Alexander had asked the Chinese man, "How were the drug transactions yesterday?", and the Chinese man responded, "Very good."
It was no surprise that Alexander was involved in the drug business. He was a mafia leader, and I was certain he was engaged in numerous illegal activities. However, he would always present himself as being in the 'oil business' when he spoke to my parents to appear more professional, even though my parents were well aware that he was a Mafia leader.
As they were talking, I saw the Russian man looking at me with a smirk on his face. He still did not know who I was. My dad was not a mafia, but he was a powerful man. A lot of people stayed away from me because they considered my father harsh and dangerous.
Alexander had not corrected the man that I was not one of his Suka. The smirk on the man's face was evident. He must have thought that I was a prostitute.
"Petrov," Alexander called in a deadly tone, maintaining eye contact with the Chinese man. However, he was actually calling on the Russian man, who turned to look at him.
"Yes, Viper", Petrov replied.
Viper? I almost laughed at the nickname, but I was able to stifle in my laughter without letting any of the men know that I was about to laugh.
"You will be training my wife-to-be immediately after we get married", Alexander said darkly. Petrov looked down immediately. Alexander referred to me as his wife-to-be, and it was obvious that he was embarrassed for thinking that I was just one of Alexander's toys. Toys! Why will I want such a man to play with me? Why will I want a man to play with me while I had someone as sweet as Ryan?
"Yes Viper", Petrov replied. He was not asked if he could train me. Alexander had demanded and it looked like he did not have much of a choice.
"What training?", I asked, curiosity eating me up. "And why do I need training."
Alexander turned to look me dead in the eye. "You will know when the time comes", he said, and without looking at his men, he said, "I will meet you outside. We will go to La mia altra casa."
The men nodded and walked away. I was not too familiar with Italian, but I knew he was talking about some other house.
"Why do you keep speaking different languages?", I asked. "You do know you can stick to one."
"You ask too many questions", Alexander said dryly. "It's none of your business what language I choose to speak. You are about to become my wife, not my language instructor."
"Where are you going?", I asked. He had said that he would meet his men outside and they would go to another house. We were supposed to discuss my marriage and Alexander had made plans to go out. He always found different ways to disrespect me.
"None of your—", he said, but I interrupted.
"This is my business," I shouted. "I came here so that we could discuss this arranged marriage and reach an agreement, but you want to leave for Heaven knows what!"
He walked over to me quickly, choking my neck, while pressing me hard against the wall. "Don't talk to me with such disrespect. I am not your doctor boyfriend, with whom you can argue. I don't argue with women. I missed a day of business because I respect your parents, so I had to speak with you before you went to get your wedding dress with Mia. But if you think I did all that just so you can disrespect me, I would like to inform you that I didn't. I could kill you if you push my nerves too far," he said, his hands tightening around my neck, making me feel like I was being strangled.
I put up a good fight because I also was not one to mess with and be disrespected. He looked surprised that I had somehow managed to fight my way out of his grip on my neck. But he had caught my two hands, and had held them behind me, pressing me against the wall, while his adulthood was pressed against my behind. I could feel it getting bigger. Alexander was getting aroused by the situation, and so was I. What was wrong with the both of us?
"Don't try to put up a fight with me next time or I'll break every inch of your bones", he said in my ear. I struggled not to tremble at the sound of his voice in my ear.
"You need to ask me to marry you. We need to talk about this marriage. You need to tell me if you agree with my idea of me just being with my boyfriend and you can be with you bitches!", I shouted, struggling to get myself free.
Alexander let me go willingly, taking a few steps back. "You understand Russian."
I turned to look at me, rubbing on my arms angrily. He looked impressed.
"I am not dumb", I retorted.
"You can fight a bit, and you understand Russian," he said to nobody in particular. He seemed like he was going to smile, but he did not. He maintained his stoic expression, still looking at me, this time not just into my eyes, but at my whole body.
"What are you looking at?", I asked angrily. He was sizing up every part of me, and because I had no idea why he was doing that. It made me feel uncomfortable.
He did not respond, instead he looked at his wristwatch. "I have to go, I will call Mia to take you to get your wedding dress."
"We haven't finished speaking", I said walking over to him.
"We've spoken more than enough," he stated, as if we had been talking for hours, when it had barely been an hour. I knew he was arrogant, but I had not realized just how arrogant; after all, this was our first conversation.
"You haven't told me if you agree to my idea or not", I stated, my eyes not leaving his. I knew he was dangerous, but I was not afraid of him. My parents were of a high social class. I was not a nobody, so I knew if he tried to do anything bad to me, my parents would make sure to have their revenge.
"When we get married, you're my property, there would not be a single word about a divorce. You can keep your doctor boyfriend, Ryan. But if your relationship with him gets on my nerves, I will kill him", Alexander said, his voice flat with no emotion.
A lot of questions popped in my head. What did he mean by property? Certainly, I was never going to be a property to anyone. How did he not only know that my boyfriend was a doctor, but somehow knew my boyfriend's name was Ryan? How often did he kill people? His threat was mostly destroying and killing people, and he was also a Mafia Leader. I was curious about how many people he killed.
"Also", he continued, "I will not ask for your hand in marriage. I do not love you, I do not even like you. This was an arranged marriage and I feel no obligation to ask for your hand in marriage."
His words cut through my chest like a sharp knife. We had already established the fact that we were not each other's type, he knew that I did not like him, I knew he did not like me. But there was a way his statement made me feel. I was not happy by his statement, but he was not wrong. He did not want to have anything to do with me and there was no reason to feel odd because I had Ryan. One thing was for sure, if he hurt Ryan, I would make sure I hurt him more.
I looked away from him not wanting to discuss with him anymore. All I wanted was to be wrapped around Ryan's arms. Ryan made me feel safe. All Alexander did was annoy me and make me feel unhappy.
"I think we are done here", he said in triumph. He was happy that I was not ready to engage in the discussion anymore.
"I will be leaving now, I will be back in a few days. Mia would take you to get a wedding dress. You can use my black card however you like", he added, handing his black card over to me. I collected it in shock. Black offered unlimited spending limits and luxury rewards. Although I was from a wealthy household and independently rich, I had never used a black card. Alexander was extremely wealthy, and he was showing it to me that he was.
"I thought you had already given Mia one of your cards that we can use", I stated, still in shock.
"It doesn't matter, use the two cards however you like", he stated, giving me his business card which had his phone number on it.
"Text me for the details of the black card", he added, walking away before I could utter another word.
I had an important question to ask him, but I was not sure I was ready. I had to wait until he returned; perhaps by then, I would have the courage to ask.