Page 21 of White Rabbit
He grinned and offered my his arm to escort me downstairs. I placed my fingers at his elbow and he covered them with his hand. The warmth reassured me that everything would be okay.
“So who all will be here?” I asked.
“All my brothers. My stepsister—you’ve met her briefly. She’s also my assistant. My second in command, my closest friend will also be there with his wife and daughter,” he rattled off as we made our way down the first set of stairs. I noticed his watching each step I took, attentive to y balance.
I took a slow breath. So…ten people. Perhaps more if… “Do any of your brothers have partners.”
“None they would bring to family dinner,” he scoffed. “They don’t get that serious about anyone.”
“Butyou’rebringingme.”
He paused, turning to me on the landing and tipping my face to look up at him. God, he was tall. So much bigger than me with muscles befitting his height and power. It made me feel small, delicate.
“Youare my queen,” he said. “My wife and thereby their sister.”
“Explain to me again how I’m your wife. And by again, I mean for the first time, because the only time I heard you say that, it was to the doctor and I was mostly asleep.”
He ran his thumb just under my lip. “I do love this smart mouth when you let it loose. One of these days I would like to see it around my cock, while I show you how much I appreciate it.”
“I…” Holy crap. Did he just say that? I stared at him wide-eyed and apparently, said mouth dropped open because he nudged at my lip to shut it.
He started us down the next flight of stairs. “I am an associate of the mayor and my brother is a lawyer. They managed the paperwork and got it filed. The mayor acted as our officiant, one of his official duties and two of my brothers signed as witnesses.”
“And my signature?”
“Moya kokhána… Some things are easier done than one would think.”
“So it was forged?”
“It was actually your signature,” he hedged.
“Do I even want to know how?” I asked, overwhelmed by what his power could do. Every day I wandered through his castle-like fortress while he did his billionaire business. He operated at levels I could only dream about. Wealth emanated from every inch of this place, the house, the furniture and art, the servants and even the clothing and jewelry. Not one item from my past fit in here. Not even me, if I was honest.
“No, you do not. Some questions are better unanswered, love. And…we are here. Deep breath. No one will bite. Except perhaps me. Later.”
“Promises, promises,” I muttered under my breath since we had yet to actually kiss. he chuckled letting me know he’d heard me and the dark sound vibrated down to my toes, making them curl in my sensible flats.
The sound of many voices hit me first when he opened the door to the massive dining room. Apparently, we were the last to arrive and when we stepped in, silence greeted up. Heat radiated through my body as they stared.
“Mommy,” a sweet little voice trilled through the air. “She’s so pretty!”
It seemed to break the spell and while people didn’t start chattering again, at least they weren’t staring transfixed as if a purple alien had walked in.
“Everyone, thank you for coming to this celebration tonight. I’d like to introduce you to Brecklyn,” he said then added, “My wife.”
Valariy led me to one end of the table. There were only two empty chairs, this one and the one at the other end. So we weren’t sitting near each other? Great.
“Hi,” I said with a little wave to the room. Most everyone smiled back.
“Brecklyn, starting on the left end, that’s Kazimierz—”
“The doctor,” I murmured. I’d heard various names though I’d only met Danik.
“Right,” Kazimierz said.
“Then Symon.” Valariy glanced at me as if wondering if I knew what this brother did.
“The lawyer who helped with our marriage.”
