“Come along, Joy,” says the maid. She hooks her arm around Joy and pulls her upstairs.
She flashes me evils as she walks past me. Little does she know how much I like that. It’s different. Refreshing. I’m too used to seeing women swoon over me, bat their lashes, flirt with their eyes. I don’t like seeing the same things every day. It gets boring. And I hate repetition.
I could force any other woman to my bed, force them into marriage. They’d all say yes.
I killed a woman’s father once, and she still wouldn't leave me alone. She followed me around for weeks, begging me to fuck her.
Joy really has taken me off guard that way. A lot of women would kill to be in her position.
“She’s a good swimmer,” says Nikolai when we’re alone in the lobby. He steps forward, the burned side of his face coming into the light. “Much stronger than she looks.”
“I’m sure.” I stick my hands in my pockets.
“Are you sure you want this wedding to go ahead?” He eyes me. “When people are married, they’re legally bound to one another. You sure you want to be bound toher, boss?”
“I know what marriage is,” I say. “But Igor needs to learn. He stole millions of dollars from us. We could have been caught,” I say. “All of us could be behind bars, paying the price for his stupidity. My son needs to learn the hard way. He needs to stop being such a fucking liability. This should put him back in line.”
“What? You think marrying his ex-fiancée will sort him out?” Niko frowns. “I thought you already took away his apartment and all of his money.”
“Yes. But he could have taken much worse from us.”
“So,” says Nikolai, “let me get this straight— you’re planning on giving him all of these things back eventually? Including the girl?”
“Would we get our Bratva back if the police broke it up?” I let that question ring loud though the lobby. Nikolai already knows the answer. “No,” I say. “We wouldn’t.” I turn on my heel, heading back upstairs to change suits. “Be ready in fifty minutes.”
I’m glad I went with a modest wedding dress for Joy.
I didn’t want my men ogling at her, since they’re all witnessing the event this afternoon. Some of them tend to get excited around attractive women.
They don’t get out much.
I have the ceremony by the fountain. Birds chirp as the afternoon transitions to evening. It’s a pleasant day, the congregation taking their seats as Joy prepares to walk down the aisle.
It’s not the most traditional wedding. But why go with tradition when you can do things your own way? Nikolai escorts her down the aisle, pressing the gun to the back of her head again to keep her in line.
So far, she’s been well behaved. A little bit too fucking quiet for my liking. I’m expecting her to kick up a fuss any minute now and make a run for it when Nikolai puts away the gun.
That’s why I have security guarding all the exits.
Golden light partitions around her face, painting her in the most wonderful light.
She wears her hair down, natural. It’s now fully dried. The curls have returned, and they blow in the slight breeze, lifting at the ends. I could see her on the front cover of a magazine. Her eyes really do hold a world of their own. But she’s looking past me, not at me. Almost like she’s dissociating. Trying to make the time pass as fast as possible.
After not showing up here when she was supposed to, I’ll make sure she’s extremely present for this moment. She won’t miss a thing.
“Joy Carter and Valerian Sokolov,” begins the Vicar.
The rest of his words fade away as I pinch Joy’s chin, forcing her to look into my eyes. Of course, she shoves her head the otherway, fighting to keep her gaze on the floor so she doesn’t have to look at me.
I snake my arm around her hip.
That seems to capture her attention.
She finds my eyes and subtly shakes her head, like I’m the one in trouble. But from my perspective, we didn’t have any bad blood until she decided to run away and take a dip in the ocean instead of being here.
I hold her by the waist, gazing into her eyes. She tilts her head back, looking at me. Her eyes are full of venom. I’m sure she’ll try and poison me when this is all over. But she’ll fail. Nobody wins when they come up against me. Not even my own son.
“I officially announce you husband and wife,” says the vicar.