Chapter 06

Kristina

Oh God. My breath hangs in my throat as he walks towards the podium.

At this point, everyone has their eyes on him. As soon as he gets to me, he smiles broadly.

“Could you make way, darling? That's my seat.” He says,

Oh-

I scoot, giving him space to move in.

He takes his seat, and the officiating minister continues.

Soon enough, the holy matrimony is over.

My sister is officially married.

My heart tugs again, but I wave it off.

I am about to get off my seat when I hear Sergei’s voice.

“You did a good job with the event.”

I turn to him, “Is your compliment supposed to make my entire day?”

“No, it's supposed to wet that little spot between your legs.”

“Very funny,”

With a hiss, I get off my seat, and walk away.

We have thirty minutes before the reception begins. I walk up to Lori's room. She is immediately switching into her party dress.

“Hey pretty,” I say to her with a wide smile.

She beams as soon as she sees me. “Hi! The wedding is going so perfectly!”

“I know, I made sure of it.”

She wraps her arms around me, “thank you! Thank you so much!”

“It's alright.” I reply, patting her back.

“Who was that man?” She asks with a frown, “the one that nearly disrupted our wedding.”

“Who?” I ask, pretending not to know.

“The one that came in during the vows, and nearly ruined everything.”

“Oh- He's just a guest with the wrong timing. It's nothing to worry about.”

Only that it was indeed something to be worried about. How Sergei got not only an invite but a seat at the front row behind my back was still news to me.

“Callum said he wants to speak to you though, something about cancelling an event or so,” she says, pulling me out of my trance.

“Um, I'll go see him now.” I respond, wavering out of the room.

As soon as I get to Cal's door, I can hear him barking orders at the workers.

I knock gently.

“Come in,”

His eyes brighten up as soon as he sees me.

“Hi,” I whisper,

“Everyone get out of the room.” He barks at them.

Without a word, they scoot out of the room.

He closes the gap between us.

“My baby…”he says, taking my hand.

I smile gently.

He places a gentle kiss on both my knuckles.

“We can't keep doing this…”I whisper, feeling the tears drop down to my cheeks.

He wipes my face with his palms.

“There's no need to cry, baby.” He says,

His voice is so soft, and comforting that all I want is to melt in his arms.

“I can't stop it.” I respond, taking my hand off his, and wiping my face. “Lori is out there so joyous, having the perfect wedding, and I am-I-I-”

He breaks my train of thoughts as he places his lips on mine.

At first, I stiffen trying to resist, but soon enough, I melt into the warmth of his soft lips.

“Does that make it any better?” He asks, touching my hair.

His eyes glisten as he stares at me. “Look, we might not officially be together, but believe me, I love you. With all of my heart, I do.”

I nod.

“Thank you,”

“It's alright, baby. Anytime you need reassurance, just let me know. I know it's hard for you dealing with this today, but just know that this marriage is for two years only. After that, we can be together.”

I wipe my eyes gently. “It's alright. I need to head out anyway. It's almost time for the reception, and I've not gotten everything checked out.”

“Are you sure you don't want to stay here for a while?”

I shake my head, “I'd rather not.”

He lets go off my shoulders.

I am already at the door when I turn around to speak to him, “at the altar today, that should've been us,” I whisper one last time before I walk out.

As soon as I step out, I hurriedly walk down the hall with my chin up high. I stop in my tracks as soon as I see him.

“You!” I charge towards him, picking the bottom of my dress.

“Calm down,” he chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What's funny?!” I bark, “you nearly ruined that wedding!”

“Why are you so upset? Wouldn't that be your greatest dream?”

“Tone your voice down!”

“Fine,” he agrees, covering the distance between us.

He is standing so close to me that I can feel the intensity of his cologne.

He bends down until our nose nearly touches, “is this close enough for you, darling?”

I pause, unable to breathe or think properly.

With a deep chuckle, he takes a deep breath. “You should get going, I'm sure someone's wedding depends on you.”

I narrow my eyes on him, feeling the anger rising again.

“Run along,” he says, demonstrating with his fingers.

Without another word, I stomp away.

As soon as I am out of sight, I touch my neck slightly.

How did I let him get such control over me?

Sucking in my teeth, I walk towards the kitchen.

I am welcomed by the heavenly aroma.

This has to be good.

In no time, the reception begins.

I watch as the bride and groom take their first dance alone.

After that, a number of people begin to take the stage.

I stand by the side, monitoring the environment. So far, there has been no interruptions. This is good.

I look around one last time for any sign of Sergei, but there's none. Good. Very good.

I begin counting the number of guests, when I feel a cold presence behind me.

I turn around, and of course there's that giant, annoying man there.

“You came,”

“I heard you kept looking around, searching for me.”

I purposely roll my eyes, giving him the opportunity to see it.

“Don't pretend you're not weak in the knees by my presence,”

“If anything, I want to stab you with this pen.”

He holds my hand, and presses the pen on his chest.

“What are you doing?” I ask, trying to let my hand go.

“Let go of the pen,” he says,

I let go.

He shoves it in his pocket.

“Give me the notepad.”

“Why?”

“Because you wouldn't like to cause a scene, and ruin your sister's wedding.”

I hand it over.

He drops it by the nearest table.

“Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?” He asks,

“I'd rather be shot dead.”

“I have a gun here, we can test that theory.” He teases,

I want to call his bluff, but I know better than to be stupid enough to think he won't do it.

“Fine. One dance.”

A smile creeps up his devious face. “That's perfect.”

He takes me to the dance floor.

I can feel everyone's eyes on us as we dance. My body is pressed on his as we move in a patterned movement.

I catch a glimpse of Lori, and to my surprise, she is beaming. She mouths wow to me, and I smile.

Cal has an obvious frown on his face, and his jaw is locked.

I turn back to Sergei, avoiding his gaze.

The song comes to an end, and just as I am about to peel myself off Sergei, he does the most ridiculous thing known to mankind.

He places his lips on mine.

I in turn follow his stupidity as I lean into his kiss, giving him way.