by Brook Wilder
“Please, not before my coffee.”
My mother walked over to the counter, setting her purse on the marble top.
“Nataliya, we need to discuss something.”
I sighed loudly.
“What is it now? What have I done to displease you?”
She didn’t flinch at my words, nor did I imagine she would. My mother did not allow anything to bother her, least of all, me. I believed she held it against me that I had ruined her career and failed to follow in her footsteps to become a ballerina. I had taken lessons, of course, but could never find the passion she had for dancing, and before long I was begging not to go to my practices. My father had relented, and I doubted my mother had ever forgiven him for caving to me.
“Do not be petty, Nataliya.”
Just as I had expected her to answer.
Turning back to the coffee machine, I pulled my cup from under the drip, reaching for the sugar.
“What is it, Mother?”
“This infatuation you have with your bodyguard, you cannot allow it to continue before the wedding.”
I nearly dropped the sugar container. Something in her tone alluded to not just an ‘infatuation’.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You’ve slept with him.”
I closed my eyes briefly, my body flushing as I thought about what Fox and I had done. There had been no sleeping involved.
“What business is it of yours?”
“It is no business of mine,” she answered as I stirred the sugar into my coffee, my hand trembling slightly. “But you stand to lose everything, Nataliya, everything. Do not throw it away because you feel the need to whore around.”
I laughed harshly, turning to face her, my coffee mug in my hands.
“Whoring around? I believe that’s harsh, even coming from you.”
I knew that she and my father both had flings on the side, a mutual understanding between them keeping the peace in their marriage. Once a month, my mother took a spa trip out of town for her fling, and I had been a teen before I realized what she was doing during those trips.
My father, on the other hand, didn’t hide his flings, and on any given week, he would visit the strip clubs, looking for a young thing to spend the night with.
But it worked for them, and I hadn’t even considered having flings after I was married. Until I’d met Fox.
My mother waved a hand at me, her expression hard.
“Get off your high horse. What I do is my business and mine alone, and your father knows all about it. I would wager that Bryan does not know about this relationship, does he?” My silence must have been enough for her for she laughed. “Everyone does it Nataliya. No one is happy with one person for long. All I am asking for you to do is to wait until you have said your vows. Then, sleep with whomever you like.”
I drew in a steady breath.
“What if I do not want to marry Bryan?”
The thought had occurred to me more than once.
She arched a brow.
“And marry who? Your bodyguard? He is not an acceptable husband for you and your inheritance, Nataliya. Your grandmother wished you to marry an equal, not a greasy biker who doesn’t have a pot to piss in. Do you know your father is paying him handsomely to keep you safe? Any man like that is only after one thing, and that is money.”
My mother was wrong. Fox was doing it with a good intentions, but I wasn’t about to spread his business to my mother.
“Grandmother would want me to be happy.”
My mother laughed, shaking her head.
“My dear, I thought you were smarter than that. Your grandmother wished you to carry on the name of this family, not ruin it and marrying your boy-toy would ruin that name.”
I ground out my teeth.
“I know what I am doing.”
She picked up her purse, slinging it over her shoulder.
“As long as you marry Bryan, everything will fall into place. Then you can have your fling with whomever you wish, but not before. This is a final warning, my dear.”
I watched her go, my stomach rolling. If she had picked up on the fact that Fox and I had had sex, there was no telling who else was starting to put two and two together.
Great, just fucking great.
**
Two hours later, I stood in front of the mirror, swallowing as I realized that this would be the last time I would try this gown on. The next time would be for real, when I would walk down the aisle to Bryan, the man who was to be my husband.
“Lovely, just lovely,” the dressmaker cooed, as she fluffed out the train before stepping back. “You are a very beautiful bride, my dear.”
I met my mother’s eyes in the mirror, and she sniffed.
“You look fat.”
The dressmaker gasped, and I spun around, seething.
“Get out. Both of you.”
The dressmaker hurried to do so, but my mother took her time, a smile playing at her lips.
“Don’t take offense Nataliya. The mirror does not lie.”
I fought the urge to grab her by her bun and pull her to the floor. I wished I hadn’t brought her along. It wouldn’t matter if I was twenty pounds lighter, she would still find fault with how I looked.
She finally left the room, and I turned back to the mirror, blowing out a breath to relieve some of my anxiety and anger. I only had a few more weeks, and then I could choose not to see her ever again if I didn’t want to.
I just had to hold on a few more weeks.
