Chapter 5

Eliana:

I brushed my hair after taking a shower as I waited for it to dry.

I have been isolated in my bedroom since Vladimir got here. As far as I was concerned, he was out banging a different woman, and that was something that was something that I didn’t want to think of.

The fact my father could hear of this worried me. The man would have my head without even blinking, and the funny part was, I would have no say about it. He gave me his conditions; it was me who wasn’t following my part. At least, that is what they would all be telling me.

The bedroom door was knocked making me frown in confusion before calling “come in”

The door opened and Audrey walked inside carrying a tray in her hands making my eyes widen. I quickly got up and took the tray from her, setting it down on the dresser. Looking at it, I was surprised when I saw hot chocolate, cookies, and brownies.

“I figured you might want something sweet. The day was bitter enough as it was, and I assume that this isn’t how any bride would want to spend her day after getting married” she said gently. I sighed and shook my head motioning for her to sit down as I closed the door.

“I knew what I was getting into when I signed that paper. Our marriage is simply a peace treaty between the two families…”

“That doesn’t mean that you two can’t try and make things work” Audrey said taking a cookie and eating it.

“That would require the two of us to hold a normal conversation for a second or two, but then again, the two of us don’t even look at one another” I mused “plus, everyone knows my and Vladimir’s feud, it would be almost impossible for us to make up from it now”

“Oh, come on, who met you two a few years ago would never have said that you two would agree to a marriage deal…”

“The two of us didn’t even look at one another during events…”

“But you did catch his attention, and I am sure he caught yours” Audrey said raising an amused eyebrow. I laughed and shook my head at the woman. It was true that we grew up attending the same events and galas, but I wasn’t one who was allowed to go away without an escort, dad would beat me up if I tried to. Therefore, I never had a conversation with the man, and unless my father was speaking to him, the two of us never interacted.

“Your brother has caught the attention of every other female on this planet, and not just mine” I mused and Audrey laughed.

“Nice to see that I caught your attention” Vladimir’s voice made both me and Audrey turn to the door. My eyes widened at the sight of Vladimir who was leaning against the doorframe, a smirk on his face as he looked at me “Audrey, can you leave the two of us alone?”

“Talk about manners, don’t you know how to knock?” Audrey teased her older brother as she got up. He chuckled and kissed her cheek making her laugh before she nodded at me and walked out of the room leaving me and Vladimir alone.

“Need I ask what was so important that you had to come all the way here to my room?” I asked raising an eyebrow. Vladimir took a seat on the couch where his sister had been sitting and I sighed sitting down.

“Were you offended about what happened?”

“I beg your pardon?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“I know our marriage is simply on paper, and that we both agreed on that. But I also don’t want to hurt your feelings…” Vladimir said making me frown in confusion.

“Now this is the last conversation I would have expected to have with you” I said honestly.

“I don’t understand”

“Well, judging by your reputation, I know that you are a ruthless killer…”

“That I am…” Vladimir said stopping me “but I am a man, and a real man doesn’t hurt a woman”

I couldn’t help but smile at his words, he nodded, his eyes gentle unlike how hard they were yesterday. I couldn’t find a proper response to give him to his question, I couldn’t simply tell him that him sleeping around would be risking MY life, but I couldn’t go on ahead and telling him to just stop it. It was his life in the end.

“I wasn’t hurt by what you did, Vladimir, as you said, you and I are only married on paper” I said calmly.

“Good, now that we got that part cleared out…”

“That’s all you came for?”

“What else would you think I was here for?” Vladimir asked frowning in confusion. I raised an eyebrow at him but this time didn’t bother commenting as I nodded and got up from the couch just as he did.

To think that I had believed that he would be here to at least have a conversation or two, but it seems like I was wrong. His eyes studied my expression which was no void of emotions and feelings, something that I had mastered doing as I grew older.

Growing up with a family like my own made me learn how to be everything that I wasn’t, and that included me being cold, harsh, and sometimes heartless. However, I always managed to find myself in what I did, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to be what I was supposed to be. It was one of the main reasons why my father wanted to sell me, he wanted to break the pride that I had despite everything he did to break it.

“If there is nothing that you’d be doing all day in your room, feel free to join us on the dining table for lunch” Vladimir said rolling his eyes as he walked to the door “and as a HUMAN, I believe that you would need food in your system to survive”

“Thank you” I said rolling my eyes.

“Pleasure”