Page 38

CHAPTER 38

DINARA

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I bellow, cracking with raw frustration as I glare at Konstantin in his study, needing privacy for this conversation.

He sits on the sofa, cool and collected, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips, as though he’s enjoying the chaos he's created.

“Moya milaya, I love you very much, but if you speak to me like that again, you will meet the same fate as everyone else who dares speak to me that way.” His calm, almost lazy tone makes the anger inside me boil hotter.

My chest heaves as I fight to keep my emotions in check.

“Sit, please.” He gestures toward the sofa across from him. “Let’s discuss this like civilized adults, hmm?”

“Civilized adults don’t force each other into marriages they don’t want.” I run my fingers through my hair, trying to contain the hurricane of emotions threatening to spill over.

How can he do this to me? After everything!

“I thought we were on the same page.”

Despite my best efforts to remain calm, the words tremble out of me. “You know how much the breakup hurt me. I left the country, for God’s sake! And now you're doing this to me? After everything I went through?”

“Come on, Dinara. You know I’ve always wanted the best for you. I would never do anything I didn’t think was right.”

I laugh bitterly, my hands quivering as I clasp them in my lap. “And you think marrying him is what’s right for me? No. This is about what’s right for you , isn’t it? You’ve wanted this alliance for years, and you’re using me to get it.”

Konstantin exhales dramatically, as if he’s tired of this conversation already. I feel the heaviness of his gaze on me as he leans back, unfazed by my anger.

How can I marry someone who swore he’d never love me? Someone who chose to walk away from me the moment he found out the truth about my uncle?

I won’t let him break me again. He didn’t want me then. And now it’s too late. He doesn’t get to have me.

“Cillian isn’t as bad as you believe.” Konstantin smirks. “You two have a lot to work through.”

“Work through?” I scoff, shaking my head. “And you think marrying him will fix that?”

“Absolutely.” He grins like this is some kind of joke. “The man was crazy without you. Did he tell you that?”

“Sort of,” I mutter. “But it doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” he presses. “You think I’d let just anyone break into your house?”

My stomach twists. “You knew…”

“Of course. Everyone knew. That’s why my men didn’t treat him like an intruder. I wanted to see what he’d do. If things between you two would get better. But…” He shrugs. “Then you got into that accident and everything went to shit.” He drags in a long breath. “So I thought you two needed some time off. If it was meant to be, you’d find a way back. It seems you did.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” I hit him with a glare. “I want nothing to do with him. And if you were me, you wouldn’t either.”

He raises a brow. “Perhaps. I’m not one to give love advice, but I can tell you this: a man who doesn’t love you doesn’t break into your house and lie in your bed while you’re across the world.”

“He did that?” My heart lurches.

“He did. Desperate. Stubborn. But he cares deeply.” His chuckle is harsh. “He did come to me to ask where you were, but I didn’t tell him. I wanted him to suffer, and he did.” A sly smirk spreads across his face. “He deserved to be tortured all these years, don’t you think?”

I stiffen, but I don’t respond right away. I’m too filled with anger and sadness to speak.

“It doesn’t make a difference. Cillian and I are in the past. I don’t want to marry him. I don’t want anything to do with him or his family. Find me someone else. I’ll marry an ogre at this point. Anyone but a Quinn.”

Konstantin laughs, mocking and dark. “How about I make you a proposition?”

“And what’s that?” My brow furrows, but I already know I won’t like it.

“You stay married to him for a year. And if, after that year, you still want nothing to do with him, I’ll grant you a divorce.”

I freeze, disbelief washing over me. “I have to live with him for a year?” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to gather my thoughts, forcing back the frustration bubbling to the surface. “God, you just want to make this day worse, don’t you?”

“A year isn’t a long time. You’ll manage.” He rises from his seat, clearly tired of the discussion.

“You’re messing with my life.” As I stand up, the tension in my body makes every muscle tighten. “You’re forcing me to do something I want no part of.”

“Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do for the right reasons.” He gives me a pointed look.

“Right.” I snicker. “Well, like the vows say, ’til death do us part. Maybe I can make that happen sooner rather than later.”

He chuckles as he walks me to the door. “You’re starting to sound more like a true Marinov every day.”

I’ve spent my whole life trying to be nothing like them. But maybe it’s time I finally start acting like one.

* * *

“Din, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Natalia mutters the next day, grimacing as she tugs on her bottom lip.

“It’s the only way to be done with him once and for all. I can’t marry him, guys. Especially not in a week!”

A week. That’s all I have. Seven days before Konstantin forces me into a marriage I can’t escape. Seven days to figure out another way.

And this? This is my only shot.

Alisa shakes her head, her expression pinched with worry. “But Konstantin won’t let it happen. He wants an alliance, and he won’t accept this.”

“He’ll have to.”

I shove my phone into my handbag, my stomach twisting. I won’t marry Cillian only to have him hurt me in the end.

Natalia frowns. “But how will this even work? Won’t Konstantin find out and stop it?”

“I have to try,” I say as the limo rolls to a stop in front of the towering estate, hidden deep in the middle of nowhere, New Jersey. “The auction rules state that once I sign the contract, it’s binding. Whoever wins my hand tonight will be my husband. So all I have to do is go first and make sure a winner is chosen fast, and then Konstantin can’t do shit about it.”

I grin, proud of my plan. Sure, it could backfire spectacularly. Konstantin could ignore the rules, tear up the contract, and force me to marry Cillian anyway. But at least I’ll be trying to do something to stop it.

Alisa exhales sharply. “Dinara, think about this. What if you end up with some asshole? What then?”

I turn to her. “Kill him.”

Natalia groans.

Alisa throws her hands up. “I’m just gonna say it. I think this is a mistake.”

“Maybe it is,” I admit. “But marrying Cillian would be a mistake too.”

She exhales in defeat. “Okay…if you’re sure.”

I nod. “I’m sure.”

I’m also going to throw up.

Opening the limo door, I step out first, the girls following me as I head toward this weekend’s location for Rzvrt. All I have to do is get inside, submit my name for the auction, and wait for it to start. Once the winner is called, I’ll be his.

Of course it won’t be that easy. So much could go wrong.

My heart cinches in my chest at the thought of finally saying goodbye to Cillian, to the things we once had.

But he’s the one who threw it all away, not me. I’d rather be stuck in an unhappy marriage than go through Cillian’s rejection ever again.

I’m not stupid. I know even the most beautiful fairy tales end in disaster, and that’s what our marriage would be.

As soon as we head inside, our masks in place, we’re let into the grand ballroom. The hypnotic music surrounds us, but I ignore it, having only one mission in mind: to get to where I need to be before either Konstantin or Cillian stops me. I have no doubt that Cillian will be here soon, if he’s not already.

The girls and I weave through the space, heading for one of the women wearing a red collar, signaling that they work here.

“Hi. Can you tell me where the auctions are taking place?”

“Outside.” She points behind her. “Are you looking to participate or watch?”

“Looking to join the wedding auction.”

She removes a cellphone from the waist of her ultra-miniskirt. After pressing a few keys, she scans my mask.

“Read the contract and initial.”

Before I can second-guess myself, I sign it. A jolt of adrenaline shoots through me, my stomach twisting, every nerve ending sparking to life.

I’m really doing this.

“In about thirty minutes, come back here, and one of the girls will get you ready for the stage. Do not be late. Understand?”

“Yes.” I clear my throat from her cold tone. “May I go first?”

She laughs. “I will put in the request, but no promises.”

“Thanks.”

She nods, placing her phone back in her holster.

“This is crazy, Din,” Natalia says as we start toward the bar.

I know.