Page 27 of Sinful Lies

“What do you mean?” Alexei frowns.

“I mean, Zara and I are planning on getting married next Saturday.” I cross the room to sink down into an armchair.

“That’s in less than two weeks. You can’t be serious.”

“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”

“Why the rush? I don’t know much about planning a wedding but surely, it takes longer than that? Unless you have a reason to rush…” he narrows his eyes at me.

“She’s not fucking pregnant.” I lean forward to rest my forearms on my knees.

“Honestly,brat, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

“We just don’t want to wait. We’ve hidden our relationship for long enough, and we just want to start living our lives. Besides, the longer we wait, the messier things will get with Massimo.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“What do you mean?”

Alexei gets to his feet and strolls over to the bar cart to pour us both a fresh drink.

“About your relationship with Zara?” He glances over his shoulder at me. “I thought we had the sort of relationship where we told each other things.”

Well, fuck…

“Zara… She asked me not to.”

Alexei is quiet as he replaces the crystal stopper in the decanter and picks up the two glasses filled with amber liquid.

“It’s not like she wasn’t vocal about her dislike of me.” I chuckle, thinking back to the first time we met. “I guess she was just embarrassed about having to admit that she was wrong about me.”

Alexei’s lip twitches as he hands me a glass and takes a seat opposite me.

“Is that what she said?”

“She didn’t have to say it.”

“I still don’t get the rush. Joining our family is so much more than just signing on the dotted line. Does she know what she’s getting herself into by becoming a Koslov?”

“I think she learned what it means to be a Koslov when Mario fucking Gilanto put her in the hospital for a month.”

Alexei’s jaw flexes as he looks at me.

I can almost see the memories reflected in his eyes. The blood. The terror.

I take a sip. “I’ve been nothing but transparent with her.”

“She’s been through a lot.”

“We all have. Surely that’s a good enough reason to just fucking live a little.”

“But—”

“No. You don’t get an opinion here. What I have with Zara is just as fucking real as what you have with Bianca, and if I’m being honest, it fucking hurts to not have your full support.”

Alexei looks down as he swirls the scotch around in his glass.

“You’re right.” He sighs. “It just seems so sudden.”

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