Page 14 of Unbreakable Vow

“Please, call me Cora. Everyone else does.” I glance at Sergei, who’s looking at his phone. “Except him. He refuses.”

She laughs. “He’s a stubborn one, but he’s decent enough. Will you be staying with us long?” She side-eyes Sergei. She must have heard him telling the man about my bags.

“She’s my fiancée. She’ll be with us from now on,” Sergei states flatly, stuffing his phone into a pocket. “It’s late. I have a meeting I need to get to. I’ll show her to her room.” He cups my elbow again and leads me toward the grand staircase. This entire place looks like something out ofArchitectural Digest.

“It was nice meeting you,” I try to say to her before I’m whisked up the stairs.

“I’ll have my own room?” I ask when we’re walking silently down a long hallway with large oil paintings hanging on the walls.

“Yes,” he says, then stops. I walk straight into his back and bounce back a step. “No.”

“No?” I rub my nose. It was like walking into a brick wall.

He turns on his heel, stares down at me with concern. Brushing my hand away, he lifts my chin, tilting my face back then to the side.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “I didn’t think you were going to stop so fast. I shouldn’t have been walking so close.”

He brushes the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip, lowering his face closer to me. I move my gaze to his mouth. Full lips outlined by his dark beard, they part slightly, and I’m sure he’s going to kiss me.

I move up to my toes, thinking to meet him halfway.

And then nothing.

“You’ll stay in my room.” He lets go of my chin and the next second he’s back to a full stride. I’m stuck for another moment, letting my brain catch up to the rest of me.

“Your room? Why?” I hurry to get up to him.

“Because we’re engaged, and we’ll be married soon. No need to keep moving rooms.” He pushes the door at the end of the hall open and sweeps his arm for me to enter.

I pause a moment at the doorway, then step inside. He flicks a switch on the wall and the room illuminates. My breath sticks right in my throat.

My entire apartment can fit in this room. And the furniture, every piece emulates masculinity. Deep brown leather chairs and a loveseat in the sitting area. Wood paneling on the walls. The bed glows with luxury. I’m not sure I want to touch anything in this room.

This entire place feels very much like when I was a kid and Mom would take me to a museum. She would have me hold my hands behind my back to keep the temptation of touching anything under control. I will definitely need to deploy that tactic in this house.

“Did you say we’d be married soon? How soon?” His words finally penetrate fully. It’s already Thursday. Tomorrow is the end of the week.

“Saturday morning.” He nods. “My attorney will be here first thing that morning so we can sign all the legal paperwork and a judge will be here right after so we can get it done.”

It’s all so matter of fact.

Since I was a little girl, I’d envisioned my wedding day. Flipping through my parents’ wedding album, I’d pretend it was me in the pictures marrying the love of my life.

Just like Mom did.

“Is something wrong?” he asks when I keep silent.

“No. Not at all.” I drop my purse onto the nightstand beside the bed and walk over to the thick curtains framing the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“It’s just business,” I say, pushing the lace curtains away from the window and looking down at the city below. We’re on the third floor of the house overlooking the backyard. It’s small, but pretty with beds of flowers all along the perimeter. There’s a stone patio with a gas grill and an outside sitting area.

“What is?” he asks, moving to stand beside me.

I feel his gaze on me and turn toward him. He’s studying me, like he’s not sure what to make of me.

Serves him right. I have no idea what to make of him. One minute he’s demanding I pack bags and come with him to his place and yelling over the phone at my landlord about the mess of my apartment, and now we’re here, and I sense he’d like to be anywhere else.

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