Page 28 of Love to Defy You (The Dark Love #2)

Alek

“Are you ready?” I nod at the phone in Willow’s hand.

She slumps back against the loveseat. “No.”

Willow and I sit in front of the fireplace in our bedroom on New Year’s Day. After breakfast in bed, I ravished her until the entire house heard her climax.

And I hope Enzo listened when she screamed my name. I wish I could have seen the look on his face, but if it resembled the expression he wore last night, then I’m satisfied. He wants Willow for himself, but now that I’ve staked a more permanent claim, he knows he’s lost.

He started this game, thinking he could outmaneuver me, but I’ve put an end to it. Sure, there are more trials ahead, and I’m certain he’ll make my life hell, but at least it’s clear that he’ll never win Willow’s heart. It belongs to me.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her tight against my side. “Come on. You’ll have to break the news. He’ll find out sooner or later, and better he hears it from you.”

Willow fiddles with her heart-shaped necklace, running her fingers over the stones like she often does when she’s nervous. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She holds her phone up and starts a video call. As the phone rings, she takes a deep breath.

Moments later, her father’s face appears on the screen. “Good morning, kiddo. Oh, hey, Aleksandr. S Novym Godom .”

I give a polite nod toward the screen. “ S Novym Godom , David. You sound more like a native of Andarusia every time I see you.”

He chuckles. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

Willow glances between me and her father. “What does ‘snotty go dumb’ mean?”

Her father snorts. “Happy New Year.”

“Oh, cool.” She grows quiet and nods at the screen.

“How’s Zurich?” he probes.

“It’s been eventful.” I poke Willow in the side, and she yelps.

David arches his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah? How so?”

Willow rubs at her rib cage and throws me a glare, but her face softens when our eyes meet. “Well, uh, we have some big news.” With another deep breath, she holds up her hand, flashing her ring at the screen. “We’re engaged.” She winces, bracing herself for his reaction.

David’s brown eyes grow wide.

After a few beats pass, Willow says, “Please, Dad, say something.”

He shakes his head and starts to chuckle. “Oh, honey, I’m just messing with you. Aleksandr already told me.”

Willow whips her head sideways to look at me. “You did? When?”

I share a laugh with her father. “I had to ask for his blessing, didn’t I?”

“So, you just let me panic all morning about calling him?” she asks.

I tap her nose with my finger. “It was fun to watch you squirm.”

Willow wilts against me as she lets out a long exhale. She turns back to the phone screen. “And you’re fine with all this?”

David holds up a finger. “I gave him my blessing on one condition: that you wait until after you graduate college to get married. I want you focused on your studies, not planning a wedding. Trust me, it’s a lot. Galina is pulling her hair out.”

“And I agreed to your father’s terms, along with your dowry,” I add.

David can’t contain his laugh. “Yeah, I offered him a mule to take you off my hands.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m not sure if I like my father and my boyfriend conspiring together like this.”

“Fiancé,” I correct her.

Mr. Baker’s laugh fades into a smile. “I’m happy for you, kiddo.

I think about the sulky teen who showed up on my doorstep not that long ago.

At the time, I wasn’t sure if I would ever see you this happy.

” He swipes at his eye with his hand. “You’ve come a long way, Willow, and I know Aleksandr had a lot to do with that. ”

“Dad...” Willow sniffs. “Stop, you’re going to make me cry.”

David glances at me. “Just keep taking good care of my daughter.”

I caress my thumb against Willow’s arm. “I will.”

“Bye, honey. I love you.” He waves at us.

“Love you too.” Her voice breaks. “Bye.”

After hanging up the phone, she sets it down next to her on the loveseat, then elbows me hard in the ribs. “I can’t believe you let me panic all morning about calling him.”

Clutching my side, I try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. “Ouch. If you want to play rough, malishka, I’ll show you rough.”

She swings her leg over to straddle my lap, looping her arms around my neck for stability. “Shouldn’t we go finish opening the presents with Ana and Mikhail?”

I grab her waist and dig my fingers into her fleshy backside to grind her against me. “They can wait, but my cock can’t.”

The other guests leave a few days after New Year’s, but Alek, Ana, Mikhail, and I remain in St. Moritz for the remainder of January before returning to school for the spring term.

Mikhail sits in the front passenger seat, but he’s unusually quiet with his arms folded, staring out the window.

Ana sits in the back seat with Willow, but tears streak her mascara as she, too, stares out the window.

What’s with them? Is melancholy contagious?

