Page 50 of Scarlet Vows
With that, I leave the whiskey and the glass outside of herdoor, just to the side, and then I take my glass and go down to my floor.
She doesn’t come.
Alina doesn’t speakto me when she gets up. Doesn’t stop by my study, doesn’t do any of the things that she normally does.
If I’m at the mansion in Demyan’s study working, she always comes in. She’ll bring coffee, a muffin, something that’s from the kitchen.
When Demyan’s there, she’ll come and annoy us both until he kicks her out. Of course, when Demyan is annoyed at her, he simply sends her off with Sasha or Poppy, as Sasha named his little sister, Nadya. Erin just rolls her eyes.
Point is, if I’m there, I see her.
This morning, she doesn’t even come out of her room. I know she’s up. I hear her voice when Svetlana knocks.
The housekeeper hurries down the stairs, and ten minutes later, she returns with a tray.
I keep working. Another half hour passes with Svetlana on the stairs again. She finally comes in to give me another cup of coffee I didn’t ask for.
I’m about to tell her I’m capable of getting my own and that she doesn’t need to wait on me hand and foot when she blurts out:
“Is Mrs. Belov okay? She won’t eat her breakfast or come out of her room.”
The “her” room isn’t lost on me. Separate rooms aren’t unheard of, but a new bride hiding away is. My bride.
“I’ll talk to her.” I smile, and Svetlana nods then turns and heads downstairs.
I check my watch then close the computer. It’s 9:00 a.m, and usually Alina’s up.
So I climb the stairs and knock on her door.
“I don’t?—”
“Alina,” I say softly, “if you won’t come out, if you won’t talk to me, I’ll call Demyan.”
I’m bluffing. There’s no way I’ll call her brother. But I don’t know how else to get through to her.
Footsteps stomp closer, and the lock turns. The door flies open.
My heart hurts.
Alina’s eyes are red and puffy, and there are still damp tear tracks on her cheeks.
“You’re not to call him. You promised,” she snaps.
Frustration coils tight.
“Talk to me, then, please. Or someone else. I’ll call Isla if you’d prefer it be her.” I sigh. “Obviously, the wedding triggered something, and I feel like a fool for not seeing that coming. I should have. And I should have put my foot down about this marriage thing. I didn’t, and we’re here now. But while I get it,malyshka, bottling things up is not the way to deal with it all.” I swallow and then make myself say it. “You’re missing Max, the love of your life, and that’s understandable?—”
“That’s not it,” she whispers. She half looks at me then drops her gaze down, her misery poisoning the air around us. “It wasn’t the wedding that triggered me. Well…it was, I guess, but I’m coping with that. The thing I can’t handle is the way I felt when you kissed me.”
Her words render me silent.
The kiss—such as it was, nothing more than a fleeting brush of our lips—was amazing in all the ways conceivable. But the last thing I ever expected was for her to have felt the same reaction. The same powerful connection I did.
I take her hand and wait until she looks at me. “Alina, we can end this arrangement right now if it’s what you want.”
Alina shakes her head. “Don’t offer me a false way out. We both know we don’t have that option. I need you to keep people like Santo, and Santo himself, away from me. And you need me to get your inheritance. We both need this marriage.”
A muscle tics in my jaw, and I nod. “Alina, our friendship means everything to me. I’d never jeopardize that, ever. You can trust me to keep this platonic.”
