Chapter Six
1184 Words
~Valentina~
I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress for the hundredth time this morning.
Today was my wedding day and I was bloody nervous.
I had been sitted in a chair for the past hour and I was starting to get antsy.
The makeup artist finally left my line of vision after the last stroke of her brush and I caught my reflection in the mirror.
Most of my hair was held into a chignon bun at my nape and some part at the front was left loose. They had the loose part trimmed a bit so that it fell to my chin and framed my face. My makeup was minimum but it didn't fail to highlight my best features.
I heard a knock before I saw my mom come in.
She tore up when she saw me. The makeup artist left the room to give us a moment.
"Bambina mia", she sniffled as she gathered me into her arms. I relaxed in her embrace as I tried to find strength in it.
My eyes watered for two reasons.
Number one, I always anticipated the day my mom would see me in my wedding dress.
Number two, I was sad that I wasn't in this dress out of love but obligation.
She looked into my eyes and frowned at what she saw. She began to dab beneath my eyes.
"Firstly, sweetheart, don't cry, you'll ruin your makeup. Secondly, don't carry that look in your eyes. Cheer up. Everything happens for a reason, okay? You can't change your circumstance but you can control what can come out of it. Don't you ever forget that.", she finished with a peck to my cheek.
Her eyes searched my room before finding mine again.
"We have to leave now. Where is Mia—", she began.
"I'm here!", she yelled from somewhere deep inside my closet.
"What on earth are doing in there?", I yelled back.
"I need my big purse", she yelled back, "My box of tissues can't enter my small one".
"What on earth would you need a box of tissues for?", I asked, amused at how weird my best friend was. My mom chuckled beside me.
She walked out of the closet with a much bigger purse and raised it in the air, triumphantly.
"We both know I'm a cryer, Val. I need to be prepared for today", she said with a sad smile on her lips.
I pulled her into a hug for a moment then released her.
" Let's get this s**t show started", I said, then we all leave my room.
♣♣♣
My uncle and I were at the entrance of the church, in front of its closed doors.
I stood to his right and he looked up at me from his wheelchair.
" Are you ready, piccola mia?", he asked, as he took my hand in his.
I released a breath and squeezed his hand, feeling much more composed than before.
"Yes, Uncle ",I said just as the doors opened. I quickly pasted a smile on my face.
Everywhere went silent as people rose from their seats.
My uncle didn't show much discomfort as he had to wheel himself down the aisle with one hand, just so that he could hold my hand with the other.
The church was filled with many families of which I knew a handful. Some were important business associates but most were men involved in organized crime.
My eyes zoned in on the alter where the 'almighty' Pakhan stood. I used his title because there was something different about him today. Something lethal. Something cold.
He always looked good and today wasn't an exception. It was just a shame that he had the personality of an ogre.
We finally reached the alter and my uncle handed me over to my husband to be.
He took my hand and his piercing blue eyes held me captive. He moved closer to me and I rose my brows in question.
I expected the silence he greeted me with.
We turyn towards the priest and he began the wedding ceremony.
With each word spoken by the priest and each word exchanged between me and Nikolai, the gravity of my situation began to fully dawn on me.
The priest's next words sealed the deal.
"I declare you both, husband and wife", the priest said, unknowingly signing me off to my doom.
I gulped as I spared my husband a glance. The cold smirk on his face almost shattered my carefully curated composure.
He slowly leaned towards me, his lips brushing my ear.
A shiver ran down my spine. His deep baritone left house bumps on my skin but couldn't stop the sinking feeling in my gut when I heard his next words.
"I guess you're now mine, Solnishko".
A tear rolled down my cheek that faced the priest and I wasn't expecting Nikolai to reach out and wipe it off.
"You may now kiss the bride", the priest declared.
Nikolai didn't waste any time. One second I was about two feet away from him and the next I'm in his arms with his hand firmly holding my nape.
His hand turned my head to back the crowd as he leaned in to kiss me.
To my dismay—or rather pleasant surprise— the kiss never came, but from the cheers of the crowd I guess they thought it did.
♣♣♣
Nikolai and I were on his private jet, on our way to my new home in New York.
My wedding reception was rather uneventful and was held in the garden of the Morellini Estate.
Mia had made good use of her box of tissues and so did my Mom. It took all I had not to have a breakdown.
Viktor Drakov, Nikolai's best man and best friend, had left earlier to ensure my things arrived and were arranged before I landed. He was an interesting man and much more talkative than Nikolai.
After over five long hours, we landed and made our way toward the parking lot.
There, a man came out of a car and handed the keys to Nikolai.
The ride was silent just like our flight and I wish I could say I didn't care.
I didn''t care about Nikolai but I do care about my sanity in this marriage. A non-existent relationship is not what I hoped would be the foundation of my marriage.
"What are your plans for me?", I turned to him and asked as he stopped at a traffic light.
"What do you mean?", he asked. He spared me a glance before he focused on the road again.
"What do I get to do? Certainly, you didn't marry me to sit and strut around your high and mighty palace", I said, as my eyes took in the city. The farther he drove, it seemed like we were driving away from civilization.
"I have no plans for you, Valentina", he said matter of factly, and kept his eyes on the road.
I laughed in his expense, "We'll see about that".
- Writer
