Page 5 of Never Have We Ever
“What does that mean?” Hailey looked back to her sister, who continued to blush at the implication she would be bedded mere seconds after being wedded. “Mein Gott!Are you serious? You haven’t fucked him yet?”
“Hailey!”
“You knew that?” Hailey went from shocked to greatly amused in fewer than five seconds. The same amount of time Valeska needed to compose herself. “I’m shocked you never said anything, after all those stories about him in the press.”
Marlene grunted in disproval. “Your sister doesn’t distract herself with tawdry publications. She chose a more appropriate path for her marriage.”
“Are you kiddingme? Even I fucked my husband at least once a week before I married him. I needed to make sure I knew what I was getting into afteryouset us up.” Hailey had only been the first to receive her arranged marriage because her husband Dillon Undercroft, one of Ireland’s most celebrated businessmen, caught sight of her at a party and demanded to date her that night. When he found out the Reiter girlswere candidates for arranged marriages, he proposed to Hailey on the first date. They had been married for three years, and Hailey was already pregnant with her second child. “It’s not like Valeska’s a virgin!”
“I’m right here, thank you.” The bride smoothed down her bodice, although fantastical thoughts of her new husband making short work of it enticed her to find some privacy. “I wasn’t opposedto premarital relations, but the opportunity never presented itself. That’s all I care to share with you.”
Marlene chuckled while Hailey considered that statement. “Well,” Mrs. Reiter said, “we’ll leave the wedding night up to you, dear. Like Hailey so astutely pointed out, you are no virgin, so I’m sure you don’t need us to give you advice.”
“He’s fucking some girlfriend on the side,” Haileymuttered. She didn’t look at Valeska. “That’s the only explanation.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like sex.” Valeska removed some of her jewelry and secured it in a lockbox her mother would look after. The only thing she was taking with her into the honeymoon chateau was the wedding gown on her body. “Which is fine with me. We’ve already agreed to keep the wedding closed for the first two years, and willthen assess what we wish to do with our private romances.”
This was her first time sharing that detail with any of her family. Hailey shrugged. Marlene’s mouth dropped open.
“Adultery?”
“One year of this marriage at a time, mother. Please.”
She knew her family would be no help to her nerves, but she truly did not need them ribbing her about the wedding night she had been both dreading andanticipating for weeks. Once Valeska realized that premarital sex was not going to happen with André, she detached her immediate thoughts about the issue and assumed it might happen one faraway day from whenever she contemplated what it would be like to have sex with her future husband. Well, it was now her wedding day. She figured there was a good chance André still would not be interested in her.If he didn’t approach her about the issue within two days’ time, she would assume he saw this wedding as nothing but business for their families, and that would be that.
In which case, she would look forward to opening things up in two years’ time. Maybe she could find a lover to keep her physically content while André likewise fucked off. Many arranged marriages were like that.
Although… theman was exactly Valeska’s type. One of the driving reasons she agreed to marry him was because of her attraction to his physique and mannerisms. The thought he could be intense enough to warrant tabloid stories did not help her overactive imagination.
She kissed her family goodbye before rejoining her husband, who had removed his jacket and loosened his tie for the last of the public photos.They shared one practiced kiss for the cameras. Then, the bouquet toss, which landed in the hands of a young Monegasque heiress who spoke better Castilian than French. Ms. Dolores Bolivar would meet the French banker of her dreams at that reception.
“Are you ready?” André offered his arm to Valeska as they turned away from their guests.
She wrapped her hand around his arm and nodded. “Please.I am so tired.”
“Me too. I hear they have a lovely suite arranged for us.” He whispered one last thing into his wife’s ear. “Very private.”
Her imagination went into overdrive the whole carriage ride back to the chateau. Not even the clanging of cans and the showers of birdseed could knock her out of her fantasies.
