Page 43 of Unwillingly Yours

“Things have certainly been…” I couldn’t help but smile at her. “Interesting between us.”

“Of course they have been,” she laughed. “You are talking about my brother here. He’s not the easiest person to get to know. But he’s certainly not boring.”

Her shared knowledge of my husband made me laugh in return. “That’s true. He’s not.”

“But you just have to be patient,” she added, gathering the items in her arms to take to the register. I wasn’t sure if they were for me or her at this point, but I guess it really didn’t matter. “It’s worth it, knowing Alyosha, I mean. He’s the best person, and I’m not just saying it because he’s my brother and all.”

“No one would blame you if you did,” I answered, taking the dress with me as I followed her to the register.

Alya plucked the dress from my hands and added it to her pile before pulling out a sleek black card. “Alyosha told me to treat you to whatever you liked today,” she said as she handed it over to the cashier. “If he wants me to spend his money like it’ll be gone tomorrow, then that’s fine by me.”

They were close. That was for sure. The knowledge warmed my heart. When I first met Aleksey, he had been just the cold, cruel enemy who took my brother away from me. Spending not only time with him but also with his sister today had forced me to see another side of him.

And the more I saw, the harder it became to hold on to the hate. A part of me still desperately clung to it, feeling like I was betraying my brother by letting go. But another part of me yearned to let go, to devote myself fully to my husband and embrace what it meant to be his forever.

Luca would have told me to live my life if he was still here. But then again, I wouldn’t be married to Aleksey if Luca was still alive. But I couldn’t dwell on that, could I? Because if I did, I would drive myself mad.

Alya and I gathered our purchases and headed across the street to a charming coffee shop that had delicious lattes and wonderful homemade pastries.

“So,” Alya started once we were seated with our afternoon snacks. “Tell me what it’s like to be married to my brother.”

“He’s…” I tapped the side of my cup with my fingernail. “Intense.” He was intense when he was talking and when he was fucking. There was no in-between.

She giggled. “Because he cares about you, Elia.” She shook her head when I gave her a quizzical look. “He does, even if you don’t believe he does. You should have seen the way he reacted to me talking about you at our dinner. It was cute.”

More of a reason to be so confused about this relationship between us. “What about you?” I asked, changing the subject. “Is there someone special in your life?”

“No.” She shook her head, the liveliness in her suddenly diminishing slightly. “I know better than to bring anyone into my life right now.”

And there it was. The cruel reality of our lot in life. I knew exactly what she was talking about. Our lives were already mapped out from the day we were born. And although we might be given the illusion of choice, it would always be just that—an illusion.

“I understand,” I told her.

“I know.” She gave me a warm smile. “Others don’t understand what it’s like being us, do they? They don’t know what it’s like to have no control. I don’t think even Alyosha realizes that, no matter what he tries to tell me.”

“He wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” I said, finding my words to be true.

“Well, he might not have much of a say-so,” she sighed, picking at the scone she had chosen. “Our uncle holds the reins of our family’s legacy.”

“But how?” I asked, a renewed sudden interest now turning in my head. “I thought your brother was supposed to take over for your father?”

The pain in my hand returned—a reminder of how tightly Aleksey had gripped me when he learned of his uncle’s own marriage to his mother. Something rotten was happening here. And Alya had all but confirmed it to me just now.

“In theory.” Alyona lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “But reality is something else altogether. The truth is, I’m not really in the know about any of this. It depresses me to think about it. So I don’t bother with any of it. Why worry about something that I can’t change?”

She had a point. Why worry about it indeed? And so I let it go, knowing that prying wouldn’t get me anywhere. The only person who might know was Aleksey, but I was sure that evenhewouldn’t have a good answer for any of this.

“In any case,” Alya continued. “I’m just happy you are giving Alyosha a chance. It’s good to see that he still remembers how to smile, after everything that has happened.”

“What do you mean?” I asked lightly.

Did she know what he had done to my brother? Surely she did. It wasn’t a secret that we were enemies. Luca was the heir to our family’s legacy. His death had been a big deal for a number of reasons.

Something flickered in her gaze, something that told me she had said too much. “I mean because of our father dying, of course,” she said quickly.

The tone of her voice made it hard for me to believe that was the only story. “Is that all?”

The young woman drew in a breath, and I recognized the panic in her eyes. She had said something she wasn’t supposed to. “Well, no…It’s not all.”

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