“You look fucking gorgeous.”
I whirled around, meeting Fox’s eyes.
“W-what are you doing here?”
He leaned against the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I’m doing my job. Don’t listen to your mother. She’s a bitch.”
I felt exposed and aroused at the same time, my body reacting to him being there, seeing me like that.
“Oh, I know. Don’t worry, I don’t take anything she says to heart.”
She had been using those words for years.
“I’ve never wanted to hit a woman before,” Fox continued, a hardness in his eyes. “But she could be the first.”
I let out a laugh, unable to help it. His presence was like a calming balm to me, despite what had transpired between us. Turning around, I met his gaze in the mirror.
“Will you help me out of this? I’m ready to get the hell out of here.”
Fox’s jaw clenched as he entered the dressing room. The curtain fell over the door, effectively closeting us in the small room. I sucked in a breath as his hand touched my bare back, his fingers sliding down until he found the hidden zipper. I wanted him to peel this dress off me and take me up against the wall until I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to… Well, I wanted to feel loved, and I did whenever I was with Fox.
“Can I ask you a question?” he asked in a low voice, sliding the zipper down.
“Sure,” I said, hoping my voice was steady enough.
“If you could have your way with your life, what would you do?”
That was a loaded question.
“I would take my money and run far away from here, maybe to Mexico, where I could drink tequila and lay in the sun all day.”
He chuckled, his fingers brushing the bare skin that was being exposed by each pull of the zipper.
“You would be redder than a tomato if you laid out all day.”
I smirked, catching his eyes in the mirror. Lord have mercy, he was gorgeous! The intensity in his eyes took my breath away.
“Why do you ask?”
Fox stepped back, running his hands through his hair.
“Because this should be the happiest time of your life, yet you look like a bride about to be pushed into a smoldering volcano.”
I shrugged, peeling the dress carefully off my shoulders.
“I… You need to leave, so I can get dressed.”
I didn’t want to talk about my feelings and what I really w
anted with him. I ached, literally ached, just from being this close to him, yet unable to touch him like I wanted to.
He nodded.
“I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
I didn’t answer, waiting until he had exited the dressing room before blowing out a breath. My hands were shaking, my heart racing, and it was all because of Fox. I couldn’t have him. My mother was right. If I wanted this money and a ticket out of her house, I had to marry Bryan. I couldn’t have all the happiness in one tidy package. I had to sacrifice my new-found happiness with Fox to get what I wanted, and I wasn’t about to turn all of that down to have that man in my bed.
Sliding the dress over my hips, I stepped out of it and took the time to hang it up on the hanger so that it wouldn’t wrinkle. This was my destiny, this was what I needed to do for my future. Fox didn’t understand what was on the line, and if he had been in my shoes, he would likely do the same.
Even if it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do in my heart.
Ugh! When had life become so difficult? I would never have said that I wished I hadn’t met Fox. He had shown me what I wanted most, true feelings, maybe even a little bit of love if I dared to allow it to happen.
He could be everything to me.
With a sigh, I sat down on the small stool in the dressing room, allowing myself the quiet moment before my mother came in and started back on her tirade. I was supposed to be the bridezilla, but she was so much worse, making every effort to make this wedding perfect. Somewhere, I would like to have said that she was looking after my best interests. But then I would have been lying to myself.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I looked at myself in the mirror, a trace of Fox’s cologne still in the air. It was killing me. I didn’t feel like myself, didn’t like anything I had done of late. The only time I felt whole was when I was with him.
I couldn’t have him.
“Pull yourself together,” I muttered, reaching for my clothes.
No amount of moping was going to help the situation. I had dug myself into that hole, and I couldn’t climb out of it unless I was willing to give up the future I had planned.
But was it the future I wanted, now that I’d had a taste of something different?
Chapter 12
Fox
I pulled at the collar of my dress shirt, wishing I could unbutton at least the top button to let in some air. How people wore it that way all the time was beyond me, but I couldn’t very well have shown up to the party in my customary attire. I would have stood out like a sore thumb.
Glitzy-dressed people moved through the room, wearing more diamonds than I had probably seen in my lifetime. There was a lot of money in the room, a hell of a lot of it. Some of the people I recognized as the owners of the better part of Greenwood and the properties surrounding it. We had dealt with most of them a time or two, either in a business transaction that was off the books, or as security detail when a rival had moved in on their turf. None of them glanced my way, as if I was too far down the totem pole for even a short nod or a greeting.
