Page 7

Arranging a wedding wasn’t something I ever thought I’d be doing—especially not my own.

Not that I was looking too deeply into the gritty details myself, but I had enough of a hand in it to know that things were going smoothly, and soon enough, Tia would be completely mine.

Even if the arrangement with Andrey was supposed to be for business, driven by necessity rather than passion or genuine connection, I still found myself looking forward to it.

And for whatever reason, it drove me to do things I also never would’ve imagined for myself.

Before, I never thought much about how someone would perceive my actions, or how they’d feel in my presence. I just didn’t feel the need for it.

More than anything, my focus had been on what was happening with my family and what our latest goal was.

But knowing the gears were in motion, and Tia would be in my possession soon enough, I was starting to question every detail, no matter how small.

I started buying her things. Things that might make her transition a bit easier. Clothes, personal care items, a few books…anything I assumed she would appreciate, even if I had no idea what she even liked.

In all fairness, I didn’t know what I was doing.

It was new terrain for me. Of course, I wasn’t completely oblivious when it came to women, and I certainly had my share of fun. But I wasn’t one to take the serious route, and living with a woman wasn’t something I was used to.

Assuming she liked everything most women didn’t feel like the right move, but I didn’t have anything else to work with.

No part of me should’ve been wrapped up in those small details, yet I found myself questioning even those decisions anyway.

I wasn’t doing it to win her over…No, I knew it would take more than that. And I certainly wasn’t going to let myself be that sappy, but still. She had my complete attention somehow, and I had that urge to at least show her I wasn’t a complete monster.

No other woman seemed worth the effort before, but Tia changed that all for me. Whether it was her natural beauty or the fire I saw in her eyes, I couldn’t fight the need to put in a semblance of effort.

Not that I was normally uncaring, but even I was surprised by myself. It was a strange reflex for me to have, but somehow, I didn’t mind it.

Even if the arrangement was about business, I still wanted Tia to feel at ease…and I wanted her to give in to me.

If I was going to have this marriage for the sake of my partnership with Andrey, then I might as well make the most of it.

And Tia, of all people, made me want to do exactly that.

The hotel suite was silent while I stood by the windows, waiting for the inevitable—waiting for Andrey to keep his end of the bargain.

My brothers were in the next room over, chatting idly, letting out the occasional laugh loud enough for me to catch through the walls.

A small part of me wanted to join them, but the rest of me needed the time alone. The chance to mull over what I was doing, and what exactly I was agreeing to.

It would be a big change…a shift in my life I hadn’t been anticipating only a few weeks prior. And all for the sake of business, for the family.

And selfishly, for myself, as much as I wanted to ignore that fact.

I agreed to Andrey’s terms for better or worse, and while I wanted to claim it was all for the greater good of the empire, I knew meeting Tia certainly influenced my decision.

A knock at the door tore me from my thoughts, and upon glancing over my shoulder, I watched as one of our men popped the door open and murmured something about them arriving.

That was it…the time had come.

Despite myself, my heart squirmed faintly, and I nodded for him to allow them in.

At my confirmation, he disappeared, then Andrey and Tia walked in, with the former looking less than impressed.

She wasn’t happy; that much was obvious.

“Ah, Valentin,” Andrey greeted me, looking as pleased as I expected him to be, if not a bit tense, surely from whatever fight Tia had put up. He crossed the space and took my hand, giving it an almost familiar shake. “This is a wonderful day, is it not?”

I pulled a tight-lipped smile for him and nodded, returning the gesture. But my eyes flickered over to Tia, seeing how she stood there awkwardly behind him.

As much as he was my new business partner, I didn’t give a shit about him being there in the moment…not while my entire focus was on his daughter.

I needed to be near her, even if it made me feel like I was losing my mind.

“Yes, of course.” I did my best to cover my disinterest in speaking with him before gesturing to the room connected to the suite. “Alex and the others are in there, if there’s anything else you need to discuss.”