I glance at Willow in the rearview mirror, and she mouths, Tell her.

I let out a breath. “Ana?”

“What?” she responds, her voice shaking.

“I spoke to Mat’ ,“ I say.

Mikhail tenses beside me, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the window.

“I offered to increase her allowance if she’ll call off your engagement.”

Ana sits up straight, her blonde braid sliding off her shoulder and down her back. “Really? What did she say?”

“She told me she’d let me know.” I shrug. “But I imagine she’ll say yes once I deliver you safely home.”

My sister’s bottom lip quivers as she whispers, “Thank you.”

“I bought you a ticket back to Paris, so promise me you’ll get on the plane the moment I drop you off at the airport.”

She runs her arm against her eyes to wipe the tears away. “Okay. I promise.”

I trace my thumb over the stitching of the leather steering wheel. “Once you turn eighteen and she doesn’t have control over your finances anymore, I’ll help you get away from her. You can go to college to get a real education, not that finishing school bullshit she has you doing.”

Anastasia smiles. “Can I come live with you and Willow here in Switzerland?”

I smirk. “If you’re okay listening to Willow and me having sex all the time.”

Willow laughs, but Ana presses her hands over her ears. “On second thought, maybe I’ll live somewhere else.”

Mikhail’s shoulders relax as he lets out a long exhale.

The car ride is much more pleasant after that, and after saying our goodbyes to Ana at the airport in Zurich, Mikhail takes over the steering wheel and drops Willow and me off at home.

But when I open the door to our apartment, I freeze. We’ve been on holiday for a month, and I grew complacent in the knowledge that I was away from Weltner. After so much torment, at last, I felt some semblance of peace, even if it was precarious at best.

All it takes is a piece of paper to bring the anxiety and fear rushing back, erasing the false sense of security I found in St. Moritz.

Willow bumps into me from behind. “Ow! Why did you stop?”

A red envelope lies on the entry rug. Someone didn’t just slip it under the door—it was placed there with careful precision, which means someone still has access to our flat.

The Order of Apollo’s lyre symbol is embossed on the front with gold foiling.

Willow peers around me. “Oh, fuck.”

“Will I ever get a break from this madness?” I snatch up the envelope and rip it open, almost tearing the invitation in the process.

Your presence is requested at the Trial of Lust. Please arrive in the courtyard with your pythia at ten o’clock in the evening on the fourteenth of February. If you do not bring your pythia, a substitute will be provided for you.

Failure to appear will result in the ultimate consequence.

Congratulations on your engagement.

Willow reads the invitation over my shoulder. “So, basically, they’re saying, ‘Do what we say or we’ll kill you. Oh, and by the way, congrats.’” She throws her hands in the air. “What the actual fuck?”

The invitation bends as I squeeze my hand into a fist. “My presence is mandatory, but yours is not. I don’t want you anywhere near this.”

Her expression twists with hurt. “No fucking way. I’m going with you.” She jabs her finger at the invitation. “A substitute pythia? Absolutely not. Over my dead body am I letting you fuck around with another girl.”

“What makes you so sure that’s the task?”

She gives me an exasperated look. “The Trial of Lust? Come on, Alek.” Leaning against the wall, she folds her arms and sighs. “Josie said something about making sure you’re fully committed to me before the next ritual, so I think sex is involved somehow.”

I slam the invitation facedown on the table in the foyer, making the decorative vase rattle against the wood. “Goddamn bastards!” Running my fingers through my hair, I pace the length of the foyer back and forth. The walls start closing in around me. Caging me in. Stifling me.

Willow grabs my arm and spins me to face her, and her familiar touch brings me back. “We’re going to get through this ritual, whatever it is. I’m not leaving you to fight this alone. We’re in it together, you and me.”

I melt into her. Burrowing my face in her neck, I take a deep breath and inhale her scent to calm me, and I rest my hands on her hips to pull her closer. “Just in case, we’re going to go buy you a lingerie set that covers everything.”

She wraps her arms around me. “You’ll let me wear panties?”

“Just this once.” I press my lips against her neck. “Although, I’d rather you wear a chastity belt to this particular event.”

A low fog casts an ominous haze over the lampposts of Weltner College. Our footsteps are the only sound in the empty courtyard, and even they are muffled by the thick air. Willow’s breath forms puffy clouds as she tightens her coat around her body.

“You know, this isn’t how I expected to spend our first Valentine’s Day as an engaged couple,” Willow says. “Especially after a long day of classes. I was hoping to have you to myself tonight.” She squeezes my hand.