Was this how it always was for these people? I grew up believing that it was polite to not look down on anyone that you came across, because you might find yourself there one day. But apparently, these people hadn’t had the same lesson. How could Nat pretend to be part of this group? She was far from them, even if she chose to hide it.
Nat floated into my line of vision, and I swallowed, taking in her short gold dress that was cut to expose one creamy shoulder. Her hair was down her back in large curls, the short hem of the dress showing off her killer legs. She looked stunning, and my breath had left my chest the as soon as I had seen her appear. Next to her was the asshole, dressed in a tux, his arm possessively around her waist. I knew the display was for me, a sign of what he was about to own. Asshole clearly knew something was up and felt threatened.
And well he should have. The wedding was only a week away, and every time I got around Nat, she seemed less and less excited about walking down the aisle. We hadn’t talked at all since the day in the dressing room. I didn’t know what had made me go in there that day, torturing myself by seeing her in that gown, and knowing that once she tied the knot it was gonna be over between us.
I was no homewrecker.
But I had tortured myself by giving us those few stolen moments together. I had heard her mother berating her, and every fiber in my body had told me not to interfere. Nat was perfect to me, and I couldn’t understand why no one else around her could see it.
For the last few days, however, I had stayed out of the way. I had suffered through the long hours, as barely making a sound she had listened to her mother finalize the wedding plans and ‘enjoyed’ a luncheon with her bridesmaids, that fake smile on her face as she pretended to like the people around her. The only person she had been able to be real with was Alice, and I was grateful that Nat had one true friend to help her out. Even Alice’s gift had been unique and personal, a pretty crystal necklace that was supposed to bring Nat good luck. The other girls had snickered at the gift, giving Nat more expensive, designer things, but I had noticed that the necklace was the only thing Nat had worn for the rest of the luncheon.
That was the Nat I loved.
I was starting to feel my patience wearing thin, as the clock started to tick down, the wedding drawing ever closer. It wasn’t just the wedding itself that bothered me. I was actually fucking afraid she was gonna go through with this, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Sucking in a breath, I watched as the couple interacted with their guests, wondering what she would do if I was by her side. Did she even like this shit? I couldn’t be the man that could smooze in a room full of assholes, but clearly Bryan could do that. I couldn’t be that man that could make a deal, dress in these clothes every night, and put on a smile like my lips were going to fucking fall off.
I was a t-shirt-wearing, bike-riding, gun-toting asshole myself, one that would rather find a corner so that I could slide that dress to her waist and fuck her hard.
It wasn’t a bad idea. Nat had said we couldn’t have sex again, yet when I was unzipping her wedding gown, I had heard her intake of breath, seen the flush of her skin as my fingers trailed across it. She wanted me just as badly as I wanted her, and I had to find a time to prove to her that she was making a big mistake by marrying Bryan.
Was I willing to put myself out there as a potential husband? The thought had crossed my mind more than once over the last week. Jack would laugh and tell me not to do it, but the idea of having Nat in my bed morning and night was far too appealing.
It was more than that, though. She made me laugh, she made me feel, she would give me the satisfaction that, at the end of the day, I was doing something fucking right in my life.
But could I convince Nat that she needed the same? She thought that money was going to bring her happiness, a chance to escape, but I could give her more than that. I could give her something she couldn’t buy, and that was love.
Hell, I sounded like a damn greeting card.
Running a hand over my face, I watched as Bryan pressed a kiss to her temple before walking off. I saw my one chance to convince her otherwise. I knew I shouldn’t, but… Hell, I didn’t want to lose her to that asshole.
Crossing the floor, I walked right up to her and placed my hand on her back, feeling her freeze under my touch.
“Ms. Zebrovskaya, I need you to come with me.”
Nat looked up at me, confusion in her beautiful eyes, before they snapped into alert mode. She knew there could only be one reason I would be asking her to leave her guests, and I felt like an asshole for doing this to her.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
I lowered my head, my lips close to her ear. She shivered, and I grinned inwardly.
“Trust me, Nat.”
She turned toward her guests.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Keeping my hand on her lower back, I steered her out of the room and
into a small room off the hall, shutting the door behind me before turning the lock.
“What is it, Fox?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Is there some danger?”
I turned, yanking at the shirt collar until the button gave way.
“Hell, no! There’s not any danger. You look fucking miserable. I’m rescuing you.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You’re rescuing me?”
I nodded, undoing another button on the shirt before walking toward her.
