Page 11 of Darkest Love
“You’ve always been strong,” Mom says. “I’m just not ready to lose my last daughter yet.”
“Let’s just go to the wedding.”
“Desperate to get away from us?” Sasha asks with a laugh, diffusing some of the tension.
“Definitely. But I’ll miss living with you,” I say to Mom and Natalya.And I’ll miss everyone once when I’m in Paris. I don’t say that last part out loud though. That’s my burden to carry.
The wedding takes place at a nice catholic church. I don’t even know if Adrien is catholic. Or if he believes in any religion. I don’t know my husband at all.
My sisters head into the church to take their seats, leaving me and Mom alone. She’ll walk me down the aisle. I would have preferred my dad to be here but he’s been gone for years now.
“He’s watching, you know,” Mom murmurs. “Your dad. He’s proud of you. He’s proud of all of my girls.”
“Because we’ve all made good marriage matches?”
“Honestly? Yes. Now, please be careful and stay safe. And if you ever need me, you can come home.”
“That’s going to be hard to do in Paris.”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
“Mom, you know Adrien is French. He lives in Paris. I’ll be moving there when this wedding day is over.”
“No. I will not stand for this. I will not lose my last daughter.”
“Mom.” I tug on her arm to keep her at my side. “I want an adventure. I am excited to see a new part of the world. I am going to make the most out of this. I need you to do the same. Now, I’m going to walk down the aisle and marry Adrien. It’s happening. Accept it.”
She lets out a long, slow sigh before nodding. “I knew I couldn’t hold onto you forever. Let’s do this.”
Let’s do this.
The walk down the aisle feels like an eternity. So many guests are in attendance from Mikhail’s people to Nico’s people to Liam’s people and last, Adrien’s people. The only people I really know are my sisters and my mom. It unnerves me how alone I’ll be in Paris, not knowing French, with a husband who’s a stranger to me. But I have to make this work. I’ll die inside if I’m stuck inside Mikhail’s home a moment longer.
I reach the end of the aisle and Mom takes my hand and places it in Adrien’s. His grip is relaxed, like he doesn’t have a care in the entire world. I guess a man like him doesn’t. He has everything. Money, good looks, and now a wife. He doesn’t have to worry about anything.
Adrien’s eyes are piercing into my mine as the priest starts the ceremony. It would be so easy to fall in love with a handsome man like him but I know I’m going to have to guard my heart around him. He made it clear I won’t be getting his heart any time soon. So he won’t be getting mine ever.
“Do you, Adrien Dubois, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do,” he says in his rich, warm voice that would be so easy to sink into.
My heart can’t help but skip a beat. I am still excited about the prospect of living a fun life in Paris with my handsome husband. If only he would try to get to know me. If only he wouldn’t see other woman. Why can’t the perfect man exist?
Not in the mafia, that’s for sure.
“Do you, Anastasia Petrov, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
I glance at my family. If I’m going to have a chance at living my own life, I have to say goodbye to them. When I turn back to Adrien, I see that his eyes have darkened.
He doesn’t like to wait, it seems.
“I do,” I murmur. There’s a collective sigh of relief in the room that I said yes instead of putting up a fight.
“I know pronounce you husband and wife.”
Adrien takes my face in his hands and presses a gentle but short kiss to my lips. I find myself leaning in closer, desperate for more but Adrien pulls back, smirking down at me.
“You are mine now,” he says.
