16

Avrora
“Sit here.” He points to the chair next to him.
Pulling in a deep breath, I make my way over and lower myself into the cushioned seat.
Ehlga leaves us, but the door is still open, and I can hear people milling about.
I keep my breathing measured so I can think about all the things I need to ask. This is an opportunity for me to talk, too. And surely, there’s no way he can think it’s acceptable for me to blindly follow along with this charade without more information than he’s given me.
“Sleep well?” He sets his elbows on the table.
My eyes flick down to the tattoo of the rune on his wrist. “As good as can be.”
He sits back and stares at me. “Eat. You’ll need your strength.”
That makes me want to eat even less than I did before. “What will I need my strength for? You do realize you haven’t actually told me what you plan to do to me, except for this ridiculous notion of marrying me.”
“Why is it so ridiculous? Your marriage to my brother was arranged.”
“Yes, but I’ve known him all my life. There’s a massive difference.” And I know Mikhail’s not psychotic. This guy is. “He also didn’t treat me like an animal.”
Anatoli chuckles, bringing a hand to his temple. “Good for him. Sounds like a real gentleman. I can assure you, I’m nothing of the sort.”
I want to tell him I could have guessed that without being given any clues, but I think better of it. He has the type of arrogance that’s deadly, and I’m no match for it.
He reaches down next to him and lifts a little bag I recognize instantly. It’s one of the bags I took to Grantham Hall. It has my personal things inside, like my phone.
My God, I completely forgot about my phone. What kind of girl does that?
My phone is something I check a hundred times a day, so I can’t believe I haven’t even thought of it once during the time I’ve been here.
Instead of giving me the bag, Anatoli opens it and takes out the little box of my contraceptive pills. Since he knew to find it in the little secret pocket, I assume he’s searched through my bag and has looked through my things.
My blood boils when he flips the lid of the box open and takes out the blister packet containing my pills.
“What are you doing?”
“The days are all mixed up.”
“What’s your point?” I don’t know why he’s concerned with such a thing. Not keeping track of dates is a bad habit of mine and the same reason diaries and calendars don’t work with me. It’s not a problem for my pills because I take one a day religiously.
“Did you take yesterday’s pill?”
“Why is that any of your business?”
“Everything you do is now my business, and I don’t want other miniature problems on our hands.”
Oh my God, I’m so naive. Of course, he’s so concerned about my pills because he doesn’t want me to get pregnant.
The light of lust burning in his eyes sparks thoughts of him taking me in the hardcore way he said he would. Quickly, before it can take root in my mind, I push the explicit image away.
The last thing I should do is entertain any thought of him like that. Especially when he’s a complete jerk.
“So, back to the question.” His expression takes on a stern edge. “Did you take a pill yesterday?”
“Yes. I did.”
“Good girl, make sure you don’t miss any.”
Asshole. He doesn’t have to worry about me missing anything. I won’t make such a mistake.
Finally, he hands the bag to me. I quickly check inside to make sure my phone is still there. It is, and so are my other things, like my purse, wallet, and keys for my car.
“I’ve allowed you to keep your things for the moment.”
“For the moment?”
“Yes, keeping them is dependent on whether or not you can obey me and follow orders without that smart mouth of yours pissing me off. Right now, it’s fascinating. I love a woman with a little fire. But you, my dear Valkyrie, are of a different kind. I can imagine you getting on my wrong side quite quickly. That’s less fascinating but might be entertaining in other ways.”
The darkness in his eyes sends a shiver crawling down my spine and the longer I look at him, the more I can tell the sadistic bastard is getting off on the idea of me being on his wrong side.
The words obey and follow orders make me clench my teeth, but once again, I try to calm myself.
“What do you actually want to talk about?” I decide to keep my tone level and my words basic.
“My expectations and my rules.”
Can he actually hear himself? Does he realize how he sounds? As if he’s talking to a petulant child who’s just arrived for their first day at a strict boarding school.
But damn it, it’s me who’s silly. Of course he knows how he sounds. Men like him are born dictators. The only language they know is their own.
“You can return to your daily activities and college,” he informs me. “I’ve canceled the original vacation leave you had planned for the wedding but allowed you this week to get used to the house and settled in. There will be nothing special about our wedding, so we don’t need any time off.”
Our wedding. Those words sound so strange to my ears, and wrong.
And of course, there’s no sentiment in him. I didn’t expect anything special. It just stings to hear how much he doesn’t care about something that should be important.
“Well, I didn’t expect you to take me on my Caribbean cruise.” I don’t even bother to hide my sarcasm.
Anatoli smirks and raises his thick brows in amusement. “Fuck, is that where Mikhail was going to take you?”
“Yes, he was. Mikhail wanted to take me all over the world. He booked the cruise so we could explore a variety of islands, and in the same breath, he had another getaway planned to Paris at the end of next month for the Easter break.”
“Well at least the asshole isn’t cheap.”
“He’s not an asshole. You are.”
“Trust me, your beloved is just as much an asshole as me.” The conviction in his deep accented voice infuriates me.
“You don’t know him.”
“I don’t need to. I knew he was a motherfucker before he even opened his mouth to speak to me.”