Andrey nodded, letting go of my hand before making his way to the door. “Yes, I believe I have some details to work out with Alexander…I won’t be long.”

He spared a glance in Tia’s direction, who didn’t react either way, then left the two of us alone.

Immediately, the silence was deafening.

She didn’t have to say anything to let me know exactly how she was feeling. Not while the look in her eyes screamed every way she saw me as her enemy.

It wasn’t a surprise, and it didn’t faze me, either.

Still, her resentment was palpable, and her icy exterior stirred something in me.

My urges were going to be a problem. I did not doubt that.

With her eyes on mine, able to feel the growing irritation from her, I grinned faintly to myself.

“Please, sit down, Tia.”

She held my gaze for another moment, likely questioning if she should listen or attempt to bolt. Either way, she huffed a quiet breath and moved towards the windows.

“No…I don’t think I will.”

There it was. That rebellious nature I grew so fond of after only one conversation between us.

My grin pulled further, and I tucked my hands in my pockets with a chuckle. “Fine…do as you wish.”

Instead, I sat in one of the ornate armchairs and absently rubbed over my stubble while glancing in her direction.

Without even needing to see her face, I could still feel the way her presence commanded my attention. The light pouring in illuminated her silhouette in a way that made my mouth water.

Christ, she was beautiful…

Even while wearing a simple pair of high-waisted jeans and a black top that clung to her upper half, it seemed she could pull anything off. With her dirty-blond hair swept across one of her shoulders, I wanted nothing more than to run my fingers through it.

More than anything, I wanted her eyes on me; I wanted to hold her gaze and witness everything her . Unbridled. Uninterrupted.

But with her arms folded over her chest, staring out the window like she had just lost something precious to her, that notable rigidity in her frame wasn’t providing me with anything.

“You should relax a little, you know.”

She scoffed quietly. “Relax? That’s your suggestion?”

Something about her tone amused me. “Yes…it’s simple, really. Your shoulders might lock up if you keep them so tense.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she mumbled, obviously hating every moment of being left alone with me. “I’m fine.”

At the gala, she had been resistant, but with the arrangement in place, she was exponentially so.

“You sure?” I asked, testing the waters further while making no attempt to pull my eyes away from her. “You look like you’re hoping that glass might disappear, sweetheart.”

Tia glanced over her shoulder at me, eyes flashing with irritation. Her tone came out clipped. “I said I’m fine…and don’t call me that.”

“No? And here I was, thinking I was being nice.”

She made it too easy, too tempting. I couldn’t help but cross the line with her.

More fury burned in her eyes then, and Tia returned her attention to the cityscape below. “There’s no reason for us to talk. Maybe it’s best if you keep your comments to yourself.”

“And how else would we learn about each other?” I pressed with that unshakable need to get under her skin just a little more.

After a beat of silence, she sighed. “Can’t we just get this over with?”

Finding a strange satisfaction in both her frustration and subtle defeat, I hummed and stood up. “Get it over with, huh? And what might you be hoping to skip over?”

Without being able to deny it, there was something addictive about the way she resisted me, how she didn’t crumble under the pressure and maintained that refusal of hers.

She was full of fire and defiance despite the position she found herself in, and I couldn’t get enough of it.

“You know exactly what I mean,” she muttered, not shy about the bite in her words.

Despite myself, that venom was sweet, and I couldn’t help it. I knew it was in my best interest to give her space and take it easier on her, but damn…she was everything I wanted—needed.

I grinned and took a couple of steps closer to her, eyes roving over her figure.

“You want to get this over with, do you? This conversation, the ceremony, and everything after the fact, right?” I questioned, tone dropping a touch softer. My smirk lingered. “I hate to break it to you, Tia, but this isn’t something you can close your eyes to, hoping to wake up when it’s over. Marriage isn’t fleeting.”

Her shoulders tensed up even further at my words, surely catching how much closer my voice was to her.

