Page 30 of Debt to the Mafia King
“I don’t think you do, Leah, because, you see, in my world, you have no say in what I do. I can’t offer you the same freedom.”
“So you will take lovers?”
“Possibly, maybe, no.” Cupping her face between my hands, I drew her face towards mine. “But whether I do or not isn’t the problem here. It’s how you act that is. When you are my wife—”
“You can sleep with whomever you want, and I can’t?”
“Exactly that. And that’s just the way of things. You signed the contract, Leah. You know this isn’t about love. It’s an agreement, and I will hold you to it.”
It might have been my imagination, but something that looked like sadness filled her eyes for a split second before she blinked, and it was gone.
Was Leah more of a romantic than I had suspected? Did she hold some deep-down longing that this was something that it wasn’t?If she was hoping for love in this marriage, she was going to have her heart broken.
I tightened my grip on her face until her skin turned white under my fingers. “You’re only job here is to be the perfect wife for me. Anything else will not be tolerated. Is that understood?”
“I understand, Viktor.”
Chapter Ten
Leah
The last pin was stabbed into my head, not my hair, and the woman behind me, who said she was a hairdresser, stepped back to appraise her work. I followed her movements in the mirror. Watching her eyes travel over my hair and smile before she looked at my face and winced.
Maybe it was the dark bags under my eyes and the angry red mark around my throat, or maybe she just didn’t like me very much. All the women Viktor had employed to get me ready seemed much more his type than I was. All tall, leggy, and beautiful, usually with blonde hair that seemed sleek compared to my riot of red.
It made me wonder why he had chosen me and not any of them. It was pretty clear that every single woman in this room would jump at the chance of being his wife, even if it was all pretend.
Maybe she didn’t like me because she was another one of his lovers who was jealous of what was about to happen. Little did she know that I would have swapped places with her in a heartbeat, just like she would have swapped with me.
I didn’t want to marry Viktor. I didn’t even like him. After beingtreated with such coldness, it’s hard for me to tell if I can still develop feelings of that kind.
The sex was amazing, some of the best I’d ever had. But as a person? As a man? I kind of detested him and everything he stood for. Sure, there were little glimpses of warmth under the icy exterior, but they were so rare that I couldn’t count on them. I couldn’t even be sure they were real.
“You look like shit,” she said plainly in accented English right to my face. “How are we going to make you look presentable?”
Open-mouthed I stared at her. I liked honesty, but there was blunt and then there was downright rude.
“I think what Sasha means to say is that you look like you didn’t sleep well,” Mrs. Colper swept into the room, a laden tray in her hands. “Or at all.” Her wrinkled eyes took me in and narrowed down on the marks on my throat. For a second, she looked disgusted, but it was only for a second before she smiled again.
“Ladies, why don’t you take a break. There are refreshments downstairs in the kitchen.” She didn’t say it like it was an order, but they scuttled away like she had barked it at them.
The moment the door closed, my hand went to my hair loosening the hair clip the woman had stabbed into my skull. Pouring me a glass of champagne, Mrs. Colper watched me silently.
“Here.” She passed over the glass, and I took a gulp gratefully. The bubbles fizzed up my nose. “It looks like you might need it.”
I took another deep gulp and nodded. “Thank you.”
“And let me redo your hair. I knew Sasha was the wrong choice. She’s always been a jealous cow.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed, but it was short-lived. “Another of his girlfriends?” I lifted my eyes to her reflection. But she wasn’t looking at me.
“No. But she wanted to be, and Viktor knows it.” She slid the diamond clip into my hair and stepped back. “That’s better, and now let’s sort out those dark circles under your eyes and—”
“Viktor’s finger marks around my throat?” I asked sweetly, taking another drink.
“He’s not a bad man,” she said quickly. “But you have to realize his temper is short. He gets that from his father.” She surveyed the damage. Tilting my head every which way and frowning. “What you did last night was foolish, Leah,” she said finally. “Going down there, undressed, and then causing a scene. ”
“I didn’t cause a scene. The other woman did. She is the one who started it.”
