Page 51 of Chained Fate
A warm glow kindles in my chest, chasing away the insidious doubts.“I’m okay, thank you.”
It’s mostly true.Though I slept for several hours on the plane, jet lag is pulling at me hard, much harder than it would’ve in the past.My head feels heavy, my eyes are gritty, and my stomach is unsettled, possibly from all the healthy drinks Sonia forced on me.But I’m nowhere near as exhausted as I would’ve been even two weeks ago.
“Okay, let me know if you need us to leave.We’ll go right away,” Alexei says, squeezing my hand, and turns his attention to the priest, who’s finally wrapping up.
It’s time for family and friends to say a few words, but neither Ruslan nor Alexei move to do so.After an awkward pause, other relatives step up, followed by business associates and whoever else wants to demonstrate their loyalty to the deceased and, by extension, to the remaining Leonov clan.
After each sycophantic speech, I sneak a glance at my husband, but his closed-off expression gives nothing away.That’s another reason I feel insecure, I realize—his refusal to tell me anything about his relationship with his father.
Thanks to his accessing of my therapist’s files all those years ago—not to mention, a decade of relentless stalking—he knows my family’s deepest, darkest secrets, whereas I know next to nothing about his family and the source of their dysfunction.
Finally, the speeches are over, and the post-service mingling begins.By now, Iamtired.Barely hanging on, in fact.
I’m about to fess up to Alexei, but he beats me to it.
“It’s time for us to go,” he says, ignoring the people approaching us.“You’ve had a long day.”
With that, he says goodbye to Sonia and a few others and hustles me to the car, where I drift off as soon as I close my eyes.
Chapter25
Alexei
Alina is still asleep, her head resting on my shoulder as we pull up to the suburban mansion I built for us.I gently shake her awake, glad we’ve made it home without any misadventures.
Since the Molotovs didn’t try to take her in Geneva, I was fully expecting them to pull something on the way to or from the funeral.I was ready for anything and everything, and they must’ve known that.
They’re waiting for me to lower my guard, probing for weaknesses.
Well, they won’t find any.
Alina is mine for good.
Lifting her head off my shoulder, she blinks open her eyes and yawns delicately, covering her mouth with one hand.“We’ve arrived?”She sounds deliciously sleepy.
I smile and bring her hand to my lips to place a kiss on the back.“We have.”
Now that the funeral is over, some of the bitter rage choking me has subsided, though it’s not gone by any means.Butshemakes it better.Having her with me at the funeral, touching her, looking at her—it made those awful hours go by faster.I could focus on the warmth of her hand instead of the bullshit praise the priest was spouting off, could think about the way her lips curved softly as she spoke to Aunt Sonia instead of the hollow agony I felt when I looked at the coffin and pictured Ksenia’s body in there instead of my father’s.
“Good,” Alina says softly.She sits up straighter, looking more awake.“I want to see our new home.”
Ournew home.My pulse skips a beat.Does she mean it?Is that how she truly sees it, or is she saying that to make me believe she loves me?
Fuck.I need to nip this paranoia in the bud.There’s no good reason for me to distrust her.Except… her brothers still haven’t tried to rescue her.
Why not?
Could they be waiting for her to executeherpart of the plan?Which involves convincing me that she wants to be with me?
It would be easier for them to take her if I didn’t expect her to escape at the first opportunity… if I gave her the freedom my wife would normally have.
Fucking fuck.I need to stop this and just fuckingenjoyher not fighting me at every step.
“I’ll show you around first thing tomorrow,” I say as I help her out of the car.“Tonight, we should get some sleep.”
Fuck knows, I need it.
She nods, her brow furrowing as she studies my face.“You look exhausted.When was the last time you slept?”