“I’m not an idiot. I know that,” she snapped, just barely looking over her shoulder again. Something else lingered in that frustration of hers, but I couldn’t put my finger on it yet.

I hummed and took up the spot beside her, harmlessly looking out the window. “Good…that’s reassuring, then.”

A small scoff passed her lips. “I’m glad you think this is funny.”

“It could be worse, right?”

It seemed my attempt at levity failed once more, the moment I felt her burning gaze on me.

“Do you think this is easy for me? Like it’s something I can just laugh off?” she asked, voice giving away the faintest shake within it.

Even if a small part of my mind was yelling at me to stop and give her some space, I grinned down at her anyway, finding amusement in the way she was still speaking to me, regardless of her anger.

“Being irritated with me seems to be easy for you, but really, I think you’re just trying to push me away. And despite your attempts, I won’t let you.”

Tia’s eyes widened at my words, as if questioning if I really said that. Then, her jaw clenched, and she took a small step back, as if ready to leave.

But of course, there was nowhere to go. No way out. She knew that, surely.

After a breath of silence, she murmured, “What do you want from me, Val? You have everything—why would you want this, and what does this have to do with my dad’s business?”

The arrangement…

Did she not know about what Andrey did? Did she actually think he was just a wealthy business owner by chance?

My brows furrowed slightly, wondering what she knew or how much I should say…But I figured that wasn’t the time to upend the mental image she had of her dad if she didn’t know anything about him brushing shoulders with the likes of us. How he dipped his fingers into the world of organized crime while maintaining a suitable distance from it himself.

Shoving that thought to the back of my mind, I focused on the challenge in her words instead.

Obviously, she couldn’t understand why I, of all people, would want her, and she certainly didn’t know why our arrangement held interest both for myself and for Andrey.

But Tia just didn’t get it yet.

It wasn’t about what she could give me, necessarily.

Outside of partnering with her father and gaining in that sense, I wanted her because she had a strange way of making everything else feel so insignificant.

Shifting to face her fully, I took up the limited space between us and propped her chin up with my finger. I shamelessly raked my eyes along her captivating features.

“I have my reasons…but you only need to know just one,” I began, tone lighter than it had been. “I want you because you’re mine, Tia. You have been since the moment your dad agreed to this whole thing. Whether you want to accept it or not, that point will become very clear soon enough.”

At the touch and the smoother inflection of my words, the breath caught in her throat. Her eyes just barely narrowed, seemingly disapproving of my audacity. “And what if I refuse to accept it?”

With a faint pull at the corner of my lips, I chuckled and lightly brushed my thumb against her lower lip. “Then the game will only be more interesting for me…and I’ll savor every moment.”

Despite the slight fluster that showed in her eyes and cheeks, Tia’s gaze on me sharpened with her defiance. Regardless of how she tried to school her emotions, something else lingered beneath the surface.

“You think this is a game?”

“Yes, in a sense, it is. So long as you resist me, you’ll only delay it further,” I murmured, barely tilting her head up while I leaned a touch closer. My breath ghosted across her skin, so tantalizingly close to her inviting mouth. “Don’t worry, though…I’ll be patient, and you’ll come around to it eventually.”

Tia didn’t say anything, not while she seemed to struggle with my proximity. I caught her hard swallow, along with the way she tried so hard to keep her eyes on mine.

My words lingered between us in the challenge they were meant to be, and every part of me basked in it.

With another hum of consideration and satisfaction at the sight of her so close, I whispered above her lips, “And I have every reason to believe you’ll learn to like it, sweetheart .”

For a fraction of a second, something slipped through that attempted resolve of hers. It wasn’t fear, necessarily, but…doubt. Doubt in her ability to resist me completely, it seemed.

That only brought me a greater sense of satisfaction, and I was itching for her to continue. To push against me and give me more reasons to try harder.

Regardless of how she thought of it at the moment, Tia was going to be mine in every way, and the road to that point was going to be especially sweet.