45 Contract

Vicky:

I try to open my heavy eyelids and see the semi-darkness of some room. I slowly look around and notice two baby cribs not far from the bed I’m lying on. Kirill is standing next to the cribs, staring thoughtfully at the sleeping children. Thanks to Valentina — our daddy or their idiotic grandpa would hardly have put them to bed.

“Trying to get into the role of a father?” I ask quietly so as not to wake the little ones, and the brunette quickly turns to me.

The oppressive reality starts pressing down on me like a heavy weight. As I understand it, I won’t be able to avoid marrying Kirill if I want to stay in Andry’s and Egor’s lives. Unfortunately, I don’t have connections like the Yartsevs do.

“We need to talk,” the man says gloomily, and by his tone I understand the conversation won’t be pleasant. Although in this house, no conversation will ever be pleasant for me. “Let’s go to the kitchen, you need to eat.”

“I can’t leave the kids alone, what if they wake up…”

“There’s a baby monitor with video surveillance here. So don’t worry, we’ll hear them,” the man turned the remote with a small screen in his hand.

Sighing heavily, I realize I can’t avoid the talk, so I get up from the bed, glance at my sons, and follow Kirill out.

“The cribs will stay in the guest room where you were for now. We’ve already ordered the kids’ room, and the workers will come tomorrow to renovate it,” the brunette informs me as a fact. “You also have to choose baby clothes and everything they need. You can do that online…”

“Kirill, this is nonsense,” I interrupt the man when we end up in a spacious kitchen — any homemaker’s dream. “What marriage?”

“This is exactly what I want to talk about,” two serious green eyes stared at me. “But first, sit down and eat.”

Kirill climbed into the huge double-door refrigerator and took out a container with salad, baked potatoes, and cutlets. While the food was heating in the microwave, the man got some bread and made us tea. One could get used to this… but I quickly pushed that thought away.

I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I forced myself to eat something at least, so I wouldn’t faint again. The food turned out to be very tasty. I wondered, do they cook themselves or does someone cook for them? Of course someone! People like that definitely have a chef, and probably more than one. And there are only men in the house, as far as I can tell, because I haven’t seen any housekeepers.

While I ate, Kirill stood with his back to me, looking out the window, lost in thought. He wore casual home clothes — sweatpants and a gray T-shirt. It was unusual to see him in such a simple outfit.

Seeing that I had finished eating, the man cleared my plate and set tea with cookies in front of us. He sat opposite me, and I realized the time for conversation had come.

“Kirill, let’s settle everything without the marriage,” I began the difficult conversation. “I agree that you and your father will be present in the children’s lives, but marriage — that’s too much. And I can see you don’t want it either!”

The man’s gaze darkened and he sighed heavily, looking at me intently.

“Yes, I don’t need this marriage even for free,” the brunette admitted, glancing at me coldly, and it made me feel much more uncomfortable. “But sooner or later, it will become a fixed idea in my father’s head, and he will drive me crazy about it. So why shouldn’t I resolve this issue with you now?”

Indifference, with which the man spoke, simply chilled me. He didn’t care who he would marry, and I happened to be the first candidate he came across.

“What if you fall in love in the future and want to start a family with your beloved? I won’t even talk about myself, since we have no feelings for each other,” I try desperately to reach this statue of a man.

“Why not?” the interlocutor smirks. “I’m rock hard for you. And you, even though you resist, want me too. We can start from that.”